Check my $500 AMD Build?

serowman

October 30, 2011 4:12:04 AM

Approximate Purchase Date: On black friday in case their are any really good deals.

Budget Range: $500 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, Case, DVD drive, Hard drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: I'm open to Ideas if anybody can make an arguement for a different brand.

Overclocking: I'm definitely O/Cing

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I just want and suggestions on incompatibilities or better parts. My only concern is if the wattage on the PSU is enough if I start overclocking my CPU and Graphics card.

Case: Antec 300 Illusion $45 - I already own this. I got it on the sale going on right now.
Motherboard: Asrock M3A770DE $60 - If I save enough money on deals for the the other components I'm planning on buying a AM3+ board.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB $166 with a combo deal with the Phenom II 955 BE - I would like to overclock this.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition $120 - I am planning on getting this in a combo deal with the Sapphire 6870. I am planning on overclocking this as much as possible.
PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-500D $60 - I would appreciate if someone could tell me if this will be adequate if I overclock my GPU and CPU.
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) $30
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $30 - This seems to be what everybody suggests.
DVD Drive: Already have it.
HDD: Already have it.

Total: $511

If anybody has any suggestions for changes for this build I would like to hear them!

More about : check 500 amd build

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Puff3r

October 30, 2011 4:39:06 AM

Considering power supplies degrade with time, and frankly I think it may be a little under powered for the build as is, I would definitely recommend upgrading to at least a 650 watt power supply. Try this one. Especially if you plan to upgrade in the future.

As for the Cooler Master, the Sunbeam CCF actually out performs it in most tests. Here is a review from Frosty Tech.

I personally use the Sunbeam CCF to overclock my 955 BE and I get 3.8 GHz at 31 C idle. Using Prime 95 I max out at 54 C under full load.

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Outlander_04

October 30, 2011 4:53:43 AM

The recommended minimum psu for a 6870 is 500 watt , but they run fine on much less . You will be fine with the Antec . The likely total draw will be around 250 watts at peak .

There are AM3+ motherboards that cost only a little more . Search on newegg by price and the first 970 chipse board is only $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Since the motherboard is the hardest thing to replace you could consider saving money on the processor . A Phenom 840 ?

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aznshinobi

October 30, 2011 9:40:10 AM

^+1

Another mobo suggestion would be this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Also AM3+ compliant.

For $5 more get 150w more on your PSU, Antec EA650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Possibly this combo instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
I'm not partial to XFX or Sapphire, but the XFX saves like $3 plus the cooling is similar. But with XFX you get lifetime warranty.

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FinneousPJ

October 30, 2011 9:46:08 AM

That PSU is more than enough. It's a solid build, 500 buys you a lot of computer these days.

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