My AMD Build @ $720! Please advice/help critic.

[sunnybwana]

Approximate Purchase Date: the closer the better

Budget Range: $650-750

System Usage from Most to Least Important: photo editing, video editing but not anything major, just about average

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: quality

Overclocking: Maybe – if advisable to do it

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe – if advisable to have it

Monitor Resolution: have a 1280x1024 and plan on getting something better, eg. 1920x1080, 1920x1200

Additional Comments: no bling bling 


Components:

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE

OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black Computer Case

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 Quad-Core Processor

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 01G-P3-1556-KR Video Card

ASUS M5A97 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS


Grand Total: $720.90

 

[bryonhowley]

Do you have a standard Hard Drive for your games and programs? A 120gig Solid State will fill up fast if you are installing everything on it. Other than that it looks good.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Tavo_Nova]

actually that list of yours is good to go.

go buy it ^_^

 

[hapkido]

Will you be playing games? If so, which ones?

 

[maui67]

That build looks good.

If I had to nitpick and give one suggestion it might be to change the GPU to this:

HIS H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402

or other comparable HD7770. It's about the same price as the 550 Ti but appears to be a little better based on benchmarks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-8.html

Looks good though otherwise.

 

[Outlander_04]

That is not a good mix of components for your usage .

Unless there is a compelling reason to use AMD fr you then you will be better with an intel build at this price point

Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506
The Asrock Gen3 Z77 motherboard $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
2 x4 gig of 1600 Mhz DDR3 running at 1.5 volts $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546


Quiet office case with power supply $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129072

You should not need a graphics card , but if there is room in your budget you will slightly increase system performance because you are freeing up system RAM . You may also get rear panel connectors that the motherboard does not have like display port . But either way you wont need to spend more than about $60 on this part

 

[Tavo_Nova]

well if he uses any programs with cuda then a 550ti is a nice gpu, if not actually even a 7750 is good to go, and seems he won't be playing games or if he do just casual flash games or those some newer games that doesn't require competitive playing.

so a 7750/7770/550ti should be well good enough for his usage


edit: I thought so someone would slap in intel ^_^ well he wants amd let's give him amd, there will be not much big impact on performance with what he is going to be doing,

ocz psu is not so bad at least better than generic, and it doesn't seem like he will be going with intense gaming,

as he did mention normal usage = flash games (maybe), facebook, youtube, surf surf, minesweeper, solitair, chess or maybe some good old counter strike, nothing heavy so yeah amd is good enough for him, he doesn't need intel unless he is so uber over a few seconds speed increase on some parts.

 

[Outlander_04]

That build looks good.

If I had to nitpick and give one suggestion it might be to change the GPU to this:

HIS H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402

or other comparable HD7770. It's about the same price as the 550 Ti but appears to be a little better based on benchmarks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-8.html

Looks good though otherwise.

what reason do you have for recommending a gaming graphics card to a person who is not gaming?

 

[Tavo_Nova]

that amd build is not so bad actually,

he can even go with any generic psu as it also works out, but I do like the sound of seasonic, corsair psu,

antec is ok but most of it is crap,

actually to save money he can even live with gt 210 or something even if he doesn't game he can always go for the older cheaper gaming gpu's.

edit: actually I'll even go with what he put up there compared to some stuff I I see on the mall selling pentium g's with 1gb ram and stuff. for 437.93$ (saw it yesterday afternoon and made me feel like WTF) well it's build already and it's a mall so it's expected to me more expensive but yeah ahahaha could build something cheaper with better parts quality for the same price.

 

[maui67]

what reason do you have for recommending a gaming graphics card to a person who is not gaming?

Quite right....my bad. I assumed he would be playing games, but I should have read the original post again more carefully.

In that case, the 550Ti would be the better choice as, Tavo_nova pointed out, he may use a program that uses CUDA.

OP: What applications will you be using?

And no, the OP will not see much if any difference between the i5-3450 and the Phenom II
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1914/5/

 

[hapkido]

Assuming you're not playing games --

CPU + Mobo: Intel Core i5-3450 + ASRock H77 Pro4-M $279.97
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $44.99
SSD: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 120GB SATA III SSD $114.99
HDD: Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 5900 RPM $99.99 ($10 off w/ promo code EMCNENJ24, ends 5/7)
DVD: LG DVD Burner 24X $17.99
Case: NZXT Source 210 $39.99
PSU: Antec EarthWatts Green 430W 80+ bronze $39.99

Subtotal: $637.92
Shipping: $7.33
Promos: -$10.00

Total: $635.25

If you are going to play games, I would change this around a bit.

 

[UVB076]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($107.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.93 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448 Cores 1.25GB Video Card ($252.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $762.72
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-04 17:02 EDT-0400)

USB3.0, FX-6100, 8GB DDR3-1600, 560Ti-448.

 

[Outlander_04]

The idea of an nVidia card for cuda ignores two things

AMD has pretty much the same technology

and intels quick sync on Z68 and Z77 motherboards will do the job better anyway

By using an IB quadcore he OP get the improved integrated processor graphics that will be more than enough for his usage