My next PC - Step Two - The Build

[Tdata]

Hello there. Since my last desktop died about 6 months ago I have been Saving with the intent of once again building myself a PC.

Lets get started on the Components I am currently planning on buying. (*Note: It will be about 6 weeks before I hit my money mark. Would buy them separately except that shipping is cheaper if I order them all together...)

Case: Thermaltake Spedo Advance - $200
Motherboard: Biostar TA890FXE - $130
Processor: AMD Phenom II 1090T Black Edition - $280
RAM: 4x Patriot PC3-10666 2gb - $200
Video: XFX Radeon HD 6850 - $200
Power: XFX 850W Black Edition - $140
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OEM - $100

Cost so far: $1,300
Max to spend: $1400

I was going to go with the Thermaltake VH600LBWS Armor+ @ $330 to get into liquid cooling, but since I would have to buy a different Block than the one that comes with the case thus raising the price to $400, I decided to opt out. With the case I picked, I can add a LCS later if I want to.

When I first Setup my list, I had a system costing $3000. I think I cut it down quite nicely. HDDs I have from my last computer. V-Card as well. Can't really see a reason to buy more of them.

Now, I am willing to hear ideas relating to this build. Infact, if you know of better stuff for around the same price, Let me know. One thing though. I do not like Intel. So, I haven't bothered to price an Intel board and processor. Please don't bring them up... ^_^

.::EDIT::.

I have bought the parts. As soon as they get here, I will begin stage 2... Unless everyone finds it pointless... ^_^

.::EDIT2::.

I will post pics of the parts as soon as I can find my camera. On to Phase 2...

 

[Venetia]

can i ask why you dislike intel?
i've never really gotten a legit answer from someone about that.

most say "intel is gay because [they're rich]/[they 'did something' (????) to AMD! (what, compete?)/[steve jobs doesn't like them]/[i just don't/no reason]". They're usually the same folks who type 'Microsoft' as 'M$' and are staunchly against any large company b/c they fear/loathe anyone in a higher tax bracket for no real reason outside of misplaced money-envy.

fact of the matter is, if a chipset is better ... it's better. you should support whoever makes the better chips :P (more often than not, it's intel, btw.)



off that subject though, what is your video card you are carrying over?

 

[Tdata]

I do not like Intel for a few reason. Highest among them is the fact that Intel charges 2x-4x for the same processor that AMD makes. Next, is the fact that every Intel computer I have ever had has never lasted more than a year before the processor goes bad. Then comes the fact that to use the new Intel CPUs to their full potintial, you need to have RAM with a certain feature. And of course, that RAM costs a lot more. Not sure if that still holds true anymore, but it did last time I looked into buying an Intel MoBo and CPU.

As for the Video Card, for now I am sticking with my GeForce 9500GT. May be a crappy card, but it works for now. And, for $30, you get what you pay for. ^_^ I may get a better card, or 2, my second school check. Maybe 2x Radeon HD 5770s and use Crossfire. Or a Redeon HD 5870 Eyefinity... Always wanted to have more than 1 monitor work as 1 screen... ^_^

 

[candle]

If you want dual ATI GPUs, make sure your motherboard is set up for Crossfire, not SLI. SLI is for multiple Nvidia GPUs

 

[psiclone]

If you want dual ATI GPUs, make sure your motherboard is set up for Crossfire, not SLI. SLI is for multiple Nvidia GPUs

quoting this for emphasis.. i wasted 150 bucks on a second nvidia card when my mobo is crossfire only.. so, yeah..

 

[Tdata]

This I know. ^_^ Almost made the same mistake.

 

[psiclone]

the thing that's annoying to me, is i specifically picked an nvidia mobo, but apparently i misclicked and ended up with an ati one by the time i realized, my warranty was long gone

 

[Venetia]

GeForce 9500GT

whoa ;x

bottleneck!!!

well if you're not using it as a gaming pc then it would probably work then.

about the crossfire 5770s, imo you'd be better off just getting one gtx 285 for the same price.

 

[Tdata]

Not going to be used for gaming this quarter. I will be programming most of this quarter with minimal need of a good V-Card.

As for the gtx 285 rather than 2 HD 5770s,

HD 5770 Crossfire

Manufacturer: ATi
Series: Radeon HD 5k
GPU: RV850
Release Date: 2009-10-12
Interface: PCI-E 2.0 x16
Core Clock: 850 MHz
Memory Clock: 2400 MHz (4800 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth: 153.6 GB/sec
Shader Operations: 1360000 MOperations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 27200 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 68000 MTexels/sec
Vertex Operations: 0 MVertices/sec

GTX 285

Manufacturer: nVidia
Series: GeForce GTX 200
GPU: GT200b
Release Date: 2009-01-15
Interface: PCI-E 2.0 x16
Core Clock: 648 MHz
Shader Clock: 1476 MHz
Memory Clock: 1242 MHz (2484 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth: 158.976 GB/sec
FLOPS: 1062.72 GFLOPS
Pixel Fill Rate: 20736 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 51840 MTexels/sec

The 2x HD 5770s win on everything except Memory Bandwidth. Plus the HD 5770 is DX11 Certified. The GTX 285 isn't...

 

[Tdata]

Okay, Changed a few things. Switched the MoBo and Processor, Added a Video Card, Took off the Wireless Card.

Reasons for the switch from the Phenom II 1090T to the 1055T is the fact that I can OC the 1055T to 3.2ghz without too much work. So, By switching Processors and getting rid of the Wireless, I can afford one of the video cards now instead of waiting. Plus I can get a Temp card from Walmart for $25 and get a better one later. Switched MoBos to allow for 32GB of Ram at some point.

 

[Tdata]

Okay, After Compusa and NewEgg Ran out of most of the stuff I had planned to use, I have made some adjustments. I Have the money and I am ready to buy the parts. Before I do, I would like any last minute comments.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

IMO, you should go with 6 GB RAM and a cheaper case.

The reason I say go with 6 GB RAM is that RAM is unusually expensive right now compared to other parts, so going with less now could save you money in the long run, especially if you plan on going to 32GB later (idk why you would think you would need 32Gb RAM before you need to rebuild the whole machine, but if you do that you will have to replace every stick anyway, so why buy 4 sticks when it is highly unlikely you would use even 6GB)

The reason I say a cheaper case is because the case that I use (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811156078) is way cheaper and actually really good. Everything in my box stays right around 50C, except the hard drives which stay around 30 - 35C. (The 50C may seem hot, but I have an i7, and the i7 runs hotter than other processors and it's also rated to run safely under those high temperatures. I believe 80C is the warning temp for the i7, so I am well below that) The only downsides are that a)The fans don't attach to the mobo's speed controller so they are always full on (But they are wicked quiet anyway) and b) that a Radeon HD5850 just barely fits because of the power connectors being on the back. I am actually not sure what the size is of the 6850 so this may be an issue.

 

[Tdata]

Well, with the RAM, 6gb isn't enough to do complex rendering quickly enough. Also, having 2x 2gb sticks and 2x 1gb sticks is actually only $20 cheaper. So I opted for 4x 2gb for now. The 32gb MoBo I was planning on buying was discontinued due to instability issues so I had to find another board, unfortunately one that can only accept 16gb of ram.

The case I chose, seemed to have the better CM options than other cases around the same price. Also, the Spedo has enough room to hold the CPU Cooler I am planning to buy in Jan.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

Oh, by the way, I am not sure if you know it, but the HD6850 is not the equivalent of the HD5850. The 6850 is a mid-level card, so it's actually not as fast as the 5850. I personally would not get the 6850 with the rest of that machine, because it'll slow you down on some of the more detailed games.

Also, I was going to say you should do 3 x 2Gb, which should be about $140 - $160. Most if not all motherboards these days will take 3 sticks even if they are dual channel.

 

[Tdata]

I know that the 6850 != 5850. It replaces the 5770.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

Yeah, pairing a 5770 with a 1090T is pretty silly, if you are gonna do that you should get a different proc as well. games these days are GPU limited, and so your CPU right now will handle games your GPU won't

 

[Tdata]

^_^ I have no plans to use the nVidia card in this build. I plan, in Jan/Feb, to buy another 6800 card to run in crossfire... If I can find a bridge long enough to connect a card in PCI-E1 and one in PCI-E5... I will need to measure the distance to find out how long I need.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

Ha, who was telling you to use NVidia? I was saying buy a cheaper card like a 5650 or something until a 69xx comes out :P

EDIT: Better yet, wait to get the video card for like 3 weeks until it comes out haha. The high end 6xxx cards are supposed to come out in nov :D

 

[Tdata]

I know, But buying the 6850 was cheaper than buying the 5770. That and While I may buy a 6900 card later, it will be when they are a lot cheaper.

 

[DeM0nFiRe]

They won't get a lot cheaper until they are all but useless. The 4870 X2 stayed right up around $400 - $500 until they just stopped making them. The rest of the 4000 series are only a bit cheaper than they were when they came out, and who wants a 4000 series anymore?