Gigabyte SKT-AM3+ 990FXA-UD7

[alligatorblood]

Gigabyte SKT-AM3+ 990FXA-UD7

AMD FX-8150 Eight Core Processor - 3.60GHz, 8MB, L3 Cache, Socket AM3+

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit

Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2UK Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 High Performance 850W Power Supply

Asus nVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti DirectCU Graphics Card (1GB, GDDR5, PCI Express 2.0, Mini HDMI, nVIDIA 3D Vision Ready)

with an nzxt phantom

would this be a good gaming pc over the next few years?

 

[trents]

If you're only running one video card you don't need an 850 watt PSU. So you can save a few bucks there. 650 watt would be plenty. The main recommendation I have is to move up to low voltage (1.5v) 1866 mhz ram as the FX chips will be stable with that high frequency ram quite nicely and it will improve performance. Yes, that rig should have some staying power for a couple of years.

 

[alligatorblood]

so you think upgrade the RAM to like a 16Gb ram, and thatll be a pretty good gaming pc for the future?

 

[RGone]

I would check to make sure that Gigabyte has a bios for that board that is dated at least Feb of 2012 or later, so that the issues with some steam games does not 'rear' its' ugly head.

Most games now work much better with 2GB video cards. You say for a few years, so that upgrade to video card would be surely in my mind.

Someone will surely suggest something along the lines of an Intel 2600K system and they would be correct in that the Intel system will draw much less power in general. Beyond the scenarios mentioned the FX-8150 should do a fairly good job.

 

[alligatorblood]

dont think ill use that 'steam' anyway soo that doesnt matter?

soo to make it a good set up, a 2GB graphics card is a must have?

and idont want to use the intel set up tbh, not a big fan,

thanks for your input tho

 

[RGone]

soo to make it a good set up, a 2GB graphics card is a must have?

I don't guess one would say it had to be a must but it is something I would consider for sure if I were looking ahead at all. The games keep taking up more and more resources and I have read a number of sites suggesting 2GB cards.

I mean even an FX-8150 is not a must as a so-called 6 core FX would use less power.

And if it were me, I would be waiting on the newer PD cpu since it is supposed to be more powerful than the BD series. At least now that May of 2012 is here.

 

[alligatorblood]

iguess if games are getting better and better than a 2gb one would be worth investing in.

and yes but the 8core one is better,i don't mind about how much power it uses, just buy a bigger psu?

but how would iknow that a PD would work in the Gigabyte SKT-AM3+ 990FXA-UD7 motherboard?

 

[RGone]

From what I've read the 2gb memory is useful if you have screen size greater that 1920x1200 and if you want to use High Antialias settings and game across more than one monitor. This is generally why you will need the 2gb in the future but core clock and cuda cores if u go with nvidea are all important things as well. reasoning behind the 2gb is right now there are several games out right now that use 1.2 - 1.6 gb of memory on 1080. Crysis 2 with hi red textures and dx11 being one of them. but to be honest the performance of the card is more important memory is only good if your card can use it and still run with acceptable framerates. So you already have games that can use more than 1GB Vram but more ram on a low performing card will do no good either. The GPU has to be stout enough to run high frame rates for the ram to be buffering.

 

[alligatorblood]

alright then ok,
im not sure what cards works best with that motherbpoard tbh
but idont want to really spend more than £400 right now, as iwould also like to upgrade the ram,
thanks for the help,

 

[ssjwizard]

I would recommend any of the following cards for your usage. Any of these can play all modern games on a single monitor pretty close to maxed out. For multi monitor I would probably go for 2x of the 560(ti) or a 670

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-055-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1810
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2294

If your open to AMD cards also I can recommend a few.

 

[alligatorblood]

am open to any cards that will work with my system, thanks

 

[alligatorblood]

if you had that system, (first post) what card would you put into it?

 

[ssjwizard]

I have pretty much the same system but 2x GTX 460 1GB cards and I really wish they were 2GB as I run out of vRam well before GPU power in most titles.

If you wanted to go AMD I would suggest this one as the best balance of power/cost in the upper end: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-051-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

Its hard to say exactly what fits you best. If you dont want multiple monitors and dont need 60+FPS in every game with all the details on max then the 560(Ti) or a Radeon 68(50/70) is probably your best bet. If you want single monitor but max details Id go with the 580/7870. For multiple monitors Id go for either the 670, 79(50/70), or 2x 560(Ti)s.

I would probably switch out for a corsair TX 750PSU for any of these unless your planning on running 2x of the 580/670/79(50/70). Corsair RAM is good stuff but I find most other brands to be of equal quality for even pretty aggressive overclocking at a much lower price. If your going air cooled with this rig I recommend making sure whatever memory you choose have short heat spreaders. Those tall ego combs don't really do much anyways.

Lastly I would get the FX8120 over the 8150 but thats a personal choice. Its always been my motto to buy the cheapest model CPU that has ALL of the features I want. In this case the 8120 and 8150 are identical CPUs except for the stock speed, and both include fully unlocked multipliers so they basically overclock the same.



Note: anything inside of () indicates options, if only one option is presented it is optional.

 

[alligatorblood]

may iask what your system is?

and im liking the sound of the http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-051-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
looks like a good card, thanks!!

everything maxed out on graphics would be sweet, but yes it would only be a single monitor,

and what RAM heatsinks are they?

and are you saying that the corsair TX 750PSU is better for my system?

lastly, yes im not sure over cpu as well, have to think bout that as well

 

[ssjwizard]

8GB RAM is plenty for anything out now and probably anything out in the next 4-5 years. Based on whats available through overclockers.co.uk these would be my suggestions, anything here should overclock to 1866 without issue at around 1.6v

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-132-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-307-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-075-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

The TX 750 is enough for 2 of those cards if your not planning to add a 2nd GPU I would aim for a quality 650w unit.

Are there any particular reasons you chose the UD7 and not the UD3? For general usage and even pretty heavy overclocking I dont see any reason to go past the level of the gigabyte UD3, Asrock Extreme4, ect level which are the mainstream upper end boards.

 

[alligatorblood]

( am a rookie btw )

am guessing the RAM you showed me, can be over clocked?
just like you over clock a CPU?

( in the bios )

at this moment not thinking bout adding a second one, but thanks for the help, at least iknow ican. so thanks for that,

and UD7, jsut think, thats a nice board that will be a good board for the future as well as now, nice looking board to house everything on,
runs the cpu iwant,

 

[trents]

so you think upgrade the RAM to like a 16Gb ram, and thatll be a pretty good gaming pc for the future?

I think you are fine with 8 gb of ram I was saying I think you should buy faster ram (1866 mhz low voltage) to take advantage of the stout memory controller on the FX chips.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

I have a 990FXA-UD5 with FX-8150, GTS 450, 2 1TB HDD all running on a 550W PSU with no problems.

iguess if games are getting better and better than a 2gb one would be worth investing in.

and yes but the 8core one is better,i don't mind about how much power it uses, just buy a bigger psu?

but how would iknow that a PD would work in the Gigabyte SKT-AM3+ 990FXA-UD7 motherboard?

 

[ivanlabrie]

I second the tx750, cheaper and good enough...Also second the fx8120 or get a used phenom 2 and wait for PD
You'll need expensive cooling for the fx 8 core as it puts out more heat, that'll limit the overclocing headroom. A phenom 2 quad or hex can do the same whilst being easily cooled and oced.
Gpu wise I'd go for a 7870 if they were't so expensive, you should get the ud5 or ud3 board and get a gtx670 or a 7970 (check to see if EVGA has the step up program where you are, almost free upgrades are always welcome)
Ram, well, you want fast, cheap and low profile...you want Samsung 30nm lo profile ram, 2x4gb cl11 1333 ram, that'll easily do 2133mhz cl10 with 1.55v

 

[alligatorblood]

990FXA-UD5 - motherboard?
FX-8150, - cpu?
GTS 450 - graphics card?



right secondly the fx 8 core cooling with the H100 with gentle typhoons?
soo that should be a solid cooler?

and why low profile ram? what does the low profile do?

and no idea what 'cl11 1333 ram, that'll easily do 2133mhz cl10 with 1.55v' bit of a noob tbh