AMD Build. Need some help.

[Coel]

Approximate Purchase Date: April 4th/5th


Budget Range: Under $1000


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (Mount & Blade Warband and Neverwinter Nights 2), Anime


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, OS, DVD drive


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.newegg.com


Country of Origin: USA


Parts Preferences: AMD, Sapphire


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Later on yes.


Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080


Additional Comments: Here are the parts I have picked out, and also this build is for myself, the last two have been for others.

Case: Coolermaster Storm Scout $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Mobo: ASRock 890GX PRO3 AM3 $104.99 + $7.87 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157244

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 $45.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache $77.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

PSU: Antec TruePower 650W $69.99 (Unless someone has a better PSU I should get)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021

GPU: ??? Not sure yet, must have HDMI.

Monitor: Split between two, unless theres a better monitor at the same price that has HDMI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236112

 

[WR2]

Hello Coel;

Good job picking parts and deals

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $110 & free shipping This board does CFX @ x8/x8
It's less expensive than the ASRock 890GX PRO3 $105 & $7.87 shipping. This board does CFX @ x16/x4 and not the preferred x8/x8.

You haven't picked a CPU cooler yet. CORSAIR CAFA70 120mm Dual-Fan CPU Cooler $31 a/r
Corsair A70 Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Review

A better deal on a 650W PSU: XFX XXX 650W 80+ BRONZE Modular PSU $59 a/r & free shipping
XFX XXX 650W PSU review

 

[zooted]

As far as the gpu goes, I would look at the 6850 =D If you get the mobo as stated above, when the gpu starts to show its age you can add another. The 6xxx series scale fantastic in crossfire.

 

[WR2]

Thats a very good price on the WD Caviar Black HDD but even with the discount I'm not sure it's worth $8 more than the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12.
Either one will be a great choice.

Between the monitors you listed: VH238H has better customer feedback reviews over @ NewEgg.

Can you squeeze a HD 6950 into your budget?

 

[Coel]

The reason for picking the motherboard I did was so I could use 8 core CPU when they come out (Of course I would upgrade later down the road)

Also on the PSU I picked I forgot to deduct the price with coupon, its $69.99.

(Nice with providing reviews to the parts you picked.)

 

[WR2]

The reason for picking the motherboard I did was so I could use 8 core CPU when they come out (Of course I would upgrade later down the road)

How did you figure out it would support a Bulldozer CPU?

 

[Coel]

Go to the link and look under details
Features
Supports 8-Core CPU

Also on their website.

I'm not sure if I can squeeze the 6950 into the budget unless I reuse my 19in LCD for a while.

 

[WR2]

Can you point out where it says that?
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=890GX Pro3

 

[Coel]

Click on the picture with the box its a AM3+ motherboard.

 

[WR2]

Found it under the Specifications - not features.
I wonder what 8 core that is?

 

[WR2]

OK..... where do you see AM3+

 

[Coel]

The HD 6790 is suppose to overclock pretty nice, ones on Newegg right now its Powercolor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131397

But I might hold off on the video card till more 6790s come out.

Clearly says AM3+
http://www.asrock.com/mb/photo/Box/890GX%20Pro3%28m%29.jpg

 

[WR2]

Says it supports AM3+ CPU here -but doesn't claim to be a AM3+ board.
http://www.asrock.com/download/e-catalog/890GX%20Pro3.pdf

 

[Coel]

Ah okay, but the board says 8 Core CPU support so its good?

 

[WR2]

It's good for 8 core CPU support.

Still trying to figure if that is a good choice overall though. From what we know it's more important to have GPU upgrade options than to have CPU upgrade options.

The CFX @ x16/x4 is not a complete downcheck - it's just less than ideal for CFX.

I don't suppose you're in a position to wait a few months and get a 990 board?

 

[Coel]

990 boards are suppose to come out in Summer time, and no I don't want to wait much longer. I might not even Crossfire though I might just upgrade my video card again after this one fails.

 

[WR2]

OK,
It's probably a good idea to hop over into the Motherboards section of the forums and ask the experts there if there are any hidden issues with AM3+ CPUs in the 890/870 motherboards revised to support them like that 890GX Pro3.

While the HD 6970 is a great price I'm thinking you'll REALLY want to CFX that build sooner, almost right away, with a 1920x1080 monitor.
It might overclock REALLY well - but it's still in the GT 550 class of GPU.
I guess we'll know tomorrow when the 6970 NDA comes off and the reviews pop up

 

[Coel]

The motherboard just came out today.

 

[WR2]

If you were buying today I'd be pushing you toward the HD 6850 over the HD 6790 for sure.

 

[WR2]

I know they've been watching the motherboards pretty close over there.
If there are any 'gotchas' in the 870/890 AM3+ CPU support that's the place to ask.

 

[Coel]

Yeah I made a thread over there so hopefully all is good. I'm going to wait till the next shell shocker (You never know what the hell they're going to throw out there) Then more then likely order. Deciding on which video card to pick under $200.

 

[WR2]

I saw a HD 6950 for $199 a while back. A XFX model is $215 a/r now.
I think that's about the lowest I think would get you great gaming performance on 1920x1080.

 

[Coel]

The HD 6790 fits my budget better, I'm going to order the parts in a hour and tomorrow order one of the many 6790s coming out (Looking at the XFX version more dual fans) Will it fit in my case okay?

 

[WR2]

No problem fitting. It's a very short card. Maybe 8"? 6790 / 6850 is 9.5"

 

[WR2]

An early bootleg benchmark: