AMD gaming PC 500$ Mid range gaming

[kalydo]

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: 500/550 (not counting taxes)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming. internet.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, HDD.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca/directcanada.ca/tigerdirect.ca

Country: canada

Parts Preferences: by amd and asrock (willing to not use asrock if theres a better overclocking board for better price range) I favor micro atx boards.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: no

Monitor Resolution: 1600x900 to 1900x1200

Additional Comments: i would like the motherboard to have at least 4 pins for ram. any case will do, cheaper the better. I play many old pc games, but still would like to at least play skyrim on reasonable settings, maybe even high, or mid high. (I can also reuse an old case and power supply) The power supply is 530 watts and i've used it for my radeon 5770 for the past year) so builds with and without the psu and case are welcome.

 

[kalydo]

I'm still not quite set on the mobo. I've looked up reviews for the motherboard you mentioned headspin on newegg and there isn't plenty of good reviews. A lot of DOAs etc. I still do rather like the Asrock motherboard and I'm unsure if I'll ever upgrade the CPU as I don't plan on updating anything on the board aside from the ram to 16 gigs. And possibly crossfire in the future. I'd rather a well esteemed board over a board with generally unfavorable reviews. I'm still up for other recommendations though.

 

[Headspin_69]

I'm still not quite set on the mobo. I've looked up reviews for the motherboard you mentioned headspin on newegg and there isn't plenty of good reviews. A lot of DOAs etc. I still do rather like the Asrock motherboard and I'm unsure if I'll ever upgrade the CPU as I don't plan on updating anything on the board aside from the ram to 16 gigs. And possibly crossfire in the future. I'd rather a well esteemed board over a board with generally unfavorable reviews. I'm still up for other recommendations though.

I don't know the msi board has treated me well and more than surprised me with all its feature sets that were only available on the ultra high end expensive boards of past. One guy says the crossfire works great for him with the new 6xxx series GPU @ 16x/4x which is what that msi board does. This is my board and the one I showed you is better even but still the same . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KsOtKIi84g

 

[Headspin_69]

I'm still not quite set on the mobo. I've looked up reviews for the motherboard you mentioned headspin on newegg and there isn't plenty of good reviews. A lot of DOAs etc. I still do rather like the Asrock motherboard and I'm unsure if I'll ever upgrade the CPU as I don't plan on updating anything on the board aside from the ram to 16 gigs. And possibly crossfire in the future. I'd rather a well esteemed board over a board with generally unfavorable reviews. I'm still up for other recommendations though.

Toms Hardware endorsed this msi board for one of there 2011 mid range gaming build logs. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-review,2916-10.html

 

[kalydo]

Toms Hardware endorsed this msi board for one of there 2011 mid range gaming build logs. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-psu-review,2916-10.html

So what would be the main difference between the 45 and the 46?

 

[de5_Roy]

found these asus boards... with reviews. however, these are quite costlier than the ones you're being recommended.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4410/asus_m5a97_evo_amd_970_motherboard_review/index.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-m5a99x-evo.html
asus 970 evo
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62519&vpn=M5A97%20EVO&manufacture=ASUS

 

[Headspin_69]

So what would be the main difference between the 45 and the 46?

Nothing Tangible that I can see however they seem to have taken away the Red CPU Overclock on board Switch on the G46 and upped the price $10 but for all intents and purposes it is the same board and it is a good one at that plus it does Crossfire to boot.

 

[kalydo]

Best answer selected by Kalydo.

 

[kalydo]

One final question, all my parts are compatible correct? I'm not set on the motherboard yet but I'm choosing between the Asrock mobo and the MSI mobo.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 3.2GHZ AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Box

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

HIS IceQ X Turbo H685QNT1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

Edit; Decided I'd take the ASRock M3A770DE
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

 

[That_Guy88]

Congrats on your rig! That mono will suit you well!

 

[Headspin_69]

One final question, all my parts are compatible correct? I'm not set on the motherboard yet but I'm choosing between the Asrock mobo and the MSI mobo.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 3.2GHZ AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Box

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

HIS IceQ X Turbo H685QNT1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

Edit; Decided I'd take the ASRock M3A770DE
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

Great build that is the best performance smartest economy build ever it will all work great together and play any game with maxed IQ and that 6850 Cyclone is like Rocky Balboa the under dawg misunderstood that could run with the big dawgs. Peace enjoy the build. PS make sure you overclock the tits off that 6850 Cyclone Card it was designed for it and that's how it likes to run 1ghz+ on the core.