How does this rig look?

[sickness335]

After going through I don't know how many fourms, I've finally found the hardware that works best for me. Before I go out and buy it, I just want to triple check with you guys. I have an Antec Sonata II case, would all of this fit into it? I have also been told that my ATX Ultra V series 500w PSU is the worst power supply out there, however I've had it for 2 years and have had no problems. I don't think it would make any sense to go out and buy a new one then, right?

Graphics: SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)


Total is $481.96

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Drop the chip to a 955 and make sure you put your ram in the right sockets, or it will be restricted to 1333Mhz,
and yes, fork out on a decent psu
Moto

 

[soundguruman]

I would have gone with earthwatts 650, because 500 watts is the minimum, and a lot of power supplies are over rated. you might have enough power to start it, just check it out and see. what does the power supply label say? is the rating really 500 watts continuous?
and you will want as many fans as will fit in the case, even if they are running on 5 volts slow speed. The cooler that is included with the 965 BOX edition works OK, but the fan is small diameter and a little noisy. maybe you should add a little cooler master 90 mm fan cooler?
but the board is a good choice and i thinks you will be fine with that setup.

 

[calguyhunk]

I'm guessing this is gonna be a gaming system. It's very difficult to advise without knowing your budget, resolution and what games you wanna play at what settings.

If you're not planning on running CPU intensive apps like matlab, R etc, drop the CPU down to a Rana 450 and get a GTX 4xx or even a Radeon 6xxx depending on your budget if you're on 1920x1080. If not, then the 5770 will do plenty alright for most games. Some games do like Nvidia better than Radeon though.

Any case, slightly faster G.Skill RAM for $7 extra- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

As for the Ultra PSU, why fix something that ain't broke? But then again there will be enough people on this forum & beyond telling you to get a Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, XFX, CoolerMaster etc. & I can't say I totally disagree with 'em.

 

[sickness335]

Alright sounds good. I will be playing intensive games, such as Star Trek Online, Crysis etc. Motopsychojdn, what do you mean by putting the RAM into the right sockets?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

C&P from the link you posted on the Mobo, overview tab
**DDR3 1866(OC)/1333/1066 *To reach DDR3 1866MHz or above, you must install two memory modules and install them in the DDR3_3 and DDR3_4 memory sockets**

seems like you must use those two slots specifically to get your 1600Mhz or your limited to 1333Mhz ram speed, in which case save your money and just buy 1333,
Moto

 

[calguyhunk]

Crysis is a GPU intensive game but not so Star Trek Online. On medium settings at 1920x1080, you will prolly get decent fps.

Star Trek Online Benchmarks (DX10)-

Crysis Benchmarks (DX10)-

On a lower resolution on medium settings, you might get decent fps but not so on higher res. Not with the 5770.

 

[sickness335]

I know this is a silly question, but where do I go check to see what resolution I use? I think I have an idea what it is but I'm not sure.

 

[Riki94]

You go in the Settings and then you find a tab called Video or Graphics. Then resolution will be clearly labelled. Can't miss it.

 

[calguyhunk]

Win 7- Right click on desktop wallpaper>Screen Resolution.

Or for list view- Control Panel>Display>Screen Resolution
For category view- Control Panel>Appearance & personalization>Adjust screen resolution

Win Vista- Right Click on Your Desktop>Personalize>Display Settings>Resolution

Win XP- Right click on desktop wallpaper>Properties>Settings>Screen Resolution

Normally for newish LCD Monitors, it'll be 1366x768 for 18.5", 1600x900 for 20" & 1920x1080 for 21.5" onwards for 16:9 aspect ratio ones. Older ones will have lower resolutions.

 

[sickness335]

Haha oh jeez, that probably explains why I have a 1024x768 resolution Down the road, I'll probably be getting a new LCD monitor. So which graphics card should I get? I want to keep the budget below $500.

 

[calguyhunk]

For 1024x768 even a 5770 will be a little OTT. But nonetheless depending on your preference for Radeon/Nvidia, get a Radeon HD 5770 or a GTS 450 for your current monitor.

If you're likely to upgrade soon, your gfx card choice will depend on your budget, resolution and what games you wanna play on what settings.

I think the 5770 will be decent enough choice under most circumstances for a 100-150 dollar range. But you can only decide on that definitively once you've zeroed in on a monitor.

 

[sickness335]

Hmm okay. Lets say I wanted to play all the newest games (Including Star Trek Online) on the highest settings and best possible resolution on a new monitor (Your preference on a good). Which card (Either ATI and Nvidiva are fine) and monitor would be the best for a $500 budget?

 

[calguyhunk]

$500 for only gfx card & Monitor, or Monitor+comp (including gfx card)?

"Best possible resolution" monitors (2560x1440/1600) cost well in excess of $1000.

HP 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor

For lesser mortals, depending on your preference of aspect ratio, maybe look at a 23 odd inch 1920x1080/1200 one from LG/Samsung/Asus/Acer etc.

$180 LG 23" 16:9 1080p LCD Monitor

Best gfx card option if your total card+Monitor budget is 500- $400 EVGA GeForce GTX 480

Even better, if your PSU allows for it - 650 watts 80+ min 50+amps on the +12V rail(s) - SLI 2 GTX 460's for an even better performance for the same cost.

2X $180 EVGA GeForce GTX 460

Tota cost- $180+360=$540. If you were to actually go with this set-up, you wont need to upgrade for a long time to come to be able to play almost all games on high to very high settings.

Recommended PSU for this set-up- $55 Antec EarthWatts EA750

For your original budget, you can get a single GTX 460. Will perform significantly better in most games compared to the 5770 especially if you were to upgrade your monitor.

 

[sickness335]

I need to stay with my original budget, as much as I would love to buy that $1000 monitor. It comes down to the Nvidia GTX 460, or the ATI Radeon 5770. I currently have a Nvidia Geforce 7600 GS, and I've always had BSOD's for the past year due to a infinite loop of errors, mainly caused by the nv_4.disp. So my trust in Nvidia at this point is low. Is there a comparison chart of the 5770 and GTX 460?

 

[vindictive]

gtx 460 IMO,
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/172?vs=156
chart

 

[calguyhunk]

Better to go with the 1GB version for just a few bucks extra - www.anandtech.com.

See if installing the latest drivers can help you with your BSODs- Do you have the Nvidia driver disk for your 7600GS? If not, go to htttp://www.nvidia.com and download the driver first.

Once you have the driver file, go into safe mode and remove the already installed older Nvidia driver from the add/remove software list under your control panel. Re-start the computer. Upon re-boot, the system should recognize the video card as new unknown hardware and ask you for the driver file for it. Just browse, then double-click on the file or put the driver disc in. Install the driver, re-start again and you should be good to go. If not, let me know.

P.S- I can give you the link to the latest driver to your 7600GS if you can say what operating system you're running- example- Windows XP 32 bit/Windows 7 64 bit etc. (Version not important)

To check whether you're running 32 or 64 bit-

XP- Right-click My Computer, then click Properties, then look on the General tab. If it doesn't say 64-bit, you're running 32-bit.

Vista/7- Right-click Computer, then click Properties. Under System/System Type, you'll see whether you're running 32 or 64 bit windows.

 

[sickness335]

Yes after seeing many reviews on the GTX 460 1GB, I think I'll get that instead of the Radeon 5770.

Here's the final list of hardware upgrade. Is their anything I can improve on without going over $500?



Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)


Total is $538.36 (Not including the rebates)

 

[GoldenI]

you're better off to just go to the sapphire 6850 instead of the sapphire 5770. GTX aren't worth it.

 

[vindictive]

why would a "gtx not be worth it" they are 1 of the best bang for the buck GPU's out there that perform very well.

 

[calguyhunk]

^+1. A 6850 costs significantly higher than a 5770. $200 vs $120. They are not in the same category. But compare the GTX 460 1GB vs the 6850 1GB, and the 460 comes up trumps in terms of the price performance ratio IMO. Add to that they are cheaper and scale so well in SLI, they just make better sense IMO.

As for the 768 MB, you'll have to OC it to get performance that's equivalent of the 1GB version. OC'ed versions will consume more power.

The thing that can be said in favor of the 6850 (and indeed Radeons in general) is that they're comparatively frugal while consuming power. A 6850 consumes around 130W at load, a stock 460 is around 160W load, a highly OC'ed 460 can get up to 190 odd on full load.

While 30 watt is not major, 60-65W is a whole tier up for roughly the same tier performance, and highly OC'ed components, even if cooled well, will degrade faster than a stock card and will have a shorter life-span.

So avoid the 768MB edition, it will be capped by the narrow bandwidth (192bit) or its smaller frame buffer in the near future.

The board you've chosen is not a real xfire board and with a Nvidia GPU, you won't need a 2nd PCIEx16 slot anyways (without some driver patch, that is). So get the $75 ASRock 770 EXTREME3 and save $25 in the process.

RAM and GPU look perfect

P.S- Which PSU are you getting? The one that I suggested has 2x 6pin PCIE connectors. You'll need that for your 460.

EDIT: Slightly higher clocked GPU for same price- ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB

 

[sickness335]

For the PSU, I'm keeping my ATX 500W Ultra Series.

 

[calguyhunk]

For now, with single everything, 500 watts should suffice.

 

[wortwortwort]

It looks pretty good to me.

 

[peteypablo319]

if your looking for a good deal on a GTX 460 newegg has one for 160 after rebate heres the link!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518

I just bought one cause it fit my budget great... plus it has great over clock potential most ppl are posting 900 mhz stable pretty easily