Help and input for Crossfire gaming system around $1400

shwiggles

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May 4, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: early next week (after finals!)

Budget Range: (e.g.: 1200-1400) After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Mostly for gaming, I use a Macbook for school

Parts Not Required: do not need peripherals nor a monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com preferred or amazon

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: I plan on using an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Deneb BE and 2 HD 5770 GPUs

Overclocking: Maybe, once I read up on how to do it. Any tips?

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: I've wanted to build a system like this for a year but the quote 12 months ago was around $1800. I've never built a computer before so any and all input/comments/advice is welcome and appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

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These are parts I have checked out so far on Newegg:

MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ; I would get 2 of these; I saw a lot of suggestions for a Samsung spinpoint F3 but I'm under the impression that I would want to maximize the speed of the HD to match with the mobo

toss up between these two mobos

cheap dvd/cd burner/reader combo drive

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory I'm purchasing two of these today because it's the last day of the promo code. My rationale is that DDR3 is the way of the future and these sticks will last. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

two potential PSUs any suggestions?

Windows 7 OEM or the full edition? is this even an issue that I should be considering?

unfortunately I have no clue as to what kind of case to get

should I consider a heat sink?

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Again, any and all comments/advice/input is welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

 

shwiggles

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May 4, 2011
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I think so, the 965 is just so value friendly and I was under the impression that AMD is very Crossfire friendly because they're the same company and Intel is conversely SLI friendly, which would require more expensive nVidia cards? My price points could be wrong though.
 

brpeden82

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Dec 6, 2010
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it doesnt matter only u cant run sli on a amd mother board but you can run crossfire or sli on intel . i would go with a one faster card like the HD 6950 1GB or GTX 560TI
the hard drive is a gimmick it cant satturate a 3GB SATA connection much less 6GB SATA. get a samsung spinpoint F3 1TB i would go with intel with a I5 2500k and asrock P67 extreme 4 motherboard.
 

nd_hunter

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Jul 26, 2009
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Rubbish. Here's a killer system for $1400.

Intel i5-2500k combo w/ ASUS P8P67 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.642515
$384.98, free shipping, $10 off w/ promo code HARDOCPX5X4B, ends 5/10

Cooler Master Hyper 212+
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_c
$31.44, free shipping

G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5v
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
$99.99, free shipping

2x HIS HD 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349
$399.98, free shipping, $20 mail-in-rebate available

Corsair 750HX PSU
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-750HX-Professional-Certified-compatible/dp/B0029F21LK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1304554376&sr=1-1
$139.99, free shipping, $10 mail-in-rebate available

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - OEM
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Cache-Desktop-HD103SJ/dp/B001U3S5S0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1304554520&sr=1-1
$60.85, free shipping

LG DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
$20.99, free shipping

Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Advanced-Tower-SuperSpeed/dp/B001EPUQAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1304555393&sr=1-1
$159.96, free shipping

Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
$99.99, free shipping

Total: $1398.17 shipped before promo code and rebates
 

genghiskron

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Mar 15, 2011
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i like hunter's build except i would go:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.637592 (w/ promo code that ends tonight)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.632379
and buy a second 560ti separately - you could also go for dual 6950's. the point is, you can save tons of money, maintain quality, and get better gaming performance through better graphics.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021&cm_re=750tx-_-17-139-021-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

dont forget the 2500k promo code
 

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