AMD Build

Gehrig

n00b
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
6
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
General use, gaming (Mostly rts, rpg, total war, civ 4, and mmorpgs)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Started around 600-700 but wanted to future proof and be done upgrading for a year or so, no more than 900 USD

3) Where do you live?
MN microcenter 30 mins away, but probably buying from newegg

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific. Everything but monitor, will be looking to upgrade monitor in the next few months

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. None

6) Will you be overclocking?
Have never done it but will probably will

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 19 inch samsung

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? 2 weeks to a month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. I dont think I will x-fire. most would be a x2 card

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit? No

I am upgrading from a p4, 1 gb ram, and 9700 pro, so I know that this will be a ridiculous improvement. I am a first time builder but really like the idea of being able to upgrade by component rather than buying a new dell box every time. I have been trolling this board for awhile and really think you guys are awesome with your input and look forward to your comments/concerns. I would be willing to swap parts if you think there is a cheaper route that wouldn't limit performance or future paths.

Below is what I have put together (no combo deals I will look for them the day I pull the trigger)

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-770T-USB3 AM3 AMD 770 USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128431

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

GPU: XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021

Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

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

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
 
I picked that because danny bui has recommended it in a few other posts.

Something about platters that I don't understand ;)
 
whats the price difference between the 955 be and the 965 be?? definately get the cavier black drives...i installed two of the terabyte drives cavier blacks and they were nice and fast. if you have the budget i would get two blues or two blacks and raid one so you have a back up which is kinda nice...do it all the time here at work for our clients.
 
$20 difference between the CPU's. I've read that most just oc the 955 to 3.4 instead of paying it. What do you think?

Regarding the hdd, I have read here that the blue drives are faster, as lt_shiro had stated above.

Hadn't thought about the raid set-up. Don't know much anything about it. Is it something I would want to do initially or something I can add later?
 
My suggestion would be to spend a few more dollars and get the WD6401AALS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals

Not a good value because it still uses two 320GB platters whereas the 500GB Blue (in the newer revisions) uses a single 500GB platter. All else being equal, two 320GB platters will always have slower sequential transfer rates than a single 500GB platter. My own tests confirmed this: The 1TB Black (basically the same design as the 640GB Black, but with three platters instead of two) could barely sustain 100 MB/s on the outer tracks while the 500GB Blue can reach 140 MB/s on the outer tracks. The Black does have a slightly quicker random access speed - but at the expense of increased seek noise, and it's still not quick enough to compensate for the significantly slower sequential transfer speed. And even though the WEI score for disk performance is nearly useless, it is useful enough to weed out the underperformers (for example, my system with the 1TB Black scored only a 5.9 on that test versus a score of 5.8 for a significantly older 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 drive that uses three 160GB platters).
 
Buy the CPU and mobo from this combo link to knock off $16:
$239 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 Motherboard combo

I cannot recommend the Antec TP-650 considering that it's $106 shipped from Newegg. For $4 more and with Free Shipping, you can get the larger Corsair 750TX:
$110 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU

And stick with the WD5000AAKS for the reasons that E4g1e noted :)
 
Thank you all very much for the input. I think I will switch out the psu, I was looking at that one also.

I will check out the combo to see if it is available when I make the purchase.
 
Try bringing a printout of your newegg cart to MC and see if they can price-match anything. ;)
I will check out the combo to see if it is available when I make the purchase.
If not, I got one for sale in my FS thread, NIB! ;)
 
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