950$ build second opinions

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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks from 6/4

Budget Range: 950/850

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies, stuff like photoshop, etc.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Needs to be all Newegg.

Country: U.S.

Parts Preferences: I'd prefer big name brands, amd, asus, kingston, crosshair, etc.

Overclocking: Probably

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future

Monitor Resolution: (1280x1024)x2

Newegg Wishlist here

Case - COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Computer Case

Mobo - ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX

Video Card - EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti

P/S - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply

Memory - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

CPU - AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

CPU heatsink - COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler w/ Universal bracket & Dual Fan

Additional Comments: I'm pretty set on this list, and I've read a lot about it being good to have an updated bios for the processor and setting the memory timings correctly, so I'm fine with all that. I just want to make sure everything is prim and proper for what I want to do with it. The main reason I went with this processor and the memory is because they're on the mobo's QVL and I like when it all comes together. In the budget I'm only counting the instant rebates. I should also mention that I'll be running a 64 bit windows 7 on it.
 
Solution
Why_Me

You have a $950 budget, your talking about building a gaming rig and you plan on spending money on an SSD?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.975453 $354.98 save: $15.00
Intel...
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aznshinobi

aznshinobi

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Oct 19, 2009
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Would not suggest AMD at all and for that matter with your budget, I'd try not to go with any Asus boards as they cost a lot but perform like any cheaper board.

Check out my $850 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
Gives you way more performance, you'll still be able to overclock. You get a much better GPU that can overclock to the performance of a GTX 580 for less, lower power consumption, less heat and quieter as well.

Here's the benches:
GTX 550 Ti vs 7850: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/541?vs=549
AMD 8150 vs i5 2500K: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/434?vs=288

Photoshop will never need 16GB of ram, especially not expensive ram there will be no performance difference between something like a Dominator vs Ripjaws. As for the 16GB, I run heavy PS5 with 8GB and LR3.3 at the same time. It's more CPU based than RAM based. I had a AMD 955 @ 3.6 now I upgraded to the i5 2500K @ 4.8ghz, night and day obviously with WAY better performance especially in benches. If anything, the FX-4170 is like the 955.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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Well my big emphasis was on gaming, and I know 16 gb is ridiculous, it's just my way of getting back at life for being stuck with 2gb for the past ever.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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I picked the 700W PS because I have little knowledge of power draw on anything, or little care, I want enough to cover everything I need with plenty of room for possibly a second video card in the future.
 
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aznshinobi

aznshinobi

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Have you looked at my guide and my suggestions? 16GB is quite a bit that could be saved if you went 8GB. You'd be saving essentially $40-$50 that is better put towards the GPU or other things where you'd actually see the change in real life applications.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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Yeah, I checked it out, I think I could cut back on the ram, but I would want to put that towards the processor. Though I do like the mobo I have and that processor is one of the best I could find that was on the QVL, so maybe for a better video card or an ssd.
 
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aznshinobi

aznshinobi

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Oct 19, 2009
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Honestly, there is nothing you need above the i5 3570K. Especially for gaming it is unneeded. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're just trying to get you to spend more than necessary.

The GPU is most important, the 7850 will be solid and more than enough. Especially after an overclock it performs at the GTX 580's level it'll be great.

Seriously just stick with my guide and get this SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Chronos-2-5-Inch-Solid-MKNSSDCR120GB/dp/B005CGFU4I%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid1240995-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB005CGFU4I

You'll be solid.
 
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P

psikaikai

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Apr 9, 2012
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I personnaly prefer Intel for cpus but that's is up to you. I do have to say the Wires on the 700watt modstream are very very VERY short I had to return to CompUsa because they were.16gb of ram is too much unless you want to do serious photoshop put it into a better GPU.
 
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pacioli

pacioli

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Nov 22, 2010
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The price/performance ratio favors Intel at the moment for gaming. The FX 4170 at $110 is beaten by the $70 Intel G620 Pentium CPU in gaming benchmarks.

Going with an AMD CPU is like throwing money away at this point. At the same price point as the FX 4170 you can get an Intel i3 2100 or an i3 2120.

I would not recommend that motherboard as you get no performance boost from it. Get this instead. ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
This AsRock board wins the newegg customer choice award.

This Mobo would work with the intel CPUs and still gives you Xfire/SLI support but for $150. So that is $275 for a really fast mobo/CPU combo compared to $330 for a mediocre CPU/Mobo combo.

I'd take the extra $100 you save on getting only 8 Gb Ram and the Intel Proc/Mobo and get a GTX 560 Ti or a Radeon 7850. A system like that would be a much more balanced one than the system you were planning on buying.

In the end you'd have a processor that is considerably more powerful for gaming and a much more capable GPU.

Also if you stick with AMD there is no need to get anything besides the FX 4170. Simply put the FX 4170 is the fastest gaming processor made by AMD at the moment. Paying more for AMD only gets you more "Modules" but actually decreases the gaming benchies from where the FX 4170 already is.

Also... Do you have a Micro Center nearby? www.microcenter.com they have the best prices on CPUs and even better prices on CPU/MOBO combos
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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Thanks for the feedback, I do like the way that mobo is looking, and was planning on going down to 8gb of ram anyway, idk about the 2.6ghz dual core though, maybe an i3 would be a bit more bang? i wouldn't know which to go with though. After a recommendation I'll reply with a build based on this. Unfortunately the money I'll be putting into this will be from the newegg preferred account set up, so I can't buy from microcenter.
 
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aznshinobi

aznshinobi

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Oct 19, 2009
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Why get that motherboard when you could get the Z77 Extreme4 for less and has Gen3 already as a native controller as well as SLI support. Winning customer review award does not mean it is a good board for the price. Getting awards from reviewers like THG or Overclockers or G3D is a little bit more credible than customers that usually have misleading reviews.

As for the chip you should be putting more towards the GPU right now honestly. So I'd opt for the 7850 and an i3 2120/2100 or G860 so you can get the 7850.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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On second thought.

Mobo - ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU - Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

Video - EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

ssd - Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW080G3K5 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
 
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Why_Me

Why_Me

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Jan 17, 2008
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You have a $950 budget, your talking about building a gaming rig and you plan on spending money on an SSD?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.975453 $354.98 save: $15.00
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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My most recent post was made before I saw you reply, sorry. And I figure I should get another drive since both of mine will probably die soon, thought I'd try an ssd.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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10,510
okay

video - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7850 OC 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16

Mobo - ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

i'll stick with the same memory and power supply. Question, will the bios on that motherboard support the ivybridge processor right out of the box?
 
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Why_Me

Why_Me

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Jan 17, 2008
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You want your money going to the gpu (video card). You might want to google some benchmarks and see what you can afford. The video card is important for any gaming build seeing how that's what makes the most difference in regards to FPS in games. Slow crappy card= lagging in games even at low resolution.
 
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kyouryu

kyouryu

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Mar 19, 2012
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10,510
With what I've listed, with the 8gb of memory and the 700w psu, and $70 for the case, i'm totaled at $863 including s&h. though i'd like to get a headset and mouse but i can pick 'em up later.

Edit: that's without the ssd.
 
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