New build with a controversial processor

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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So i'm doing my first computer build from scratch. I got a bit ahead of myself and fear that i might of wasted 800 bucks when i could of gotten a bit more for my buck. Me and my buddy did the build together (well he did did the bulk of the looking i just made decisions basted on what i thought was best). Well here what we came up with.

To start I'm being a daring one and trying the AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz despite mixed reviews.
Next I have 16 GB of DDR3 ram 1330
750W modular power supply (crossfire ready)
250 gb Hard drive with a spin speed of 7200rpm
MSI 970A-G46 AMD 9 Series Motherboard - ATX
and last important component is (the one i think i could of done better on)
PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 1GB

If you need more info please ask, i posted what i thought was truly important. I also got windows professional. I spent about $800 on the total build. How'd i do for my first build?

Also i placed this in CPU because i did hear alot about people saying that the Phenom II black is actually better int the FX-4150. I took the risk because the AMD came out with a patch recently that increased conformance by 10% and i'm using the 4170 which is much faster.
 
You did ok

you give the brand of the power supply.


There are a few things you could have saved money on. The ram being the biggest thing as I doubt you'd be able to use it all. 8gb of 1600 would probably be a better buy imo.

the power supply might be a bit too much as you could have gone with a 500w no problem.

the 4170 isnt very good to spend the extra money on as its the same performance as the 4100. You just need to OC the 4100 and it will be just as good. The phenom BE cpus would have been even better.

You could have gotten a 6870 with the money saved. Also window ultimate really isn't worth it over home premium for most users imo.

The build is decent overall tho, should do what you'd want it to do for a build at that price.
 

Redmar89

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Dec 2, 2011
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Did you already bought this setup 800 bucks is a bit to much for this build I would say. I assume you did. The PSU and Ram is an overkill in my opinion. Also i would have picked an Intel processor instead of the zambezi.
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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Well i'm a 3D modeler so i spend alot of time rendering so i figured that the extra single core power and RAM will probably get put to use. And I am hoping to double the graphics card so i can crossfire, hence the larger power supply.

I'm a bit of a firm believer that anything worth doing is worth over doing. As for the windows premium Its actually a requirement for a program i'm going to buy, and when the program is half the price of the computer its worth the extra 20 bucks i spent to get the better OS. This might of been good info to add in post 1. As for the power supply brand its the

NZXT HALE82 HALE82-750-M 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Power Supply

Not sure how to sum that up.
 
The 4100 is a 95w part. the 4170 is a 125w part. they are not the same.

While you can get the 4100 to the stock speed of a 4170, you can get the 4170 to 4.8 ghz.

Mine slightly outperforms my friends i3 2120 after the overclock.

That having been said, if I didn't already have an AM3+ board (bought it with an x3 450 before bulldozer came out), I would be using intel right now. AMD needs to drop their chip prices by at least $10 across the board to be competitive on value again.
 
some suggestions:
an ssd 64 (boot) to 128 (os) gb. and for other stuff, a roomy hdd .. 500gb at least.
a good cpu cooler. i can't recommend lcs ones outside amd's branded one by asetec or corsair's h series as i don't know much about them. as for air coolers, cm hyper 212 evo, xigmatek gaia, corsair a70, noctua nh d14 are some good cpu coolers afaik. amd's stock cooler isn't half bad, but it gets loud on load.
single 6850 is fine.
970 chipset is okay for single card setups.
[strike]for gaming, 16 gb might be a bit overkill but ram is cheap, so...[/strike] rendering likes system ram, 16 gb is fine.
imo both 4100 and 4170 have the same oc limit while 4100 uses less power at at stock (95w vs 125w). you could have done better with $800. but it's your decision. good luck.
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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I did already buy it. But this cost was without the rebates and including shipping. I also bought a case, a nice case. But that wasn't relevant to the specs. I also bought quality components. Also Intel was a bit out of my price range.
 


No, they don't. The different wattage ratings should have told you that much. the 4100 tops out around 4.2 ghz, the 4170 gets up to 4.8 ghz on air, maybe higher. 4.8 is as high as i could get it stable.
 
you'll have to provide a link there. I researched both chips pretty thoroughly before I bought, and I've never seen a 4100 stable that high on air cooling, with all 4 cores still enabled.

If you can find one that ran something like prime95 for at least two hours, I'll definitely be a sad panda :D
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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This computer will be used for gaming but allot of my decisions were made on the fact that i do alot of rendering. And I know that if you don't get ram all at once you might not find the matching set again. I found a deal on some good brand name ram so i filled my slots. I don't do alot of OCing so i just went with solid stock speed.
 

nothing wrong with your decision to not oc and to go with higher stock clock. the suggestion still stands, in case you change you mind. :)
good call on getting that much ram at once. i have made the mistake of getting small capacity in the begining to upgrade later, only to never find the matching set.
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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Yah, Its a $50 case with 4 fans and built like a rock.
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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Yah and with all slots full the only way to upgrade is to just replace. If i ever need a smaller rig i can break it up into 2 2X4 systems or something. I figured that filing the slots would be better then haveing 2/4 at a faster speed and cost twice as much. I've put alot of thought into this build. I wont take all the credit my friend spent 14 hours looking up parts then i just did the extra research to find the ones that i thought would work best for what i'm doing. I am planning on upgrading sometime in the future.
 

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1766/1/
heres one at 4.6

http://www.overclock.net/t/1223168/seeing-what-the-fx4100-is-capable-of-currently-at-4-6ghz-ocd-and-30c

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/272897-29-4100-5ghz-quest

some people with OCs
 

Dizuki

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Apr 13, 2012
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Yah as much as i'd like that speed, I wouldn't risk a brand new system experimenting with OC. I've never done it before and i'd hate to balls it up. I'd sooner do it with a AMD then an intel but still stock speed is just fine.
 


I can't find any stress tests in that bunch, only benchmarks, though that is food for thought.

looking around on overclock, looks like some folks have been able to get the 4170 to 5.1 ghz, on the stock cooler no less.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1235151/4170-highest-stable-oc

Could be I just need a mobo with a better voltage regulator.
>.< except the guy with the 5.1 OC has a mobo with the same damn regulator as mine.
1.64v seems pretty dangerous, but then again, there isn't much testing on the 4170 out there so I don't know what a safe ceiling is for it's voltage.
 

billcat479

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