Take a Look at This Build! -First Build-

[Gotgamer456]

This is my first build, hoping to have it all paid for and assembled by this summer. Any feedback would be appreciated. Ide like to know if everything I am getting it going to work together, if I have undersold/overachieved on certain things and also anything I should change. Budget wise I am about 150$ OVER, so any money saving tips would be nice. thanks

CPU/Processor: AMD FX-6200 Zambezi 3.8GHz (4.1GHz Turbo)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3 AM3+

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Cooling: CORSAIR Hydro Series H60 (CW-9060007-WW) Water Cooler

Power Supply: CORSAIR CX Series CX750 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready

Hard drive: Western Digital WD Black WD5003AZEX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s

Optical Drive: ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A7T/BLK/B/GEN - OEM

Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX

Case: ZALMAN Z11 Plus HF1 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

As far as future upgrade go I have plenty of room to add additional RAM. I overachieved on the power supply as well as the cooling so upgrading the processor will be easy, and everything is CrossFireX ready so when I upgrade the video card all I will have to is buy another one. here is a link to my wishlist on Newegg.com

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] D=21809025

Thanks before hand for the advise.

 

[marshallbradley]

Hi there,

Don't bother with the pre-packaged water cooler, most top end air solutions will beat it in both performance and price. It's only good if you want the (slightl) wow factor of saying I have a pre-built water-cooling solution in my system. Check out Noctua solutions (if it fits in your case!)

If you went with a G860/H61 Motherboard that would probably bring you back into your budget, though you would lose the quad core.

I'd really consider getting an SSD. Ever since getting one it is a mandatory part of any build I suggest (more so than even a graphics card in some cases). It really takes a computer out of the dark ages. Samsung always has solid offerings. Reinvest the money saved on the other components mentioned if you can.

Otherwise a solid build from what I can see.

M

 

[bigcyco1]

Change your CPU Cooler:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

 

[Gotgamer456]

Would the liquid cooled be something to keep if I am considering OC'ing the processor later on into the rigs life.

Also I was considering downgrading my video card from the
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 7870 @ 249$
to the
SAPPHIRE 100355-1GOCL Radeon HD 7850 @179$

I will save 70$, and loose 1gb of memory and only 200Ghz clock speed. Is this a bad idea or a good idea to save a big chunk of cash.

here's the link to the SAPHIRE card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004

 

[Gotgamer456]

-Bump-

 

[marshallbradley]

As I mentioned before the Noctua is better than even the best pre packaged water cooling kits. Personally unless you're planning on OCing from the start or are a silence freak, you might as well just stick with the stock cooling for stock speeds. It should be more than plenty in most climates.

The choice is yours. At 1080p, I've read that on average the 7870 is about 17% faster. From a price / performance ratio stand point, you're paying nearly 40% more for that extra 17% performance, so it doesn't really seem worth it. Both are good choices though nonetheless. Keep in mind that CrossFire with the 7870 is very much an upgrade option down the line, however I would not recommend CrossFire with a 1GB 7850 as the frame buffer is simply too small.

M

 

[Gotgamer456]

Thanks for the advise M, Very helpful. I am going to be going with the stock cooler to save some immediate cash since I don't see myself OC'ing this thing any time soon and because I can always add a better cooling system as the budget allows for upgrades. I will also be keeping the Radeon-7870 video card, and dropping my 500gb hard drive and adding a 120gb SSD drive.
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236

Total price has also dropped back within budget lines from $890 to $830.
Thanks everyone for your advise.

SOLVED!