AMD gaming rig

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nutter87

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Hi, dudes.

Hehe, almost everyone here gets an intel but I'll go with an AMD for my future gaming rig. I have some idea about what I want but I need some advice from you.

1. CPU Phenom II x4 965
What do you say about it in terms of performance : price as opposed to a 1) x4 975? 2) x6 1090t? These two cost about $60 more than the 965 here.

2. RAM 2x4GB 1600 Mhz kit.
G.Skill Ripjwas? corsair vengeance? Kingston HyperX?
Some people say G.Skill "doesn't get on well" with AMD CPUs. You think so?
Also, do I need CL8 RAM? I miiiiight get a bit into overclocking once again in a few years, so is it worth it?
3. MB ???
Something like GB 970A-UD3, GB 990FXA-D3 or ASUS M5A99X EVO? or ASUS M5A97 (PRO)?? Any Asrock? You get the prince range :)
I don't know anything about chipsets! Also, do all mainboards have the same-quality sound card? Because I don't plan on buying external one right now, and I have a SoundBlaster Live! 24bit 5.1 ... which isn't fully supported on Win7.

4. PSU Corsair tx? Fortron everest? Other?
How many watts are enough with a little breathing space for OC in a few years. The budget which I imagine here is in between $100 - 160.

5. Case CM HAF-912 PLUS

6. VGA
I already have a ASUS HD6670 1GB DDR5. I think I may stay with that one for a while waiting for the 69xx's to get cheaper.

7. HDD - Fortunately I have something to get me through since now it's not exactly the best HDD-buying time. (WD green 64mb 1024GB.)

Any advice on my questions would be appreciated! :)
 
Emelth

Emelth

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^+1
I love my 955 <3
 
Onus

Onus

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I've had excellent results with G.Skill RAM; it just works, at advertised specs. I can't say the same for Corsair Vengeance, which should be DDR3-1600 but wouldn't let my 990FX Sabertooth boot unless it was at DDR3-1333 (but runs flawlessly at that speed, including Prime95). BOTH are on the QVL for DDR3-1600. Anyway, I've got 4x4GB of G.Skill low-voltage on it now.
As disappointed as I am at how badly Bulldozer sucks, my 970BE should meet my needs nicely for the foreseeable future. I've got it mildly OC'ed to 3.8GHz, which should be reachable with the 955BE and 965BE also.
I'm using an Enermax Hoplite case. The drive mounting options are excellent in that case, including a top dock, a two-drive backplane, and space to slide in a pair of 2.5" drives.
I recommend AGAINST any Coolermaster products (including their cases and coolers), regardless of quality. Some of their PSUs have liar-labels on them, and/or claim protections that they lack (facts, not opinion; reviews at HardwareSecrets). That's dishonest, and a company that is dishonest does not deserve anyone's business. Fortunately, in every market they have entered, Coolermaster has competitors that offer equivalent (or better) products for the same price, so you don't take a hit in the wallet for refusing to support dishonesty. Check out Rosewill and Antec cases, and Xigmatek coolers as good examples.
 
Emelth

Emelth

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Those cases have perfect reviews to try and out do either of them would mean that you would have to shove out more money. For those prices hands down they are top of the line. Probably even have to go to a full tower to beat it but still would mean pushing out more money.
 
Wisecracker

Wisecracker

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For the $$$ this Rosewill case is quite decent

Running your WD 'Green' as your main HDD is probably not a good long-term proposition.

The PhII 965 is $130 -- $5 more than the 955. They pop up on sale for $115 or so every few weeks.

Hard to tell with your mobo -- you've got a wide price range. Any more details about what you are looking for ???


 
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nutter87

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Dudes, thanks to all for the discussion.
But first thing, I am not from USA, I am from Bulgaria and I can't shop on newegg.
The cases here lack variety at good prices . The two sellers I found with best prices have the CM at a good price.

jtt283, you really made me hesitate about the Corsair Vengeance. :( That's what I was intending to buy so I won't have to order from ebay.
If I'm buying from ebay, shall I choose G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4 GB 1600 CL8??? It's on a relatively good price...

About the HDD, yeah, WD green hampers things, but like I said and everyone knows, now it's not exactly the best HDD-buying moment.
 
Onus

Onus

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I'd buy Ripjaws. I've had excellent results from G.Skill.
Ok, I made a general comment about not buying Coolermaster because they're a dishonest company. More specifically, I think every Coolermaster case had minor quality issues. All could be fixed, but I got tired of untapped screw holes, worthless tool-free mounts, and panel misalignment (not all of which could be explained by rough shipping). None of them were unusable (although a hard drive shaken loose in shipping {yeah, I should have screwed it in but it felt tight} was destroyed), but like I said I got tired of it and switched to Rosewill. None of the 6-7 different Rosewill cases I've bought had ANY of those issues. So yeah, for quality I don't like CM either, but that's my opinion. The dishonesty part is fact, and I try to base recommendations on facts when I can.
 
rwayne

rwayne

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1. CPU: The performance difference between the Phenom II x 965 and the x6 1090t in most games is not huge. However if you are going to spend x6 1090t type money you would be better off getting a Sandy Bridge 2500k as the performance is substantially better in a lot of benchmarks.

2. RAM: I have been building for over 10 years and have used GSKill for the most part due to it's quality and broad range of compatibility. I have never had a set of GSkill ram go bad on me or any of my friends. Ripjaws is great however the heatfins can cause clearance problems with some CPU heatsinks.

DDR3 RAM prices are very low right now. To get 8 GBs today for $69 is a great deal and something you probably want to take advantage off.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

3. MOBO / Audio: On board Audio has come a long ways over the years. I would stick with it and only get a sound card afterwards if you still felt the need. This $99 ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 board would probably be ideal and inline budgetwise with the rest of the build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767


4. Power Supply: Corsair, Antec, & Seasonic make the better PSUs. Here is a modular one for $119.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012
You can save about $30 with a non-modular unit however doing so will require some cable management on your part.

5. Case: The HAF912 is a good case. I have no other suggestions for this market segment other than possibly an Antec 300. However I think the HAF912 is the better of the two.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

6. GPU: ASUS HD6670 1GB DDR5. I think I would stay with it too for now. It is a decent card.

7. Hard Drive: The bad news about Hard Drives is that prices could get even worse per this article I read yesterday:

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/24706-hdd-shortage-to-get-worse

The flood waters in Thailand are still rising and the estimated clean up is around 6 months. Western Digital has been hit particularly hard. However a 1 TB would be great if it will fit in the budget.

Other:
If you listen to podcasts I highly recommend listening to T.W.I.C.H. 'This Week in Computer Hardware' by Ryan Shrout. It is fun to listen to and is highly informative.

http://twit.tv/twich
 
Onus

Onus

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^+1 I agree with all those points except the CM case, which I already explained. Check out Rosewill cases though; they've got some good options all over the price ranges. Their fans are quiet, and move a decent amount of air, and internal space and mounting options tend to be good. The hard drive issue rather bites a big one right now though. I'm really happy I loaded my last build with plenty of disk space. He makes a good point about the RAM heatsink height.
 
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nutter87

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Dudes,
In order for my case airflow to be maximum efficient, I should conform the case fan with the CPU cooling, am I right?
For example, if I buy a CM Hyper 212+ for my build, since it's blowing towards the back of the case, I shouldn't put a side fan on the case blowing towards it, right? So the flow can undisturbedly flow from the front bottom from to the rear top?
 
rwayne

rwayne

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Finneous Beat me too it. I was about to post the same link.

If you have a CM 212 you are not going to have to worry if a fan is blowing on it or not. It cools extremely well all by itself. Actually depending on the case you may not be able to point a case fan on it due to the size of the CM 212.

When searching for a case I recommend less fans, but larger ones. Example: From what I understand a 200mm fan moves more air than four 120mm fans combined. However since the blades are larger they can run at lower RPMs, move more air and be dramatically quieter.

The cooler Master HAF series of cases do an excellent job of this. Less fans is better because you have less cables, less connections and it just makes for better cable management and airflow inside the case.
 
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nutter87

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I don't know who disliked FinneousPJ's comment, but I liked it. Why 0 rating, I don't know.
Thanks to him and to rwayne, too!
 
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nutter87

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Ppl, the first-chosen PSUs are completely out of stock here in Bulgaria. Please help me choose among the following PSUs:

1) Thermaltake TR2 RX 550W /ATX 2.3/A-PFC/14cm/Modular
2) 600W, PowerColor Gaming 600W, ActivePFC
3) Cooler Master GX 650W.

The configuration until now is:
Phenom II x4 965
RAM Corsair Vengeance 2x4 1600Mhz
MB Gigabyte 990XA
Case CM Haf 912 plus
Video - HD6670 for now and I want to have the option to upgrade to 6870 or 6950 in the future.
Also I need the comfort for some OC.
 
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nutter87

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I also was very unwilling to get the CM. But because I decided to order today and I didn't get any answers, I got the Powercolor, and the choice was tough - I stared and stared at specifications. Tomorrow I should receive it. The following months will show whether I made a mistake or not. :)

Really thanks for expressing an opinion though! Most people deserted my topic. :)
 
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