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MachoGnat

n00b
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
--Gaming, General Browsing, Audio Production

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
--xxx $1-250~/part
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
--USA, Broken Arrow, OK

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.
--I have My Processor decided (FX8120 or 8150), Case(Antec 1100 already received), Motherboard(Asus Sabertooth 990FX), everything else is open.

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?
--Yes.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
--Need a new one.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
--Now. (week by week part by part)

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
--What dont I need haha.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
--Going to buy a new OS.
 
Just wondering why you are so dead set on the FX8120 and FX8150?
 
What Skillz said +1. Also, please answer question 9 correctly. Your answer doesn't help.


Oh and welcome to the forum!
 
Got my Antec Eleven Hundred today. Its perfect so far for what i was looking for, I was slightly worried about it being small as a mid-tower, but it has tons of room to work in!

I went ahead and moved the included rear exhaust fan to behind the mobo, I have 4 Gelid 120mm blue UV fans on the way, as well as 4 12" UV Cold Cathodes, should be here next week.

IMAG0226.jpg

IMAG0228.jpg


Hoping to order my Asus Sabertooth mobo this week.


And a little about me...

Hey guys, I am Josh, living in 918, Oklahoma. first build in awhile, switched to laptops for a bit, running a cheap compaq I picked up on black friday when my old gaming comp went out of date and life went into different directions for awhile, work, college, lol.

Still in college, well, in between schools haha. Basics are done! I work as a server and a bartender at Carrabba's Italian Grill. Good money when people don't assume I make hourly(2.13/hr for my state).

It's late, so it's hard to blab a lot about myself.

Nice to meet everyone ahead of time!
-Josh
 
MachoGnat said:
Got my Antec Eleven Hundred today. Its perfect so far for what i was looking for, I was slightly worried about it being small as a mid-tower, but it has tons of room to work in!
Click to expand...
It's a solid case. Finally Antec has a really solid case in their Gaming cases lineup. Although the Lanboy Airs were pretty damn neat.

MachoGnat said:
I went ahead and moved the included rear exhaust fan to behind the mobo, I have 4 Gelid 120mm blue UV fans on the way, as well as 4 12" UV Cold Cathodes, should be here next week.
Click to expand...
All right, red flag here: Where exactly will you be putting those four fans?

MachoGnat said:
Hoping to order my Asus Sabertooth mobo this week.
Click to expand...
Don't. You still haven't answered question 9 correctly. That mobo may not be the right choice for you.
MachoGnat said:
It's late, so it's hard to blab a lot about myself.

Nice to meet everyone ahead of time!
-Josh
Click to expand...
Thank you for the blurb about yourself but we really need those questions answered. It's very odd to see someone WANT an AMD FX CPU these days.
 
I didn't answer because I replied to my own thread immediately with my case pics, then logged off.

I am not a fan of Intel, and I'm not here to be told to "go Intel or fail", but I have heard nothing but good things about the FX series processors.

I am still torn between the Sabertooth and the MA99X EVO mobo's to be honest.

I need usb 3.0, Crossfire capability, Front usb 3.0, Sata 6gb., I dont need onboard video, Onboard Sound would be nice to have as backup.

The case has space for 2 120mm fans on the window to Cool the GPUs(not putting Gelid's there), 1 rear exhaust fan will have a Gelid 120mm UV fan, space for 2 120mm fans on the inside of the HDD drive rack will have 2 Gelid 120mm UV fans(pulling air from front of case), as well as space for 2 120mm intake fans on the front of the case behind the face of the case. where I will put 2 Gelid 120mm Blue LED fans when I order them. Which will leave me with one extra UV Fan unless I put it on the window or on my CPU cooler if applicable.

IMAG0231.jpg

IMAG0230.jpg

IMAG0232.jpg


I apologize I couldn't jump right back to answer, but as I said, I work in the service industry and work alot on nights and weekends, So I will be on mostly late at night and during the day before work.

I look forward to hearing more of you guys constructive opinions.
 
Well there is nothing wrong with the AMD FX series processors per se, however Intel's CPUs are a lot faster than the FX series, even in Audio production as seen in the following image.

1318034683VZqVQLiVuL_6_1.png


This chart shows that even if you DO NOT overclock the Intel processor and overclock the AMD processor, the Intel processor is still faster.

The good news is that the 2500k is about $20 more than the AMD FX 8150 yet will give you a good bit more performance per buck.

I'm not here to tell you "Go Intel or fail" but I am here to tell you that your hard earned dollar will go further with an Intel build of the same budget. I haven't even posted the gaming charts, but it's going to be the same result. Clock for clock the Intel is much faster and at only a $20 more price point, it's extremely hard to ignore that.

Some other things to consider. It's much harder to get good OCs with the AMD FX processors, they require a good cooling solution that could cost ~$100 or more. Where as the 2500k can reach 4.5Ghz on a cheap $30 cooler easily and in some cases even be stable at 4.8Ghz. If you were doing a LOT of multithreaded applications, then maybe the AMD processor would be better suited towards you; however you aren't. With audio production, as the above chart shows, the 2500k is still faster by a good bit.

So instead of taking other peoples word for what the FX series processor can do, read for yourself. FX 8150 Benchmark HARDOCP

Yes I know I cherry picked the image from a benchmark, however it's directly related to the audio production the OP intends to do therefore I pulled it. Full link to the entire benchmark has been posted, so you can read the review yourself and take judgement.

If you are still dead set on sticking with the AMD processors, then let us know and we'll get a build list put together with the AMD.
 
That's a hard sell on the Intel 2500k processor, I do plan on watercooling, Initially a high quality air cooled to get the setup up, running, and OC'd. Then I will be Immediately beginning to piece together a full watercooled setup.

I have been a die hard AMD fan for 10 years now, I was 13 when I build my first Athlon rig. lol

But I am not one to ignore fact over faith.

continue with your recommendations with the 2500k and I will continue to assess my build gentlemen.
 
MachoGnat said:
That's a hard sell on the Intel 2500k processor, I do plan on watercooling, Initially a high quality air cooled to get the setup up, running, and OC'd. Then I will be Immediately beginning to piece together a full watercooled setup.

I have been a die hard AMD fan for 10 years now, I was 13 when I build my first Athlon rig. lol

But I am not one to ignore fact over faith.

continue with your recommendations with the 2500k and I will continue to assess my build gentlemen.
Click to expand...

Do not feel bad, I too was once an AMD user. My i7 870 was my first "custom" Intel build, other than the two Laptops I had that rocked Intel processors. Hopefully AMD can do something with Bulldozers R&D in the next line up. :eek:

Without further adieu, here is a 2500k setup. (Now do note that the 2500k is a last generation i5 processor. The new Sandy Bridge processors are out, however they only seem to provide about a 3% performance increase across the board, thus I'm not sure the extra money for those CPUs are worth it. I will, on the other hand, make sure I do set you up with a motherboard that supports both SB and IB out the box. I am also assuming your $1250 budget is what's left after you purchased/received the case you have.

$219.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$159.99 - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155
$89.99 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2
$99.99 - HGST Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200
$109.99 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB
$269.99 - EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB
$109.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$29.99 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Total: $989.93
(Use promo code EMCYTZT1673 for $10 off the SSD)
(Use promo code EMCNEHH42 for $15 off the RAM [This is not reflected in the total since this expires today])

I did not include a monitor in the build, but left room in the budget so you can have the freedom to chose the size monitor you wish to have since you never mentioned what size you'd prefer. Though the video card I gave you will work best at 1080P, so pick a screen size.

We are going with the 2500k, however do note that the Ivy Bridge processor equivelent of the 2500k is the 3570k @ $239.99 but like I said, it's only ~3% faster than the SB processor.

We could save a good bit of money if we go with a 4x4GB kit of RAM, however that will limit your maximum RAM to 16GB. Pretty sure if you are serious about audio production, you'll want as much RAM as you can get. So I've set you up with a 2x8GB kit, so in the near future you can grab another set and have 32GB of total memory should you need it. If you do not think your software will benefit from that, then we'll get you a 4x4GB kit to go with.

I also went with a nvidia GPU, I know you mentioned AMD/ATi but I had up to $290 to spend on a video card and the 7870 (which is a little faster than a 570 GTX) costs over $300.

Hard drives. You've got the fastest mechanical hard drive for consumers and the SSD is both reliable and decently sized so you shouldn't need to move stuff to the HDD that often. However if an SSD is not needed/wanted we can work the build out a little differently.
 
Hm, no other responses with other options from other members?

The motherboard seems to have most of the features I was wanting, I was wanting to stay with Asus, but Gigabyte is the only other brand I have ever used. and It burned out after 3 years. I do plan on running 2 GPUs by the fall, And I would not mind swinging into the $300 range for the 7870 card. I like ATI and plan to run multi display and Eyefinity possibly.

I will possibly be going with 32gb of ram from the get go depending what prices are when I go to order the ram, So a 4x4gb setup is not an option.

I would be opting for a 2tb HDD, the SSD seems to be a good option, unless theres any other options I could go with in the same size range with better performance.
 
Oh and not to mention I need front USB 2.0 and usb 3.0. and would like at least one firewire port on my mobo.
 
MachoGnat said:
Hm, no other responses with other options from other members?
Click to expand...
I didn't see a big reason to comment since Skillz's build and advice was mostly very solid. But I'm bored so I'll nitpick on one little thing:
The GPU is pretty much where there's gonna be the most debate. Here's the deal: While the HD 7870 is faster than the GTX 570, the problem is that its current pricing still isn't that great. It's gonna cost you $350 for a HD 7870 from a decent GPU manufacturer. At $350, it's not that good of a choice considing that $50 to $60 more gets you the significantly better bang for the buck GTX 670. Considering that the $400 to $410 GTX 670 performs as well as the $480 HD 7970 at worst, the GTX 670 is gonna be a far better value and performer than the lower tier HD 7870. Combine that with Nvidia's generally faster updating drivers, better multi-monitor gaming support, and better drives in general, from a price to performance perspective, you're better off with the GTX 670.

However, if you can't afford the GTX 670, the next bang for the buck card IMO is the $250 HD 7850 2GB. While the GTX 570 is faster tahn the HD 7850, the GTX 570 runs fairly hot, uses up quite a bit of power, and only has 1.28GB of RAM. Considering that there are games now that can use up a lot of VRAM (BF3 and Skyrim with mods) and that Windows 7 itself can use up a lot of VRAM, that 1.28GB may not last you that long. The HD 7850 is slower but uses less power, generates less heat, and has 2GB of RAM which should extend its life a little longer than the GTX 570. At the $250 price point, all of the issues with AMD can be accepted IMO.

EDIT: Since you want Firewire, you're gonna have to spend an extra $30 for this mobo:
$190 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
 
BF3 and Skyrim with mods were two of the main games I planned on playing at first. I have them on console only at the moment. I would rather have the 2gb of ram and less heat, I would love to drop 400+ on a video card, and I may splurge and do it, but for now im going to have to budget for the 7850 I believe.

And I suppose I could buy a firewire card as I dont need it immediately, but will eventually as I add more studio equipment.

Sounds good so far, I believe I will be ordering more parts this week/weekend.
 
MachoGnat said:
And I suppose I could buy a firewire card as I dont need it immediately, but will eventually as I add more studio equipment.
Click to expand...
Just pay the extra $30 for that Gigabyte mobo. It'll be integrated on the motherboard which frees up a slot on the motherboard which means better cooling if you're planning on a Crossfire setup.
 
In addition to what Danny said, front USB 2.0 and 3.0 support is dependent on the case you selected. If it has the ports up front, then the motherboard has the headers.

For the record, if you didn't need an SSD nor 32GB of RAM, the 670 was going to be what I selected with the money saved. It's an awesome card.
 
I am beginning to like the setup you have recommended, but with the firewire mobo.

graphics card we will just leave open for now. im unsure, I believe I will order the mobo next.

edit. I have the antec 1100 for this build.
 
Yeah I know what case you have and it seems to have 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, Audio I/O ports on the front of the case. So you should be good to go.
 
I plan to start with a single 2tb drive, adding more up to 5 or 6 more later. as well as crossfire/sli, how many watts do I need 750-850? Im shopping the XFX modulars at the moment.

edit: plus watercooling.
 
If you plan to run watercooling, then it depends on how many pumps you intend to use granted they do not really consume that much energy. Therefore you should be fine with a 750W, but if you have the money for an 850W that wouldn't hurt either. I also wouldn't get an XFX, they aren't necessarily bad but for the money you can get better.

Do you want full modular (all cables are modular) or semi modular (the major cables are permanent such as the ATX cable & ATX 4 or 8PIN cables)?
 
MachoGnat said:
Hm, no other responses with other options from other members?

The motherboard seems to have most of the features I was wanting, I was wanting to stay with Asus, but Gigabyte is the only other brand I have ever used. and It burned out after 3 years. I do plan on running 2 GPUs by the fall, And I would not mind swinging into the $300 range for the 7870 card. I like ATI and plan to run multi display and Eyefinity possibly.

I will possibly be going with 32gb of ram from the get go depending what prices are when I go to order the ram, So a 4x4gb setup is not an option.

I would be opting for a 2tb HDD, the SSD seems to be a good option, unless theres any other options I could go with in the same size range with better performance.
Click to expand...

I can +1 for the SB or IB. I was the same way and had mostly AMD, but got the bug for the 2500k....Kinda sucks because I have no reason to upgrade except my video for a long while. :( Dam these fast chips! hehe

and +1 again for Dannys suggestions, as usual. :cool:
 
Skillz said:
If you plan to run watercooling, then it depends on how many pumps you intend to use granted they do not really consume that much energy. Therefore you should be fine with a 750W, but if you have the money for an 850W that wouldn't hurt either. I also wouldn't get an XFX, they aren't necessarily bad but for the money you can get better.

Do you want full modular (all cables are modular) or semi modular (the major cables are permanent such as the ATX cable & ATX 4 or 8PIN cables)?
Click to expand...
I wasn't stuck on XFX or anything, was just on their page on newegg at the time I posted. I liked what I was reading on the easyrail, as long as there are modular capabilities in some way, the main wires are required for use, so it wont matter to me if they remove as well I suppose.:confused:

forgot to add, I'm not sure how many pumps ect yet, I havent started shopping into my watercooling very much other than browsing so far.
 
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OCZ's customer pretty much scares me away from recommending them in general. But the quality of that particular OCZ PSU is actually pretty good.
 
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