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Is this build stupid Y/N

Forum Systems : New Build Is this build stupid Y/N

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This is what I've come up with so far, is there anything that should be changed or is otherwise stupid? (It's going to be used mostly for gaming.)

Case: Antec 300
GPU: Gigabyte 6970
CPU: Core i5 760
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3
RAM: "A-Data 4GB (2x2048MB) 1600Mhz+ Series, CL8, PC3-12800"
DVD: Optiarc AD-7260S (Not going to use this much at all so it doesn't need to be great.)
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11

I already have a "hx520w" Corsair PSU lying around, it should be fine for this, right?
Also, should I pick, say, the GA-P55-UD4 motherboard instead? Am I mistaken in understanding it as it won't matter much if I go with the UD4 or the UD3 unless I'm specifically interested in the features the UD4 has?

Thanks!

Reply to magber
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It's pretty dumb right now, but that's mostly because of the soon-to-be-released Sandy Bridge CPUs. Other than that, there are some other issues.

Mobo: Not a great choice. They're older boards. I'd look at the Asus P7P55D-E LX (assuming no Crossfire). It's got USB 3/SATA III support, making it a lot more future proof. If you want the ability to Crossfire later, grab the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. I'm avoiding Gigabyte because they have a big issue with their P55 boards: you can't use both USB 3/SATA III and Crossfire/SLI at the same time.

HDD: The 7200.11 is a really old model. They also had probelms with turning into bricks. Grab the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. If that's not available, pick up the Seagate 7200.12 instead.

The 520W PSU should be fine, but if you want to do a lot of overclocking (GPU and CPU) or want to add other devices or cards, you'll likely need a bigger unit.

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Reply to MadAdmiral

It's not stupid. The power supply will be fine. If you can find a UD3 in stock, it will work just as well as the UD4 minus maybe one or two fine tuning features in the BIOS you'll never use anyway. The whole "It has more copper, so it's more stable, and stays cooler!" thing is a sham which was covered disappointingly in an article on tom's a while ago.
Sandybridge will be upgrades for integrated graphics used mostly in laptops. The regular PC setup as you are looking at will remain unchanged for about 2 more years...probably longer. It's release will not decrease prices for current hardware.


Message edited by stingstang on 12-28-2010 at 10:07:15 PM
Reply to stingstang

You do realize that preliminary testing shows that the next i5 (I don't remember the model #) is going to have something like a 20-30% performance increase (per anandtech's preview)? And it's going to cost roughly the same? How is that not going to decrease prices or at least offer greater performance for the same price?

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Reply to MadAdmiral
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MadAdmiral wrote :

It's pretty dumb right now, but that's mostly because of the soon-to-be-released Sandy Bridge CPUs.

Okay, I think I can wait for those to come out before I choose CPU and motherboard (as it seems this Sandy Bridge will use a different socket unless I'm mistaken.)

MadAdmiral wrote :

Mobo: Not a great choice. They're older boards. I'd look at the Asus P7P55D-E LX (assuming no Crossfire). It's got USB 3/SATA III support, making it a lot more future proof. If you want the ability to Crossfire later, grab the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. I'm avoiding Gigabyte because they have a big issue with their P55 boards: you can't use both USB 3/SATA III and Crossfire/SLI at the same time.

I don't think that will be an issue, I'm very unlikely to crossfire as I've had bad experiences with all multi-GPU systems I've built (which is just two but whatever :P).

MadAdmiral wrote :

HDD: The 7200.11 is a really old model. They also had probelms with turning into bricks. Grab the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. If that's not available, pick up the Seagate 7200.12 instead.

It's available, and cheaper too! Thanks.

MadAdmiral wrote :

The 520W PSU should be fine, but if you want to do a lot of overclocking (GPU and CPU) or want to add other devices or cards, you'll likely need a bigger unit.

My current desktop has a 750w Corsair PSU I could yoink in that case, but the computer is very unstable (keeps locking up randomly, more often lately which is partly why I'm looking to build a new one) and I'm beginning to wonder if the PSU is related to that... I guess I should test it with the 520w.

Quote :

If you can find a UD3 in stock, it will work just as well as the UD4 minus maybe one or two fine tuning features in the BIOS you'll never use anyway.

Ok, I'll keep that in mind if 1156 will still be a sensible option.

Also, after reading this I'm tempted to get a 6950 instead, but I guess I should wait and see what happens with this so it won't suddenly burst into flames after a week or something.

Thanks for the input!

Reply to magber

The 6950 BIOS flash trick means that you should definitely get it over the 6970 I'm pretty sure that the cards won't burst into flames not really a rational fear

Reply to joelmartinez

Not to bad id go with Amd it's smarter and saves $$$$
get the Sempron unlock the second core and clock it to 6 gz

Reply to brandon1415

where are you getting your info, a 6GHz sempron?

How is AMD "smarter" for this price point, an i5 760 performs better yes the AMD is cheaper but it's a question of price/performance and in that aspect the i5 wins.

Next time come to the forum with real info

------------------------------ AM3 doesn't support SLI (excluding crappy nvidia chipsets and lucid hydra)
Reply to joelmartinez
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