Thoughts on a new build?

[TheTygur]

Hey, I used to build systems and did all my A+ and CISCO training back in 2001, but I'm not too knowledgeable on the new stuff. I was wondering if this build would work:

ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N470SO-13I GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power
AMD Athlon II X3 455 Rana 3.3GHz (and unlock the 4th core with the MB?)
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333

The case I'm still working out, but this build is mostly to replace my aging athlon x2 4000+ and 8800GT SoC. Trying to get it under 1500$ INCLUDING the 500$ nvidia 3d vision kit. With these components and a few extras (thermal paste, blu ray drive, 1TB 7200rpm HDD) I meet the 1500$ limit, shipping included. Is this a good setup, or did I overlook something?

 

[mdd1963]

The GTX470 is a rather power-hogging card....unless drastically cheaper than the GTX570, I'd lean towards the latter.

As for cpus and mainboards, most are opting for P67 based MB and 2500k cpu...dominating most benchmarks.

 

[orkie]

What are you going to use the computer for? If your going to be using intensive programs(not games) then the 8GB of ram is alright but i would reccomend 2x4gb ram sticks. But if not, then i would bring it down to 4gb 2x2gb as that it enough for general use and gaming.With more specific usage requirements, people will be able to give you better choises and also providing links to your current choices to see pricing might be a good idea.

 

[TheTygur]

Thanks for the quick reply, as for the 470GTX, it has the super OC, and is 100$ cheaper that any of the base 570GTX I can find. Is the difference that much? If so I may splurge on it. Would put me over my limit and I'd have to face down the wife's wrath haha.

I'll check into the MB and CPU you mentioned.

Still would that PSU be enough to take all this on? And would the 470 or 570 be bottlenecked much by that processor? Not planning to overclock anything.

EDIT: to orkie

Mostly gaming and blu ray with the nvidia 3d vision. Other than that, just basic stuff, listening to music, web surfing and things. Mostly play WoW and open world RPGs that are heavy on graphics. Also want a PC I can actually get through Crysis on, as so far I haven't been able to play it well enough. The 8g of ram was exceedingly cheap, so I figure no reason not to go overkill on it even if I don't need, right?

Also should probably note I've only been familiar with AMD processors for the last 12 years or so. Intel designations and numbers are very confusing for me. Plus it seems all their stuff is more pricey.

 

[orkie]

Yep if the ram is at the right price then indeed there is no bad in going for more. Also unless your planning to SLI (which i doubt since your going with AMD proccesor) then you can lower the PSU to 650watts (keep the good brand choices though, antec, corsair etc). And like mdd1963 suggested, the i5 2500k with a p67 mobo is very popular atm, technology just came out and is doing very well with reviews and benchmarks. It will bump the price but atm Intel is beating AMD on performance while AMD still has the upper hand on certain budget proccesors.

 

[TheTygur]

Thanks, I've been trying to shave off dollars here and there and I haven it down to a reasonable price and still the performance I was hoping for. The 750w PSU is on sale for a bunch right now, basically cheaper than the 650 so I'll just hang on to that. The new Intel stuff looks nice, but I'm gonna stick with the AMD for my budget.

I did take your recommendation to bring the RAM down to 2x2gig 1333 which somehow (through shipping or something) saved me a TON. Can always get more later anyway. Really appreciate the tips on PSU too as I have no idea how much anything draws nowadays and wanted to be sure I had enough.

And pick and chose through case options and ended up with something that has 4 120mm fans (one over CPU and one over GPU, one in front and one in back) as well as a 140mm top exhaust fan. Should keep it cool enough hopefully. Just hope the power hit for all those fans isn't too harsh. (my current PSU is going out and I had to take off the side and unhook the fans to keep it going, but it is like 6 years old now)

So thanks for all your suggestions! I think I have what I need for the price I want!

 

[TheTygur]

Best answer selected by TheTygur.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

$1500 is well beyond AMD territory .... Today I can't see going AMD below $800

Case - $240 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591259
PSU - incl - Antec CP-850
Case Fans - Later - Antec 120 mm Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209006
MoBo - $395 - ASUS P8P67 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.575884
CPU - incl above - Intel Core i5-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Cooler - $40 - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - $5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $50 - 2 x (2 x 4GB) Corsair CAS 9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
GFX - $370 - EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595
GFX - Later - Same
HD - $55 - Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 rpm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SSD - $100 - OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" 60GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550
DVD Writer - $80 - ASUS BR Model BC-08B1LT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135220
3D Vision $220 NVidia Starcraft Edition http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814998036


$1,555 I broke ya budget by $55 .... I'd invest the extra cash but if ya can't do it ..... substitute an Nvida 560 Ti and save $120 making ya new total $1,435

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604&cm_re=560_Ti-_-14-130-604-_-Product


....add a 2nd GFX when ya start to feel the strain ....say Xmas 2012

 

[TheTygur]

Thats a nice build, but I need the full kit with monitor as well, not just the 200$ 3d kit, the 500$ one, which limits budget a bit more, makes the actual PC build about 1000$ Can't escape that, unfortunately.

I've looked at the 560Ti overclocked, does it actually perform better than the 470 overclocked? If so, the price is right for me. Also I know the 470 supports GPU processing for blu ray 3d, any ideas if that 560Ti does?