Build spec question
Last response: in Systems
Hello, I am getting a new PC quite soon, and I have 2 specs in mind:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Fan
GIGABYTE H55M-UD2H s1156 Core i3/i5/i7, Intel H55, DDR3 1600, 2xPCI-E, VGA, HDMI, DP
DDR III 1333Mhz 2x2GB G.Skill NQ Edition Dual Channel
GIGABYTE GTX460 1GB GDDR5 DX11 2xDVI HDMI PCI-E
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S DVD±RW x24 Black Sata
Sharkoon Rebel9 Pro Economy Black ATX Case (No PSU)
SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Active PFC 12cm Fan S12II-520 (Retail)
$1082
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Fan
GIGABYTE MA785GM-US2H AM2+, AM3, 785G, DDR2 800, VGA ATI HD4200, HDMI
DDR III 1333Mhz 2x2GB G.Skill NQ Edition Dual Channel
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 DX11 2xDVI HDMI Mini 2xDP PCI-E
Sharkoon Rebel9 Pro Economy Black ATX Case (No PSU)
SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Active PFC 12cm Fan S12II-520 (Retail)
$905
The usage of this PC is going to be primarily gaming, some video editing(AfterEffects, Photoshop), OpenGL development. I also plan to OC the GPU and maybe the CPU too.
CPU-wise, the i5 tears that Phenom apart, but AMD is way cheaper. What way should I go?
Cooling: The current cooler is sufficient for a reasonable over-clocking?
Mobo: I don't take critique on this one. A shop I am ordering from doesn't have a huge variety. A quick question though. Rumors have been made that any 2xPCIe16 mobo can pull of SLI. Is it true? Also would SLI run if the second slot is only x4/x8?
RAM: Would still work if I OC the CPU?
GPU: Cuda apart, any reason to prefer GTX460 over HD6850? Which OCs better? Also, Gigabyte GTX460 comes with some nice twin cooling, all HDs seem to come with a single-fan reference cooler.
Case: Never really cared, picked one thats cheap and looks nice.
PSU: Enough output to sustain GPU+CPU OC?
Input would be appreciated.
Quote:
Core i5 760, 2.8GHz, s1156, 8MB Tray Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Fan
GIGABYTE H55M-UD2H s1156 Core i3/i5/i7, Intel H55, DDR3 1600, 2xPCI-E, VGA, HDMI, DP
DDR III 1333Mhz 2x2GB G.Skill NQ Edition Dual Channel
GIGABYTE GTX460 1GB GDDR5 DX11 2xDVI HDMI PCI-E
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S DVD±RW x24 Black Sata
Sharkoon Rebel9 Pro Economy Black ATX Case (No PSU)
SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Active PFC 12cm Fan S12II-520 (Retail)
$1082
Quote:
Phenom II x4 Quad Core 955 Socket AM3 3.2Ghz Box Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Fan
GIGABYTE MA785GM-US2H AM2+, AM3, 785G, DDR2 800, VGA ATI HD4200, HDMI
DDR III 1333Mhz 2x2GB G.Skill NQ Edition Dual Channel
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 DX11 2xDVI HDMI Mini 2xDP PCI-E
Sharkoon Rebel9 Pro Economy Black ATX Case (No PSU)
SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Active PFC 12cm Fan S12II-520 (Retail)
$905
The usage of this PC is going to be primarily gaming, some video editing(AfterEffects, Photoshop), OpenGL development. I also plan to OC the GPU and maybe the CPU too.
CPU-wise, the i5 tears that Phenom apart, but AMD is way cheaper. What way should I go?
Cooling: The current cooler is sufficient for a reasonable over-clocking?
Mobo: I don't take critique on this one. A shop I am ordering from doesn't have a huge variety. A quick question though. Rumors have been made that any 2xPCIe16 mobo can pull of SLI. Is it true? Also would SLI run if the second slot is only x4/x8?
RAM: Would still work if I OC the CPU?
GPU: Cuda apart, any reason to prefer GTX460 over HD6850? Which OCs better? Also, Gigabyte GTX460 comes with some nice twin cooling, all HDs seem to come with a single-fan reference cooler.
Case: Never really cared, picked one thats cheap and looks nice.
PSU: Enough output to sustain GPU+CPU OC?
Input would be appreciated.
More about : build spec question
The i5 doesn't tear the Phenom apart in gaming, in other CPU dependant tasks, such as video editing, then yes the i5 has a noticeable lead over the 955. It probably depends on how much video editing you do, and how willing you are to live with yourself knowing that you could have got the faster processor, when you are video editing.
The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a decent budget choice, you might be able to get the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus, another budget option (sometimes it is not that much more expensive than the AC F7P, depending on region, I think) which will have better temps and you'd have a fairer chance of being able to replace the fan on it if you ever wanted to - flexibility.
SLI will run on boards with the second slot at x8, I don't believe Nvidia certify boards with the second slot at x4, whereas AMD do certify those ones for crossfire. If you were also talking about SLI on AMD motherboards then there is a driver hack, but usually it is not recommended to go down that route.
Yes the RAM will still work if you OC.
The GTX460 has a good reputation for overclocking, but if the 6850 is like the 5850, it will OC to the same speeds as a 6870. And when I was reading reviews of the AMD 6800 series I'm pretty sure that the 6870 easily beat one of the fastest factory OCed GTX 460s: EVGA GTX460 SC.
Yes that PSU should be plenty for a lot of single GPU systems. I don't believe that even with all the overclocking you'll do that power consumption would exceed 350/400 watts. Which a Seasonic should be able to deal with easily.
The motherboard in the AMD build is not compatible with the rest of the build. It uses DDR2, if you go with the AMD build, you really should try to get a DDR3 board. Perhaps that would decrease the price difference enough to make the Intel build more attractive.
The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a decent budget choice, you might be able to get the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus, another budget option (sometimes it is not that much more expensive than the AC F7P, depending on region, I think) which will have better temps and you'd have a fairer chance of being able to replace the fan on it if you ever wanted to - flexibility.
SLI will run on boards with the second slot at x8, I don't believe Nvidia certify boards with the second slot at x4, whereas AMD do certify those ones for crossfire. If you were also talking about SLI on AMD motherboards then there is a driver hack, but usually it is not recommended to go down that route.
Yes the RAM will still work if you OC.
The GTX460 has a good reputation for overclocking, but if the 6850 is like the 5850, it will OC to the same speeds as a 6870. And when I was reading reviews of the AMD 6800 series I'm pretty sure that the 6870 easily beat one of the fastest factory OCed GTX 460s: EVGA GTX460 SC.
Yes that PSU should be plenty for a lot of single GPU systems. I don't believe that even with all the overclocking you'll do that power consumption would exceed 350/400 watts. Which a Seasonic should be able to deal with easily.
The motherboard in the AMD build is not compatible with the rest of the build. It uses DDR2, if you go with the AMD build, you really should try to get a DDR3 board. Perhaps that would decrease the price difference enough to make the Intel build more attractive.
Silvune said:
The i5 doesn't tear the Phenom apart in gaming, in other CPU dependant tasks, such as video editing, then yes the i5 has a noticeable lead over the 955. It probably depends on how much video editing you do, and how willing you are to live with yourself knowing that you could have got the faster processor, when you are video editing. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a decent budget choice, you might be able to get the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus, another budget option (sometimes it is not that much more expensive than the AC F7P, depending on region, I think) which will have better temps and you'd have a fairer chance of being able to replace the fan on it if you ever wanted to - flexibility.
SLI will run on boards with the second slot at x8, I don't believe Nvidia certify boards with the second slot at x4, whereas AMD do certify those ones for crossfire. If you were also talking about SLI on AMD motherboards then there is a driver hack, but usually it is not recommended to go down that route.
Yes the RAM will still work if you OC.
The GTX460 has a good reputation for overclocking, but if the 6850 is like the 5850, it will OC to the same speeds as a 6870. And when I was reading reviews of the AMD 6800 series I'm pretty sure that the 6870 easily beat one of the fastest factory OCed GTX 460s: EVGA GTX460 SC.
Yes that PSU should be plenty for a lot of single GPU systems. I don't believe that even with all the overclocking you'll do that power consumption would exceed 350/400 watts. Which a Seasonic should be able to deal with easily.
The motherboard in the AMD build is not compatible with the rest of the build. It uses DDR2, if you go with the AMD build, you really should try to get a DDR3 board. Perhaps that would decrease the price difference enough to make the Intel build more attractive.
Apparently I have picked the wrong mobo on mistake. I've meant to get the GA-880GM-UD2H, which pulls off the RAM I've chosen. Also, if going down the road of SLI mobo hacks is not recommended(why?), Is there any reason to get a mobo with more than one full PCIe(x16 sized, not necessarily clocked at x16) port? (Other than CrossFire).
Also, from what I have understood, HD6850 can be OCd to become faster than the fastest factory OCd GTX460? What if I OC the GTX460? Any clear winner? Also, would I notice the missing CUDA cores with the HD6850?
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