First build, AMD gaming system.

Bugma

November 28, 2010 10:47:11 PM

This will be my first system build, and it's going to be quite expensive. So much so, that I asked for my parents help by putting some of the gear on this build list on a Christmas and on a Birthday wishlist (my birthday is in February). So Here's the build. Questions after the list. All prices are without shipping included.

Approximate Purchase Date: December 2010 - February 2011

Budget Range: ~$1600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web Browsing, Listening to Music

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Speakers, Mouse, Microphone, Headphones

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Whatever is the best/top quality brand.

Overclocking: No overclocking on any components whatsoever.

SLI or Crossfire: Crossfire

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Items that I will purchase myself:

ASUS 5830 (x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

NZXT Phantom (White, it looks so SEXY)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS M4A88T-V EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $1149.92

Items that I'll ask for for Christmas:

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASUS Black SATA 24X Burner with E-Hammer Software LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AB-GP 200mm Blue LED Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ZALMAN CNPS10X Performa 120mm Long life CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Rosewill RTK-ASM Anti-Static Mat
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $188.94

Items that I'll ask for for my birthday:

Asus VE248H Black 24" 1920X1080 2ms Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total: $219.99

Grand Total: $1558.85 without shipping factored in.

And now for the questions:

1) I heard about the grey/blue screens of death and the colored vertical lines of death with the 57XX and 58XX series from ATI. And as a matter of fact, I recently bought a Sapphire 5770 and a 22" LCD panel and had these problems with the card. I RMAd it back to Newegg, and am going to send back the LCD monitor as well. I've also heard about the little fault with the GTX 4XX series where the card freezes at the "Welcome" screen when you log in.

So I would rather go with a pair of 6870s because I have yet to hear of any major malfunctions with this card, but it would be quite a bit more expensive than the 5850s and yield only slightly better performance (according to the benchmarks that I've looked at from this site). So I don't know what to do VGA wise. What should I go for: a pair of GTX 4XX cards, a pair of 58XX cards, or a pair of 68XX cards? Oh, and a final note: I don't plan on overclocking the cards at all, and I would rather avoid the Fermi chip due to heat output and power consumption.

2) Is everything that I've chosen compatible with the other parts in the system, and is there anything that you guys would recommend that I change around in terms of part quality/brand?

More about : build amd gaming system

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blackjellognomes

November 28, 2010 11:31:57 PM

1. Atm, Newegg has seven HD 6870 models between $240 and $260. 5850s start at $200. It's not that much of a difference, especially considering that you only need one 6870-tier card. Even two 5830s would be overkill at your 1920x1080 res. So I would suggest a single HD 6870 (which is significantly more efficient that the 5850). Why don't you want to OC? (Not that you need to; just wondering.) And driver releases fix these little problems you're worrying about. Nothing to be picky about.

2. I wouldn't bother with the anti-static stuff, but that's up to you.
With the X6 1055T only $20 more than the X4 965, it's hard to recommend the quad. If you really can't spare that $20, go for the 955 instead of the 965.
The mobo you picked has a slightly outdated SB chipset. Also, you want a board that'll support SATA 3 and x8/x8 CF, like the MSI 890GXM-G65.
For the price of that Corsair set, you can def find a lower latency 8GB set of RAM (preferably CL7).
As far as HDDs go, you want a drive that has 500GB per platter, like most of the larger drives in the Spinpoint F3 and Barracuda 7200.12 series.
I'd recommend the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B over any Zalman, but that's partially preference.

You can save quite a bit with combos on Newegg, if you take the time to find them. Just my suggestions.

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vindictive

November 28, 2010 11:47:42 PM

^------- X4>X6 gaming
proof: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=88&i=47.4...

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vindictive

November 28, 2010 11:50:19 PM

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Niklas_13

November 28, 2010 11:59:46 PM

select item 1 quantity of item 1
SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151188
$19.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

select item 2 quantity of item 2
Asus VE248H Black 24" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers
Item #: N82E16824236102
$219.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

select item 3 quantity of item 3
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131655
$174.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

select item 4 quantity of item 4
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814102908
$199.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

select item 5 quantity of item 5
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
Item #: N82E16820231303
$84.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

select item 6 quantity of item 6
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119197
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116754
$164.97 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

select item 7 quantity of item 7
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ...
Item #: N82E16817139005
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
$139.98 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

select item 8 quantity of item 8
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103808
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ...
Item #: N82E16835103065

$169.98 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
Subtotal: $1,174.88

IMO this is a good gaming system for the price you could add another HD 6850 down the road if you need to or go with a HD 6870 now for only 50 bucks more.

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blackjellognomes

November 29, 2010 12:06:47 AM

vindictive said:

It's only a matter of time before games take threads as priority over frequency. Also, if you're solely going to gaming performance, that $200 SSD isn't worth it. And lastly, Bugma's build already outperforms your listed build.... If you take out the cost of the anti-static stuff, HSF, case fan, and monitor from his build, and the cost of the SSD from yours, they cost about the same. But his would have two 5850s and yours would have a single 470.

Niklas, could you clean up that post a bit, please? :pt1cable:

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vindictive

November 29, 2010 12:10:44 AM

they use an average on 2.75 cores now, so I don't see that happening anytime soon.

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vindictive

November 29, 2010 12:13:42 AM

whoops, my price was $200 bucks over, its $1294.

So remove the SSD add another 470 and his monitor
= $1614

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Niklas_13

November 29, 2010 12:21:23 AM

blackjellognomes said:

It's only a matter of time before games take threads as priority over frequency. Also, if you're solely going to gaming performance, that $200 SSD isn't worth it. And lastly, Bugma's build already outperforms your listed build.... If you take out the cost of the anti-static stuff, HSF, case fan, and monitor from his build, and the cost of the SSD from yours, they cost about the same. But his would have two 5850s and yours would have a single 470.

Niklas, could you clean up that post a bit, please? :pt1cable:

Sure thing lol

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blackjellognomes

November 29, 2010 12:27:16 AM

vindictive said:

whoops, my price was $200 bucks over, its $1294.

So remove the SSD add another 470 and his monitor
= $1614

... That changes things. At that price, it's pretty subjective imo. I'd still recommend a single card regardless of platform and graphics choices. I do prefer your case, PSU, and HDD choices, though.

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jockey

November 29, 2010 12:57:55 AM

The mobo you picked has a slightly outdated SB chipset. Also, you want a board that'll support SATA 3 and x8/x8 CF, like the MSI 890GXM-G65.

+1
A AM3 board with 890gx will have 2 pci-e slots at x8, x8 and the 890fx boards will have x16, x16 when x-firing and a higher cost.
My preference is keeping AMD/ATI with AMD chipsets. Although the mid-upper range boards have good all-around support.

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