Help me with custom built pc :)

[kimida]

Hi.

My wife let me use an amount of money to make a pc
that runs a playable bf3 to august (or what ever).

Will the following work together, or are there better choises to make.


mobo: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3423#ov

cpu: Phenom II X4 965 6 MB
cpu fan: Noctua NH-D14
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=34&lng=en

ram: Kingston HyperX Genesis 2 x 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz

ssd: Kingston SSDNow V-Series Desktop Upgrade Kit 30 GB
(maybe ill use my old sata 600gb raid 0 drives for storage and just SSD for windows)

case: Fractal Design Define R3
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=53

psu: Sea Sonic S12II-520Bronze 520 Watt
http://www.seasonic.com/new/twevent20100105_2.htm


Need assistance on a GFX card that will work with this setup,
im allso in doubt about ram.
The intention is to make the setup pretty silent.

thanks and what a great forum this is....

 

[funguygordy]

I would probably go with a different PSU, if you plan on upgrading further you may run out of power. Do you want to be able to play bf3 or max it out?

 

[kimida]

who wouldnt max bf3 out, but guessing ill need a 300-400$ gfx card ?.

how many watts are needed, really cant figure this one out..


edit: Holy crap, nice setup you got there funguy

 

[funguygordy]

If you ever plan on using crossfire I'd go with 750watt, but you may be able to make it with a single gpu. I have a fairly "mid-level" Nvidia gpu, and I can almost max bf2. I would get the best gpu you can afford, but you might not be able to max out. What is your budget on gpu?

 

[kimida]

just googled crossfire, didnt know you could have multiple gpu's.. nice
Will 2 medium gpu make it better than a really expensive one ?.

guessing 200$, give or take, for a gpu.

 

[funguygordy]

Well, it all depends in how you want to future-proof. You could go with one high end card, and buy another one down the road. Or, you could get two mid grade cards and have to sell them both to upgrade in the future. If you can make it work I lean towards getting a high end and adding another if/when you need to. But financially this is not always feasible. I imagine you would do just fine with two mid level gpus, the only reason you might need to upgrade would be using a triple monitor setup, or in the future when games get more and more demanding.

 

[funguygordy]

If you can swing it the 6970 2gb looks great, looks to be $350+ on newegg

 

[Knufire]

We can't do much without a number budget.

As it is, BF3 is probably going to be more CPU heavy then most games, considering BF:BC2 was like that as well.

 

[Theocnoob]

I would go with a 990FX chipset mobo and a 955BE (same CPU as a 965 don't waste money). Get the D14 if you want. We don't know how hot Bulldozer is going to run. You're sort of screwing yourself over a bit if you do that though. A more cost effective move would be something like a Coolermaster Hyper212 and an AMD 1055T CPU for a few bucks less than a 955 and D14. That gives you good performance now, and enough for BF3. Also the 990FX chipset and AM3+ socket give you the option to jump on an 8 core Bulldozer come October when BF3 comes out, if the six core 1055 or 4 core 955 prove insufficient.

One thing the current AMD CPUs really have going for them is that they run very cool. You can squeeze a pretty decent overclock out of most of them on the stock cooler, and a very nice overclock without having to buy an excellent cooler. I ran a D14 on an 1100T stock and the temps were comical. There's no need for that much cooling on current gen Deneb and Thuban (900/1000 series) AMD. We don't know how the 8000 series will perform thermally. If it's in keeping with the way AMD stuff has run for a few years, odds are you're not going to need an NHD14 for that either.

 

[kimida]

great info.
the 955 cpu costs the same here 20$ difference, either one i dont care.
I like 1055t CPU, it actually cost just 40-50$ more than 965, and thats with a cooler. The only thing i would buy the NHD14 fan for, is that it should run close to silent.

But perhaps it's not that big a difference.. Actually like the idea of 1055t CPU, instead of a smaller cpu and NHD14. I cant find the coolermaster fan you mentioned in my country.

Downside are the 990FX mobo costs twice as much as the GA870 mobo, 300$ compared to 145$.
Is it that much better ??.

The GPU mentioned costs 400$ in Denmark...

Budget are about 1000$

Im in a doubt, Thinking...

Perhaps skip some things for later days, like the case and harddrive.

 

[kimida]

1055t cpu (in a box) 200$
990FX mobo 300$
seasonic 520watt 130$
ddr3 1600mhz 2x4gb 100$

total 730$

ohh wait, 520watt prolly too little..
How too calculate the number of watts needed ?

 

[Theocnoob]

great info.
the 955 cpu costs the same here 20$ difference, either one i dont care.
I like 1055t CPU, it actually cost just 40-50$ more than 965, and thats with a cooler. The only thing i would buy the NHD14 fan for, is that it should run close to silent.

But perhaps it's not that big a difference.. Actually like the idea of 1055t CPU, instead of a smaller cpu and NHD14. I cant find the coolermaster fan you mentioned in my country.

Downside are the 990FX mobo costs twice as much as the GA870 mobo, 300$ compared to 145$.
Is it that much better ??.

The GPU mentioned costs 400$ in Denmark...

Budget are about 1000$

Im in a doubt, Thinking...

Perhaps skip some things for later days, like the case and harddrive.

990FX mobos aren't that expensive. At least not here. There are various tiers of them. This one is 160 here.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_335&item_id=039915

Look around and see if you can find a cheaper one. They range from 150 or so to about 250 where I live.

 

[kimida]

thanks, found a cheaper allready, not that hard... only change is the "end name" UD3, UD4, UD5 etc.... what does that mean, any idea ?

 

[Theocnoob]

thanks, found a cheaper allready, not that hard... only change is the "end name" UD3, UD4, UD5 etc.... what does that mean, any idea ?

With Gigabyte usually UD3>4>5>7 comes down to the quality and number of CPU VRM phases. Higher end boards use better chokes and more of them. More features. Extra hard drive and LAN controllers, etc etc. On chipsets that have limited PCIE lanes, like on the intel 1155 socket, UD7 adds an NF200 controller that augments the number of PCIE lanes.

Basically, unless you are aiming for a crazy overclock you are fine with any platform on a UD3. They are good boards. ASUS also makes a good board. There are many other quality mfgs but those are my two favorites.