Advice for my first build

K

Khimaera

n00b
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
19
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (FPS/RPG), Music Production, & Web Browsing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $1000, give or take.
3) Where do you live?
Colorado
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not reusing anything.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently i have a 19" 1440x900. I plan on getting a 24" locally.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
2 Weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I'm using windows 7 RC for the time being.


I don't really care about brands, just bang for buck.

These are the main parts I had in mind:

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154

ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131392

Logitech G5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104076

ABS M1 Heavy Duty Professional Gaming Mechanical Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823224001

OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202006

IPCQUEEN IPC-12025 120mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835168006

COOLER MASTER RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

AMD Phenom II X4 955
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 -- Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.237847

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Thank you :)
 
$200 is waay too much to pay for an AMD mobo as it takes it close to Intels' Core i5/Core i7 price range.

I recommend this mobo instead since it's $70 cheaper but still support Crossfire and OC's pretty well:
$127 - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P AMD AM3 790X ATX Motherboard

You can use that leftover $70 towards the faster HD4890:
$195 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
 
Danny Bui said:
$200 is waay too much to pay for an AMD mobo as it takes it close to Intels' Core i5/Core i7 price range.

I recommend this mobo instead since it's $70 cheaper but still support Crossfire and OC's pretty well:
$127 - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P AMD AM3 790X ATX Motherboard

You can use that leftover $70 towards the faster HD4890:
$195 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion.
Is there any advantage that the 790FX chipset has over the 790X?

I'm pretty unsure about what mother board to get.
 
Khimaera said:
Thanks for the suggestion.
Is there any advantage that the 790FX chipset has over the 790X?

I'm pretty unsure about what mother board to get.
Click to expand...

The only advantage the 790FX has over the 790X is full x16/16 Crossfire support. The 790X does support Crossfire but will run both cards at x8/x8 speeds. And no, there really isn't a performance difference between x8/x8 CF and x16/x16 Crossfire now.
 
Crosshair III is good board, if you are interested in overclocking and higher end audio.
 
Danny Bui said:
The only advantage the 790FX has over the 790X is full x16/16 Crossfire support. The 790X does support Crossfire but will run both cards at x8/x8 speeds. And no, there really isn't a performance difference between x8/x8 CF and x16/x16 Crossfire now.
Click to expand...

Thank you for clearing that up for me. In that case I will most likely go with that gigabyte, and 4890.

Does anyone know how gigabytes overclock?

The rest of the build looks ok?
 
Gigabytes overclock really well. Im on my 3rd and never had one issue. Overclocking with AMD is easy as pie with teh black editions because essentially all you need to do is increase the multiplier and test for stability. If its stable keep raising the multiplier until its unstable, then increase the vcore until it is.

I oc'd my X3 720 from 2.8 to 3.0 just by increasing the multi, no vcore adjustment required. I know its a small oc but thats as easy as it gets.
 
Khimaera said:
Thank you for clearing that up for me. In that case I will most likely go with that gigabyte, and 4890.

Does anyone know how gigabytes overclock?

The rest of the build looks ok?
Click to expand...

Gigabyte mobo are well known for their great overclocking capability. The rest of the build looks ok.
 
hossdaddy said:
Gigabytes overclock really well. Im on my 3rd and never had one issue. Overclocking with AMD is easy as pie with teh black editions because essentially all you need to do is increase the multiplier and test for stability. If its stable keep raising the multiplier until its unstable, then increase the vcore until it is.

I oc'd my X3 720 from 2.8 to 3.0 just by increasing the multi, no vcore adjustment required. I know its a small oc but thats as easy as it gets.
Click to expand...

Overclocking by the HT (FSB) is [H]ardocp, multi what :p
 
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