Mid Range Gaming Build

[johnsmaon]

Hi, I'm planning to build a new system, most likely around the 25th of February as I'll have some additional funds then. I'm looking to spend $500-$600 on the project. I'll probably do a moderate amount of gaming on the machine, along with movies etc. I also plan to do some overclocking and I'm not really sure about SLI or xfire.

I already have a case and power supply on hand that I'd like to use, along with an available copy of windows 7. I'm set on peripherals and I'm using a 22" monitor with a 1680x1050 resolution.

Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

PSU:
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Got those as a combo deal a little while back.


I looked around and these are the parts that I came up with myself. I haven't really kept up to date with hardware so I'm not sure if it's a good build or not. I'm looking for any suggestions about what I've picked.

Memory:
Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PSD38G1600K

There is also an additional discount from an Email with a promotional code that I received earlier today that made me decide on this of the G.Skills. I'm not sure how important the brand is for this part.

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor

Motherboard:
ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

GPU:
SPARKLE SX560T1024D5MH GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

With a $20.00 MIR as long as I purchase before the 28th this seemed like a good deal at $224.00


Cooler:
COOLER MASTER RR-H101-22FK-RA 80mm Long life sleeve bearing CPU Cooler

That's what I have so far. I'll appreciate any feedback on it.

 

[Why_Me]

Since you decided to go with AMD, and you have a set up (psu & mobo) for dual vid cards, then you are limited to AMD vid cards if you decide to go with a dual vid card set up later on down the road. I would be looking at the 6950 if it fits your budget.

 

[johnsmaon]

I don't have to stick with AMD, the processor just seemed like it would provide good performance in the price range I was hoping for. If there's anything else you would suggest I am open to ideas.

 

[Why_Me]

I don't have to stick with AMD, the processor just seemed like it would provide good performance in the price range I was hoping for. If there's anything else you would suggest I am open to ideas.

TBH I can't find any holes in that build of yours. It's a solid build imo.

 

[johnsmaon]

Cool, I'll definately look in to the 6950 you mentioned incase I do decide to get another video card in the future.

 

[swifty_morgan]

With that power supply you'll be limited to one card no matter what. Check out the connectors... I think it also said 50amps. Kinda pushing it for 2 anyways.

 

[pacific27]

Solid build

I just RMA'd a 6850....great card but decided to do an eyefinity setup as the prices of LCD's are getting pretty low and was'nt sure it'd have enough power.

I ordered the Sapphire (2gb) 6950 to replace it with MIR $256.99 till the 15th. Two 6850's in crossfire put up some good numbers, but I mainly play wow and at this time does'nt benefit from a crossfire setup, so I decided to go with the more powerful single card setup for the time being. Depending on the games you play, something to think about.

And down the road when I need to upgrade (hopefully wow gets crossfire support) two 6950's will be impressive. From what I've read you can flash the 6950 to a 6970. Thats alot of card for the money.

I've been very happy with my AMD build, good luck!

 

[johnsmaon]

With that power supply you'll be limited to one card no matter what. Check out the connectors... I think it also said 50amps. Kinda pushing it for 2 anyways.

I see 2 PCI-e connectors, am I missing something? I don't doubt that I could be, I bought that PSU a little while ago when my old one died and I was in a bind. I needed one quick and cheap which is what it was at the time. Where does it show 50 amps? I'm not seeing it on that details page but I'm sure I could be missing it.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Okay, I googled the PS for the information. Secondly, the card does have two PCI-E connections............ if running Xfire you'll need four........ having said that I know that it's possible under some instances to use molex to sli power cables..... but that power supply might run short in the amperage department for adequate power to run 2 cards. ( 50amps )............

go0d move on the 6950..... 2gigs, I missed reading that........ eyefinity will need it. The 6850 is slower than a 5850......... wish more people would look at that.

 

[johnsmaon]

Okay, I googled the PS for the information. Secondly, the card does have two PCI-E connections............ if running Xfire you'll need four........ having said that I know that it's possible under some instances to use molex to sli power cables..... but that power supply might run short in the amperage department for adequate power to run 2 cards. ( 50amps )............

go0d move on the 6950..... 2gigs, I missed reading that........ eyefinity will need it. The 6850 is slower than a 5850......... wish more people would look at that.

Okay, I wasn't aware the you needed 4 PCI-E connections when running in Xfire. I suppose if I upgrade to a second video card in the future I can grab another PSU. Since I have this one on hand already I'll just stick with it and a single GPU currently.

 

[johnsmaon]

After a bit more research I think I will end up going with this card, if I order it by the 15th, I'll save $20.00. If anyone can think of a reason not to go with this card I'd like to know.

SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

 

[pacific27]

I just ordered one myself, should be here tuesday....I'm stoked. Two of these in crossfire down the road are going to be nothing short of impressive. I see your going for a six core....but I did find this combo for this GPU and a quad core CPU that can easily be oc'd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.593519

For gaming a quad is plenty....if you plan on doing video editing then yeah the six core makes a lot of sense. Basically this combo give you another 20$ off wish I had seen it earlier although I'm running an unlocked Phenom II X2 555 to triple core I think I would have gotten this to have a true quad core and built a backup system with my the X2.

Your smart to go with the (2gb) version as it will give you a big advantage especially if/when you go with eyefinity. Having that extra memory buffer is huge. This card takes (2) 6 pin connectors to run so if you do decide to crossfire you will need a new PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

Read the reviews on Best cpu's for the month on toms....you will see that triple cores are kind of the sweet spot right now so going with a quad would be more than enough for gaming as most games don't take advantage of four cores (yet). Which makes the combo I linked a pretty sweet deal. Lower clock rate on the CPU but you will be able to oc it to near 4ghz I easily got 3.8ghz out of mine with an aftermarket cpu cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212+)

Deal I linked Price After Mail-In Rebate(s): $376.98

Six core $199.99
GPU 570 $224.00
Total $424.00
Savings $47.00

Six Core $199.99
6950 $256.99
Total $457.00

Savings $80.00


Combo looks pretty nice (Almost enough savings for another monitor...on your way to eyefinity) If you go with it and decide to OC do get that CPU cooler will keep the temps much lower on the cpu