$900 budget, probably x3 720?

[LareNgitis]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: next day or two

BUDGET RANGE: $900

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Mostly games, but I dabble in other stuff - Gaming 85%, Photoshop 10%, 3D Max renders 5%

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor (see below) keyboard, mouse, speakers. I have my copy of XP but I don't know if I can reinstall onto this new computer.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com I live in CA so I'll have to cover tax.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm guessing AMD x3 720, but open to other builds.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes / although this will be my first attempt.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes / but maybe 1 card now, 1 later

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 19" 1280x1024, is all I have now. But I expect to upgrade to 1920 within a month or two.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: True story. My two playful dogs jumped onto my desk knocking over a glass of juice right onto my case, killing my entire PC. I've tested parts and everything is useless except the hard drive, which still contains all the data. I have that HD in an external enclosure and I'll use it for back up. So I'll need a new one.

How exactly will the Windows 7 public release work? Could I save $100 by just using 7?

Here's what I'm thinking:

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

XFX HD-489A-ZDEC Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150360

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

AMD Phenom II X3 720
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
------------
Subtotal: $798.94
Tax: $81.89
Shipping: $8.55
Total: $889.38

$50 in rebates, if they show up.


I'm not too sure about the RAM or the cpu cooler. I don't know much about them so any info would be helpful. I stuck with DDR2 but should I go DDR3? Do you think the 4890 is the right choice? Should I just go for a 4870 1GB? 4770 CF?

Maybe I should budget a small fence to prevent this from happening again. :lol:

 

[Proximon]

The 4870 1GB or the CF option are better fps per dollar, but the 4890 is OK.

The Sunbeam is an excellent cooler for AMD, as the method for securing it to the board is very similar.

List looks fine.

Your other option would be an E8400 and P45 board, this would give you better performance overall possibly, but that extra core is an advantage moving forward.

 

[xthekidx]

That little monitor does not require that much gpu. I think I would go for a cheaper card and then upgrade the CPU to a 940, that will help you out in photoshop and your 3d work a lot. Once you get a bigger monitor you can get a better GPU, but anything over a 4770 is going to be a waste on that monitor IMO. You won't be able to tell the difference between a GTX 295 and a HD 4770 at that resolution.

Think about doing this:
2x HIS 4770 512mb (one now and one later)
650tx
PII 940 and Windows vista

 

[LareNgitis]

I was just planning for the near future. I could go 4770 for now, then add another, but how would that compare to 2x 4890 once I go to a 1080p monitor? I wonder if it increase in price would be worth it?

What about the ram? I had g.skill 800 in my last computer which worked well. 1066 should be best for AMD, right?

thanks

 

[xthekidx]

2x4770 is close to a GTX 285. But honestly at that resolution 2 4770's would be enough for any game you want to play, even Crysis. DX11 is going to be here in 9 months or so, at which point you will likely want to get some DX11 GPU's, so you might be experiencing some buyer's remorse if you were to get those high powered GPU's which didn't support DX11. And 2 4890's on a 1080P monitor would be overkill anyways, at that resolution you wouldn't be using those GPU's to their full potential.

 

[xthekidx]

Here is a benchmark to give you an idea of how 2x4770's and a 4890 would compare:
http://en.expreview.com/2009/04/28/first-look-at-radeon-hd-4770-crossfire-benchmark.html/4
2x4890's would obviously be much better, but at $200 for xfire 4770's vs $480 for 4890's, I don't think its at all worth it unless you are getting a 25x16 res monitor. One 4890 is enough for a 1080P monitor, 2 would be a waste.

 

[batuchka]

$846 less that 24" and one of the HD4770 😛 Even less ($76x) if you do not need Vista HP 64bit hehe

 

[kamkal]

Build looks good.

Maybe throw the dogs across the room, thats what i would do if mine did that lol

A 4890 would be ideal, even for that resolution it will ensure the FPS stays consistent when a billion things are going on at once (this usually happens in online games) and once you get a 1080P monitor it will still run smoothly and this will ensure your gaming experience is not marred by dropping fps when the real action begins

I wouldnt worry too much about DX11, it will take a while for game devs to catch up after it is released...

The 720 BE CPU is highly OC'able, id stick with it and OC it as much as possible since you are getting an aftermarket hsf for it. This CPU's multiplier is unlocked so its easily OC'able

The 720 BE also has the advantage of 6MB L3 cache shared between 3 cores which then also leads to having a consistent framerate with a billion things going on in a game