First build nerves budget AMD based build

[originalmcblood]

Okay so my old PB istart 1360 has finally reached the end of it life. I have upgraded this as far as it will go and it has given me good performance for the money invested but it can not cut the mustard anymore. So my first build, seems simple enough I have built hundreds in my mind but once you start actually thinking about spending the money nerves set in.

I would like advice and opinions on the proposed rig below

I want to build a system primarily for gaming but on a very tight budget £250 - £300 and that is even less money in the UK because components cost so much here.

Anyway I have optical drives, case fans galore and a HDD sitting about the house from other systems I have cannibalised I am also taking my 4670 gpu and a HSF from a phenonm II BE from my old system so I do not need these components. Oh and keyboard, mouse etc.

Proposed system

MB
Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) ( I can get one second hand but board only no cables drivers etc for about £50)

or

ASUS M4A79T DELUXE 790FX SOCKET AM3 DDR3 MOTHERBOARD £70

CPU:
AMD Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz - Triple Core OEM £50

GPU(s):

ATI 4670 a pair of (already have one from old system) £50

Ram:
4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10600 1333MHz PC MEMORY £30

Case and PSU

Help!
I want space and I want power now but enough if I want to upgrade components
at the moment I am thinking of a bundled RED GANGSTER GAMER PC TOWER CASE ATX 700W SATA PSU £60 (on ebay).


This will be the base to upgrade from In the future I will probably OC and obviously I'll crossfire. I would also like to try and unlock the 4th core from this CPU.

Any advice recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

[hunter315]

You really dont need an M4A79T, see if you can get the M4A78T board with the 790GX chipset, it still provides you 8x/8x CF which is more than enough for 2 4670s, but should come out a bit cheaper.

Towers with the PSU prebundled usually come with a sketchy PSU that i wouldnt trust too much to. Can you link to it?

 

[simon12]

I have this board https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/AMD+AM3+(800+Chipset)/ASRock+880G+Extreme3+(Socket+AM3)+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=41129
with crossfire 4870s and its great.
+1 to the above get an antec or corsair power supply

 

[originalmcblood]

Cheers here is the link for the case and PSU
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-RED-GANGSTER-GAMER-PC-TOWER-CASE-ATX-700W-SATA-PSU-/140391421314?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopComponents_RL&hash=item20affb1582
I was not confident at all about this but the fact that it stated multiple rails made me think that it was possibly better for ocing. AS I said never built before or OCed/ Tweaked. There is a world of difference between sticking new components in and building from scratch.
Cheers

 

[simon12]

Avoid that power supply having 5 12V rails is a bad thing and though the specification looks detailed it doesn't show how how much power is on any of the 12V rails or the maximum power on the 12V rails.

 

[originalmcblood]

Thanks Simon12. I assume I am being stupid here so I paused before posting this but what do you mean by "+1 to the above"

 

[simon12]

The +1 was was for "Towers with the PSU prebundled usually come with a sketchy PSU that i wouldnt trust too much to."

 

[hunter315]

That PSU claims 5 12V rails but only has 1 PCI-e connector, either one of those statements is false or its a really crappy unit and is no where near 700W.

Get a separate unit, it will cost a bit more but it will last a lot longer and have more power available. A good 500-550W unit from Corsair, Seasonic or Antec will have plenty of power for 2 4670, pick one with at least a 3 year warranty preferably 5.

 

[originalmcblood]

ASUS power supply calculator is telling me 550 watts minimum and I would like a bit of headroom for later upgrading without having to get a new PSU. I'll have a look for a 600W at least.

Any advice on a case again ventilation, airflow and space not much of an issue with the build just now but I will upgrade this overtime so space for bigger video cards and case fans/ good airflow to keep the temp down is a consideration. I was thinking a NZXT Gamma from the system builder marathon $1000 pc December 2010.

What about the cpu best bang for the buck in this kinda price range with a budget/ gaming/ all purpose build.

 

[originalmcblood]

What about a
Antec Earthwatts 650w ATX 2.2??