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First build in a looong time; looking for advice on <$900 Gaming Syste

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Started reading through the "READ BEFORE YOU POST" post and realized that a lot more has changed in hardware since I last built a computer 6 years ago.
Looking for a "Gamer" build; don't quite have the funds for "Enthusiast".
Looking for this system to last around 4 years or so, hopefully.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within a week

BUDGET RANGE: $900 Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (usually 1st Person Shooter, Strategy, MMORPG), High Def Movie watching, surfing the Internet, listening to music, office type work (Word/Excel) and a little photo editting nothing too intensive though.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, OS (Windows 7), HDD (1 EIDE, 2 SATA), Speakers (2.1)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: not sure what this is but I live in the US

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD CPU; ATi graphics (unless I can stay in the same price range and get a better machine w/ Intel or nVidia)

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1080p

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Just looking for advice on setup; like does it all work together (as far as I can tell it should :p )
if you know of anything that could be tweaked for better results
am I missing anything
is there a comparable pre-built system in the same price range
etc.

PARTS CURRENTLY SELECTED:

Case:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$59.95

PSU:
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$64.99

Mobo:
ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
$119.99

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
$154.99

CPU Cooling:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler
$29.99

Thermal Paste:
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
$9.99

RAM:
A-DATA XPG Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000G (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model AX3U2000GB2G9-2G
$89.99

Graphics:
HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
$139.99

Monitor:
Acer G215HAbd Black 21.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
$149.99

Optical Drive(s):
LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
$19.99

-------------------------------------------------

Thanks in advance for your advice, suggestion, help, etc.

More about : build looong time advice 900 gaming syste

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^ You can get an Intel build within that budget no doubt but I doubt you would benefit as you wont be going SLI/ Crossfire...
Also as you will not be going SLI Crossfire, go with a more powerful card like GTX 460/ HD 5850/ GTX 470...

Build with combos...
X4 955 + MSI 870A
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Corsair 4GB DDR3 + NZXT M59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

OCZ Mod 600W + DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Graphics card -
MSI GTX 460 1GB + Free Game
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Go with slightly better monitor -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU Cooler - Definetly a better one -
CM Hyper 212+
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=s9_simh...

Or HD 5850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total - ~$859 | $764 After Rebates...
Or with HD 5850 - ~$899 before rebates...

Sorry for the newb question; maybe someone can just link a site if it's too long to explain but, what is the benefit of having CrossFire/SLi when I only am wanting to run 2 monitors?

4cid said:
Sorry for the newb question; maybe someone can just link a site if it's too long to explain but, what is the benefit of having CrossFire/SLi when I only am wanting to run 2 monitors?


SLI and Crossfire allow two or more graphics cards to work together. It doesn't matter how many monitors you have hooked up; the work load will be divided up between the graphics cards. Adding a second graphics card in SLI or Crossfire will increase performance around 70-80%. Because video cards increase in price exponentially as performance increases, you can usually get a better value in a SLI or Crossfire setup.
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4cid said:
CPU Cooling:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler
$29.99

Thermal Paste:
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
$9.99


2 points:

Arctic Cooling CPU Coolers come with very high quality thermal paste.

That CPU cooler isn't a very good value. In general Newegg's prices are a little high for CPU coolers.


This Cooler Master TX3 cooler performs as well for $20:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-910-HTX3-G1-130-...


The Cooler Master Hyper 212+ performs much much better for $30:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Univ...


CPU Cooler Performance Comparison Chart:

http://frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2535&pa...

wielander said:
2 points:

Arctic Cooling CPU Coolers come with very high quality thermal paste.

That CPU cooler isn't a very good value. In general Newegg's prices are a little high for CPU coolers.


This Cooler Master TX3 cooler performs as well for $20:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-910-HTX3-G1-130-...


The Cooler Master Hyper 212+ performs much much better for $30:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Univ...


CPU Cooler Performance Comparison Chart:

http://frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2535&pa...


ScrewySqrl said:
a good cooler at newegg that isn't too expensive is the Kingwin XT-1264.

Its top-30 bat frostytech, and in their emulated AMD test, it managed +14.7 C over ambient with a fairly quiet 45 dB. (about the sound of whispered conversation). Note that the very BEST coolers are about +11 over ambient, so +14.7 is very, very good.

and its $25 at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


With any of the new CPU coolers you recommended is it advised to get a better thermal paste or is the paste that is on them sufficient?

Quote:
What's happening in Oct that will be causing the prices to come down?


4cid said:
With any of the new CPU coolers you recommended is it advised to get a better thermal paste or is the paste that is on them sufficient?



In October, AMD ill introduce the new AMD Radeon 6xxx graphics processors, which will cause all current GPUs to drop. In December (probably) they will introduce the Bobcat processor in 2 forms: the 9w (which will be faster and cheaper than an Atom) and 18W (which will be lower power and comparable to a low-wattage i3). The on-die GPU in the 18W Bobcat will be in the HD5460 range in terms of GPU power, and AMD promises 1080p capability for video. :o  If it delivers on this, it will cause the bottom end of the GPU market to crash as well.

as for the thermal paste, if it comes with it, it's probly fine, but the Arctic Silver is good stuff and cheap enough to go ahead and buy. Not every cooler comes with thermal compound

ScrewySqrl said:
a good cooler at newegg that isn't too expensive is the Kingwin XT-1264.

Its top-30 bat frostytech, and in their emulated AMD test, it managed +14.7 C over ambient with a fairly quiet 45 dB. (about the sound of whispered conversation). Note that the very BEST coolers are about +11 over ambient, so +14.7 is very, very good.

and its $25 at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...



It's $20 from Mwave with free Arctic Silver Ceramique or $22 with Arctic Silver 5.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kingwin-CPU-Cooler-XT-1264-Arctic-C...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kingwin-XT-1264-AS5-3-5G-HTC-Series...

I think that I am going to hold off on the build until the new line comes out so that the Graphics will be less expensive and then I can consider doing CrossFire as the benefits; as the benefits as they have been told to me, seem worth it.

~Sorry for the double post but the outdated browser I am currently using doesn't let me click the publish post but in the edit screen~

The "best" gaming card in the 5xxx series at the moment as I understand it, is the 5870. So when the prices drop; when the 6xxx series comes out, will it be better to go with two of these if possible, or would say two 5770s be comparable, or is there something even better that I'm not aware of?
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