Suggestions on my AMD Budget build

Camo84

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Aug 18, 2011
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18,540
This is pretty much the top of my budget that I'm willing to spend, I don't need the best, just something good for a few years with options open to upgrade later on. I really want stability in this build more than anything! I'm currently gaming on a HDX9300 HP "Dragon" 20" laptop. The 8800M GTS in it is still holding its own with Starcraft 2 , LFD 1&2. DA2,but my laptop has one foot in the trashcan Im afraid. Anyways, My last build had an OCed p4 , 512mb OCZ?, MSI mb, 9800 pro, Antec TruePower 430w(STILL WORKS!). I dusted it off the other day and fired right up(all lights and fans still worked too, I was suprised) so Id love to build another one of those. I wont be buying another "super" laptop, not the worst Idea ive had but pretty bad.....

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #:N82E16835100007
$12.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case
Item #:N82E16811119227
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Item #:N82E16832116986
$99.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835103065
$28.43
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 100315L Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #:N82E16814102908
$154.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

COMBO:
ASUS M5A99X EVO ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #: N82E16813131754

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
Item #: N82E16819103808
-$20.00 Instant
-$17.00 Combo
$247.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.691286

COMBO:
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148701

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Item #: N82E16827135204
-$6.50 Combo
$53.48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696142


COMBO:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Item #: N82E16820145345


CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W High Performance Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139020
-$25.00 Instant
-$15.00 Combo
$142.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.703203

3x LOGISYS Computer CF120BL 120mm BLUE 4 LED LED Case Fan
Item #: N82E16811999479
$21.87
($7.29 each)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999479

Grand Total: $812.69


 
^ Some suggestions,...

1. Mobo - You should know that the mobo though has Crossfire, but only does that in x16 x4 mode, which will bottleneck the 2nd card,... So if you have plans for Crossfire, then search for a board which does atleast x8x8,...

Some alternatives,...
HD 6870 + Patriot 8GB DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.709838

PSU
Antec EA 650W - ~$55 after coupon
$15 off w/ promo code EMCKBJD39, ends 8/22
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

Some case options - Instead of spending $21 on the fans extra, get any of these cases,... Have very good airflow, also front panel USB3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147108
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112322

Thermal Paste - Dont get the AS5, the one that comes with the CPU cooler would suffice,... It is as good, also the AS5 is electrically conductive which is not good if by chance it falls on the other components,... And the grease that comes with the coolers, easily match its performance nowadays,...
 

Camo84

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Aug 18, 2011
25
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18,540
Changed my MB to :
ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS with 955 BE combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.691286

Ill just use the paste that comes with 955 BE then and I like that lian li case thats on sale. Ill have to look at the cases some more. I picked the MB and PSU for possible upgrades later! Im still not decided on the Vid Card yet. The research that ive done has put the 6850 the best bang for your buck but I could be wrong on that. Im having to play catch up on the latest and greatest.
 

BlackBird24

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Jan 31, 2012
13
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18,510


Pretty good shopping. I just paid $810 for my system build. Only I went with Windows 7 Pro, because there is no worries about adding more memory later.

I went to a MSoft site and saw that with Home Premium you can only add 8 GB running that version but with Pro it's 192GB? This is going on their specs.

I hate MS due to this BS as my last build I put 4GB of RAM in and running it at 32 bit, I just found out after all these years that Windows only recognizes less than 3 GB?? Thus, why I built my last system yesterday and paid MS their last for their "every two years a new OS comes out with 1 new feature...it comes in purple LOL!!" I am going to start using LINUX, I am not rich and I am tired of all of us spending countless dollars on upgrades that should be great than what these big companies are allowing us to choose from! Wallet waster!!

Getting back to your build it's looking great for that budget for sure.

I got:

> Phenom II 1055T Hex Core $149
> Seagate 3.0 500 GB HD $89
> Corsair 16 GB QV list 1600's for $104
> Asus M5A99X EV0 $150
> Coolmaster 350 w/500W mid tower $55
> Windows 7 Pro 64 bit $149 (Hate forking over money to these guys)!

Plus around $37/sh

I bought a old Asus 4670 video card back in 2010, never used it until now, the system works fine, but BEWARE, I just started reading Tom's and I see so many issues with this Asus board, it is scaring me! I like Gigabyte or Asus, but doen't mean others are out of the question. So, far I have no issues and feel sorry for guys spending money and having to RMA this and that with Asus, I hope Asus products are not going out the windowS!! Good luck with your endevour/build!