Opinions on This Build

[Jefe]

I want to build a semi-decent gaming computer capable of running SC2, FFIV, as well as some other games.

Here's what I have so far:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz

Mobo 1:MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

OR:

Mobo 2:ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

The difference is about 40 bucks. The former is way more robust, it leaves a lot of room for adding shit later on. What I like about the latter is the integrated video card, I can probably xfire w/ the video card I've selected.

Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB

Power Supply: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - ATX

Which I wonder if 750 may be a bit of overkill for the current build? I'd like to have the option to add another video card later on.

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM

Tower: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I'll get some cheapass dvd-rw drive. Also, I'll use the stock fan for now since I will not OC it right away...

What do you guys think, any other recommendations are welcome, thanks ;o

[shidobu]

If you plan on ocing.. you would prob get more mileage out of an i5 setup.

[Olo401]

Integrated graphics is garbage no matter who makes it, and you can't do xfire/sli with it.

[Dakin]

Get this RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-303-_-Product

$5 more but better timings.

[Jefe]

Indeed, the integrated video card won't do shit xfired from what I've read. I'll check out the sticks. Man, still undecided about the mobo... gonna check out some more reviews for both.

[Sonomaa]

not sure that power supply will be up to the task
20-30 bucks more buys you a 1.5tb hard drive

[Dmitry]

I wouldn't recommend an MSI board after having trouble with mine. The only advantage that one has is the 5 PCI-e slots, which unless you plan on having more than 1 video card are more than likely not going to be used. I would go with the ASUS board.

[fishstix]

I'd also go with the ASUS board over MSI based on brand choice, if you're looking into options though, check out Gigabyte also. 750w is more than enough for that system and even xfire, at least according to http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1105/14/ their test system was an i7 chip though

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/r...onsumption.jpg
however, idk about the Ultra brand. with your case and this antec 750w PSU, there's a combo deal that comes out to the PSU costing only $50 after rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.480370 so it'd actually be cheaper than the Ultra one

perhaps spend the little extra money into upgrading the hard drive for the black version, has a bigger cache http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

[Olo401]

Ultra is TigerDirect's in-house brand, similar to Newegg and Rosewill. Personally I'd steer clear of either one, but you can research the quality of their PSUs on Hardware Secrets and Anandtech.

[Jefe]

Thanks for the recommendations.

About the power supply, that's the reason I couldn't find it in newegg. I'm going to read more reviews about it, I just glanced the comments and most were positive (500). The lifetime warranty caught my eye too.

[Jefe]

Bump this shit since I received all the junk, went w/:

• Phenom II 955 3.2
• Asus M4A89GTD PRO
• ATI 5770 HD
• 1T HD 64MB Cache/SATA 6
• 2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2GB (1600) CAS latency 9~
• Case Antec 300
• Lightscribe DVD-RW
• Corsair 650TX
• AMD Artic Cooling 64

Just under a grand. Still tweaking the bios no prob. so far ;x

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/8697/junki.jpg

[fishstix]

mmm new toys :3

[Olo401]

Looking pretty spiffy! Get some shots once it's all assembled.

[popsiclestix]

The next substantial upgrade to that rig would be to overclock the CPU. The second best is Raid 0. For a gaming machine, ie you are not storing tax documents and family pictures, you can afford it to have a failing raid configuration with raid 0. Sacrificing safety for speed is the best recommendation for a gaming machine . For Raid 0, just get another equal or better hard drive. You will have to wipe the existing hard drive and reconfigure the bios a little I imagine that FFXIV will be heavily Hard drive dependent for loading various models/textures/etc.

[Migidingi]

Bump this shit since I received all the junk, went w/:

• Phenom II 955 3.2
• Asus M4A89GTD PRO
• ATI 5770 HD
• 1T HD 64MB Cache/SATA 6
• 2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2GB (1600) CAS latency 9~
• Case Antec 300
• Lightscribe DVD-RW
• Corsair 650TX
• AMD Artic Cooling 64

Just under a grand. Still tweaking the bios no prob. so far ;x

Didn't want to make a new thread for this so I'm just going to reply here. I threw a build similar to this together on Newegg, and I was wondering if there's any suggestions for things I could cheap out on and bring the price down a little. It comes out to $949.29 with shipping including Windows 7.

Thanks.

[Binkie]

Didn't want to make a new thread for this so I'm just going to reply here. I threw a build similar to this together on Newegg, and I was wondering if there's any suggestions for things I could cheap out on and bring the price down a little. It comes out to $949.29 with shipping including Windows 7.

Thanks.

Pirate Windows 7.

[fishstix]

can skim money off the motherboard, psu, harddrive easily

[Migidingi]

I forgot to mention that I had the Phenom II 965 3.4GHz instead of the 955 as OP had. I also had a 640 GB HDD instead of 1 TB.

I can't post links, so what if I was to go with this:
ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard $79.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $54.99

This would bring my total down to $873.66 with shipping, saving me about $76. A 500GB hard drive is plenty enough for me. I don't know how much of a difference I would notice with this cheaper mobo and 3.0gb/s hdd though? I am not too tech savvy.. so I need a little help. Would this be ok? I can't find a PSU that is 650w~ for cheaper, that isn't some brand that I've never heard of. I don't think it's wise to cheap out on PSUs but if anyone can find a better deal on newegg then that'd be badass. I could move down to the 955 3.2 GHz and save $15, would that be worth it? I don't have any combo deals in here, I looked through a lot of them and couldn't really find anything suitable. I might have missed something though. So.. any ideas? Thanks a bunch by the way.

[Binkie]

Get this hard drive:
$59 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-185-_-Product

As for the SATA issue, 1 gigabit = 128 mbs

[Migidingi]

Thanks buddy. I'll take an extra 500GB for $4. Anyone else got any ideas?!