Best gaming/overall build for $600 to $700 - Done, need feedback

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nsoldiac

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I've been researching my first build for a few months now and after several sample builds I think I'm close to my final version. I'd like some feedback on the following:

1. Parts selection -> Did I choose a decent combination of parts for my price range (600 to 700) or could I have done better?
2. Compatibility of all parts in build
3. Could I get somewhat similar performance in the $500-$600 range?
4. Bang for the buck -> Is my overall cost good for the expected quality/performance of the build?

*UPDATE* As of today (11/17/2010) the overall price of the build in my newegg.com shopping cart is $673.89 (that includes $97 instant savings + $74 in Combo discounts) and $30 in mail-in-rebates which I wont get back for at least 3 weeks I guess.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within 2 weeks
Budget Range: $600 to $700 after rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: General use, gaming, surfing the internet, amateur Java/PHP/SQL programming
Parts Not Required: RW-DVD drives, Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, external HD
Preferred Website(s) for Parts (from most to leat preferred): newegg.com, microcenter.com, ebay.com, overstock.com, amazon.com
Country of Origin: Maryland, US
Parts Preferences: Solid state drive, AMD CPU & ATI Radeon HD GPU (I've noticed AMD+ATI result in comparable performace for less cost...care to comment?), and a Mid-size ATX case
Overclocking: If someone makes a good case for it, yes. (eg. get a cheaper chipset, and with some simple OC will get better performance for less $$$ :) )
SLI or Crossfire: Not now, but I want the capability to Crossfire in the future (eg. dual card slots)
Monitor Resolution: Should run smoothly in a 24" monitor...not sure what's the propper resolution cuz I haven't bought it yet :??:
Additional Comments: After performance the priorities are cool & QUIET (I wanna be able to set it in my bedroom and leaving it on all night if need-be without having it sound like there's a buffalo-in-heat hanging out in my room) ... and no blinking/glowing/shining parts or fans please.

I hope all my research helps others starting a build with a similar criteria. I dind't just put this toghether, I did a lot of research mostly on the pricing and quality and feedback. It's my first build so I can't say the same for the more technical compatibility matters I might be missing. Here's the fruit of my newegg.com hunting/research so far:

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
Mother Board: (combo deal with Memory) ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
Graphics Card: (combo deal with power supply) XFX HD-583X-ZAFV Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity
Memory: (combo deal with Mother Board) A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333G (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1333GB2G8-2G
Hard Drive: A-DATA S596 Turbo AS596TB-64GM-C 2.5" 64GB USB 2.0 & SATAII Internal / External Solid State Drive (SSD)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: (combo deal with Graphics Card) XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power

OVERALL PRICE OF BUILD: $673.89 - $30 Mail in Rebates + $4.84 Shipping = $648.73
 
Solution
Wow you guys really hijacked this guy's thread.

Stay with the SSD, use the HDD as your storage drive, it's totally worth it. For games, you will have almost no load time between levels which is great for games.

If you can get a better deal on the 925 and are comfortable with OCing, then definitely do that to save money. The only problem is because of the binning process, buying the 965 means that you will likely get a more stable chip, which would allow you to push your speeds even higher when you try to OC. But 3.2ghz is certainly attainable with the 925. My other machine has a Phenom 2 x4 920, and I have it running at 3.33 with just a simple FSB increase. I don't think the 925 has an unlocked multiplier, but I could be wrong...

vindictive

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Step 1. Get the 955 BE. all you do is raise the multiplier +1 and your at 965 speeds. mono + cpu combo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543365 - $235

New Ram: Mushkin enhanced blackline 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 Cas 8 - $70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226101&cm_re=muskin_enhanced_blackline-_-20-226-101-_-Product

Idk how much you want this SSD, but for this budget I highly recommend dropping it and upgrading to a radeon 6850.
GPU: XFX Radeon 6850 - $200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150505&cm_re=radeon_6850-_-14-150-505-_-Product

Same PSU: -$90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007&cm_re=xfx_650w-_-17-207-007-_-Product

Same Case: -$60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

HD: Samsung spinpoint f3 500gb - $55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-181-_-Product

total= $710
this gpu will make gaming MUCH MUCH better.
 

nsoldiac

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Thanks for the quick reply. I'll only be doing moderate gaming, some Civ5 and Startcraft2 sporadically. Upgrading from my current shamefull graphics to the ATI 5830 will still blow my mind...so going one step higher to the 6850 might just make my head explode lol. And I think that for the everyday stuff I'lll get more out of the SSD performance than the nicer GPU....Yes? No?

Good suggestion on the AMD 955 BE CPU strategy, I might just do that and save some bucks. After raising the multiplier to boost performance can I leave like that always and it'll be stable always? Should I be looking at a better heatsink too?
 

vindictive

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SSD just make things seem "snappier" they aren't essential. I'm doing a $1550 build at the end of December and I dropped a SSD to get the gtx 580. The main difference is:
Boot Time takes about 15-30 seconds with SSD.
and loadtimes on games are reduced to almost nothing.
Apps with open faster.

But you also have to take in account that SSD are very expensive per GB and with a 60GB or whatever you can put the OS, a few apps or game at most.

If you choose to get a SSD I don't know much about a-data, but I'd recommend the OCZ agilty 2 or OCZ vertex 2.
 

nsoldiac

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I already have additional HD's that I'll port over from my current machine so I already have storage space, I'm looking at better performance rather than cheap extra space. I know they'll drop in price a lot over time, but I'm putting the build toghether this month so can't wait for that.

Can anyone comment on the stock AMD heatsink? is it worth upgrading it to keep things cooler and hopefully quieter?
 
Although Mushkin RAM is one of the best, I've also bought A-Data and had no trouble with it. G.Skill is another good choice.
The HD5830 is the wrong card now. It sucks down too much juice, generates too much heat, and makes too much noise (except at idle, like any card) for its price. Because you want the possibility of Crossfire, a HD6850 is probably at least as strong as you need, but even a HD5770 may be viable, especially if you are willing to play without AA and/or not have every possible setting maxed. For the games you list, this lesser card should do well for you.
Your PSU is stronger than you need right now, but is suitable for Crossfire later.
I like SSDs. Having even a hog of an app like MS Word 2007 open in 2 seconds is great. With only 15-20 minutes to check email and some deal sites in the morning before work, 20-30 seconds to get into Windows is also worthwhile. I would suggest 80GB minimum to be able to fit more apps and games on it. Even the Sandforce 128GB drives have appeared at $200 or less on deals. If you wait until Black Friday, a similar deal will almost certainly be available.
If you need one or more storage drives, I would suggest getting nothing bigger than 1TB, as the larger drives are apparently still experiencing higher than "usual" failure rates.

Edit: NVM about storage, I see. I just used a CM Hyper 212+ and it is nice and quiet, and works well. I have read that the AMD heat sinks, while possessing adequate cooling capacity even for mild overclocks, can be somewhat loud.


 

nsoldiac

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Thanks jtt283 for the support on the SSD.
I thought long and hard about HD5770 vs HD5830 and went for the 5830 for 2 reasons:
1. 256-bit in the 5830 vs only 128-bit in the 5770 (I don't have much experience on this but I read somewhere that this can make a big difference :S)
2. 5830 benchmarks an average 15% over the 5770 for only $35 more (to see tomsharware's numbers to proove CLICK HERE)

I'm hearing good things about the 6850 here, can't deny it's a better card. Here's the problem: even though it's only $200 in newegg, the 5830 after rebates is $150 AND gives me a massive $45 combo discount on the power supply. Throw in the free shipping and then the 6830 comes out exactly $100 bucks more expensive for me! Here's the question, given the fact that I really wanna stay under $700, is the 6830 it worth it? Is the 5830 really that bad?

On the other hand, there's a combo for the CM Hyper 212+ with my CPU in newegg so I get a $10 discount on it...so only $20 for the thing, its a steal!
 

nsoldiac

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nsoldiac

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True true... the problem is that I'll be our of the country for a week during thanksgiving/black friday so I can only check deals online (still ok) but sometimes my credit card doesn't let me buy stuff online when I'm out of the country. And to makes matters worse some of my combo deals expire on 11/30! So I rather make the buy before I go for my trip...that's on Nov 24th :S
 

nsoldiac

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I thought long and hard about HD5770 vs HD5830 and went for the 5830 for 2 reasons:
1. 256-bit in the 5830 vs only 128-bit in the 5770 (I don't have much experience on this but I read somewhere that this can make a big difference :S)
2. 5830 benchmarks an average 15% over the 5770 for only $35 more (to see tomsharware's numbers to proove CLICK HERE)

I'm hearing good things about the 6850 here, can't deny it's a better card. Here's the problem: even though it's only $200 in newegg, the 5830 after rebates is $150 AND gives me a massive $45 combo discount on the power supply. Throw in the free shipping and then the 6830 comes out exactly $100 bucks more expensive for me! Here's the question, given the fact that I really wanna stay under $700, is the 6830 it worth it? Is the 5830 really that bad?
can someone comment on my post on the 5770 vs 5830 vs 6850?? I can use the feedback...
 
I suspect you'll face more buyer's remorse over getting the HD5830 than either of the others. If you are willing to forgo Crossfire, a 1GB GTX460 would be a good choice. It has 256bit memory and performance is similar to or slightly better than the HD5830. If your games can use it, it also offers PhysX, which the AMD cards do not.
 

mattimeo005

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I think for your purposes, the 5830 will be just fine. And at that price point, it is still an excellent value, since you can always crossfire if you want to upgrade your graphics performance even more.

As far as the AData SSD S596 Turbo, I just installed one into my comp last night, and I've noticed much quicker response when opening programs and such, though I was disappointed with the supposedly quicker boot times, as I didn't notice it booting up much faster. All in all, I think its a very good SSD and its right in the middle of the pack as far as price/performance is concerned for currently available SSDs. You will definitely need an additional HDD though, as after installing win7, there is only about 30GB free for other stuff (64GB version = 59.6GB storage).

Overall, looks like you did your research well and the build looks very solid. Though I would have to vote for going with a different RAM than the A-Data RAM, as I've read some poor reviews on A-Data in general (though I took the leap of faith with the SSD...) If you can, I would try to find a more reputable RAM manufacturer to go into your mobo+ram combo.
 

chumly

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You shouldn't be only using an SSD for everything. There is a bug on the drives that causes cells in it not to be erased when they are used for random access and after time it degrades the performance of the drive (as far as my understanding goes, maybe someone here can better explain it to you). I suggest instead, you use 2 samsung spinpoint f3's. You get 270.4 MB/s avg. R/W (faster than the SSD). You can also get them for 56.99 each at superbiiz. (and a -$5 promo code). The site accepts paypal, so your purchase is covered by them, they shipped my last purchase out to hawaii VERY fast.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-HD103SJ&title=Samsung-SpinPoint-F3-HD103SJ-1TB-SATA2-7200rpm-32MB-Hard-Drive

Use this combo for your ram and CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.556111

I would go with a 6850 for my GPU. Superbiiz has one the cheapest, I believe.
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=GA-6850_1G&title=GIGABYTE-ATI-Radeon-HD6850-1GB-DDR5-2DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-Video-Card

I would pick a 550W corsair for my PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=corsair%20550w

Also, there is a deal with an MSI 890 mATX board for like $100 after MIR. It has MUCH better features than the board you picked. If you don't mind the small form factor. It also allows for 8x/8x CFX.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130269&cm_re=MSI_890-_-13-130-269-_-Product

If you like and choose to go with the small form factor MB, get the mini antec P180 for $50 right now. Look at the review/demonstration of that case on youtube, it is amazing.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129044&cm_re=p180-_-11-129-044-_-Product

All parts after rebates are about $700 for an amazing computer. You're welcome.
 

vindictive

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Its not faster than a SSD, most of them are 285mb/s read. 240 write.
and the thing about the f3's is they have 8.9ms seek time, while SSD have 0.1ms seek time.
 

chumly

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285 is MAX not AVG on those SSDs. I was getting 331 MB/s max and 270.4 avg. The ONLY benefit of SSDs is no load time. Ok, your game loads up faster, your windows loads up faster, I'll concede to that.

You don't get an increase in FPS. And you have to spend another $80 for a drive to put all your files because they are crap for storage and random access. There's another $80 you spend. So now you're paying even more. I don't get what the positive side is yet... can someone explain it to me?
 

nsoldiac

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Faster loading times is a plus for non-avid gamers. For someone who uses their PC for email/docs and general use in Windows, it's a big plus. I'm a multitasker opening and closing programs all the time so I'll se a benefit, AND my main argument is that I already have storage space and other HDDs so I don't need to get an extra 1TB, regardless of how cheap it is. So for me the priority is quality over quantity, but for someone aiming at getting their only HD that they'll be working with, I agree they're probably be interesed in some cheap GBs per $$$.
 

nsoldiac

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I'm thinking of changing my CPU and MoBo for the following combo from newegg:
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD MoBo + AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W

It'll get me a $40 dolar combo discount plus rebates, saving me overall almost $100 compared to my previous setup! And from previous postings seems like if I get a decent cooler I could OC it to work stably like a 3.2+ Phenom x4. Right?
But I need feedback on the that new ASUS motherboard, would it be a good buy? It has decent reviews...
 

vindictive

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im no good with amd boards so i wont reply.
but you can also try to unlock the 4th core if you get a mobo that helps the process. \
and hyper 212 is a good cheap mild, not extreme, overclocking cooler.
 
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