First build, will this rig play mostly ultra on 1600x900?

[miyelsh]

I have been doing some shopping on Newegg and I want to make sure that all these components will work together and not have problems and can play games at high settings.

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case: $39.99/29.99 MIB

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard: $92.99

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity: $149.99/134.99 MIB

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply: $54.99

Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1600ELK: $49.99

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX: $129.99

LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS70 - OEM: $18.99

Total: $536.93 (not including mail in rebate or shipping)

Please give me any advise you would have on downgrading or upgrading or adding any hardware I should add such as extra fans. I most likely will buy another 6850 and crossfire it once I need to upgrade. I am not purchasing this until Christmas most likely and the hard drive is not listed because the prices have inflated for them because of some flood in Taiwan or something.

 

[inzone]

What games are you looking to play at ultra or high settings ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-8.html

If BF3 is one of those games and you are satisfied with your fps being in the 40's then you are on the right track , the review that I posted was in Tomshardware last week. It will give you a feel for what it takes to run this game.

 

[buzznut]

Looks good the number one glaring thing is the Raidmax power supply. Cutting corners on your power supply is a horrible idea, especially if you are talking about gaming loads. You can cut corners elsewhere but do yourself a favor and get a quality PSU.

If you want to crossfire down the road, get a better power supply. The high current gamer from Antec is a good deal right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048

Also look at corsair units in the 600W range and the Antec Earthwatts 650.

You can save ten bucks on the X4 955. Should clock just as well as the 965.
Just want to make sure you know the Phenom II CPUs are limited to DDR3 1333 speeds, they can overclock to DDR3 1600 but the mobo will default to 1333.

Also in your shoes I would go ahead and get a AM3+ mobo. You may not want to upgrade to BD right now, but newer steppings could and should bring performance up in 2012. Anyway there's no upgrade path for AM3.

 

[cutebeans]

Bad choice. You are getting the old parts. Get the newer ones and for more or less the same price.

Get this Asrock 970 AM3+ Motherboard ( Upgrade path) $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

Get the new FX-4100 3.6GHZ $130 (same price with the phenom but newer CPU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

Never get that PSU. It's junk. Get this Corsair 500w. $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

[inzone]

From the looks of your build it would seem that you have a low budget and since you didn't post your actual budget amount makes it hard for recomendations. I could give you a couple of ideas but they might cost you. First you mentioned that you may go with a crossfire setup , and if you do I think you should have a larger wattage psu , a 750w would do and you would be sure that you would have enough power to do what you want. Second you should do the crossfire now in order to get higher frame rates at higher resolutions and settings.
So a larger psu and another 6850 , is that within your budget. If you only want to go with one video card then can you up it to a 6970 ? You should do the psu upgrade anyway to be safe.

 

[AbdullahG]

Bad choice. You are getting the old parts. Get the newer ones and for more or less the same price.

Get this Asrock 970 AM3+ Motherboard ( Upgrade path) $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

Get the new FX-4100 3.6GHZ $130 (same price with the phenom but newer CPU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

Never get that PSU. It's junk. Get this Corsair 500w. $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Not necessarily. The Phenom II X4's are great CPUs and can outperform a higher-end FX CPU quite easily with a simple OC. Doesn't matter if it's old. People are still using Q6600s, and they perform very well, even though they skipped out on the higher end i3s, i5s, and i7s. Plus, Piledriver is rumored to be on the FM2 socket from the known slides.

You will do fine with an X4 955 rather than an X$ 965. Just increase the multiplier slightly and that's it. You're at X4 965 speeds and for a lower price tag.

 

[miyelsh]

Looks good the number one glaring thing is the Raidmax power supply. Cutting corners on your power supply is a horrible idea, especially if you are talking about gaming loads. You can cut corners elsewhere but do yourself a favor and get a quality PSU.

If you want to crossfire down the road, get a better power supply. The high current gamer from Antec is a good deal right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048

Also look at corsair units in the 600W range and the Antec Earthwatts 650.

You can save ten bucks on the X4 955. Should clock just as well as the 965.
Just want to make sure you know the Phenom II CPUs are limited to DDR3 1333 speeds, they can overclock to DDR3 1600 but the mobo will default to 1333.

Also in your shoes I would go ahead and get a AM3+ mobo. You may not want to upgrade to BD right now, but newer steppings could and should bring performance up in 2012. Anyway there's no upgrade path for AM3.

I couldn't fiind any AM3+ on newegg. Could you give me a link to one maybe around $150?

EDIT: Nvm I found a few nice mobo's from some other posts

 

[miyelsh]

What games are you looking to play at ultra or high settings ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-8.html

If BF3 is one of those games and you are satisfied with your fps being in the 40's then you are on the right track , the review that I posted was in Tomshardware last week. It will give you a feel for what it takes to run this game.

On my laptop that I play on right now I played through all of Fallout 3 on 15 fps so I will be great at 40fps. Also I looked at that review before and for the money the 6850 seems like the best bet

 

[miyelsh]

Bad choice. You are getting the old parts. Get the newer ones and for more or less the same price.

Get this Asrock 970 AM3+ Motherboard ( Upgrade path) $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

Get the new FX-4100 3.6GHZ $130 (same price with the phenom but newer CPU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

Never get that PSU. It's junk. Get this Corsair 500w. $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

From the reviews I have seen on the 4100, it seems like people prefer the cpu i'm getting but i'll keep that in mind. And as for the psu I might as well go for a 750 watt corsair if I am going to crossfire but thanks.

 

[miyelsh]

From the looks of your build it would seem that you have a low budget and since you didn't post your actual budget amount makes it hard for recomendations. I could give you a couple of ideas but they might cost you. First you mentioned that you may go with a crossfire setup , and if you do I think you should have a larger wattage psu , a 750w would do and you would be sure that you would have enough power to do what you want. Second you should do the crossfire now in order to get higher frame rates at higher resolutions and settings.
So a larger psu and another 6850 , is that within your budget. If you only want to go with one video card then can you up it to a 6970 ? You should do the psu upgrade anyway to be safe.

Can you explain better why I should buy both 6850's now rather than later? If I want to reach my targeted budget I will have to wait a month or two before I can afford a second one.

 

[Wisecracker]

Whatever memory you choose make sure it is on the mobo vendor QVL list. Be sure to snag an AM3+. You don't really need 2x4GB -- 2x2GB should be fine and you may purchase a CM Hyper 212 Plus with the difference.

(Nice AM3+ mobo) + (CM Hyper 212 Plus) + (PhII 965BE/FX4100) = OC Fun!

 

[miyelsh]

Thank you for all of yOur suggestions everybody. I will keep this thread up but I because of you I have a much better idea on what I need to improve on.