$700-$850 AMD Gaming Build

[amo10]

Approximate Purchase Date: End of October or whenever bulldozer decides to come out.

Budget Range: 700-850 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web surfing

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Wherever they offer the best deals and customer service. So far Newegg is looking more promising than the others.

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: NA as long as they have good warranty.

Overclocking: Maybe in the near future

SLI or Crossfire: Yes but in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1366x768 (720P HD 26 inch LCD TV via HDMI)

Additional Comments: Needs to have header on mobo for USB 3.0 to connect to front IO of case. Case needs USB 3.0 in front IO that goes directly to motherboard header. Case needs good cooling obviously. Needs to support SLI or both SLI and Crossfire if possible. Needs to not be bottleknecked in SLI significantly as a result of PCI-E speeds.

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Processor: Bulldozer either the $200 8 core or the $240 pending benchmarks. At this point we'll just say the $200 one.

DVD player
Lite-On DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Case
Rosewill Ranger
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147061

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

Motherboard
ASROCK 970 EXTREME4 AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

GPU
ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121446

PSU
Antex Earthwatts Series EA-750 Green
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051

RAM
Corsair Vengeance 8 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

At my resolution I'm not sure what card i should use to max out as many games as possible for a while into the future. Eventually I'll go SLI or Crossfire. Right now I'm looking for the best single card solution.
I'll be playing just about any game I can get my hand on which includes FPS RTS you name the genre: I'll probably play it. The next Games I'm looking at getting are Arkham City, ME3, and Deus EX Human Revolution.

I need any and all constructive criticism of this build plan and recommended parts to replace those which may be better suited for my build. This is my very first build but I've been doing research on computer parts (mock builds) since June. It's time I actually put one together. This computer will be primarily for gaming and a little bit of web surfing. This is intended to be a higher end bang for your buck gaming system. Anything else is extra that my laptop can handle. Thank You.

 

[Outlander_04]

Your tv's resolution is no challenge at all for the graphics card you have selected .
Make sure Vsync is turned on in the graphics driver or you may damage the tv

You are not ever going to need a second graphics card at that resolution so you could use a cheaper 500 watt psu .

 

[amo10]

A 500 watt PSU will get the job done as far as 1 GTX 560 (non-ti) overclocked is concerned? Do you think the card is overkill for the resolution or no? Is there anywhere I can get a calculator that is somewhat accurate in wattage usage besides the new-egg one? I'm a little concerned about the PCI-E speed on the motherboard though. Should I ever upgrade to a better monitor will i be better off with a different mobo at 8x by 8x PCI-E video cards? My other concern is the case. It's a nice case but it's new and there have been no reviews on it yet so I'm still up in the air on it despite having the feature set I want.

 

[spentshells]

The 560 will be perfect for full graphics at that resolution.
I agree you can deffinately back down the PSU.
550 to 620 watts is way more than enough, But I suggest this for a future GPU upgrade in 1.5-2 years

 

[Outlander_04]

The 560 will be perfect for full graphics at that resolution.
I agree you can deffinately back down the PSU.
550 to 620 watts is way more than enough, But I suggest this for a future GPU upgrade in 1.5-2 years

Its likely that graphics cards in future generations will use substantially LESS power than todays models , just as todays cpu's use a fraction of those from two years ago while doing much more work

 

[amo10]

Ok so seeing this I should get an AM3 motherboard that doesn't have SLI since at my current resolution it isn't really needed. My biggest priority is to get the best gaming performance out of the limited budget I have yet still have some key pieces for potential future proofing.

 

[amo10]

Its likely that graphics cards in future generations will use substantially LESS power than todays models , just as todays cpu's use a fraction of those from two years ago while doing much more work

Yeah I'm still curious as to how much power bulldozer will be using though. That will probably have to wait to be seen until at least the 12th if the rumor mill has any legitimacy to it.

 

[spentshells]

Its likely that graphics cards in future generations will use substantially LESS power than todays models , just as todays cpu's use a fraction of those from two years ago while doing much more work

Yeah but as you step up a class which people normally will, the power requirements get higher IE going from a 5770 -> 6950 will require more power.....Although it is more effective architecture it also uses a lot more power.

Did you ever have a P4 system ? One with a 1950xt or xtx did you notice how it how had a 350-400 watt PSU ? Now a system needs a 450-75- ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoWnIhDuW4g

 

[Outlander_04]

Yeah but as you step up a class which people normally will, the power requirements get higher IE going from a 5770 -> 6950 will require more power.....Although it is more effective architecture it also uses a lot more power.

Did you ever have a P4 system ? One with a 1950xt or xtx did you notice how it how had a 350-400 watt PSU ? Now a system needs a 450-75- ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoWnIhDuW4g

Im proud to say I never owned a P4 until last week when someone dumped an old Dell on me .

Systems today dont typically require more power . Enthusiasts just buy higher rated psu's so they can tell their friends about it

 

[spentshells]

Well I did with a NV4200ti And a Barton Core AMD system with a ATI 7500 and every machine although x times more efficient is usualy 1.5 as powerful at least. And they always need more power.

Sorry to hear about the Dell...lifes hard but you will make t.

 

[Onus]

The 900-series chipset boards all support SLI as well as Crossfire.
I like ASRock boards; the one you've chosen doesn't, but this one comes with a front USB3.0 bracket to mount in a 3.5" drive bay: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157266 and it also has two x16 PCIE slots.
If you're really keen on length of warranty though, check out the (more expensive) Asus 990FX Sabertooth. That board has pretty much any connectivity option you'd ever want, and has a 5-year warranty. It does not come with a USB3.0 bracket, but you may not need it.

 

[Outlander_04]

The 900-series chipset boards all support SLI as well as Crossfire.
I like ASRock boards; the one you've chosen doesn't, but this one comes with a front USB3.0 bracket to mount in a 3.5" drive bay: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157266 and it also has two x16 PCIE slots.
If you're really keen on length of warranty though, check out the (more expensive) Asus 990FX Sabertooth. That board has pretty much any connectivity option you'd ever want, and has a 5-year warranty. It does not come with a USB3.0 bracket, but you may not need it.

990 series FX , X

not the 970's which apart from the Asrock only have a single pci-e x 16 slot running at full speed

 

[amo10]

The 900-series chipset boards all support SLI as well as Crossfire.
I like ASRock boards; the one you've chosen doesn't, but this one comes with a front USB3.0 bracket to mount in a 3.5" drive bay: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157266 and it also has two x16 PCIE slots.
If you're really keen on length of warranty though, check out the (more expensive) Asus 990FX Sabertooth. That board has pretty much any connectivity option you'd ever want, and has a 5-year warranty. It does not come with a USB3.0 bracket, but you may not need it.

I don't need a USB 3.0 bracket since the case I'm buying already has a USB header feeding from the 2 USB 3 ports on the front of case to the actual motherboard. If I had a case that needed the additional 3.0 I would most definitely consider this motherboard. Actually with this you can make any case into a 3.0 case with direct connection to the motherboard. I might just take this avenue. Now I get a wider choice of cases. I already have considered Sabertooth (beautiful motherboard) but I think it is expensive for what it offers and i wouldn't utilize all the features thus wasting money.

 

[amo10]

Best answer selected by amo10.