<$800 all purpose build, need advices

[soarocy]

Hi there,

It has been a good 7 years since my last build and I have been fairly disconnected from current hardware trend. Time to catch up and build a new one. My new PC will be used to game and photoshop equally, although I know that they emphasize on different parts of the system


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within 2-3 weeks BUDGET RANGE: $600-800 After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: game (I would like it to be able to play most current games at at least mid settings), photoshop (i use Lightroom mostly, but they are the same), watch movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS. I need everything else. But my $800 budget is not including monitor, keyboard/mouse and speakers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: N/A COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: I lean to AMD + ATI because I think they are of better value within my price range

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Not decided yet, I am thinking about 1920*1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I need 1T of harddrive. I took a look at tecmo34's "Recommended Builds by Usage" and I am using his AMD budget build as my starting point

Budget: $796.61
■CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model HDZ720WFK3DGI - OEM
■MOBO: ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
■RAM: G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBECO - Retail
■HSF: Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail
■HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ... - Retail
■GPU: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
■DVD: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - Retail
■Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
■Thermal Compound: Comes with heatsink.

I presume I need to throw in 40 some more bucks to upgrade to a 1T harddrive.

I still have some concerns about this build though. If I will add another 5770 down the road for crossfire, does this 785G mobo support it? From what I read I think I need 790FX mobo, is that right? Will this PSU be enough to support crossfire? Is there a cheaper case that will work just fine?

Also, how does Phenom II X3 720 compare with Athlon II X4 635, suppose I'm not lucky enough to unlock the fourth core?

I also need suggestions on the LCD monitor. I want a good one and I prefer IPS panel. I heard Dell UltraSharp U2410 is very good. But at about $550 it is a little bit too expensive for me (if after some research I found it really worth it I may still go for it though). Are there any good IPS panel 22" monitors? How bad it is to watch an HD movie on a 1680*1050 LCD (compared with 1920*1200)?

That's all I have for now. Thanks,
Andy

 

[Alvin Smith]

I'd say "Bump that up to a 3GHz Quad core and up the card to a 5870".

Everything else looks great!

This thing has 2ms refresh rate, a tuner a remote and plenty of inputs.
The 2ms refresh is optimum for gaming (no "trippy trails").

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112033&cm_re=24%22_1080p-_-89-112-033-_-Product

 

[verst]

No, that mobo doesn't support crossfire, try this one: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX
You're looking for dual @ x8...

PSU will probably be ok for a pair of 5770's, you might wanna throw in a 750TX to be on the safe side

You should also invest 7-8$ into Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX-3, supplied thermal compounds just aren't as good...

Any mid tower case will be good, choose the one you personally like... I have the CM690 and am very happy with it...

 

[saint19]

Good rig, My advices:

1- Change the cpu cooler for the Hyper 212+, is more cheap and more better.
2- The case is good, but expensive IMO. Take a look of this
3- The PSU is enough, but isn't very good. Get this Antec 650W is more cheap but much better.

Finally, with the money that you save with the case, and PSU, you can get another mobo, something like the mobo that verst suggest.

 

[osu43130]

If you are getting a 19xx res monitor get a 5850 at bear minumim. the 5770 will struggle on some games at that resolution.

 

[batuchka]

 

[Alvin Smith]

Verst and Saint are both "Dead On" ... listen to them. Great advices ! (plural).

You could plug-up your own ears and put on a double blind-fold and you would end up saving money and getting a better system, with their advices (plural).

GOOD SAVE on the mobo xfire compatibility, Vert ... THANKS !

= Al =

 

[soarocy]

I'd say "Bump that up to a 3GHz Quad core and up the card to a 5870".

Everything else looks great!

This thing has 2ms refresh rate, a tuner a remote and plenty of inputs.
The 2ms refresh is optimum for gaming (no "trippy trails").

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889112033&cm_re=24%22_1080p-_-89-112-033-_-Product

Thanks for all the advices!

This build is already reaching my budget limit, so unless there are some good reasons I would rather keep the budget low...

 

[Alvin Smith]

just the 5870 then, if you can spare the change. More umph there.

 

[soarocy]

No, that mobo doesn't support crossfire, try this one: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX
You're looking for dual @ x8...

PSU will probably be ok for a pair of 5770's, you might wanna throw in a 750TX to be on the safe side

You should also invest 7-8$ into Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX-3, supplied thermal compounds just aren't as good...

Any mid tower case will be good, choose the one you personally like... I have the CM690 and am very happy with it...

I am not familiar with current PCIe. The 5770's interface is PCIe2.0x16, right? Why would I want to crossfire with dual 5770 @ x8?

 

[soarocy]

Good rig, My advices:

1- Change the cpu cooler for the Hyper 212+, is more cheap and more better.
2- The case is good, but expensive IMO. Take a look of this
3- The PSU is enough, but isn't very good. Get this Antec 650W is more cheap but much better.

Finally, with the money that you save with the case, and PSU, you can get another mobo, something like the mobo that verst suggest.

Good advice. Thank you!

 

[soarocy]

If you are getting a 19xx res monitor get a 5850 at bear minumim. the 5770 will struggle on some games at that resolution.

Can you let me know what you mean by "struggle"? I'm not hoping for the best game experience. If I can play most FPS games at mid settings I will be fine with it.

 

[Alvin Smith]

I read an article on that, just two days ago ... where?

It said that (showed benches) it is a huge step down from the 5800 series to the 5700 series. I'm not a gamer, but for games, start with a 5800 and build your system around it, whatever (other) cuts you have to make.

 

[soarocy]

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q205/batuchka/asju.jpg

Can you let me know how does X3 720 compare with X4 620 or X4 635?

 

[Alvin Smith]

Oh, yeah ... It was an article about a new 5730 (i know) card that the author was saying really sucked (even for a 5700 series) and he showed the new card against 5750, 5780, 5850, and 5870 ... The 5800s werent that far apart, tho.

= Al =

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

you mean the 5770 not 5780... lol

 

[soarocy]

I read an article on that, just two days ago ... where?

It said that (showed benches) it is a huge step down from the 5800 series to the 5700 series. I'm not a gamer, but for games, start with a 5800 and build your system around it, whatever (other) cuts you have to make.

OK, but even with 5850 being around $290 the price difference is significant for me though

 

[shortstuff_mt]

There's also no desktop ATI 5730 card. I'm guessing you're talking about the 5830 that was released yesterday and possibly one of these reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3750

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5830,2564.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5830.html

 

[saint19]

^Any time, that's why we are here.

 

[Alvin Smith]

Sorry ... It was late ... I think he was comparing the 5830 to the 5700s, then. Saying it didn't belong in that series slot, or some such. I'll read those articles but gotta go ..


= Al = Hate screwing up like that.

 

[soarocy]

OK, that makes sense

 

[batuchka]

Can you let me know how does X3 720 compare with X4 620 or X4 635?

Actually in Deneb/Propus architecture for games L3 does not make a difference so clock away an A2X4 620 and u good to go for games

 

[soarocy]

Will it make a difference in applications like photoshop/lightroom?

 

[darkjuggalo2000]

your processor makes a big difference in photoshop/lightroom so does your ram!

 

[soarocy]

I mean will the L3 cache make a big difference? X4 635 has one more core whereas X3 720 has L3 cache~