Building a Gaming PC for the first time need advice/help...

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shifty321

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Hello,

I am building a Gaming PC for the first time. I have pieced together the following items based on research I have done. I am looking for something that will run great out right now but has room for overclocking in the future. I may also crossfire in the future. I need help with memory suggestions and adequate power supply. Any other advice on component alternatives to either save money or get more bang for my buck would be greatly appreciated also. Thanks in advance! Here is a list at what I am looking at:

--ASUS EAH5850 DirectCU TOP/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370

--AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

--OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX90G 3.5" 90GB SATA II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227601&cm_re=ocz_vertex_2-_-20-227-601-_-Product

--COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

--LG Black 22X DVD+R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144

--Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

--VisionTek Bigfoot Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833189002&cm_re=network_card-_-33-189-002-_-Product



Debating between these two Motherboards:

1. MSI 890FXA-GD70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274

2. ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131644&cm_re=asus_crosshair-_-13-131-644-_-Product

Also need help on what CPU cooler I should go with for overclocking purposes. Thanks again in advance. I am a new user to this community and look forward to being an active member.
 
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coldsleep
The new 68xx series is reputed to have better scaling than the 58xx series, and the 6870 performance is better than the 5850. The cards start at about $240, though those are sold out on newegg right now.

As Alvin mentions, the most important consideration when sizing your GPU is what resolution you will be gaming at.

The Killer NIC is not at all worth it. You would be better off spending that money on improving your graphics card, or improving your internet connection.

Any DDR3 memory should work, look for something in the neighborhood of CAS 7 1600 MHz for future overclocking headroom. This Mushkin kit is $80 with free shipping, or $60 after MIR. 4 GB is enough for right now, though a recent Tom's article suggested 8 GB...
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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They are both great but that is the best board MSI has come out with, in a long time.

The VERY BEST THING you can do is to read ALL the user reviews, for both mobos, at newegg.

Sort "worst to best rating" and DO REMEMBER that half of the worst reviews are written by inept, idiot noobs or brand haters.
What I "sift" for is 4 or more reviewers who complain about the same issue ... if 10% of the owners, of the latest Revision, are complaining about buzzing capacitors or hot VRMs or heat-sink clearance ... well ... there might be something to that.

ALSO ... The PCIe Lane Assignment allocations, methods and strategies are KEY, for many specialized configs. Lane Assignments ... Definately "grok" that aspect well ... and ... Slot Layout ... I mean, ... Video editors may put different sorts of expansion cards (fire-wire, PCIe-SSD) in there, while YOU may add GPUs.

The HSF you want to use also may be affected (clearance) by the NB-sinks, on the mobo.

 
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shifty321

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Thanks for the input Alvin, I greatly appreciate it.

Question about the GPU, is the HD 5850 worth the price or is there something in the Radeon series that is better performing for around the same price?
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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It really depends on several simple factors ...
(1) The Game Requirements and Recommendations.
There are no shortage of happy gamers, here (new build) and on the GPU forums, who will tell you whassup with the titles and gpu that you intend.
CRYSIS? (at rez?) ... better get a (one) 5870 or a 480 (or higher)
(2) The Chosen Resolution of Play
(3) Enabled Features and Details
(4) Your personal "Acceptable Frame-Rate". 30fps minimum ... to 80+
(5) Competitive Standing ... Bragging Rights ... Personal Psychology (I deserve best).

The size and rez of your monitor play into it and there are other, lesser factors.

What games will you be playing ... specifically ?

Budget Builders should remember that MATX mobos only allow one GPU slot. (so they would get a better GPU, up front ... or a "throw away").

= helps? =
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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If you might SLI/Cross-Fire ... THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

(1) AMD chipsets do not support nVidia SLI ... Most INTEL boards DO ... CHECK THE SPECS AND ASK.

(2) FERMIs (definately) "scale better" than RADEONS so you might want to go nVidia 470 (or higher) .... and ...

(3) Remember to tack an extra ~135+ Watts onto your PSU rating, if you intend 2x SLI or xFire ... and, verify your PSU has the correct number and type of connectors for as many GPUs of the type you intend.

 
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Somebody_007

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Bassically alvin said everything, but I'd drop the idea of a 480gtx , 5850, 5870. The 580 gtx , 6850, 6870 respectivly are better choice. The 580 because the 480 is the pinnacle of inneffiency despite the fact that it still beats any ati GPU by quite a distance and the 580 improves on this even more with better efficiency and all the advantages that are tied with it. The 6850, 6870 are both slightly slower than their name-sake predeccesor, but cost less, have more intresting features, more efficient, cooler, scale very well(much much better than those 5850s and 5870s) and have improved tesselation performance which is getting more relevant by the day.

And definatly drop the network card. It's not usefull in any real life senario, maybe the software nice but then dropping 75 on a card you won't use is still quite a waste.
 
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coldsleep

coldsleep

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The new 68xx series is reputed to have better scaling than the 58xx series, and the 6870 performance is better than the 5850. The cards start at about $240, though those are sold out on newegg right now.

As Alvin mentions, the most important consideration when sizing your GPU is what resolution you will be gaming at.

The Killer NIC is not at all worth it. You would be better off spending that money on improving your graphics card, or improving your internet connection.

Any DDR3 memory should work, look for something in the neighborhood of CAS 7 1600 MHz for future overclocking headroom. This Mushkin kit is $80 with free shipping, or $60 after MIR. 4 GB is enough for right now, though a recent Tom's article suggested 8 GB for new builds. Memory is cheap enough at the moment that it doesn't represent a huge increase in system expense.

For a power supply, 650W should be fine for dual 5850s or 6870s. This Corsair 650TX 80+ certified PSU is $90 + free shipping - 10% with promo code, and another $10 MIR. This XFX 650W 80+ Bronze PSU is $85
+ $5 shipping - $30 MIR. There are also a number of 750W 80+ Silver PSUs for about $110-$130 that are highly regarded.

The HAF X is a well-reviewed case, but if you need to save money, this is the first place I would look at cutting expenses (after the Killer NIC).
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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You asked about a cooler ... This (Hyper 212+ @$30 USD) will work (very well) with *ANY* AM3 or 1156 or 1366 socket mobo ... meaning ... it will fit any modern mobo and CPU except Core2Duo chips ...

It will fit and cool Any Athlon-II, Phenom-II, Core-i5 or Core-i7 CPU and mobo (at the very least).

You will want to add a second fan (push-pull config) if you are serious about OC ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212%2b-_-35-103-065-_-Product

It is important to match the (push-pull) fans, so one does not burn out ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103069&cm_re=coolermaster_120mm_fan-_-35-103-069-_-Product

= =
 
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Somebody_007

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lol funny how we always say the same
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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^^ +1 (x2) ^^ on the NIC ... I dint mention because I thot it might be magical (LoL),
... (or "precious", in some "special" way) ... but ... my 1st thot was "wtf?" (also) ...

... BTW ... jus' so as you know ... The Hyper 212+ cooler DOES come with mounting hardware, for the 2nd fan (standard) ... AND ... Also comes with quality thermal paste.

= Burrrp ! = (sorry ... gas)

 
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coldsleep

coldsleep

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Just in case you're unaware, Intel is releasing a new line of processors in early January. If you don't need to buy right now, you may want to consider waiting, at least to see if the new chips (Sandy Bridge) have an effect on the current market.

Additionally, ATI is releasing a new 69xx series in a couple of weeks, depending on if you free up any money, those cards may also be worth considering...or they might further reduce 58xx series costs.
 
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shifty321

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Thank you all for the helpful information/advice! The NIC is out of the build! hahaha. I plan on doing some more research and planning based on the advice you all gave me. As questions arise I know where to turn! Thank you all again!
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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Yeah, and, just for the record, I know 007 and Cool very well and I have been absent, from this forum, for 90 days .... These two guys (and a few others) are the very best we have and everything they have said/recommended, with regard to specific graphics cards, is newer and more superior, to my advice, on those new Radeons and FERMIs ... Just to be clear ... I'm here to catch up and, I think I just did.

= You got the best advice there is to get =
 
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Somebody_007

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Gee thanks Al. If only I could do something useful with al this Pc knowledge. Uptill now it's only made me cry inside when hearing things like "hey how many Ghz is your CPU?" to which I respond "Currently I got my i7 clocked at 2.8, but for benchmarking I go up to 4.2" to which he says "haha mine's faster mine is 3.06Ghz(talking about his pentium 4)". Even worse was some guy judging my PCs power by the size of the HDD. Not to mention the woman I saw in a pc store, I overheard asking(trying to sound as smart as she could) "And what exactly is a hard drive?"

Ignorance really is bliss
 
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Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith

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Heck, man ... I built 3 computers before IBM ever introduced "The PC" ... It came with 32K or 64KiloBytes of "120 nanosecond" RAM ... 8 bit CPU, @ 4Megahertz, Dudes !
... the math? ... 8 times the data width times ONE thousand times the clock rate times EIGHT times the processing threads ... 64 THOUSAND times the power today, as in 1984 ... that's 27 years.

GUI ?? ... MICE ?? We doan' need no stink-ink MICE !! Everything we did, those days, was at the command prompt, using file path-names and cryptic short-hand. And the real pros (ahem) were the guys who new how to configure the system files (now, win.ini, etc.) and how to manage the very strange world of "upper memory" and BIOS mirroring and we knew how to allocate interrupts and i/o port adresses, all by heart.

Yup ... I was quite a hot-shot ... A "freakin' astronaut" (figuratively) .

Two years later, I got my first COMPAQ PORTABLE computer ... This was about the size of a sewing machine (5U @ ~40Lbs.+) ... a 9" Green MonoChrome CRT monitor, and *I* had TWO DS/DD 640KB floppy drives (half-height) and TWO 30MB Hard Disk Drives with under 40millisec access time !

This all seemed funny, to me, even at the time, because I still had an 80 pound, five megabyte winchester drive, on my desk ... it was as big as the microwave oven at my Seven-Eleven store.

But ... if you set the way-back machine for 1980 ... I was in the US Sub Service and the disk packs, that I was maintaining, were also 5 megabytes BUT they were the size of a washing machine (truly) and every time I swapped targeting packs, I had to stick a popsicle stick, with a micro-fiber tip, dipped in denatured alchohol, between the disks and clean the actual surface, of the disks. Those things had hydraulic (fluid) actuated access armatures and, after the disk-pack reached a full speed of several thousand RPM, the boot sequence would perform an AUTO-FIRST-SEEK and, well, the dam thing could take your hand off, if you were to forget about that.

MICE ??? ... You expect us to actually Drag files to a picture of a TRASH CAN ??,

R O T F L O L (and banging my head on the wall) !!! RETARDED !!

 
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