New Budget Build, check out and advise plz..!

[nerd-doc]

Hi All

Please check out this build - The first I have done in more than 4 yrs, and advise.

Budget build, went with AMD to preserve bang-for-buck ratio..! Needed a Quad-Core, for moderate-heavy multi-tasking/cpu-intensive tasks. Might get hooked to FPS games in time, but right now it will be Battle for Wesnoth, and Age of Empires/Civilization - in short, not a very avid gamer. Also, am not really tech-savvy either - only reason I build my own is to save me some money - this combo comes out to 556$ incl S&H and taxes - MIR for 50$ makes it 506$.

AMD Phenom X II 955 BE + BIOSTAR TA880GB+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard Combo

APEVIA ATX-AQ700W-BK 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply

GIGABYTE gz-ph1a3 Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory

eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

ASUS DVD Writer

LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader

Logitech Wireless Desktop MK320 Keyboard & Mouse

I already have a 1 TB Seagate SATA HDD, and a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, that I got as a gift.

My questions

-- Are the CPU/MoBo/Case/PSU compatible with each other..?
-- Is it possible to add a second GPU to this combo...? Will it hold..?
-- Would a Phenom II be overkill for a system that is going to serve more as a workstation PC than as a
gaming PC
-- Some of these deals are going to be only for a day. With just 2 days to BF should I hold on a tad
more, or should I take the plunge.

Thanks.

 

[batuchka]

1. Yes
2. CF/SLI then nope mobo is mATX+ single PCIex16 lane If u are saying adding a discrete GPU then ya good to go Apps 0% gain GPU moot point though
3. If your apps gain more with more cores why not?
4. Actually the chip + mobo has been around since the weekends but ya not sure how long it shall last hehe
5. Others: i really suggest hitting a quality 380-500W 80+ certified PSU rather than an Apevia...

 

[nerd-doc]

I lost that MoBo-CPU combo, hence had to revise my build. After a long and careful thought I decided to go with Intel this time.

i5 760

GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V LGA 1156 Intel H55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

XFX GT240XYHFC GeForce GT 240 512MB

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

OCZ StealthXstream II OCZ600SXS2 600W

GIGABYTE KF Series GZ-KF01B Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD

ASUS Black 24X DVD+RW

Wireless Keyboard/Mouse (refurbished)

So is this a nice setup that will work well, and are the parts compatible..? If so I want to order rightaway. Thanks.

 

[dmen]

Definately go AMD for any build under ~$1500.-
AMD delivers way more performance per dollar.
Also get an ATI card, they deliver more performance per dollar currently.

CPU: Phenom II x6 1055T - $179.-
RAM: Gskill 2x2Gb DDR3 1600 - $50.-
Mobo & GPU: AsRock 870 Extreme3 & XFX HD5770 1Gb - $235.- ($215.- after rebate)
HDD: Yours - $0.-
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream II 600W - $55.- ($30.- after rebate)
Case&Optical: Cooler Master HAF 912 & Samsung DVD burner SATA - $67.-

Grand Total: $586.- ($541.- after rebates)

Add $150 for a mouse/keyboard/monitor, and you've got a great pc with for under $700.
Btw, if you want to spend a little bit less money, get a hd5670 and a phenom ii x4 955.

 

[nerd-doc]

Finally I went with

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 740BE 70$
MoBo: ASUS ASUS M4A88TD-V 100$
RAM: Mushkin DDR3 4 GB 35$
HDD: None(already have a SG 1 TB)
PSU: OCZ StealthXstream II 600W 30$
Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690 40$
Optical drive: LITE-ON Blu-ray Reader 40$
DVD-RW: ASUS DVD-RW 20$
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 15$
Monitor: ASUS 23" VH236H: 130$
KB+Mouse: Logitech MK320 wireless 20$
(all prices after MIR)

and a webcam for 20$. Altogether, the rig cost me 500$ (+60 $ for my 1 TB Seagate SATA drive)

I hope I got a good deal. Will try to unlock the X3 and see what I get. But for my needs I don't think I will really need the 4th core.

I had a question. I am thinking of adding another graphic card in crossfire to the ATI 4250 onboard graphics). So, Is it a good time to get a new graphics card..? Or should I wait..? Can we expect any dramatic price drops because AMD might be releasing newer cards by the end of December..?

Thanks.

 

[batuchka]

All things considered you did good As for hybrid CF i.e combining the IGP with a low end discrete: forget it If gaming is on the table buy the best frames/$$ GPU at that point of time as per your res/settings Cayman Pro/XT shall soon be upon us ^^

 

[nerd-doc]

Hi batuchka and others...

I have one more question, that I hope you guys can help out on. A lot of these parts are OEM. The MoBo comes with 3-4 SATA cables, and 1 IDE adapter. There is no HDMI cable for either the MoBo or the monitor. The case is described as toolless and also has "more screws than one will need" according to reviews on Newegg.

What, if any other components will I need to bring this build to completion..? A HDMI cable surely - anything else..?

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor

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

1 OCZ StealthXstream II OCZ600SXS2 600W ATX12V v2.2/ EPS12V PLUS Certified Power Supply

1 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact"

1 LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

4 GB DDR3 Mushkin 1600 RAM



Thanks.

 

[batuchka]

Your LCD would have been bundled with some cables that pass video from rig to LCD like VGA/DVI and/or HDMI : i would hit DVI/HDMI and plug in power cable from PSU and LCD to wall socket

 

[nerd-doc]

So far, my build has been holding together quite well. The X3 successfully unlocked to X4 40 and all cores have been stable @ 3.1 GHz, with temps at 33 - 35C. The CM 212 hyper plus, is pretty loud compared to my other case fans.. I don't know if that is usually the case.?

The monitor too has been great...! Just no HDMI cable, I had to buy one myself.

The case looks good, and so does the PSU. The SATA rail has 3 connectors but if you connect two to two drives then the third one becomes useless because the rail is too short. I had to buy a molex-to-sata adapter to get power for my SATA bluray drive.

Just hope all my rebates come through..! More than a 100 bucks..! I spent 655$ on this computer before rebates, andhope to bring it down to 555 with my rebates all in..!

Thanks guys, esp batuchka...!