New System Build, Looking for Advice

[racerboy45]

Will build a new system, want to stay with AMD for what I believe is bang for buck with my CPU choice. Need help with which Vid Card to go with and any other suggestions anyone has to better my machine. I have some parts already on hand and some ordered. Below is what I'm looking at:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
MB: 1. ASUS M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU/MB is currently a combo deal on newegg for $275 - $25 savings - Looking to buy tonight
RAM: 1600 DDR3 4 gigs - I like Corsair?? - need to buy
Vid Card: ??? - need to buy
PSU: Seasonic X750 - in the mail
Case: CM 690 II Advanced - in the mail
HS: Corsair H50 - at the house
OS: Win 7 HP 64 - at the house
HD: 1TB WD Black 7200 - at the house
HD: 1TB SP F3 7200 - $16 dollars off on newegg, looking to buy tonight
Burner: OEM/w lightscribe - need to buy

Thanks in advance.

 

[dndhatcher]

I wouldnt buy an outdated nforce chipset motherboard. The only reason would be to buy a pair og GTX 460 (1GB) graphics cards and SLI them. If you are really considering that, I would go with an intel motherboard and CPU, like a P55 and i5 760.

If going AMD get a newer 8xx chipset motherboard with USB3 and SATA3. It removes SLI as an option, but you can still crossfire if you get an ATI graphics card.

I like Corsair RAM also, but for the past year they have priced themselves too high. Gskill, Geil or Mushkin seem to always have lower voltage and/or better timings at the same speed for cheaper.

Given the other parts you have purchased, going with a bargain basement old AMD motherboard really doesnt make sense to me. If your budget allows a P7P55D-E Pro motherboard and I5 760 CPU plus a GTX 460 (1GB) <or buy two of them if you can afford it> would make alot of sense.

 

[buzznut]

If you are not going with sli, then I would look at a motherboard with an AMD chipset.

But since you have chosen the 980a, I'll assume you want one card now and another later on. I would get the GTX 460 as it is the best bang for buck in that price range. Also more expensive fermi's generate alot of heat and draw alot of power.

I like the build. I'm recommending the X4 955 at $140 because both cpu's will yield about the same if overclocking. Corsair is fine.

 

[buzznut]

I wouldnt buy an outdated nforce motherboard.

Do you know of a newer SLI chipset for AMD?

 

[racerboy45]

I thought this MB had the latest chipset, am I wrong? If I didn't go the SLI route but wanted to keep the AMD CPU any recommendations on a MB?

Thanks.

 

[dndhatcher]

Do you know of a newer SLI chipset for AMD?

I thought this MB had the latest chipset, am I wrong? If I didn't go the SLI route but wanted to keep the AMD CPU any recommendations on a MB?

Thanks.

There is no new SLI solution for AMD. Nvidia cut AMD out with firmware since AMD took over ATI. The Nforce 9800 is the newest SLI capable chipset, but its still older that than the AMD 7xx chipsets if I am not mistaken. If you want a good Nvidia SLI motherboard you are stuck getting an intel CPU. Someone may have made a hack for doing SLI on AMD chipsets, but I dont know about such things.


I would get an ASUS or Gigabyte 890/880/870 motherboard, or the ASRock 870 extreme 3, which is the cheapest good AMD motherboard capable of crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198

 

[sp12]

Well, latest Nforce.

Issue is that Nvidia's chipset business is kinda disbanded now that Intel has cut them out. The Nvidia chipsets are not on par with the AMD chipsets on features, overclocking, price, or stability.

 

[buzznut]

Well, latest Nforce.

Issue is that Nvidia's chipset business is kinda disbanded now that Intel has cut them out. The Nvidia chipsets are not on par with the AMD chipsets on features, overclocking, price, or stability.

Yeah this is my understanding; nVidia is basically out of the chipset business. I wonder what this means for the future of SLI? One presumes they will continue to support SLI through chipset updates if they want to keep selling multiple video cards to users.

I wasn't aware that 980a was an older (AMD/SLI) chipset, it seemed about as new as the 800 series from AMD. I mean, the 750 chipset is about 3 years old, isn't it?

Anyway if the OP wants to do sli with an AMD cpu, its not like they have a lot of choice.

 

[buzznut]

I thought this MB had the latest chipset, am I wrong? If I didn't go the SLI route but wanted to keep the AMD CPU any recommendations on a MB?

Thanks.

As mentioned, I would go with AMD 870, 880, or 890GX preferably. Skip 880G if truly interested in multiple video cards ala crossfire. 890GX will provide a good gaming platform, although some purists will say to go with an 870X to not pay for an integrated graphics chip.

However my 790GX has been a great platform for me and has provided excellent overclocking and ease of use.

890FX is an enthusiast platform that is top of the line for AMD. It is more expensive, I would only go with this if interested in 3 way or 4 way crossfire.

If you choose an 800 series board, I recommend you look at the HD5770 video card.

 

[racerboy45]

What do you think about a ASRock 890FX Deluxe4 with 2 of the following cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858

 

[buzznut]

Not sure why its $10 more than the Asrock Deluxe 3 but it looks like a sweet board. Maybe its the front USB 3.0 ports?

Well, its obviously pricier than the 890GX boards, but it looks very promising. 2 HD 5770's in crossfire=gaming goodness. wish I could afford that.

 

[racerboy45]

One last option, would you go for 1 5850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102884 for$254.99 and crossfire later or

take 2 5770s for under $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858

Is there much difference between the cards? What about the cooler style, they each come in an old and new style cooler configuration, one way air out the back of the case and the other however your case fans get it out??

Thanks Brother..

 

[buzznut]

One last option, would you go for 1 5850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102884 for$254.99 and crossfire later or

take 2 5770s for under $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858

Is there much difference between the cards? What about the cooler style, they each come in an old and new style cooler configuration, one way air out the back of the case and the other however your case fans get it out??

Thanks Brother..

Absolutely take the two HD 5770's. This is a very powerful configuration for $300.

It looks like they all vent out the back...
It looks like the fan on the HD5850 is superior due to the larger size but looks can be deceiving. Obviously the 5850 requires more robust cooling. Personally I like a bigger fan that is quieter and cools better. But generally the shroud and two slot fan work well. The HD5770 has a reputation as a cool and efficient part.

I would check the motherboard and see if you'll be blocking any pci slots you may wish to use.

 

[buzznut]

Here's the fan and heatsink on my HD4850 for comparison:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Asus+HD+4850&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&cid=10256102314914863683&ei=fV2jTLWhEZnKiwSAodT7BQ&sa=title&ved=0CAwQ8wIwATgA#p

 

[racerboy45]

for the money I think you are giving sound advice, maybe in future my next upgrade will be to the 5970, prices have to come down sooner or later

Do you prefer any of the 5770s over the others or are they about the same?

 

[dndhatcher]

In the US, XFX gives a lifetime warranty on graphics cards. Other manufacturers are usually 2 years from date of purchase or 3 years from date of manufacture. The warranty, cooler and factory overclocking are the only differences between the cards. Most companies have multiple models of the same card with different overclocks and coolers.

My preference is coolers that push air out the back, not ones that churn warm air around inside the case. Often the egg coolers are technically stronger coolers than the rear exhaust ones. My concern is them making dead aitflow zones inside the case, which is possibly unfounded.

 

[buzznut]

In the US, XFX gives a lifetime warranty on graphics cards. Other manufacturers are usually 2 years from date of purchase or 3 years from date of manufacture. The warranty, cooler and factory overclocking are the only differences between the cards. Most companies have multiple models of the same card with different overclocks and coolers.

My preference is coolers that push air out the back, not ones that churn warm air around inside the case. Often the egg coolers are technically stronger coolers than the rear exhaust ones. My concern is them making dead aitflow zones inside the case, which is possibly unfounded.

This is pretty much what I think. In my case, my cooling fan on the GPU exhausts right into the bottom mounted power supply and out the case. No other components are in the area.

Unless you find a card with overclocks at the same price, I would go with cheapest product with the best warranty. Most of them are not much different from reference so all things being equal-like I said larger, slower fans are my preference.

 

[racerboy45]

Best answer selected by racerboy45.

 

[racerboy45]

Just to follow up, this is what I decided to go with for m build:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
MB: ASRock 980FX Deluxe 3 (new egg was out of the Deluxe 4 and they had a great deal on the Deluxe 3)
RAM: Had a hard time finding specific Corsair RAM so I went with what the Techs from ASRock suggested, 4 gigs GSkill F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
Vid Card: Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5770 x 2 (Junipter XT)
PSU: Seasonic X750
Case: CM 690 II Advanced (Have the case, it's awesome, highly recommend it)
HS: Corsair H50
OS: Win 7 HP 64
HD: 1TB WD Black 7200
HD: 1TB SP F3 7200
Liteon iHAS424-98 /w lightscribe support x 2

Should hopefully keep me going for a while before my next build.....

 

[buzznut]

Looks like a sweet build and a great bang for buck value. I'm sure it will bring you lots of enjoyment over the next couple years. gl