Good build? Settled on this for my $1,000 gaming rig

muckle

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So it's my first new desktop in 7 years and I've had to relearn like everything...

First I was goin for an HP because I have the hookup with an employee discount... then I learned I can do better custom anyway. I <3 Newegg. Anyway first I was throwing together random parts and pairings for a gaming build then it recommended what I think is a great combo for my price range ($1,000).

combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.475889

$697.99

breakdown:

Case: Thermaltake V9 Black Edition ATX Computer Gaming Chassis with Dual Oversized 230mm Ultra-Silent Cooling Fans (Model: VJ400G1N2Z)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133074

Mobo: ASUS LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard (Model: P7H57D-V EVO)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131624

Proc: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor (Model: BX80605I5760)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067

Power: OCZ StealthXstream II 700W ATX12V v2.2/ EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply (Model: OCZ700SXS2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341040

Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (Model: F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (Model: WD1002FAEX)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533


And the graphics card. Great card for the price from what I understand, and I always have the option of doubling it up with crossfire

XFX HD-585X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150494

$279.99


So the total for all of the above comes out to $977.98

I think it's pretty solid for my budget, and I should be able to extend its life with more ram, crossfire, etc.

So what do you think? Best build for the $? Suggestions?
 

lowriderflow

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Well id' save some money by goign with the samsung spinpoint f3... they're 20 to 30 cheaper and perform just as well, if not better in alot of tests. Google some benchmarks

As far as video, I'd highly reccomend the MSI cyclone 1gb GTX460. it runs super cool and quiet, even when highly overclocked. At 230, when overclocked it will outperform the 5850, unless you need hte eyefinity setup.
 

wielander

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It sounds like you already bought this so I won't look for specific deals. You could have saved some more money by using multiple combos and cherry-picking the best deals, though. The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB for $60, an i5-750 instead of the 760, a less expensive motherboard (although the one you got is quite capable).

The only component that I don't like is the power supply. I've specifically heard bad things about it; it's good you aren't going to be using it at anywhere near 700W. It also has only 2 PCI-E connectors. Even though it's rated for enough power to easily run two HD 5850s in Crossfire, you would have to use a couple 4-pin molex to PCI-E connector adapters to do it (not recommended).
 
I think you are making unnecessary sacrifices. The board will sacrifice PCI-E bandwidth if you use the SATA 6GB/S or USB 3. I do like the GPU... but I think you would do better with a different version. That one is trimmed down to get to that price.


You can get more motherboard by using AMD, and you will not miss the sacrifice to CPU power.

Athlon II X3 445 and 4GB DDR3 1600 CL8 $171
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.488364

Asus 890GX board and DVD writer $152
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.496439
Crossfire, SATA 6GB/s, USB 3, overclocking and core unlocking.

750GB Caviar Black $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

XFX 750W $110 after promo code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003
You need the power for crossfire, and this is one of the best you can buy.

CM 690 II case $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216
(you may want to grab the combo with this for the OS?)

Scythe CPU cooler $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

Gigabyte 5850 $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125318&cm_re=5850-_-14-125-318-_-Product
Better cooled and faster.


That's a much better build, and leaves you a little room for that OS, if you need one.
 

muckle

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Aug 25, 2010
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Haven't bought anything yet, in fact it'll prob be a week or two. Just doin my research... So that power supply really presents a problem, huh? That's pretty lame, it screws up the combo deal. The problem arises when I'd try and do crossfire, you say? More details/suggestions are welcome, I'm not married to this build.
 

wielander

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Here's an my best shot if you want an Intel i5-7XX / HD 5850 build.


It looks like that Gigabyte HD 5850 that Proximon recommended just went on sale. It's even cheaper than the one in your initial build. Here is a combo with 4 GB of DDR3 1600 Memory for $319 after a $10 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.493443


Add the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard drive for $60.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product


Sony 24X SATA DVD Burner w/Lightscribe for $20.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118040&cm_re=sata_dvd_burner_24x-_-27-118-040-_-Product


Really Nice Antec 900 case and a 750W Antec Earthwatts modular power supply (this one is much better) for $152 after a rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.480354


Combo with an i5-760 (its the same price comboed as the i5-750) and a highly repped ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard for $360.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492249


Total is $911 (including shipping and rebates).
 

muckle

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Well Proximon and Wielander both present very nice builds and the prices are close.

What it really boils down to for me then is which is better for gaming - which is better for overall use? It's really the intel i5 760 build vs. that athlon II X3 445 - other than that the GPUs are the same... mobo's are a little different... does either show any advantages?
 

inane_asylum

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This is something I've never quite understood...how is the Intel 2.8ghz processor faster than the AMD 3.1ghz?
 

coldsleep

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It's probably more accurate to say that the i5-750 is a more powerful processor than the Athlon II X3.

The i5-750's stock clock speed is slower than the Athlon's. However, the i5 has the option of stepping up its clock speed with Intel's Turbo Boost technology, which can speed the processor up to 3.2 GHz.

Really though, the i5 has an additional core, and it is more modern technology, which results in more power overall, whether or not the actual clock speed is faster.
 

inane_asylum

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Thanks. That makes sense. I'd just been seeing here and there "The core iWhatever is faster than the AMD whatever" with slower clock speeds...
 
Yes, but you need to understand that for gaming the processor doesn't need to be too strong.
I can't argue against an i5 quad in the build as it gives the computer more longevity before the processor has to be replaced, but I will point out some differences in the two builds as they stand. Prices are better now and you could do better than my build certainly.

-The Antec EA750 has some issues and is strictly a budget PSU in my mind. I have ranked it as a 3 in the PSU guide for the reasons stated. The XFX I used is a rank 1, best you can buy at that power range... it also delivers more 12V amps and is more efficient so will save on the power bill.

-If you eventually used SATA 6GB/S with that Intel board, or USB 3, the PCI-E bandwidth would be impacted and crossfire performance would suffer. This is a core difference between Intel and AMD platforms right now.

It's early in the month and you might get better deals in a few days... newegg tends to reset at the first of the month and new deals appear slowly the first week.

If someone had said to me two months ago, "AM3 is going to be a longer-lived platform than LGA 1156" I would have argued the point. Now I'm more in agreement with that statement.

If I were to re-work the build I would likely try to include a Phenom X4 965 in a few days and stick with the AMD platform, but the others can and will argue for Intel as the processor itself is still the stronger one.
 

inane_asylum

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Yeah, that argument will never die...it seems so many people claim Intel's CPUs are better just because they're Intel...

I just built a rig with the Phenom II X4 955 BE, and I couldn't be happier with it.
 

coldsleep

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Completely agree with this. I actually built a fairly high-end AMD gaming system for myself a few months back because a) I don't need hyperthreading, and b) I was hoping that Bulldozer would work on a straight-up AM3 mobo. It seems that b isn't going to be the case, but it's still unlikely that I'll actually need to upgrade my CPU any time soon.

For slightly less than an i5-750/760 system, you can get an AMD Phenom II X4 system that will perform approximately the same in (most) games. Granted, you're more likely to look at ATI-centric GPUs in that case, but you still get very good performance at most sane resolutions. If you want to pay a little more than a basic i5 build, you can get an AMD build that has more features than 1156, on par with 1366 (but for less money).

Of course, in other applications, the Intel CPUs tend to do better, but for just a pure gaming build, I don't see an overwhelming need to go with Intel.
 

inane_asylum

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That's what I've gathered...for things like 3d rendering and CAD, Intel is boss, but for gaming, there's no real disadvantage with going AMD.
 
.... but then there is the very powerful GTX 260 1GB in SLI.... Which you want an Intel board in order to use.

That's where I'm drawing the line currently. If you have $500 to spend on GPUs, then it makes a ton of sense to use a P55 board with two GTX 260s. (Although you will never want to use SATA 3 or USB 3) Anything less and I'm favoring AMD builds right now.

The AMD platform does have an SLI chipset, the Nvidia 980a. It still has the heat problems the 780a had and from what I've read is the same chipset with a new name.
 

muckle

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This is all a lot of info to process! The more I get tho the more informed my purchase shall be however.

I'm leaning toward AMD proc and board for the price and gaming ability. As far as the graphics card... I'm leaning toward a fairly powerful card to start (5850 most likely) and then adding another later for crossfire.

So I'm open to suggestions for a good AMD build with the 5850 on a good mobo that allow for upgrades, 4gb of ram, also I do need the OS included. Combos FTW. I will point out that I'm not as familiar with AMD procs so please explain your suggestions.
 

inane_asylum

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1gb Spinpoint/Thermaltake case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492986

ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA/ASUS DVD-ROM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.496783

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)/CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492823

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz/XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.494114

Win7 OEM for System Builders: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116752

Total before shipping: $1044.91

The only thing I'm not sure about is the ASUS DVD-ROM, but it got good ratings and came with the combo...
 

muckle

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this is also on my amd build but i'm still open to comparison with intel

i know i want to do crossfire in the future and prob start out with a ati 5850.

Now I probably won't buy for 2 or 3 weeks, but I'm trying to get an idea of my design.

CPU/MOBO combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.480252

this seems sufficient for me - the MOBO looks good and upgradable. I could get an X4 635 2.9x4 for 99 and save a little money even. depends on the performance hit.

RAM/GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.493443

from what i understand this is a good version of the card. I intend to add another later.

CASE/OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] 11-119-216

i heard this is a good case!

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817207003

dont know much about power supplies but this was recommended.

Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185142

i guess this is worth adding.

this build comes out to 996.92 before shipping. please let me know what you think.