Opinions on build

[noblemountain]

Just about to pull the trigger on this and just wanted some last minute opinions before I did. I have to have a new computer for a couple reasons, one being I "have" to have windows 7 to access the camera system for work. This is going to be primarily my FFXIV, Civ5, and Dragon Age PC. I don't play any FPS or anything other than those 3 games (civ 4 for now) really. I play everything else on consoles.

Here's what I have:

Seagate Barracuda LP 1TB 5900 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$69.99

GIGABYTE GA-770T-USB3 AM3 AMD 770 USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

$89.99
-$10.00 Instant

ASUS EAH4870/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

$139.99
-$5.00 Instant
-$30.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

hec X-Power Pro 650 650W Continuous @ 40°C ATX 12V v2.2 / EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply

-$54.99
-$5.00 Instant

GeIL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit

$129.99
-$10.00 Instant

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision

$100.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

$99.99

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm Ceramic CPU Cooler

$29.99

went with the 555 BE because I am trying to cut costs and it can be unlocked to a 3 or sometimes 4 core. i also am not using anything where i think a quad core is necessary.
the total price for this is $685...which is right around where I want to be money-wise. i have to pay taxes on this because Newegg has a distribution center here. so close to another 100 bucks is added on for shipping/taxes. 800 bucks is more than i wanted to spend to begin with, but i can't seem to make it cheaper and get what i want. any thoughts/ideas are much appreciated.

[Jojimbo]

Should drop down to 4 GB dual channel (2x2GB) as only X58 boards can use triple channel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-266-_-Product Here is some cheap 1333 MHz RAM

Should also get a 64-bit OS as well.

[Knyghtmayre]

5900RPM 1TB HDD for $70...? No. If you're going to play Civ5, you want a DX11 GPU as well. 4870 is DX10 only. That processor is supremely overpriced for a dual core. You also seem to have neglected to get a case...

...and a DVD drive.

http://i37.tinypic.com/2uo2bdg.jpg

Everything you actually need component-wise for your PC, for $10 cheaper than you were going to pay, and it will perform admirably better than what you could expect from what you had selected.

[Adajer]

Tigerdirect has that same Samsung HDD for $69.99
They also have this Seagate 32MB 1TB 7200 RPM for $64.99. I don't really like seagate too much so I would go with the samsung. Looks like the Samsung has higher transfer rates. Also, be sure you have the needed SATA cables if you motherboard does not include any.

[Militant]

I'd agree with almost all above suggestions and also vote to go for a faster HDD at least 7200 rpm, there are much better deals to be had than the one you selected.

[Wulfgang]

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-.../dp/B002G1YPH0

Use this CPU cooler; amazing. Don't buy on Newegg as they jumped the price by $20 after Maximum PC named it one of the best coolers.

[Dmitry]

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-.../dp/B002G1YPH0

Use this CPU cooler; amazing. Don't buy on Newegg as they jumped the price by $20 after Maximum PC named it one of the best coolers.

Just a note for these...

sually ships within 1 to 2 months

I just ordered two and was hoping to have them before I build the 2nd PC, but didn't notice that at first. Amazon definitely beats Newegg for price on that but the possible delay is killer.

[noblemountain]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I ended up getting the 5770/RAM package since it was 60 bucks cheaper and the benchmarks I saw on the games I'll play had it beating the 460. I also got the Phenom II x3 720 BE, same price as the dual core BE and can still unlock the other core and is super easy to OC. The reviews I read on it, almost everyone was able to unlock the 4th core and get it to 3.6~ with no problems. I splurged a bit more on a case and got one with 3 120mm fans. Wanted to be sure I had no problems with heat. Also got 2 memory coolers, since they were cheap.

1 x ($4.99) THERMAL GREASE TUNIQ|TX-2 R

1 x ($29.99) A64 COOLER |ARCTIC FREEZER 64 PRO R

1 x ($49.99) PSU COMPUCASE|X-POWER PRO 650 RT

2 x ($14.99) EVERCOOL MMRY COOLER MNC-E RTL

1 x ($19.99) DVD BURNER SONY

1 x ($79.99) MB GIGABYTE|GA-770T-USB3 AM3 RT

1 x ($54.99) CASE APEVIA| X-DREAMER3-AL RT

1 x ($149.99) VGA SAPPHIRE|100283-3L HD5770 1G RT

1 x ($99.00) CPU AMD|PH II X3 720 BK AM3 % - OEM

1 x ($84.99) MEM 2Gx2|OCZ OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK R

1 x ($99.99) WIN HOME PREM 7

1 x ($-20.00) DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #443048

That brings my grand total to $683.89 before taxes or mail in rebates. I think there was 65 bucks or so in rebates. I was curious why people suggested 64 bit windows over 32 bit? I couldn't find much online about the differences except that 64 bit can handle large amounts of memory and seems to have a lot more issues with drivers.

[Knyghtmayre]

You cannot use more than 3GB of ram with a 32-bit OS. Driver difficulties are the same with any OS, if anyone worthwhile releases a driver in 32-bit, it is released in 64-bit as well. I have no idea what "reviews" you looked at, but a 5770 should in no realm ever beat a 460, and the 460 has brand new immature drivers. I also have no idea what your PSU's brand is, but if it's Compucase or w/e then I'd suggest getting a much better one. Branded, high-quality PSUs are a critical backbone of your system and it isn't something I'd over skip over for an absolutely worthless RAM cooler. Also, "cheaper" PSUs often don't even hit their rated wattage. The case I recommended is $20 cheaper than the one you picked out, and has 2x120mm fans and 1x140mm fans, plus Rosewill is an all-around more reputable company.

Review of a 460 vs. 5770

Also, I have no idea what you're going to install your OS onto without a harddrive.

[noblemountain]

You cannot use more than 3GB of ram with a 32-bit OS. Driver difficulties are the same with any OS, if anyone worthwhile releases a driver in 32-bit, it is released in 64-bit as well. I have no idea what "reviews" you looked at, but a 5770 should in no realm ever beat a 460, and the 460 has brand new immature drivers. I also have no idea what your PSU's brand is, but if it's Compucase or w/e then I'd suggest getting a much better one. Branded, high-quality PSUs are a critical backbone of your system and it isn't something I'd over skip over for an absolutely worthless RAM cooler. Also, "cheaper" PSUs often don't even hit their rated wattage. The case I recommended is $20 cheaper than the one you picked out, and has 2x120mm fans and 1x140mm fans, plus Rosewill is an all-around more reputable company.

Review of a 460 vs. 5770

Also, I have no idea what you're going to install your OS onto without a harddrive.

Everything I read said it was 4 gigs of RAM on the 32 bit, so that's what my question was. I don't get why you came back with a shitty attitude, but w/e. The program I'll be using to monitor our cameras doesn't have drivers for 64 bit apparently. He told us when he installed it that we needed Win7 32 bit. The 5770 benchmark I was looking at was a DA:O benchmark from tomshardware...not to mention the one you linked used the 1 gig card while you suggested the 768...but it doesn't matter. I know that either of them will be way more than I need, so why not go cheaper? I honestly didn't even notice the case you picked, I already had a case in my cart and was just concentrating on the GPU and RAM combo you linked. I also bought the harddrive from Amazon that was linked earlier. Thanks to everyone for their input, I am very much new in this realm and appreciate all the help...even if it did come with an attitude.

[Knyghtmayre]

Apparently helping you save money and informing you of things you know nothing about is having a shitty attitude. I'll make note of that and never help you out again since you are so ungrateful. Don't ask questions if you don't want the answers.

Why do I even fucking bother with helping people.

[Gekii]

Why do I even fucking bother with helping people.

Don't let one douche soil your helping nature good sir

[Crowort]

32 bit os can address around 4 gigs, but that includes everything it needs to address which is more than just RAM. The system needs address for lots of things, this leaves just over 3 gigs for ram, but that includes VRAM so your 1 gig video card needs to come out of that 3 gigs too... thou it doesn't use all the VRAM at a time.

64bit would be so much better, but it appears you don't have that option.

[Binkie]

Regarding 32bit ram thingy

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/c...confusion/3124

The 4 GB memory limit holds over graphics card's memory too.

[Dmitry]

Your choice in parts has probably been the most reasonable of all the threads lately about computer builds.