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Please help with recommendations on completing this build!

L

linusvp

n00b
Joined
Sep 16, 2012
Messages
15
Hello all,

First post here. I've got some existing hardware but am lacking a motherboard, processor and videocard. I really could use some advice as to what would both work with the hardware I currently have and give me the best bang for the buck within my budget.

I do NOT ever game, however I do web and application development for a living. Along with graphic design, audio production, video editing, and just general heavy multitasking.

I CURRENTLY HAVE:

CASE: Antec Sonata (standard ATX)

PS: Raidmax RX-5330SS 530w power supply - 4pin ATX12v, 20/24 pin ATX main, 2 PCI-E, 4 SATA, 6 Standard 4PIN

RAM: GSkill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4x4GB) 240pin DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

OS DRIVE: SSD Samsung 830 Series - 128GB SATA III Solid State

DATA DRIVE: WD Caviar 1TB 7200RMS SATA 6.0Gb/s

DISPLAYS: (2) Acer X223W 22" LCD's @ 1680x1050

I also have a Firewire PCI card which connects to my audio interface (echo Audiofire12)

Obviously, I need a motherboard, processor and video card.

MY BUDGET IS $500-$550. Because of my budget, I was considering going with an AMD Scorpius Platform consisting of:

MOBO: Asus Sabertooth 990FX
PROC: AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz - 125W, 8-core
VIDCARD: Saphire Radeon HD 6850 - 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

That would keep me in my budget, but is that a poor configuration in itself? What kind of performance would the overall system provide me?

And most importantly, can anyone offer up any alternative mobo/proc/vidcard combinations within my budget that would be superior? Maybe something on the Intel side?

Thanks for any insight!!

Cheers,
linusvp
 
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Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
 
hmm. read the sticky and thought I answered everything. Only things I didnt mention are as follows:

I live in NY, USA. And I have a clean unused license of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
 
linusvp said:
hmm. read the sticky and thought I answered everything. Only things I didnt mention are as follows:

I live in NY, USA. And I have a clean unused license of Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
Click to expand...
No, you also didn't answer:
6) Will you be overclocking?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.

Additional questions:
Is that the original Sonata case or the Sonata II case?
 
I'm sorry, here's the answers to the remaining questions.

Danny Bui said:
6) Will you be overclocking?
Click to expand...

I don't need to overclock. I'm fine with running things stock. But if it could overclock without me having to add additional cooling, I would do it.

Danny Bui said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Click to expand...

I plan on buying and building as soon as I pick a motherboard, processor and video card..

Danny Bui said:
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
Click to expand...

Feature wise, I really would like it to be compatible with the existing hardware I have listed in my initial post. So it needs to support:

- my GSkill memory, which is 4x4GB, 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

- my Samsung SSD OS drive, which is SATA III (I have the adapter to fit in the case)

- my WD data drive, which is SATA 6.0Gb/s

- my Firewire card, which is standard PCI (the motherboard could have firewire, but I'd be hesitant to drop this card as it works flawlessly with my echo audiofire12 interface and has a Texas Instruments chipset.)

As far as RAID, crossfire, SLI... Don't need to have support for any of those.

I would like to have USB 3.0 support.

Onboard video is not necessary if I go with a dedicated graphics cards. Although I'm reading that people favor the i5 2500k and i7-2600k and it seems they have integrated graphics capability. I'm curious, would the graphics capability of those chips be sufficient for heavy graphic design and video editing? If so, I would go with it.

Danny Bui said:
Is that the original Sonata case or the Sonata II case?
Click to expand...

It is indeed the original Antec Sonata case.

Thanks for any info! :)
 
Well it looks like I was wrong. I have the Antec Sonata II. Didn't realize there was a version before that. I bought that used. Is that case suitable?

And I can add enough to the budget to accomodate a proper power supply if someone would be kind enough to recommend one along with a mobo/processor/video card.

And no, I don't live near those microcenter locations. I'm in Buffalo NY.

Thank you!
 
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Your budget was high enough that you could easily afford a faster Intel setup along with a new PSU:
$417 - Intel Core i7 3770 CPU + MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard Combo
$71 - Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$57 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU
----
Total: $545 shipped.

As for the case, as long as you don't use the dust filter in that case, that case should have ok-ish cooling for the PC.
 
As for the case, what's the dust filter?

And thanks! I'll go ahead and buy those. :)
 
Heya Danny,

So I received the powersupply, motherboard/cpu combo and the video card that you recommended. After getting everything hooked up ran into a serious problem. The system powers up and after 5 or 10 seconds just keeps restarting itself. No beep codes or anything. Nothing displays on the screen.

In attempt to narrow down the problem I've disconnected everything so I just have the powersupply connected to the motherboard (with processor still seated). Just the main power connector, the 8pin power connector and the power button switch. And it still happens.

To make sure there was no issue with the power supply you recommended, I connected another power supply I had (Antec EA-430d), and the problem is identical.

Unless I am missing something, I'm thinking I have a bad mainboard. Do you concur?
 
Last edited:
Make sure you've applied the thermal paste correctly and that the CPU cooler is fitted properly.
 
Well, I got a combo deal and the processor just came with a fan with paste on the bottom of it. The processor only seated in one way and dropped in without problem. And the cpu fan went on and connected to the motherboard exactly as shown in the diagram. It's all seated properly and tight.
 
Reset the CMOS.

Also, follow the steps in the stickied "Basic Troubleshooting Guide" on what to do when the PC does not POST. Report back when you've done all those steps.
 
Thanks Danny. Really, thank you so much for everything. Clearing CMOS fixed it.

I can't get over the speed of this system. It's unbelievable. I'm going from working on a single core athlon 3700 chip and 4gb of ram to this system. I just can't believe the speed!! And man, solid state is the way to go. The thing boots in like 10 seconds!

Thanks!
 
Good to see your issue is fixed. Enjoy your system!
 
If this was Facebook, I would like this thread.


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