Hey Everyone! Another new build thread

[flyjaf]

Hi everyone from Tom's Hardware! I'm new here (as you can see, my very first post) but I before I registered I've been through the forums quite a few times before and I must say that the community here is quite helpful and extremely welcoming.

I just need your feedback with my new build and I just have a few questions here and there on this and that. I will be extremely greatful for your help.

AMD Phenom II x6 1055T
ECS GTX 460 1GB (SLI) (looking into MSI Hawk version)
Asus M4N98TD-EVO (AM3) $135 (Is this board AM3+? Wondering for bulldozer)
G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1666mhz 4GB (may upgrade to 8gb later). Can anyone suggest timings I should be looking for or are they all the same?
Antec Skeleton
Corsair TX750W
Leadtek DTV2000DS Dual Digital TV Tunner
BenQ G2420HD
2 x SAMSUNG SpinPoint F3 1TB (hoping to RAID1) <---- may even look at F4s (2x320gb)
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB
Logitech X-530
Xonar D1
AD700 + Zalman Clip on Mic

Yea, it's a pretty gaming heavy build however I need the 6 cores because of my passion for making videos and also I think it's pretty good for the next 3 years at least.
I won't be getting this setup any time too soon, more like early next year? So if there is anything noticeably good coming out soon, that would be a nice help! I hope the 6XXX radeon series will push gtx460 prices down !

I'm going to try overclock heavily so any advice on that is appreciated! I think that is all, any suggestions for my build would be awesome and last piece of information is that I'm going to try keep this all under $2000AU. Right now its at like $1950AU =(. Umm,, btw I might even be purchasing from the US instead of AUS.. maybe there will be a real saving, I'll have to look around first though.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[guanyu210379]

Your built is basically OK, but since you are going to get the rig next year.
I will put away most of my comments and will look at how things are going to develop with all the new hardwares.

What I do wanna comment at themoment is :
1. Antec skeleton, I personally don't like this case, I prefer to get Antec 900, 900 II, or 1200.
2. I don't see the need of RAIDing your HDD. 1 Big capacity HDD for your data and a SSD for your OS are enough.
3. Extra soundcard is not really necessary, in my opinion. The onboard one is more than enough.
4. You have said that your are gonna OC your system. Don't forget to get a good after market cooler!
5. Have you included the OSs price in your budget?
6. AMD rig with SLI is not my thing. I would prefer XFire to go with an AMD rig.
7. If you plan to get things from ÚSA. Please also pay attention to customs/taxes.

 

[flyjaf]

wow, thank you for your extremely detailed answer!
Yes, i will look into all of these, thanks for the help!

 

[JokerCandy]

bump =(

 

[flyjaf]

alright if there isnt anything anyone can improve on, thanks for the help anyways!

 

[jbakerlent]

Welcome to the forum.

First off, I agree with guanyu's comments.

There's a Build Advice form in my signature you may wish to fill out, but based on the information you provided, I would say ditch the Nvidia chipset and either go with an Intel one for SLI or an AMD one for Crossfire with Radeon cards.

I'm not sure exactly what set of RAM you have picked out, but you want as low timings as possible. CL7 is usually the best price/performance area. Also, it would be better to check back in closer to your purchase date as new CPUs are likely to be released by AMD and Intel before then.

 

[guanyu210379]

1. No one is going to really improve your rig plan at the moment, since you are gonna get the rig next year.

2. We are in the middle of a relatively major changes on hardware (A.K.A : waiting) since the Bulldozer, Sandy Bridge, and HD6xxx or even GTX5xx are going to join the fight real soon. New hardwares are on the way and price drop for current hardwares is expected.