My first build in a while, AMD

[Smythe302]

Hey all, I'm new to the site.
I've built some "antiques" over the years, never overclocked. I'm currently running an old Dell (shudder) 4600 p4 2.8. I threw some more RAM in and a better than stock vid-card as the old one wouldnt run a flat panel. It's a tired setup tho i'd consider clocking it, if possible, after the new one is built.

The new one,
-I had an old machine from college to steal the case from... mid tower.

I bought:
-AMD FX-8350 unlocked
-ASUS M5A99FX pro R2
-optical drive

I need:
-PSU - thinking 750W
-HDD - 1tb WD blue
-RAM - at this point i'm leaning toward 2x4gb G Skill Ripjaws X 1866 c8... but dont understand why i shouldnt buy 2133 or 2400.
-GPU - R9-270x... thinking that i could double it and crossfire in the future... or would i have better results with a single R9-290?
-Cooling - I'll prolly start out stock air cooled, and move to H100i water if I ever overclock. Also may need a bigger better case at that point.
-SSD - no idea...

anyway, my use will be mostly general use crap, surfing, burning, etc. but I want it to last me years (like the 4600 has)
it'll be my HTPC, and I may try some gaming... used to love network Counterstrike and URT back in the day...

I know there are a zillion threads on this and I'm working my way through them, any guidance is appreciated, especially about the RAM and Graphics selections.
Thanks,
Sean

 

[EarthDog]

PSU - Need to figure out the other parts first... particularly the GPU.
GPU - Id go GTX 970 personally for 1080p gaming. A 270x is about the bottom I would shoot for honestly.
RAM - 2133MHz CL9 is solid. No need for more.

 

[Smythe302]

The thing is...
R9-270x --> $150
GTX 970 --> $350

 

[Theocnoob]

The thing is...
R9-270x --> $150
GTX 970 --> $350

Then get an R9 290 for $220.

 

[EarthDog]

The thing is...
R9-270x --> $150
GTX 970 --> $350

Yep. Have to pay to play...

The R9 290 can be found a bit above $200 though, so that is a more than viable option. Just be aware its a power/heat hog compared to the 970.

That said, with your setup and overclocking in mind, grab an EVGA Supernova G2 750W and you will be fine.

 

[Mandrake4565]

I agree with the gents above, do not go Sli/X fire for starters you're better off with one higher end single card over dual card as far as the problems that sometimes arise. Another reason is AMD Cpu's do not do well in Sli/X Fire.

One point on what ED said about 2133 Cl9 ram, it's great if it plugs and plays nice but on these Fx 83xx chips sometimes they do not. If you can find Cl 8 1866 sticks and they are comparable price wise with the 2133's I would grab those.

 

[Smythe302]

Thanks guys for all of the good advice...
I'm pretty sure that i'm going to go with the Gskill 1866c8 memory
And you've steered me toward the 290 rather than 270x... I can justify some additional expense...
Now as to the NVIDIA vs ATI debate... i'm sure there is a card in the same price range as the R9 290
but it would have to show a performance increase for me to switch over.
For me, blowing a 15A breaker is the only concern with power consumption.

 

[Theocnoob]

Thanks guys for all of the good advice...
I'm pretty sure that i'm going to go with the Gskill 1866c8 memory
And you've steered me toward the 290 rather than 270x... I can justify some additional expense...
Now as to the NVIDIA vs ATI debate... i'm sure there is a card in the same price range as the R9 290
but it would have to show a performance increase for me to switch over.
For me, blowing a 15A breaker is the only concern with power consumption.

You'll never blow a 15A breaker with a "standard" PC.
The equivalent price card from Nvidia to the 290 is the 960. It is garbage IMO. 2GB less VRAM, inferior performance. Sure it runs cooler with less power and has DX12 compatibility but so what?
I would never buy a 960. 290/970/980 should be the only cards you look at IMO.

Get the EVGA Supernova G2 750W. It's affordable for a good PSU and is definitely a good PSU.

 

[EarthDog]

Thanks guys for all of the good advice...
I'm pretty sure that i'm going to go with the Gskill 1866c8 memory
And you've steered me toward the 290 rather than 270x... I can justify some additional expense...
Now as to the NVIDIA vs ATI debate... i'm sure there is a card in the same price range as the R9 290
but it would have to show a performance increase for me to switch over.
For me, blowing a 15A breaker is the only concern with power consumption.

LOL, you wont use 1500W+ on your PC, LOL... 500W with overclocking, sure. Not close to 1500W though.

As far as a comparable card from Nvidia. There isn't one in the current generation performance wise. Price wise, yes, the 960, but performance wise, you need to look back to the GTX 760, which then makes it a bit slower than the R9 290 IIRC.

 

[Smythe302]

so... cheapest I've seen the 290 is $280... could be pricing me out of the game...



also noteworthy, I doubt I'll use any more than 1080p with this machine.

 

[Smythe302]

I'll stick with the R9 290 then... just have to catch a sale and save my pennies.

That was my point with the power consumption... ppl are getting really chubbed about low consumption, and I frankly don't care.
I'm going to have my PC set to sleep or off when i'm not using it... so most of the time... and forgetting to turn off my porch light at night makes up the difference between the setup i'm interested in and the green one id have to forfit my kid's college fund for.
It's BS marketing btwn brands... "ours is faster" "now ours is as fast as yours" "well now ours is fast and uses .001% less E"
next week they'll be into miniturization or including waffle makers or shoveling your driveways.

sorry, i'm an angsty cube monkey ready for the weekend!

 

[Theocnoob]

I'll stick with the R9 290 then... just have to catch a sale and save my pennies.

That was my point with the power consumption... ppl are getting really chubbed about low consumption, and I frankly don't care.
I'm going to have my PC set to sleep or off when i'm not using it... so most of the time... and forgetting to turn off my porch light at night makes up the difference between the setup i'm interested in and the green one id have to forfit my kid's college fund for.
It's BS marketing btwn brands... "ours is faster" "now ours is as fast as yours" "well now ours is fast and uses .001% less E"
next week they'll be into miniturization or including waffle makers or shoveling your driveways.

sorry, i'm an angsty cube monkey ready for the weekend!

The computer industry has always been into miniaturization.

And it's not 0.001% less energy. It's something like 40%+ less energy. And heat. And DX12. The 960 would win if it had more VRAM. Even if it was a few FPS below the 290.

 

[Smythe302]

That's small... seen the Raspberry? Quite novel.

Quick newb question... what's "reference" mean when talking graphics cards?

 

[EarthDog]

the basic, what nvidia calls for, requirements of the card. Power delivery... etc. then AIBs (ASUS/MSI etc) improve upon that by adding more power bits, etc...

 

[Theocnoob]

That's small... seen the Raspberry? Quite novel.

Quick newb question... what's "reference" mean when talking graphics cards?

Reference


Non-Reference