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New Media/Gaming Build <$2800

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I've picked out the parts for my new build and I wanted to get a second opinion to make sure everything looks good. The plan is to have a machine capable of HD audio/video editing, and high quality gaming. I'm anticipating a few games later this year (Elder Scrolls V and Mass Effect 3) and I want to make sure I'm well prepared! Any advice would be appreciated and if anyone can recommend any parts that are a little bit lower in price I would be grateful!

Approximate Purchase Date: This June/July


Budget Range: $2500 - $3000 (The closer to $2500 the better!)


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Video/Picture/Media editing and watching, Gaming, School Work, web surfing.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com, Amazon.com


Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: AMD, ATI, ASUS


Overclocking: Maybe (Likely no)


Crossfire: Yes


Monitor Resolution: (1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)


Additional Comments: Have not overclocked in the past, may consider it, yet I don't want to do water cooling at the present. In addition to the SSDs I also have two Western Digital HDDs (640GB a piece) I will have in RAID0 in the machine.

Motherboard: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131655
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Hard Drive: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348
(2) [In RAID0] SSD - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

RAM: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231312
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9Q-16GBRL

Disc Drive 1: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136183
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support - OEM

Disc Drive 2: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106346
LITE-ON Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature Model iHBS112 - OEM

Graphics Card: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102915&cm_re=6970-_-14-102-915-_-Product

(2 in CROSSFIRE) SAPPHIRE 100311SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

CPU: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103923
AMD Phenom II X4 975 Black Edition Deneb 3.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ975FBGMBOX

Power Supply www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014
CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Case: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior

Operating System: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
Windows 7

Monitor: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049
ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers

Capture Card: www.amazon.com/Blackmagic-Design-Intensity-Pro-Editing/dp/B001CN9GEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302381434&sr=8-1
Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro HDMI Editing Card with PCI Express

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Everything else is fine, but to save a few bucks heres somethings to consider:

1. Drop down to 8GB if you're not doing INTENSE video editing; with bulldozer you might want to consider faster 1866 RAM also.

2.Look for the new Intel 510s or Vertex 3s.

3.Consider unlockable 6950s, the unlcok rates pretty high and risk is very low.

4.Since youre not OCing, a 850-950W woild be plenty

5. Are you using eyefinity? Honestly a single 6950/6970 is enough for 1080p.

6. Might want to pick up some speakers/headsets also. :p 

Timop said:
Everything else is fine, but to save a few bucks heres somethings to consider:

1. Drop down to 8GB if you're not doing INTENSE video editing; with bulldozer you might want to consider faster 1866 RAM also.

2.Look for the new Intel 510s or Vertex 3s.

3.Consider unlockable 6950s, the unlcok rates pretty high and risk is very low.

4.Since youre not OCing, a 850-950W woild be plenty

5. Are you using eyefinity? Honestly a single 6950/6970 is enough for 1080p.

6. Might want to pick up some speakers/headsets also. :p 


First, thanks to everyone for the responses.

I'm starting to dig up some info on the Bulldozer now, lol. I've read very little about "unlocking" the graphics card and I will likely read more into it in the coming days, I'm just very weary about tinkering with BIOS settings and anything of the sort because I have next to no experience with it. The most I've done [If you can even consider this close to it] was set up my present PC with RAID0. The highest memory the present motherboard I've selected appears to go to 2000 only if overclocked, yet I'm still unsure if it would support 1866. [I have built one PC before but I'm still a bit new at this] The graphics card(s) that I've picked out do have eyefinity, the reason I'm trying to do a Crossfire is because of several reasons: curiosity, redundancy, and I do want to be able to play games at really nice settings for the next couple of years.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/186?vs=287 <----- AMD Phenom II X4 970 BE vs Intel Core i7 2600K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $164.99 - $154.99 after mail-in rebate card
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $314.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... Combo Discount: -$25.00 Combo Price: $264.98
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Why_Me said:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/186?vs=287 <----- AMD Phenom II X4 970 BE vs Intel Core i7 2600K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $164.99 - $154.99 after mail-in rebate card
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $314.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... Combo Discount: -$25.00 Combo Price: $264.98
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL



It would be better to switch out for two Nvidia cards(sli) if I went with these parts wouldn't it?

negativelychrgd said:
It would be better to switch out for two Nvidia cards(sli) if I went with these parts wouldn't it?

No. ATI and NVIDIA all work the same on these boards.

Why_Me said:
No. ATI and NVIDIA all work the same on these boards.


Oh okay, several people have told me that its better to stick with Nvidia if you choose a Intel processor, and ATI if your using an AMD.

negativelychrgd said:
Oh okay, several people have told me that its better to stick with Nvidia if you choose a Intel processor, and ATI if your using an AMD.

Those people are giving you bad information. ATI cards for AMD boards. And for an Intel socket board...either ATI or Nvidia cards. There is no advantage of one over another on an Intel socket based board.

Why_Me said:
Those people are giving you bad information. ATI cards for AMD boards. And for an Intel socket board...either ATI or Nvidia cards. There is no advantage of one over another on an Intel socket based board.

No even, the only thing is just that current AMD chipsets don't support SLI.

Timop said:
No even, the only thing is just that current AMD chipsets don't support SLI.


I was referring to Crossfire and SLI seeing how the OP stated he was interested in running dual vid cards. Sorry about that, I should have made myself more clear.

Thanks for the clarification, Why_me, I'm actually indifferent when it comes to my graphics card (whether its ATI or NVIDIA) do you (or anyone else here) have a recommendation for a graphics card or should the Radeon 6970 (CROSSFIRE) I've listed suffice?

negativelychrgd said:
Thanks for the clarification, Why_me, I'm actually indifferent when it comes to my graphics card (whether its ATI or NVIDIA) do you (or anyone else here) have a recommendation for a graphics card or should the Radeon 6970 (CROSSFIRE) I've listed suffice?

Those 6970's are great cards. That 850w Corsair I posted will be more than enough to power those two cards and still leave you plenty of juice for extra drives, fans, o/c, etc...

Why_Me said:
Those 6970's are great cards. That 850w Corsair I posted will be more than enough to power those two cards and still leave you plenty of juice for extra drives, fans, o/c, etc...


I used a Corsair 750w in the current PC I'm using now, no problems at all, good brand. (Had it for 2 years now)

Wanted to ask something about Nvidia, is physx (only with nvidia cards to my knowledge ) something I'm really missing out on?

negativelychrgd said:
I used a Corsair 750w in the current PC I'm using now, no problems at all, good brand. (Had it for 2 years now)

Wanted to ask something about Nvidia, is physx (only with nvidia cards to my knowledge ) something I'm really missing out on?

PhsX is an Nvidia only thing. If you have a Corsair 750w though you might want to look into going with dual 560's. The Gigabyte factory over clocked 560 is going for $239 right now on newegg. Two of those cards eat up and spit out a single gtx 580.

Timop said:
Everything else is fine, but to save a few bucks heres somethings to consider:

1. Drop down to 8GB if you're not doing INTENSE video editing; with bulldozer you might want to consider faster 1866 RAM also.

2.Look for the new Intel 510s or Vertex 3s.

3.Consider unlockable 6950s, the unlcok rates pretty high and risk is very low.

4.Since youre not OCing, a 850-950W woild be plenty

5. Are you using eyefinity? Honestly a single 6950/6970 is enough for 1080p.

6. Might want to pick up some speakers/headsets also. :p 

Could you post a link to those Bulldozer benchmarks. I haven't heard if that new AMD series is a good or a complete dud.

negativelychrgd said:
First, thanks to everyone for the responses.

I'm starting to dig up some info on the Bulldozer now, lol. I've read very little about "unlocking" the graphics card and I will likely read more into it in the coming days, I'm just very weary about tinkering with BIOS settings and anything of the sort because I have next to no experience with it. The most I've done [If you can even consider this close to it] was set up my present PC with RAID0. The highest memory the present motherboard I've selected appears to go to 2000 only if overclocked, yet I'm still unsure if it would support 1866. [I have built one PC before but I'm still a bit new at this] The graphics card(s) that I've picked out do have eyefinity, the reason I'm trying to do a Crossfire is because of several reasons: curiosity, redundancy, and I do want to be able to play games at really nice settings for the next couple of years.

Hopefully Bulldozer will be out in time when you order your build so that you can see the actual benchmarks of that series. Until then I wouldn't hold my breath. The BD was suppose to come out well over a year ago and they keep putting it off for one reason or another. Until you see some actual benchmarks anything said in regards to that series of cpu is purely speculation. Hopefully it isn't a complete dud like the six core AMD's that were suppose to be the best thing since sliced bread.

The PC I'm using now is going to another family member. [ I'm just taking the large HDDs out and using them for storage in this new one I'm building] Whatever graphics card combination will give me the best performance the longest time for the same price area is what I'm aiming for. The 6970's seemed to offer the best deal from what I've gathered. However the wisdom of more experienced people in this area is always a welcomed thought.

Why_Me said:
Could you post a link to those Bulldozer benchmarks. I haven't heard if that new AMD series is a good or a complete dud.

Nothing official is out yet, hence the wait. Its most likely coming about early June.
He stated he isn't going to be buying untill July anyways, so it wont hurt to wait. Even if he goes Intel, he should wait to look at Z68 offerings also.


Why_Me said:
Hopefully Bulldozer will be out in time when you order your build so that you can see the actual benchmarks of that series. Until then I wouldn't hold my breath. The BD was suppose to come out well over a year ago and they keep putting it off for one reason or another. Until you see some actual benchmarks anything said in regards to that series of cpu is purely speculation. Hopefully it isn't a complete dud like the six core AMD's that were suppose to be the best thing since sliced bread.

1. Various sources have pointed towards a June 6-11 launch.
2. BD is a new Architecture on a new process, I doubt they'll take a step backwards. Even with Barcelona they improved somewhat.
3. BD wasn't delayed, Fusion was due to K10 being subpar and then Llano due to process issues.
4. No one has ever had high expectations for Thuban (six-core K10), it is simply 2 cores grafted on to the Phenom II X4s and performance was known almost a year ago with the Server Istanbuls. Its actually amazing how AMD was able to shove so much on 45nm.
5. Why such high-skepticism? It sounds like you already know that its gonna fail or something. :pt1cable: 

Timop said:
1. Various sources have pointed towards a June 6-11 launch.
2. BD is a new Architecture on a new process, I doubt they'll take a step backwards. Even with Barcelona they improved somewhat.
3. BD wasn't delayed, Fusion was due to K10 being subpar and then Llano due to process issues.
4. No one has ever had high expectations for Thuban (six-core K10), it is simply 2 cores grafted on to the Phenom II X4s and performance was known almost a year ago with the Server Istanbuls. Its actually amazing how AMD was able to shove so much on 45nm.
5. Why such high-skepticism? It sounds like you already know that its gonna fail or something. :pt1cable: 

To sum it up in layman's terms, Intel has been mopping the floor with AMD since 2006 and the release of the C2D. Every year I hear the AMD drones talking about AMD's new this, and new that, but the fact of the matter is AMD has been putting out complete duds for over five years straight. The only niche AMD fills for gamers is for peeps who can't afford an Intel build. When you have LGA 775 9650's still mopping the floor with AMD's that right there is a warning sign. Since then Intel has went onto 1336, 1156, and now 1155. Next year it will be peeps flashing their 1155 mobo's so that they can run Intel's new 22nm Ivy Bridge cpu's.

Why_Me said:
To sum it up in layman's terms, Intel has been mopping the floor with AMD since 2006 and the release of the C2D. Every year I hear the AMD drones talking about AMD's new this, and new that, but the fact of the matter is AMD has been putting out complete duds for over five years straight. The only niche AMD fills for gamers is for peeps who can't afford an Intel build. When you have LGA 775 9650's still mopping the floor with AMD's that right there is a warning sign. Since then Intel has went onto 1336, 1156, and now 1155. Next year it will be peeps flashing their 1155 mobo's so that they can run Intel's new 22nm Ivy Bridge cpu's.

The thing with CPUs is, once you have a "failed" Architecture, you're pretty much screwed as top dog for the next 3-5 years, ala Pentium 4. The "Success" of C2D, Nehalem, and the bridges is simply because they're all based upon the same basic C2D architecture and with intels beefy pockets to get new processes up and running.

And for your claim that "When you have LGA 775 9650's still mopping the floor with AMD's that right there is a warning sign." heres
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/203?vs=49 <-------Which one would you want?

Timop said:
The thing with CPUs is, once you have a "failed" Architecture, you're pretty much screwed as top dog for the next 3-5 years, ala Pentium 4. The "Success" of C2D, Nehalem, and the bridges is simply because they're all based upon the same basic C2D architecture and with intels beefy pockets to get new processes up and running.

And for your claim that "When you have LGA 775 9650's still mopping the floor with AMD's that right there is a warning sign." heres
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/203?vs=49 <-------Which one would you want?

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1100T-B... <---- I'm a gamer and I love to o/c.

Why_Me, I wanted to ask you something about the Gigabyte board you linked me to, I can't tell if it still gets x16 speeds when using Crossfire, I've noticed on a lot of motherboards that one of the PCI slots drops down to 8x, can you confirm this for me? And if so, is there another board with similar qualities you can refer me to that has 16x speed for both cards used?

negativelychrgd said:
Why_Me, I wanted to ask you something about the Gigabyte board you linked me to, I can't tell if it still gets x16 speeds when using Crossfire, I've noticed on a lot of motherboards that one of the PCI slots drops down to 8x, can you confirm this for me? And if so, is there another board with similar qualities you can refer me to that has 16x speed for both cards used?

That board runs dual cards @ 8x.

This one down below is one of four 1155 mobo's that I know of that run dual cards @ 16x. This board combo's with that RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $259.99
ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION LGA 1155 Intel P67 / NVIDIA NF200 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

negativelychrgd said:
Why_Me, I wanted to ask you something about the Gigabyte board you linked me to, I can't tell if it still gets x16 speeds when using Crossfire, I've noticed on a lot of motherboards that one of the PCI slots drops down to 8x, can you confirm this for me? And if so, is there another board with similar qualities you can refer me to that has 16x speed for both cards used?

Every single single P67 boards (without Lucid/NF200) scales to X8/X8 with 2 GPUs.

^^ It shows that the 1100T and OC and when OC'd matches the 980X at handbrake; plus that it make no difference in most games which are GPU limited ^^
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