Ol' Neds getting a new rig

Ok so those nice people at the revenue office owe us a chunk of money, so of course first port of call is new PC parts.... then new PS3.... then bills :-D

So I'm looking at hard drives, revamped an old thread PClover started about SSD drives. These guys are pretty pricey still but I'm wondering if it is really worth it.

I'm thinking gaming, don't care about anything else, how much difference am I really going to see in gaming?

@Mimsy... in that thread you said you were picking one up, how does it run?

Obviously these monsters are much faster but spending $200 on a small driver to cut 15 seconds off a load screen is not worth it to me.

As for the other bits, I'm still pondering but I've pretty much got it narrowed down, here's what I got so far...

Not sure on the PSU but it has lights!!! I like lights :-D
I currently have a coolermaster 600w with dual 12v rails which I've been exceptionally happy with, but I don't think 600w is going to cut it for the new rig, any suggestions here greatly apreciated since PSU's are probably my weakest hardware point.

I would also like some ideas on CPU heatsinks/fans.

Hard drives I'm just pondering, they will either be SSD's or just straight Barracudas, the descision will come down to info from this thread and research.

The last thing I'm thinking about is wether or not it's worth changing my GPU, looking round it seems to me that without spending $300 on another card (which I really don't want to do) I can't realistically out perform my HD4890 Vapor-x 2GB, having said that it's hard to compare since there are few benchmarks that give acurate differences and the clock numbers are way too close to warrent $300.

Case remains the same, Antec 900 although I will be adding an extra couple of 120mm fans to it.

So with all that in mind, any insight or suggestions always welcome.

Bare in mind I am an AMD/ATI man and not easily swayed to Intel or Nvidia, but you can try :-D

Thanks any and all in advance.

 

Start with these parts,

I am/will put these parts in to my computer, the total base price of all the part is around $1800 + but its a great deal.

Here:

Mobo: Gigabyte G1.Sniper
Processor: Core i970
CPU Heatsink: Corsair H100
Power Supply: Corsair Gold AX850
Memory: DDR3 Kingston HyperX T1 - 1600 x2 3 triple channel memory ( 24GB ram)
GFX: x2 HD 5770s in Crossfire
Computer Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
x1 SSD Corsair Force 3 60gb ( for OS)
x1 Blu-Drive
x1 Seagate 7200 RPM SATA 3 1TB 32MB Cache

Now if the price is not what you want, take the products I have selected and go backwards, meaning the products I chose are very good but they have versions that cost less... well except for the SSD and the Case.

 

While I apreciate your response...to clarify, thats about $1000 more than the parts I picked lol, I'm looking at around $800-$1000

Also as I said, simply telling me to switch to Intel and Nividia over AMD/ATI is not going to sway me, I've been an AMD/ATI man for 8 years now and had to fix more Intel and Nividia problems than AMD/ATI for customers (On the side PC repair for 7 years)

Also 24GB of ram IMO is massive overkill since I currently have 3GB and rarely struggle because of ram, so I figure 8gb is plenty for what I want

I would need some good reasons and numbers

 

Aaargh, lost the post.-D

Are you going to add a second 4890 there eventually, since you specced in a 2x16 PCI-E mobo and a 1000W PSU?

The H-50 will be good for you, I love mine but don't follow the instructions given, blow the air out especially since you're adding a couple of fans.

If you can wait a month the 8-core AMD Bulldozers will be out and should drive down prices.

As you can see, I'm an Intel guy ATM as AMD has had nothing special for me these last few years, who knows what the BD will bring to the table eh?

 

I said go backwards! lol

meaning if I selected the 850W you can get the 650 but its still good ,

hey man I have to be honest, I cam from building nothing but AMD systems and trust me I would have saved a whole bunch of my money by switching the Geico ... O_O. But seriously AMD is cheaper its fast and you really wont notice a super difference at all. But I did notice a FAT jump on loading times and such when I made a LEAP from tri-core AMD to 6 core INTEL 12MB cache. But still Im only on my first INTEL build so this is why I chose to over kill, if and when I build another PC it will be back to AMD for me

 

Not sure what you're reffering to H-50?

As for x-fire, I would love to do that but finding another 4890 is tricky, hell I had to import mine from Japan, but yeah it would be awesome!

 

He is referring to the Corsair H50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010

Dude , get the 5770s! the kick-face! Plus you can over-clock them and trust me they are great for over-clocking them... I may even be brave enough to put Arctic Silver 5 on mines now.

 

Hmmm, not looked into it deeply but from a glance getting the 5770 is either a step down or equal to what I already have but without the extra cooling and to x-fire I'm looking at least $400, there's no game out at the moment to my knowledge my current single card can't handle.

By the way I don't want to come off as simply arguing here lol, but if I'm changing my mind on things I need to have a damn good reason, money doesn't come easy to me so I like to do things right the first time and so far with the exception of my CD drive I've never failed myself.
Also aren't the 5770's 128bit? which is stepping down and if I remember correctly they are 800 stream cores (the same as mine) and the core clock is lower (850 where as mine is 870) and the 4890 vapor model is highely overclockable, never needed to so far though.

Let me give you an example, my current x2 CPU bottle necks my card, but the card is capable of running Arma 2 on full spec with a 6km draw distance, a graphics card would have to be pretty special for me to warrent spending another $300+.

Like the i7 you mentioned, is it really that much better than the x6 I'm looking at to warrant the extra chunk of cash?

By the way I've not really got time to look at all the specs right now so much of what I'm saying is from memory lol

As for when I'm getting them, it will be a month or so which is why I've started this thread now, it will give me time to take suggestions and research them.

 

Ohhhh I didn't click the link because newegg was playing up, I thought you were talking about the RAM I chose :-D

It confused me because Auggie said "blow it out" which made my head hurt lol

Ok, so Auggie, the instructions tell you to blow air (direct fan) into the heatsink and you are saying to have it suck air OUT from the heatsink?

Actually, looking at that I quite like the idea of it, it replaces your rear fan with the rad/fan which concerned me at first but then I'm intending on putting in a side exhaust.... hmmm...

 

I meant having it push air out of the case through the radiator. I'd also rethink pulling air out from the side as that's normally used as a push in fan to cool CPU which you might need to keep the vreg cans cool as there is no longer the stock HS/F to do that job.

The vregs are the cans to the immediate left of the CPU. BTW, vreg =voltage regulators which can get hot if overclocking.

 

Well my thinking was the case exhaust would be hindered by the rad on the H50 so the side fan would support exhaust.
I currently have 2 x 120mm intakes on the front , 1 x 120mm exhaust on the back and a 210mm exhaust on the top.

But if the vregs heat up I may heed your advice.

 

So bumping this thread as the time is near.

Only thing I'm not sure of is PSU, my weakest point.
Based on the first post specs.

Ideas preferably around the $150-200 mark.

I looked into the Corsair Gold AX850 but it has some bad reviews, has good ones too but the ratio is not very appealing to me when dropping that kind of money.

Pointers please

 

If want to stick with Corsair(both my rigs are powered with TX750W Bronze and they're great!). I personally think that 850W gold is overkill even if you get another 4890. If you really want an 850W then go with silver or bronze if the reviews bother you. Any which one you get will last you for a very long time.

Use this PSU calculator and enter the worst case scenario that you expect to have.

 

If you're going for $179 for a mobo, this one is a few bucks more, but it's AM3+, Bulldozer ready:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736

As for memory, I saw this liked it:

CAS Latency 6, DDR3-1600:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231353

You don't necessarily have to go six core, I got an X2 on the cheap and unlocked it. It will do until the 8 cores (Bulldozer) have a nice price.

I figure about $680, sans graphics cards.


And, I've always been a Rosewill fan... :-D

 

@Auggie... Oh I wasn't leaning towards Corsair, it what suggested, I looked into it and a lot of people have had them die in a short span of time.
I currently have a CoolerMaster 600W which has served me very well.

The calculator puts me at around 580w (with adding a few things that I might get in the future, like extra drive etc.) Which I guess means an 850w would work with the right Rail setup.
Which brings me to my next question, Rails, single? Multi?
When I got mine pretty much all advice suggested a single 12v rail, but things have changed. So any opinions on any difference or preference between Single/Dual/Quad/6+ 12v Rails?

@Mekanic... lol don't be showing me more expensive stuff, now I want those :-D
Actually the board isn't wowing me but for an extra $20 I might just do that.
The RAM however is an extra $100
What kind of performance upgrade do I get for the $100?
I have compared the 2 and see the specs but if you have real time physical experience I would muchly appreciate some examples.

As for the Dual core, nah, got a Dual core now and I have several games that I don't think any of the dual cores on the market would handle at full tilt, overclocked or unlocked or hyper jumped :-D
Besides, under $200 for an X6? why wouldn't you? lol .... I wont be affording the 8 cores for at least a couple of years if not longer so I'm building this as chunky as I can afford.

Also, you are a Rosewill fan? I have heard some very bad things about them lol, but I really like that PSU, I almost bought a Rosewill last time but was put off by so many people saying they burn out quickly.

 

Keep your CM PSU then as it's plenty for now and change later when needed like when adding a second video card and even then I think your current PSU can handle it. The pox on vendours who don't post amps as needed by the card! As to rails, I like the single rail concept but that's just me. Any quality 850W PSU will power your rig with aplomb.

 

I've used Rosewill in the last three of my builds, and have nothing but great things to say about them. I "hand me down" my old builds to people who need a PC, so I can report no issues with a PSU to date.

The main reason I threw that RAM out there was the CAS latency of 6. Most DDR3 out there these days is running at 9 or 10, maybe 8 here and there. It's an 8GB kit to boot, so I thought it was nice, plus still within the budget you posted earlier. 8GB, and two slots to spare is nice for future expansion.

I actually own a Sabertooth, and have nothing but good things to say about it thus far. I actually picked it up for $179. BIOS interface is easily manuevered, voltage adjustements (NB) are a breeze, and the autoclock will boost the RAM above 1600, even if the CPU isn't AM3+, like the new Bulldozer. The hexacores are plain AM3. I figure on having this board for a quite a few years, and the only real plans are a PCIe SSD, 4GB additional RAM, and an AM3+ CPU down the road.

I've always "piecemealed" my builds with stuff on sale. Takes months sometimes, but worth it. Just get the mobo last if possible, RMA has a timeframe.

I'm not expecting DDR4 until sometime in 2014, so I'll most likely be running this mobo through 2015. It's "military grade", so it better run that long!!

 

lol I actually think you and I had the discussion about single vs multi 12v rails once before.
I dunno about keeping my 600w though Auggie, that's cutting it a bit fine don't you think?
I'm now realising 1000w is overkill but I'm not feeling very comfortable with leaving the 600w to power the new rig.

This rig will have the above CPU, my 4890 and lets say I go with the RAM Mekanic suggested. Then add in my case running 4x 120mm led fans and 1x 210mm fan plus heat sink fan.
Then add probably 2 or even 3 HDD (1 of them probably being a higher RPM like a raptor drive)
Then add the likely possibility of 2 external USB HDD, also add a Guitar Port powered via USB.

When I put all that together I'm hitting 500+ on the calculator, I've always figured adding 30-50% onto what it recommends, which brings me to around 750-850w.
Also might need more than the 32amp 12v rail on my PSU.

Bear in mind these are my thoughts and understandings of PSU's.
Admittedly as I said, PSU's are my weakest point of hardware knowledge lol , but that's why I'm asking.

@Mekanic... Oh I'm definitely going to grab that board, for an extra $20 of what I'm looking at I'd be stupid not to.
The RAM will simply boil down to actual available funds when I do it, see I'm waiting on tax back but unfortunately my PC isn't priority No.1 (Well it is, but if I'm going to be sensible, it isn't lol)
As for Rosewill, I may just take a chance on one if I do buy a PSU (now that Auggie has heightened my interest of my current one :-D )
There's been a few I liked, you see I like lue lights :-D
Everything is blue, my case fans, my heatsink fan, gpu, keyboard back light, mouse lights, monitor and I even changed the colour of my speaker power light from green to blue :-D
Sad really isn't it lol

 

Read this article a while back, and the $245 will be the top notch 8 core.

They'll probably get that out the door for Christmas!

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/new-amd-bulldozer-release-date-rumored-to-be-october-12/6753

I think I'll hold out for the FX-8170...

 

Dude! seriously! stop telling me about stuff I want that is more expensive :-D
I dunno to be honest, I still think I'll grab the X6 and wait until the X8's have been tried and tested, if they are that cheap at launch then they will be at least that cheap in a year and I will be ready for it. Right now nothing requires the X6 let alone the X8, so it's really extra money for bragging rights

 

Well, I like to dream.

BUT, there's a difference between dreams, and priorities...

:wine

Main reason I grabbed the X2, and tweaked it.