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Build Help - critique needed

A

AlienHairball

n00b
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
14
Update - after some great suggestions here I've purchased my new system. Specs are listed further down the thread.

Hey gang, long time lurker here looking for some build advice. My aging desktop went pear shaped a few days ago. I've determined it's the motherboard and I have no intention of replacing an old AM2 board.

My now-dead system:
AMD 5600+ dual core on mid-grade AM2 board
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
80GB 7200rpm boot + various data drives
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB
Aspire XNavigator case - large, but no real cable management, hard drive bays can be annoying to access around the GPU
Antec 550w PSU - decent, but doesn't have 2 PCI-E connections for possible crossfire and could be a little underpowered with crossfire and overclocking and multiple SATA drives
Basic dual-layer DVD burner
Old reliable altec lansing 2.1 speaker setup

There's not a lot I have any interest in reusing from that list...

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming, some video editing & encoding
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
The cheaper the better ;) Realistically was trying to stay under US$1000, but I'm already well over that.
3) Where do you live?
Colorado, USA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Must buy:
* CPU
* Motherboard
* RAM
* GPU
Plan on also buying:
* Case
* PSU
* Hard Drive
* CPU Cooler
* Monitor
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Currently only planning on reusing my DVD player and even that may go as it's white and I'd prefer black to match the case.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes - currently only planning on OCing the CPU
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently have a 22" 1680x1050, but will be getting a 24" 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
* Raid 1 initially for mirrored data drives
* Crossfire support for down-the-road upgrading
* USB 3.0
* SATA 6GB/s
* Easy OCing (should be simple with sandy bridge though)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Ultimate x64


Ok here's my current newegg order, just waiting for me to click "checkout":
Intel Core i5-2500K - $224.99
MSI P67A-G43 board - $129.99
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
Corsair TX750 PSU - $104.99 + $15 mail-in rebate
XFX Radeon 6950 2GB (limited lifetime warranty) - $274.99 + $30 mail-in rebate
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA 6GB/s (boot drive) - $59.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler - $39.99
NZXT Phantom Black Full Tower Case - $139.99
Asus 24" LED-backlit monitor - $199.99
A few odds and ends - cable extensions, usb hub, etc.
Promo code discounts

Grand Total w/shipping: $1,253.88

* No SSD at this point in time. It would be nice, but adds alot of price and I don't feel I "have" to have it.
* Will use the onboard audio along with my 2.1 speakers or Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones
* I have a couple of 7200RPM Samsung Spinpoint drives I'd like to do a Raid mirror with (recently pulled from my NAS when I upgraded its storage.)
* Got a few Newegg promo codes for various items that knocks off another $40 from the total
* Current on a "Shop Runner" trial so I get free 2-day shipping, except for the case which would be free 3-day shipping

I feel like this would be a solid system allowing for some decent CPU overclocking and the option of a 2nd 6950 for crossfire late on. At that point I might move to a 3-monitor eyefinity setup, but that can wait.

How's this look to you guys? I'm trying to keep this "cheap" compared to going all-out for a gaming system, but I don't want to handicap myself either. Thanks for any advice you can offer!
 
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Don't checkout yet! I have a few critiques coming.

Edit:
First, make sure you use combos to save money.
Second, the WD black drives are overpriced. For the same amount of money you can get a 1TB Samsung F3 which IIRC is faster than the 500 GB black drive.
Third, you might be overpaying on that RAM. 8GB should be $80 or less. DDR3 1600 doesn't help on Sandy Bridge rigs (DDR3 1333 is the max with the current chips, and FSB overclocking isn't a realistic option on Sandy Bridge.) However, there have been a lot of sales lately that make DDR3 1600 cheaper than 1333 stuff.
Fourth, you can save some money by ordering some parts from Amazon instead of Newegg.
Fifth, if you plan on going Crossfire in the future, consider an 850W PSU.

So, here's my version of your build (I didn't change much because the build you listed was pretty good, just could use a little tweaking here and there.)

$335 - Intel Core i5-2500k + MSI P67A-G43
$70 (use promo code EMCKEKD36) - G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$275 (before $30 MIR) - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB
$105 (before $15 MIR) - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
$61 - Samsung F3 1TB 7200RPM
$120 (use promo code EMCKEKD44) - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
$21 - SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner

Total (before monitor and odds and ends) about $1015 (before $40 in MIRs.)

If you decide to go with the 850W PSU instead:
$120 (before $10 MIR) - XFX Core Edition PRO850W (P1-850S-NLB9) 850W
$125 (before $10 MIR) - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850W

I would save the $5 and get the XFX personally.
 
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Which combo deals are you using?

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM for overclocking the processor, as you'll be using the processor's unlocked CPU multiplier to do so. Many people have easily pushed their Sandy Bridge processors to well over 4GHz using only DDR3 1333 RAM (and the Hyper 212 Plus, which you've already chosen).

The SATA 6Gb/s Caviar Black drives aren't really better than any of the SATA 3Gb/s drives that we normally recommend here. The long story short is that no SATA HDD needs the bandwidth provided by the SATA 6Gb/s bus. While I would normally recommend an Intel or Crucial SSD for a system like yours, stick with a cheaper 500GB HDD for the time being.

If you want to keep this "cheap," you need to reconsider the case. All of the above could easily fit comfortably within a mid-tower case, and there are some good ones available for well under $100.

Also, when do you see yourself going with a dual-card CrossFire setup? I ask because you can go with a cheaper 650-750 watt power supply for now and buy a newer, larger capacity PSU around the time that you do buy the second 6970. (We normally recommend a good 850 watt power supply for dual 6970s.)

What other odds and ends are you buying? Without the monitor and "accessories," your build (specifically, the tower and its internals) currently stands at around $1000.
 
Thanks for the thorough replies. Couple of followup questions :)

I had read the bit about 1600 RAM vs. 1333. It sounded like a very simple BIOS switch to enable the 1600. I didn't take that to be overclocking the RAM since the RAM is rated at 1600 to begin with ;) but is it just not really worth it?

As for power, is that 750 underpowered for 2x 6950 + CPU overclocking? I got the impression it would be solid for my needs, but if not I think I'd rather go "small" now and readdress it at the point where I'm ready to go crossfire.

Interesting point about the SATA 6Gb/s drives. Hypothetically speaking... if I wanted to go with an SSD boot drive for Windows 7 what prices would I be looking at?

You're totally right about the case. I should have clarified in my original post that while trying to remain "cheap" so to speak I'm also making a few concessions towards my desires. :D That case at it's current sale price really does it for me hehe. Same with the XFX 6950 2GB for video. I could certainly go with a 6870 or something along those lines to save another $50 bucks, but I'm making more of an investment.

Realized I forgot the price on that RAM I listed: $94.99
$200 - monitor
$4.99 - DVI 10ft cable
$8.99 - USB hub
minus some promos
Total comes to $1253.88

Really appreciate the info guys.


EDIT:
Just realized that the Samsung 1TB drive suggested is actually the same as the 2 drives I just pulled from my NAS. So yeah, got 2 of those currently, plus I have some 750GB Western Digital 7200RPM drive that a friend gave to me. Could use that 750gb as a boot for now to save more money I suppose ;) Still interested in going SSD, but I always cringe at those prices. :(
 
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If you're driving a single monitor at 1080p, a 6850 or 6870 will do you just fine for a while. 2GB of video memory would be overkill in that setup, too.

You can shave off another $20 by taking your current drive and modifying the bezel yourself. Those things are fairly easy to detach. If you live near a Microcenter or similar type store, they may have spare bezels you can just buy for like a couple bucks.

And unless you're using virtualization, HD video editing, or professional photo editing, you won't get much mileage out of 8GB of RAM right now. I haven't encountered or heard of a game that benefited from more than 4GB.
 
Unfortunately there aren't a lot of great RAM reviews to answer that question. This review shows some of the performance differences between different RAM speeds and latencies. I should say tries to show because there appears to be some undisclosed (or uncalculated) margin of error. The only game/application to show a real difference was Left 4 Dead. All the others were negligible.

Getting 1600MHz RAM shouldn't hurt you. But the most compatible RAM for Sandy Bridge CPUs is 1333MHz CL9 1.5V DDR3. Faster RAM usually works, but it doesn't provide much of a performance benefit, and it usually costs more.
 
AlienHairball said:
I had read the bit about 1600 RAM vs. 1333. It sounded like a very simple BIOS switch to enable the 1600. I didn't take that to be overclocking the RAM since the RAM is rated at 1600 to begin with ;) but is it just not really worth it?
Click to expand...
Really not worth it.
AlienHairball said:
As for power, is that 750 underpowered for 2x 6950 + CPU overclocking? I got the impression it would be solid for my needs, but if not I think I'd rather go "small" now and readdress it at the point where I'm ready to go crossfire.
Click to expand...
Cutting a tad close IMO.
AlienHairball said:
Interesting point about the SATA 6Gb/s drives. Hypothetically speaking... if I wanted to go with an SSD boot drive for Windows 7 what prices would I be looking at?
Click to expand...
About $140:
$140 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1CCA 2.5" 64GB SSD

AlienHairball said:
EDIT:
Just realized that the Samsung 1TB drive suggested is actually the same as the 2 drives I just pulled from my NAS. So yeah, got 2 of those currently, plus I have some 750GB Western Digital 7200RPM drive that a friend gave to me. Could use that 750gb as a boot for now to save more money I suppose ;) Still interested in going SSD, but I always cringe at those prices. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah don't reuse that 750GB drive as it is really really slow compared to the Samsung F3 1TB drievs.
 
Some great info here - thanks for all the info. I've revised my build and here's what it's looking like at this point:

  • $335 - Intel Core i5-2500k + MSI P67A-G43
  • $70 (use promo code EMCKEKD36) - G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
  • $275 (before $30 MIR) - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB
  • $120 (before $10 MIR) - XFX Core Edition PRO850W (P1-850S-NLB9) 850W
  • $70 - Samsung F3 1TB 7200RPM - Amazon seems to be horrible with their packaging of this so I stuck with the trusted newegg
  • $120 (use promo code EMCKEKD44) - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black
  • $30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
  • $21 - LG CD/DVD Burner (liked the look & reviews a hair more than the Samsung)
  • $200 - ASUS 24" LED backlit monitor
  • $10 - 10ft DVI cable
  • $5 - 6ft USB extension
  • $9 - USB hub

Actual Total: $1264.87 with free 2-day shipping, no tax collected for Colorado.

Notes:
  • I'd like to fit in a SSD boot drive, but for me personally it's not currently worth the price premium.
  • Splitting this up between newegg and amazon could shave off a few more dollars, but I'm keeping it consolidated for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is how horribly it looks like amazon packages those OEM hard drives.
  • Decided to just go for the XFX 850 PSU as it was really only a touch more than the 750 Corsair I was first planning on. This should have me set for crossfire later when I want to move to 3x1 eyefinity :)
  • And that's why I'm going with the 6950 2GB now even though it may be a bit overkill for 1920x1080 gaming presently.

How's that look to you guys? Not truly the cheapest for the performance as I know I could shave off a bit here and there, but I like the quality of the components and I'm excited to dive in.

EDIT:
FYI - in case anyone wonders what's with the long cables I've decided to place this new build next to my desk as opposed to under/in the official computer shelf. There's not nearly enough air flow in there, particularly with a full tower case. In order to have a computer next to the desk though I have to extend those cables a bit :)
 
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UPDATE

I pulled the trigger and should have everything on Wednesday. Can't wait!

Thanks again to you guys for taking the time to help out. Much appreciated. I'll post back with the results of this build and maybe throw up a couple of build pics for fun. :cool:
 
Got everything but the case in today and I gotta say that Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is overwhelming! :eek:

Sucks I gotta wait another day for the case and final build ;)
 
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