M4A79XTD EVO

[drdameon]

Hi all.

I'm building my own machine, and need some advice. I've got the motherboard in the title and other specs as follows:
AMD Phenom II X6 3.2 GHz 1090T
Radeon HD 5670 1GB DDR5
1TB HDD
Blu-ray reader/writer.

I'm trying to figure out what the best type of ram, and how much, I should put into the build, and what the best way to overclock the CPU and possibly the GPU would be. Thanks in advance!



EDIT: Also, what would be the best cooling I could without spending too much money?

 

[QuietIce]

to OCF!


How much RAM is easy - a 2x2 Gb kit is pretty standard - but exactly what kind will change depending on your budget. RAM can run anywhere from ~$75 (w/MIR) to ~$140. The same goes for heatsinks, which run from ~$25 (w/MIR) to ~$100. Could you give us some idea of how much you're looking to spend?

 

[drdameon]

I don't really have a budget, and I'm not really going to be doing much but gaming with it. I just want to see sparks and lightning coming from the screen because the rig is so fast, ya know? And thanks for the welcome and reply.

 

[QuietIce]

At one end of the RAM spectrum you've got the G.Skill Flares at $160. At the other end you've got Mushkin Blackline at $75 ($65 w/MIR), either of which should run DDR3-1333 CAS 7 regardless of the overclock. (I think the G.Skills are a little much, personally. )


The heatsink is much more important for overall system performance since it will pretty much dictate how fast your CPU will be running when OC'ed. On the budget side you've got the Sunbeam CCT 120mm ($40 and $25 w/MIR), which is a great cooler with a price bonus. The other end of that is the Noctua NH-D14, a monster cooler and not cheap at $90. The third option here, a little cheaper than the Noctua (and smaller!) with virtually the same cooling and my personal favorite, is the TRUE Black Rev.C with a nice Panaflo fan (~$75). Which Panaflo (or other) fan you pick would depend on how much noise you want to deal with. The Panaflo medium is fairly quiet while the Panaflo high-speed can be a little noisy for some people but will drop you a couple of more degrees on the CPU.

With the Noctua or TRUE the case fans become important as well. You'll need a good rear and/or top fan to exhaust all the heated air the heatsink will dump into the case. That fan choice would depend on your case configuration.


Good luck on the assembly and check back when you're done, I'm sure we can lead you in the direction of a good OC.


PS
To get some kind of idea on overclocking you might want to read through the first few posts of the Phenom II Guide while you're waiting on your parts.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023