Which of these two graphics cards are better?

The 6950 is the best performance wise.But the 560 is cheaper and performs very close to the 6950.I would reccomend the 6950 but only for the 2G version.I'm pretty sure the 2G's is the only reason the 6950 wins in the benchmarks.

Whats your budget for the PSU?And are you looking to SLI or Crossfire with the PSU?

Well, as long as it is able to run my whole system I don't have a budget for it. Heres my build so far ---


ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157198

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX

NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811146025

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 dual channel RAM

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Linksys WMP600N PCI Wireless Adapter with Dual-Band
Item #: N82E16833124342

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Should I get a different case/PSU?

Corsair 650 watt $90=$80 after MIR + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Seasonic 620 watt $90 + $6 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I personaly would choose the Seasonic but both are fully capable of running a SLI or Crossfire setup.

Do you currently own a 560?
Your case is fine.It's capable of supporting a Full ATX board so it should fit the cards no problem.Airflow might be an issue if you decide to crossfire or SLI.

If money is not a option i would suggest going with a Gold Series PSU.Very very good quality PSU and will last for a very long time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I don't currently own any video cards or any other computer parts except for the mouse and keyboard!

I chose the Corsair 650w because it will put me right at $1000 for the entire computer. Here is the list after those above adjustments ---
(Please comment and give feedback as this is my first build and I have been tweaking it according to peoples advice for a couple days now) The budget is roughly $1000-$1100, the purpose of the build is to multitask and gaming is a second thought)



ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157198

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX

NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811146025

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 dual channel RAM

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Linksys WMP600N PCI Wireless Adapter with Dual-Band
Item #: N82E16833124342

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible ...

If Multi-tasking is your prime reason for the build then i would suggest swapping out the 1T HD for a 750g or even 500g and get a SSD.You could either put the Operating System on it or applications.Whatever you need the most speed from.SSD's allow you to instantly access it making load times/start times nearly instant.

Did you make a decsion yet on which Graphics card you wanted to get?

I would suggest going with the Rosewill Destroyer Case.It is a great bargan.It comes with 3 fans and options for more.And has much better ventaltion than the NZXT.It is a bit smaller in width but it will defnitly accomadate a Hyper 212.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Yes, my choice of graphics card is the ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card.

And are you suggesting a 500GB HDD AND a smaller SSD?

And will that case accomidate all the components??

Were you going to get the NZXT case?
Any case should accomidate a SSD driver.Usally the case will come with a set of 2.5" mounting brackets.If the case doesn't then i'm sure the SSD will come with it in the package.

Thats a nice choice the Asus model is very good.

At this point I'm willing to get whatever will make the most sense. If I go with the rosewill destroyer case will I be able to get a smaller HDD AND the SSD in there? Is that the setup your talking about?

Either case is fine.I would rather go with the Destroyer because it has better airflow.If someday you did want to crossfire/sli that would come in handy.And it's just a general well being for the computer and all of the componets to have good airflow.

My suggestion is to get a SSD.No matter the size for either the HD or SSD it will fit providing the company sends 2.5" mounts with either package.When i boguht my HAF 922 case it shippied with mounting brackets for SSD drives.

Here is what a SSD driver really is if you don't already know..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive

Also here is a review of HDD vs SDD,just for comparison

http://www.overclockers.com/hdd-vs-ssd/

Ah, ssds are more expensive! so...go with say...a 500gb hdd and a 64gb ssd?

and I will go with that case too!

Yah they are expensive.New SATA III just came out so make sure you get the SATA II versions because their cheaper.I do think your mobo is SATA III capable so if you do you can.

I think of SSD's as to only load important or every day use applications onto it.An example would be to install Windows 7 on the SSD and an application you use all the time(for me it would be game.)

Which SSD are you intrested in?

This SSD is made by intel 80/GB and is sata ll. Good enough for windows 7 and VMware (multiple OS's?)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and a samsung 500GB?

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to run Multiple OS's with it.You should research that in the link above just to be sure.

For $4 more i would get the Corsair SSD.I think it's worth the wait for it to become back in stock again.It can write just as fast as it can read which is a lot better than the Intel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Okay, I will wait for that one. As far as a HDD, what size should I go for? 500GB?

Thats up to you i guess.How much saving you do and how much you acutally use the HDD.I don't really know.If it were me i would spend all my money on just the SSD and not even use a regular HDD.I don't take up that much space on a HDD as it is.And i think once you start seeing what the SSD is like and what it can do i'm sure you won't wanna go back to HDD's ever again.

Hm...sounds good! Other than the SSD, does the rest of the build look good? (PSU and everything?)

Last question - I know this sounds silly, but does the cd burner double as the place to stick a cd in? or do I need to purchase a second cd insert?

gtx 560 ti is way to go.

PSU is ok.Everything else is fine.Just thought i'd let you know.The mobo you picked out is 1600O.C. and default of 1333 for the RAM.You bought 1600 RAM but the Mobo will underclock it to 1333 becuase 1600 is an O.C. function and 1333 is stock.You will have to manually set the timings in order to get it up to 1600.It's practialy the same price for 1333 and for 1600 so don't worry about it.If you ever decide to get AMD's new prossesor's coming out or get a new mobo for tri SLI then you can use that RAM at it's full stock speeds.

Ya the CD burner dvd/drive combo thing can also read regular CD's.

Oh crap, is there a different MOBO that I can get that I won't have to worry about changing the settings? I am computer challenged enough as it is! haha

How much do you have left to spare.Theirs a open box deal for this really good mobo.

Nvm it's out of stock...

As long as its not crazy expensive I can do it. Will it change anything else in my overall setup?

Aaaaahh! Well, how much tech skill does it take to adjust these settings? I am going out on a limb here building the system so I can learn the parts.

I can't find any.It is very difficult to find mobo's that are stock at 1600 i've been looking recently.

It shouldn't be that big of a deal.It's just running at 1333.In my mobo i have the same problem.I Bought the comp from cyberpower and they messed it up.It still works and it's not a huge performance decrease.It will be fine.

Okay...well I'm assuming there are instructions on google or somewhere to adjust the settings for that.

Other than that, how is the build? Am I good to start ordering?

Theirs a section on TomsHardware for that.Just go to Main forums and under Motherboards & Memory their is a section called Memory.And theirs an Intrusction guide in there.


I think so.Looks good to me.

This topic has been moved from the section Graphics & Displays to section Systems by Mousemonkey