890FX Gaming PC

[quantum_guy]

Hey guys,

I am an old follower of the forum, but this is my first post as a member. I hope to have a great time here.

I have just moved to Europe for a PhD and did not bring my gaming PC with me, so I need to buy a new one here, and I would like to hear what do you think about the specs I have been considering. As I have said, the main purpose is gaming, I will probably buy it within 2 weeks and I am aiming to stay within a budget of EUR 1200 for the parts (no monitor needed, I already have a Samsung P2770H). These are the parts I have been thinking:

Motherboard: ASRock 890FX Deluxe 4 (I also considered Asus Formula 4 which has the same chipset and more OC options, but I don't know if I'll really overclock).

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black edition

RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX KHX1333C7D3K4/8GX (7-7-7-20)

Optical Drive: I want a Blu-Ray reader, but don't know a good one.

HDD: 1 TB WD Caviar Black

SSD: 40 GB Intel X25-V or 64 Kingston SSDNow V Series ??

GPU: AMD Radeon 6870 (going for Crossfire in the near future)

PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty 750W or XFX PRO 750W ???

Case: Thermaltake Armor A90 (I am really in love with the Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Edition, but it's really expensive)

Speakers: Logitech X-540 5.1 (And dreaming about the Z-5500)

Mouse & Keyboard: Do not know. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[batuchka]

I would say the premium going from 8/8 to 16/16 is not worth it so have a look at these mobos

Asrock 870Extreme3
Asrock 880GExtreme3

The HD6k GPUs are less power hungry than their HD5k counterparts so a beefy 80+ 650-700W would be fine with CF in mind ^^

SSD i would pick either
60GB Sandforce
64GB C300 SATA 6GB/s

Gaming mainly just the 955BE + 4GB DDR3

 

[quantum_guy]

Hey batuchka, thanks for the reply.

Do you think an Antec Truepower 650W would be fine to provide the juice, then? It's a EUR 15 difference in price to the OCZ Fatal1ty. I would not mind to pay these EUR15 for a real gain, but if the gain is not really big...

The Crucial C300 SSD seems great. I'll probably get one of them instead of the Intel X25-V.

About the motherboard, beyond being 16/16, the 890FX also has a new (and faster) lanes design. Maybe the price difference for the 880G is worth, then?

I forgot to mention on the original post, but prices can be checked here: http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/

 

[dmen]

 

[coldsleep]

Agree with batuchka, except on the C300. It's worth getting the 256 GB C300, not so much on the smaller sizes. At between 60-128 GB, your best bet is still a SandForce-1200 drive. Any one of: OCZ Agility2/Vertex2, Patriot Inferno, G.Skill Phoenix/Pro, Corsair Force, Mushkin Callisto, etc. (Unless, of course, the C300 is significantly less expensive than the SF-1200 drives.)

Here's some reading about the relative performance:
Anandtech article about the C300's value compared to other drives

 

[reaper2794]

Definitely only need 4 GB of RAM, also a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB instead of the WD

For a mouse, Razer Mamba if you're into wireless, Razer Deathadder if you're into wired, both with 1 ms so no worries there

Razer Blackwidow if you like mechanical keyboards, Razer Lycosa if you want a regular keyboard

www.razerzone.com

Check out all their sweet products there

 

[batuchka]

Hey batuchka, thanks for the reply.

Do you think an Antec Truepower 650W would be fine to provide the juice, then? It's a EUR 15 difference in price to the OCZ Fatal1ty. I would not mind to pay these EUR15 for a real gain, but if the gain is not really big...

The Crucial C300 SSD seems great. I'll probably get one of them instead of the Intel X25-V.

About the motherboard, beyond being 16/16, the 890FX also has a new (and faster) lanes design. Maybe the price difference for the 880G is worth, then?

I forgot to mention on the original post, but prices can be checked here: http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/

Not all 880Gs are at least 8/8 CFable though....just like the 870s but apart from 16/16 and 8/8 both share the same SB850

 

[quantum_guy]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

So, the Samsung F3 seems to be a consensus against the WD Black Caviar FAEX? That surprises me.

As for the Blu-Ray reader, I found the Lite-On IHOS104-32. Anyone has a better option?

The prices of the SSDs are:
Corsair Force F60 60GB - EUR 120
OCZ Agility 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD 60GB - EUR 113
OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD 60GB - EUR 110
Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 64GB - EUR 110

In this price range, for what I have read, it would be a question of Crucial C300 against the Vertex 2, but after reading different review I am basically stuck unable to decide.

Reaper, nice input about Razer gear. I'll get a Lycosa mirror edition. I have also considered to get a Naga since I'm into MMO, but from some reviews it seems to be small (I am 6'7" and have giant hands), so I'll probably get a Sidewinder X8.

I have also decided to go for a HAF 922 for the case, but still not sure about the PSU.

Inputs are welcome.

 

[vindictive]

I have a razer deathadder. It's a fantastic mouse! I'd recommend it to anyone. Xfx 650 is way better than ocz psu's.

 

[quantum_guy]

I have a razer deathadder. It's a fantastic mouse! I'd recommend it to anyone. Xfx 650 is way better than ocz psu's.

The deathadder is good even for large hands? That is my main concern. I'd like to have the 12 thumb-buttons from the Naga, but the mouse seems small.

 

[vindictive]

Uhh well my cousin that's 6'9" used it and liked it more than his g7? I think it's g7 the logitech one.
And first I bought the razer Lachesis. DON'T BUY THAT. I returned it the next day. It's the most awkward uncomfortable thing to use. (I blame because it was made to work for right and left handed people.)

 

[coldsleep]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

So, the Samsung F3 seems to be a consensus against the WD Black Caviar FAEX? That surprises me.

The prices of the SSDs are:
Corsair Force F60 60GB - EUR 120
OCZ Agility 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD 60GB - EUR 113
OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD 60GB - EUR 110
Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 64GB - EUR 110

In this price range, for what I have read, it would be a question of Crucial C300 against the Vertex 2, but after reading different review I am basically stuck unable to decide.

The Samsung Spinpoint F3 offers equivalent performance to the WD FAEX, and at least in the US, is about 25% less expensive, which is why it is recommended so frequently. If the prices are closer where you are, it's up to personal preference.

The C300 offers slightly better read speeds, but the Vertex 2 is a more balanced drive. I own a C300 128 GB, but I think that you should get the Vertex 2. Either of them is going to be very fast, though...it's hard to go wrong with any of them.

 

[batuchka]

Our very own forums did a SSD shoot out a few days ago ^^

Conclusion And Recommendations : Roundup: The Best SSDs For Enthusiasts

Recommendations

You usually won’t regret buying an SSD with a SandForce SF-1200 controller. The balance between throughput, I/O performance, and application performance is still impressive. Corsair, G.Skill, Patriot, OCZ, Runcore, and others have suitable offerings. Look for best prices, warranty, and maybe an installation kit for your desktop PC if needed.

If you want to maximize throughput, you have no alternative but to purchase Crucial’s RealSSD C300. Mobile users can only get rock bottom power consumption if they stay with Toshiba hardware, which isn’t the fastest. Intel SSDs offer a good compromise between power and performance, but you have to be aware of their limited write performance.

Samsung’s 470-series only shows marginal weaknesses across our benchmark suite. If Samsung were to price the drive more aggressively, it would be a more compelling option.

 

[quantum_guy]

Hey guys, thanks for your insights. I think I finally made up my mind:

Phenom II X4 965 BE, ASRock 890FX Deluxe4, 2x Sapphire 6870, 8GB RAM Kingston 1333 (7-7-7-24), Cooler Master HAF 922, Antec TruePower 650W, Razer Lycosa, Microsoft Sidewinder X8, 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3, 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 and Lite-On IHOS104-32.

My flatmate said that I should get the Logitech Z-5500 for the parties at our place and is going to share the price with me.

I hope that peforms fine.