Need help finalizing build!

[russilker]

Hey guys,
So, for the last month or so (maybe a bit more even), I've read hundreds of newegg reviews, analyzed many benchmarks and professional opinions, and expanded my budget, all to come down to this.

I've created two possible build scenarios for my computer in the form of two public newegg wishlists. Both come out to a little over $1,400 including shipping, which is my absolute limit.

Computer usage, in order of priorities: Gaming, internet browsing, movie watching
Maximum budget: $1420 USD, including shipping
Purchase date: Anywhere from tomorrow to January 1st 2011
Preferred site to buy from: Newegg
Misc. details: Will be paired with a single 1920x1080 monitor, will overclock CPU (but I've NEVER overclocked before), may wait for AMD 69xx series GPUs if they come out in December

My two builds aren't too different. The major differences are as follows:
Option HAF: Uses HAF X chassis, Rosewill 1kw PSU (only because its marked down to $99), DVD drive rather than Blu Ray, larger fan controller for cool-factor (this is important to me as I'm in the teenage "bling" phase)
Option RV: Uses RV02e chassis, Coolermaster 700watt PSU (should still be enough for my overclocked build), Blu ray drive, smaller fan controller

I'd appreciate detailed responses as to which build you would recommend, and whether or not I need to make any other changes (as long as they are within my budget). I can provide my reasoning for any of the parts I chose if requested, a lot of thought went into EACH part.

Option HAF: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11972574
Option RV: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14983212

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Dangman]

Both setups comes with pretty crappy PSU choices:
- That Rosewill is still an unproven PSU design. I've not seen a single proper PSU review of that Rosewill
- That Coolermaster PSU is part of the eXtreme Power Plus lineup: there's never been a good PSU out of that lineup. They're usually over-rated by 25% to 50%.

Spend the extra $15 for a quality PSU:
$115 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU

You can save $20 by getting a similar motherbaord and the same CPU from this combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.553689

Case wise, I would not buy the RV02 from Newegg at all. Once you factor in shipping, it comes out to $220 shipped. You can get that case with free shipping for $160 from Amazon.com:
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case

That's $60 in savings right there.

As far as which case to choose, I prefer the RV02 over the HAF 942 due to its lower price, proven ability to keep video cards and other PC parts cool and quiet without the aid of a fan controller, and, from a personal aesthetics view, a better look.

 

[computercatz]

I would go with RV, but with a different psu for reasons already stated

 

[russilker]

Thanks for the replies!

I would be able to choose a different quality PSU for the HAF X build (such as something from the Corsair lineup), but I doubt I could find a good PSU capable of powering the RV02 build without going over budget.

Also, I did find the RV02B-EW model (the one you linked is the older revision with weaker fans and less comfortable hard drive placement) for $178 shipped on Amazon, and considering that's $20 cheaper than the HAF its a no-brainer for me to get it. Thanks for suggesting Amazon, I didn't even bother looking there.

As for the motherboard + CPU combo deal you linked, unfortunately its a no-go as I'm not a big fan of the x16 x4 crossfire, which would bottleneck two 6850s for sure, plus I'm considering swapping the motherboard for one with something better than a 4+1 power phase design, which may not be very suitable for my x6 CPU.

I will be looking for a different motherboard and PSU, and will be purchasing the RV02e case on Amazon. Will 4gb of RAM be enough for me, and does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks again!

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the replies!

I would be able to choose a different quality PSU for the HAF X build (such as something from the Corsair lineup), but I doubt I could find a good PSU capable of powering the RV02 build without going over budget.

To reiterate: The PSU you have now in the RV02 build cannot power a single HD 6850 let alone two of them in Crossfire. For your setup, the Corsair 650TX is actually enough, even with the planned overclocking:
$80 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU

As for the motherboard + CPU combo deal you linked, unfortunately its a no-go as I'm not a big fan of the x16 x4 crossfire, which would bottleneck two 6850s for sure, plus I'm considering swapping the motherboard for one with something better than a 4+1 power phase design, which may not be very suitable for my x6 CPU.

There's really not that much of a difference between x4 and x16 actually:
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/25/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x4x4/

As shown in the above review, GTX 480 SLI at x4 speeds still performs roughly the same as GTX 480 at x16 speeds. So considering that the GTX 480 is significantly faster than the HD 6850, I think it's fair to say that it really won't matter at all if it's x16/x4 Crossfire with HD 6850 cards.

A 4+1 power phase design is still pretty good for a X6 CPU.

I will be looking for a different motherboard and PSU, and will be purchasing the RV02e case on Amazon. Will 4gb of RAM be enough for me, and does anyone have any other suggestions?

4Gb of RAM is more than enough for gaming unless you're running multiple MMORPG clients at the same time. I would recommend the 1055T over the 1090T since it's $50 cheaper and provides pretty much the same real world performance. In addition, the unlocked multiplier of the 1090T is not with the extra $50 for easier overclocking considering that the 1055T can OC just as high as 1090T with not that much more work:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-phenom-ii-x6-1055t-overclocking.html

So dropping down to the 1055T will make minimal performance and overclocking difference but will save you a bit of money as well as get you a significantly beefier motherboard:
$274 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU + Asus M4A78T-E AMD 790GX Motherboard Combo
$304 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU + Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard Combo