Gaming computer build.

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 16, 2011

I'm on a budget of anything below $900 as far up as $1000, no more. These are the current components I have picked out.
- ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 890FX ATX AMD Motherboard w/ ATI XFX HD-583X-ZAFV Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit DDR5 - $335 (Edited from Gigabyte Motherboard)
- AMD Phenom II X6 1090T BE Thuban 3.2GHz CPU - $200
- G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM (2DIMMs) - $85 (Edited from 4GB)
- COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Black - $90 (Edited from NZXT Phantom and IN WIN Dragon Rider)
- XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W CrossFire Ready PSU - $130
- Zalman CNPS9700 110mm CPU cooler - $45
- Rosewill RNX-N180UBE IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter - $27
- Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - $5
Price - $927
(Purchasing later)
- HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
- 2 AMD XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 GPU's
Comments? Advice? Help?

jazon1 · Feb 16, 2011

your pretty close to price for an intel system and the i7's are a better/faster cpu than the phenom i had always been a amd fan for years but made the switch to intel myself last year and ill tell you there is nothing faster out there than the i7's.not sure if youll be able to get one together for your $1000 but you might want to take a look and see before you deside=)) http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Tokae · Feb 16, 2011

You could save $100 or more by getting a lower wattage PSU. 1000watt is overkill unless you are running like 4 cards. I picked up the Antec HCP 850 a while back for my crossfire setup and I have tested my system with both the cpu and the gpus loaded. At the wall I am using 580 watts. I would also advise against a crossfire setup unless you already have 1 of the cards and just plan on getting another. You could get 6970 for about $370-ish right now and down the road if you still think you need more just pick up another..

Just my 2 cents

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 16, 2011

Tokae said:
You could save $100 or more by getting a lower wattage PSU. 1000watt is overkill unless you are running like 4 cards. I picked up the Antec HCP 850 a while back for my crossfire setup and I have tested my system with both the cpu and the gpus loaded. At the wall I am using 580 watts. I would also advise against a crossfire setup unless you already have 1 of the cards and just plan on getting another. You could get 6970 for about $370-ish right now and down the road if you still think you need more just pick up another..

Just my 2 cents

Thank you for the advice. A lower wattage will save me some money and a less of a chance of overloading any circuit.

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 16, 2011

jazon1 said:
your pretty close to price for an intel system and the i7's are a better/faster cpu than the phenom i had always been a amd fan for years but made the switch to intel myself last year and ill tell you there is nothing faster out there than the i7's.not sure if youll be able to get one together for your $1000 but you might want to take a look and see before you deside=)) http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

2 more MB of L3 cache isn't much to be honest. Not a big fan of intel except for there solid slate drives.

Theocnoob · Feb 16, 2011

Just built for my friend for $899+tax

Gigabyte P67 UD3
2500K
GTX 560Ti
4GB DDR3 1600
Corsair CX600
Antec 300
Craptical DVD
500GB WD Black

Upgrade that CPU to the 2600K and you're still at only $1000 and have a WAY better system. IF you can find SB...

Knufire · Feb 16, 2011

Paratrooper1n0 said:
2 more MB of L3 cache isn't much to be honest. Not a big fan of intel except for there solid slate drives. That and none of there Motherboards support crossfire.

It isn't just the more cache, the i7s are inherently faster then the Phenoms. Plus, all intel motherboards are both SLI and Crossfire.

But either way, on the AMD side there's bulldozer coming out soon and on the intel side there's SB when you can find it and SB-E coming out soon too.

IMO I'd take the system below, switch out for a 750TX and a 6970, then CF later on.

Theocnoob · Feb 16, 2011

Knufire said:
It isn't just the more cache, the i7s are inherently faster then the Phenoms. Plus, all intel motherboards are both SLI and Crossfire.

But either way, on the AMD side there's bulldozer coming out soon and on the intel side there's SB when you can find it and SB-E coming out soon too.

IMO I'd take the system below, switch out for a 750TX and a 6970, then CF later on.

If he can find SB he can get a 2600K for $300ish and a UD3 for $130ish and crush a Bloomfield i7.

That's a better route. He won't get the triple channel RAM which nobody's proven makes a difference for gaming and he won't get the number of PCIE lanes of a higher end 1366 board or a higher end 1155 board with an NF200 but for a single video card I think the UD3 2600K CX600 GTX560Ti is a winner.

If you definitely want to Crossfire later on OP move up to a higher end SB board with an NF200 and possibly hold off on the video card- just put a $20 P O S in until you can get a better GPU. UD7 definitely has NF200 not sure about UD5.

By default if you CF/SLI on a SB board you get either 16/8 or 8/8. I can't remember every single thing about every single platform. But I'm working on it. For 16/16 you need the NF200 or a similar solution for added lanes.

Tokae · Feb 16, 2011

Theocnoob said:
If he can find SB he can get a 2600K for $300ish and a UD3 for $130ish and crush a Bloomfield i7.

That's a better route. He won't get the triple channel RAM which nobody's proven makes a difference for gaming and he won't get the number of PCIE lanes of a higher end 1366 board or a higher end 1155 board with an NF200 but for a single video card I think the UD3 2600K CX600 GTX560Ti is a winner.

If you definitely want to Crossfire later on OP move up to a higher end SB board with an NF200 and possibly hold off on the video card- just put a $20 P O S in until you can get a better GPU. UD7 definitely has NF200 not sure about UD5.

By default if you CF/SLI on a SB board you get either 16/8 or 8/8. I can't remember every single thing about every single platform. But I'm working on it. For 16/16 you need the NF200 or a similar solution for added lanes.

Most boards are 16/8 I believe.. I have my 5870s in crossfire and I had the option to run them in 16/16 and I moved the 2nd one down a slot for cooling. They are now 16/8 and there is no noticeable difference in performance. The reason? Current cards to not use all the bandwidth available in 16x lanes. Even 8x8 would be fine I bet.

Theocnoob · Feb 16, 2011

Tokae said:
Most boards are 16/8 I believe.. I have my 5870s in crossfire and I had the option to run them in 16/16 and I moved the 2nd one down a slot for cooling. They are now 16/8 and there is no noticeable difference in performance. The reason? Current cards to not use all the bandwidth available in 16x lanes. Even 8x8 would be fine I bet.

You do lose about 2fps if you SLI 2 580s at 8/8. :rofl:

That's not significant to most people but if you're like Fatal1ty Wendel or something that's going to make you upset. Also you want more PCIE lanes if you plan to really abuse the bus like throwing a 750+MB read/write speed REVOdrive in there and a soundcard. That's gotta be at least another five lanes at peak, no?

Tokae · Feb 16, 2011

Theocnoob said:
You do lose about 2fps if you SLI 2 580s at 8/8.
That's not significant to most people but if you're like Fatal1ty Wendel or something that's going to make you upset. Also you want more PCIE lanes if you plan to really abuse the bus like throwing a 750+MB read/write speed REVOdrive in there and a soundcard. That's gotta be at least another five lanes at peak, no?

I am not really sure as to how much one of those crazy drives would use but yeah they no doubt would take up a fair bit of the bandwidth!

Theocnoob · Feb 16, 2011

I want one.. My friend, who is really into 'what? It goes faster?', is actually saving up for the 750MB write version.. So we shall see. Odds are I'll cry a little when I see it...
He doesn't really seem to understand how fast that is.. I don't see the point but I guess when you absolutely HAVE to save that 15GB graphic in 17 seconds...

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 18, 2011

Was updated

GT3mich · Feb 18, 2011

Paratrooper1n0 said:
That and none of there Motherboards support crossfire.

Wrong. This MB supports both SLI and Crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128456

Knufire · Feb 18, 2011

I don't think there's a 1336 that doesn't support Crossfire...

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 18, 2011

GT3mich said:
Wrong. This MB supports both SLI and Crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128456

I found that out already.

Theocnoob · Feb 18, 2011

Knufire said:
I don't think there's a 1336 that doesn't support Crossfire...

+1

Xfire/SLI support is native to the chipset.

Again, though-

P67 chipset is less complex, cheaper to manufacture. This means you can get a cheaper 'entry level enthusiast' board out of P67 than X58- $140 or so rather than $185>

Also, clock per clock, $ per $, you're 15% faster with a sandybridge CPU. Add the 1/5th overclocking headroom and you get almost 35%, potentially, more out of a 2600K than a 950 at a similarish price.

Paratrooper1n0 · Feb 18, 2011

If I didn't have a budget I may consider Intel but I do so I'm sticking with AMD.

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