omnionus

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I'm starting to put together a new build for gaming. I'm not a hardcore PC gamer, but I would like to be ready to run up-and-coming games like Portal II and Diablo III with all of the setting cranked up. I'd also like to futureproof a little (of course) so that I don't have to drop any more money for another 4-5 years.

Goal of this Build: Best AMD Budget Gaming Rig Possible for Mildly Graphic Intensive Games
Games Played: Portal (Portal 2), Diablo II (Diablo III), Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires II, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft
Budget: $1,000.00 (USD) - (Can adjust slightly for significant improvements)
Intended Purchase Date: Before Friday July 30, 2010. (This Week)
Location: USA
Preferred Site to Purchase from: newegg

Components Required:

-Case
-PSU/Power Supply
-Motherboard
-CPU/Processor
-Aftermarket CPU Cooler
-RAM/Memory
-GPU/Video Card
-Optical Drive (DVD+RW)
-O/S

Components Not Required:

-Peripherals (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers)
-HDD/Hard Drive

Possible Future Expansions:
-4GB RAM (Additional)
-SSD (6.0GBps SATA)

Components Currently Decided/Firm on:
-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz

Components Being Considered:
-Cooler Master Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP
-Corsair 650W - 80+ Bronze Modular Active
-G.Skill Ripjaws Series (2 x 2GB) DDR 1600
-Asus 24X CD/DVD+RW
-Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - OEM

Additional Information:
I am new to overclocking, but willing to try given my current budget for a gaming system. I know making a futureproofed gaming rig can be difficult at any budget, let alone mine, so in order to compensate for the lack of funds, I'm willing to try my hand at OC.

Also, while my budget says $1,000.00, I am not afraid to go a little over that if there will be some significant improvements. Obviously you can keep improving performance and price indefinitely, but what I mean is that if $1,100 (for example) will make a significant increase in performance in a component, or on multiple components, than I'm not going to nit-pick the last $100 away. I have more than enough cash laying around to build a really, REALLY nice system, but I also have a wedding I have to start paying for, and it's not going to be cheap. Not to mention I would one day like to live in a real house and not one made out of the boxes my PC components come in. ;-P

On a final note, I listed WoW as one of the games I play. I've actually quit playing for over a year now, but you just never know if I'll ever pick back up the habit. Not to mention Blizzard is working on a new MMORPG and I more than likely will end up playing that (a lot).

1st Request - Help Picking out a Chipset/Motherboard

I am currently trying to determine the best chipset for this build. I was initially considering the AMD 890FX, but I'm not sure if I need it. Obviously the newer chipsets are going to make for more expensive motherboards. I think I will be able to get away with the AMD 870 as it will still support upgrading to SSD with a 6.0GBs SATA connector. However, I don't want to skimp on the nervous system of the PC and create bottlenecks in the system. Obviously once I decide on a chipset I can then pick out a motherboard.

2nd Request - Help Picking out a GPU/Video Card

I've never kept up on video cards at all as I've only been in the PC gaming market for about 2-3 years now. The last (and only) video card I bought, and am still currently using, is an nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS and I didn't even pick it out. I let the guy at my local computer builder's store pick it out for me. I haven't had a single hiccup with it (well, I burned one out by letting the active cooling fan collect dust and lock up, but I can't blame the card for that, now can I?), so I've never felt the need to learn about them... until now of course.

3rd Request - Critique/Confirm/Comment/Suggest All Remaining Components
Pretty self-explanatory. It seems like there's at least 1,001 of every component out there nowadays. While being somewhat confined by compatible socket types, amount of slots, money, etc will obviously help narrow down the choices, it can still be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully sites like newegg allow you to sort by best/most rated, and people are decent at making full reviews, but even then there's a lot out there. If you know of or can find something better out there than what I was looking at, I would love to hear about it.

Before I actually buy anything I'll do my best to search for combo deals, incentives, and price shop around a little. If, somehow I can squeeze some extra savings from my originally intended budget I'd like to stick an SSD in there, so suggestions/recommendations on those are a plus too.

Final Request - Deleting a Forum Post
This one isn't really related to the rest of this post. You may have noticed that I made one other thread before this one. I had jumped the gun a little on making that as I was in a giant hurry to just buy something at that point (I have a hyperactive instant-gratification gland I guess). I got some good suggestions on those components, but after really considering what I might be getting myself in to, I decided to step back a bit, re-evaluate the situation, and start fresh. I jumped the gun on a lot of the parts from that build and... it really doesn't matter. I'm just curious if anyone knows how (or if I can) delete that post. If there isn't a way I guess I'll just mark it as solved.

Thanks!

EDIT: P.S. - I noticed all of my hyperlinks, with the exception of newegg, add "http://www.&.com/#034" (or similar, I didn't check them all) to the front of the actual URL. How do I fix this to make life easier for everyone?
 
$765AR removing that HDD since u have on hand ^^
Untitled-1145.jpg


Optional: 60GB Sandforce based SSD $156 free ship:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233124
 

omnionus

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I certainly appreciate the help here. However, I would have also liked to see some reasoning behind those picks. Had I intended to just go with someone's suggestion without question, I would have just gone to some website where they make example builds of all different budget systems. Come to think of it, they normally have a breakdown of why they picked what they did.

Not to minimize your efforts, because I truly do appreciate them. I was just hoping for a little bit more information so I don't feel like I'm buying a computer from blind faith.

Some questions I have:

1) Why did you go with the AMD 870 Chipset / MSI brand combination?

2) What were the determining factors for picking out that GPU?

3) Why did you swap the G.Skill RAM for Corsair? Why 9 Cas Latency on it rather than the G.Skill with 7? Why change the G.Skills 7-8-7-24-2N timing for 9-9-9-24? (honestly I'm not sure what the difference is as I'm not overly familiar with RAM timing... or Cas Latency really). It doesn't seem worth the $10 savings from what I can tell...

4) Why did you choose an XFX 650W PSU over the Corsair 650W? I'm honestly not too familiar with PSU's either (I see a trend here of me not knowing things here).

5) Was there a particular reason for swapping optical drives? In my experience you get the same ~2 years out of one before it dies - but then again, maybe that's why you're swapping it.

6) What is your reasoning behind swapping the case? Better cooling, better placement, better size?

7) Why did you swap the AMD 965 for a 955, especially when it was the only thing I was firm on? I know that I can save a couple bucks going with the 955, but I've heard the 965 overclocks better (I believe I read the review on this site actually).

As a side note I have a tendency to come off as a bit of a jackass. I assure you that if I am, it's not intended. I am genuinely curious, and genuinely appreciative of your time and efforts in helping me!
 
1. No CF, built with it with great results and great price ^^
2. For a config at your price point, a HD 5870 offers the best frames $$ can buy ^^
3. For the price of the combo with case alone very well worth it in my book ^^
4. XFX 650 modular is rated on par or higher than Corsair HX series
5. No reason
6. No CF/SLI Strom Sniper overpriced IMO and M59 good to go with a HD 5870
7. C3 955BE is just as good
8. Choices reflect desire to squeeze in a SSD in there w/o impact on performance
You are welcomed ^^
 

omnionus

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Ok. That was slightly better. I am guess what I'm really looking for here are actual reasons and explanations. It's all fine and dandy for you to say that "C3 955BE is just as good" (not sure what C3 is by the way), but that's still just leaves me going along blindly with your suggestions. I don't mean any offense, it's just that at the end of the day I have my money invested in my computer sitting on my desk, and if I'm not happy with it, I have only myself to blame.

The kind of things I was looking for (and I'm making this stuff up because if I knew I wouldn't be asking) is: "I chose the AMD 870 chipset over the others because the FSB is more than adequate for you processor ensuring you won't have any bottlenecks and it supports 6.0Gb/s SATA if you upgrade to an SSD later on. You won't see any difference with the newer chipsets in this build without upgrading, say, your processor, and by the time you upgrade the processor, you'll probably want a new motherboard anyways because in 4-5 years (the length you want this build to last you) upgrading to a Phenom X6 won't likely be the best option for your money. I chose an MSi brand board because they are well known for their stability and ease for OC". Or something like that.

This way I can walk away with some knowledge and not just "I think this one is good!". I'm trying to learn while I'm building. I picked up Scott Mueller's book "Upgrading and Repairing PC's - 19th Edition" to really get some good, in-depth knowledge on this stuff. As a matter of fact, his book is basically the reason I know anything about any spec. I came to the forums to help speed up the process of actually purchasing this stuff. It will take me a few solid months of study before I will feel confident enough to know I built a good machine without wasting money, or overlooking something stupid. Until then, I know enough to pick compatible parts, make sure they're in the ballpark of what I need/want for the price, and actually install them. I just need a few tips and pointers to speed up the buying process.

I do still appreciate your help because, if nothing else, your recommendation is equivalent to one more 5-egg review on newegg.
 
I think you have way too many assumptions and Google is your best fren ^^ Read up on :

1. C3 stepping and threads on OCing
2. Realise that in OC your mileage may vary and research after market cooling and/or the finer points of clocking One could get a golden chip one day and a lemon chip another time hehe
3. RAID with 2 x 3GB/s SSDs and single SATA 6GB/s SSD gains going from SATA 3GB/S ports to SATA 6GB/s on mobos
 

omnionus

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18,510


Case & PSU link is to a shopping cart...

Motherboard: You are not the first to recommend this motherboard. Can you tell me why you chose the AMD 870 chipset and MSi over the other choices?

Cooler: What makes this cooler better than the one in my list?

Wireless Card: Hadn't really considered this as they don't come up often in the build forums I've been on lately. I should have mentioned that I'm hardwired and already have a wireless card/router should the need for one come up. Good looking out though! :-D

DVD Drive: is LITE-ON a superior brand to Asus? That's the only difference I saw between the two...

Hard Drive: Again I have this component, but also it links to the lite-on drive again.

I appreciate the help!
 

omnionus

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I'm not sure what you mean by I have too many assumptions. I think you mean I that I'm asking too much and should just do the footwork myself. While I agree with you that I can't rely on everyone to just hand me everything on a silver plater, I don't see the harm in asking for information. I don't understand how anyone who is truly interested in learning how to build a computer (or advance their current knowledge) could benefit from recommendations without reasons. After all, would you go to a dealership and buy a car if the salesman just said: "I'd pick this one. It's shiny, a pretty color, and gets the best gas mileage for your budget!"? Granted, the people on these forums aren't salesman, but to me it doesn't make sense to take a recommendation without a reason. I might as well just sort by best/most rated on newegg and pick the first one that fits my budget for every component. As a matter of fact, if this was my first time building and I just relied on everyone's recommendations, I might end up at home with an Intel mobo and an AMD processor. In my opinion the whole point of asking for someone's advice is to find out why the chose what they did. On a final note, if people can't give me reasons why they chose the components they recommended, then how am I to determine if they are just some guy who likes to throw in his two cents, or someone who actually knows what they are talking about and that I can actually trust their opinions?

(If that's not what you meant then I apologize for the rant).

As for google, I use it all the time. ALL THE TIME. The problem with relying solely on google is that generally the information you find is too specific (in this case). I tried all sorts of terms like "best chipset for phenom II processor" and the best I usually come up with is a review on a single motherboard. More often than not I get reviews on Phenom II processors, and a crap load of links to places to buy them instead. On a forum I'm dealing with real people who can understand what I'm asking for rather than just assuming what I mean based on how many tags on a site match the words in my search.

Also, I do plan on looking up overclocking as I'm new to it. I wouldn't even be able to without looking it up. I do know that OC will add extra wear and tear to your components, and that it will generate extra heat. I don't want to OC (which is why I never have) for just that reason. However, I'm of the opinion that in order to get the most out of my budget when it comes to making a gaming PC, I either have to settle for less, or OC to try and get my frames up and my loading times down. I have also done some research on after market coolers (which is why I put one in this build), but again, I want to buy this system as soon as possible, and I just don't have the time to do all of the research on my own.

As for 3, I think what you are essentially saying is that "Raiding two 3Gb/s SATA SSD's = A single 6Gb/s SSD". If that's the case, then that is exactly the kind of information I came here for. It's not an opinion, it's fact. I don't have to wonder if you're making a statement based off of brand loyalty over actual performance, or be concerned down the line that I could have gotten something better, etc. I can easily look up that statement to confirm it, and if it's true, I can add it to my knowledge base and walk away with a better idea of how to actually build my system. I will be able to look around and try to figure out if it makes more sense for me to raid two drives, or buy a single one. I understand that not every component and every spec is going to be cut and dry like that one is, but nonetheless it's a good example of the kind of help I'm looking for.
 
"However, I'm of the opinion that in order to get the most out of my budget when it comes to making a gaming PC, I either have to settle for less, or OC to try and get my frames up"

Actually u OC if @ real world settings for your games your CPU is holding your GPU (none of that 800 x600 low settings crap)

Again : Google is your fren

"Raiding two 3Gb/s SATA SSD's = A single 6Gb/s SSD"
Nope both scenarios saturate SATA 3GB/s

Lastly you can
a. Trust people who have far more knowledge/experience than you
b. Wait to be spoon fed, whine about how troublesome/slow it is to get the relevant knowledge about hardware

I know i may sound like i am talking down to an idiotic child but your call really

 

omnionus

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Jul 24, 2010
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On the part about OC, that's why I said I still have to look up stuff on OC'ing. I've never done it before, I'm not familiar with it, and I don't care to if I don't have to. I used the phrase "of the opinion" to relay the fact that it's just my current opinion, yet to be backed up by fact. (I had that opinion from reading other posts from "people who have far more knowledge/experience" than me who said basically just that, btw).

I misread your raiding 2x 3GB/s vs having a single 6GB/s. I don't know what you mean by "both scenarios saturate SATA 3GB/s", but now I think you mean that you can get the same result by raiding two 3GB/s SATA as you would with a single 6GB/s SATA, without actually spending the money on a motherboard that supports 6GB/s SATA. This is something I will eventually look up as it will affect which motherboard/chipset I end up going with.

Lastly, how can I trust that someone IS actually far more knowledgeable/experienced than me if they don't give me a simple reason as to why they picked what they did?

If I were to tell you that you're better off using a .375" OD x .2500" ID bushing (Carr Lane P-24-X-.2500) when tracking a standard Tooling Ball (Carr Lane CL-1-SCB for example) does that mean I know what I'm talking about? For all you know a .406 OD x .2500 ID (Carr Lane P-26-X-.2500) would actually be superior. Hell, for all you know, Carr Lane doesn't use that callout standard for their press fit bushing (they do by the way). The point is, when someone starts dishing out a bunch of gibberish terms and recommendations, it's hard to just trust they know more than you. And go ahead and try to "google" exactly that scenario I proposed to you and see just how many reliable, hell relevant, results you come up with. Odds are you won't find a single link that helps you to determine the best bushing to use when tracking a tooling ball on a jig/fixture. And if you do just so happen to find something, it won't be very useful because the truth of it is, it is much more a question of the material that the bushing is going in to that affects your ability to track a tooling ball than the actual dimensions of the bushing itself.

The point I'm trying to convey is that when you're in a world with a whole bunch of new terms and ideas, it's hard to judge when someone is giving you accurate, reliable information. Especially when that world has so many different variables that it makes it difficult for even the most well informed individual to always make the best choices. Know if you were to come work at my shop with me (56-70 hours a week on average by the way, which doesn't give me a ton of time for "googling" things) and your livelihood depended on making the right choices, would you follow the first yahoo that happened to give you advice, or would you seek out someone who at least had the common decency to explain to you how to make the right choices, and why those choices were the right ones to begin with? This build may not exactly be my livelihood, but I am spending my hard earned money on it, and I don't exactly have the extra cash laying around to go buying new parts after finding out that someone else's suggestions weren't necessarily in my best interest.

Now when it's time to drill that critical hole in that million dollar Invar bond tool for the 747-8, do you:

a) trust the first guy who hands you a tool or
b) try to ask around to figure out the best methods, and maybe learn a thing or two so that next time you can do it without asking so many questions, wasting your time, and possibly losing your job for making the wrong choice?

I know I may sound like I just want everything handed to me like some idiotic child, but really I just want to learn something so I can do this by myself (or at least with less help) next time, and so that I don't waste my money this time. I can't drill the first hole in a timely fashion without asking for some help (and maybe even a handout or two), but I'd be stupid not to at least try and learn something so that the next time I had to drill a hole, I might have a good idea on just how to do it without screwing it up.

Geez.
 

omnionus

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I was able to come up with this while taking some of the advice from here and locating some combo deals. I upped the PSU to 1000W because of the huge savings. I certainly don't need it, but it was the same price as buying the 650W PSU and Case separately. Unfortunately there was no combo deal for the PSU I wanted but, while I didn't save anything, I did a little future-proofing for free.

4825696287_26e8ae6393_b.jpg


Thoughts, advice, suggestions?

KWORLD Digital Media Player M101, RMVB support

This was also in my cart. Apparently it came with something in there as a freebie. I didn't bother to look at what it is yet, but maybe I can sell it?
 

DokkRokken

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I'm not too certain about the power supply, but that area is not my forte. That is a fantastic choice of board though. I own the 790FX variant; it has been rock solid, and is a great overclocker with plenty of tweaking options.

The Phenom 965 is a great chip. However, if you're handy, a 955 will likely overclock nearly as well. Both chips have what is called an 'unlocked multiplier' which allows for easy overclocking within the BIOS or on AMD's Overdrive. It's a matter of ticking up a number, and running a program like Prime95 for about 15 minutes to ensure stability. Naturally, overclocking voids the warranty on your chip, so if you wish to have the fastest out of the gate at stock speed, then stick with the 965.

In all honesty, your setup is very high end. I have a 955 system overclocked to 3.7GHz, with a pair of 4870's. They tear through everything that comes their way. Even with a 300MHz deficit, the Phenom 965, paired with a 5870 will make mincemeat of the programs you wish to run.

In regards to the 5870, make sure you register it with XFX as soon as you get it. XFX's lifetime warranty is excellent, and better yet, can be transferred to another person if you sell the card. It helps a bit in the resale department if you decide you want to upgrade.

You RAM selection is great. GSkill is a great brand. However, you'll need to tinker with the BIOS to get the timings and speed properly set. It's not a pressing matter, as the sticks will default to 'safe' speeds and timings, and everything should work properly. It's just something to do after you've been up and running. Here's a couple guides, with some info on the values to adjust, and what they do.

http://www.overclock.net/faqs/26706-info-ram-timings-dummies.html

http://forums.legitreviews.com/about1034.html

My only concern would be the power supply. Unfortunately, I'm not well versed in the nitty-gritty of single-rail vs multiple-rail's, 'ripple' and efficiency. However, this link, despite being from 2001, is entirely applicable today.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1042388.html

Brands that are highly recommended by many hardware sites are 'Corsair,' 'SeaSonic,' 'XFX,' and Thermaltake's 'Toughpower' series. I run a Corsair TX 750, and the build quality is excellent, but what sold me was the overall dependability of the power supply, and its 5 year warranty. It has one single, 12V rail, so you can run all the toys in your PC knowing they wont be starved of power. I've recommended this PSU to quite a few friends, and each has come away happy.

Nice case! I believe it has dust filters in front of all the fans and openings, which is a huge plus.

Is there a reason for using Win7 Professional? Home Edition is perfectly good for a gaming build, and may be cheaper.

I hope this has helped you out some!
 

omnionus

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First off, great response! Very informative!

I have been concerned for awhile now that I may have been erring on the side of overkill with this build, and therefore spending more than I wanted to. However, after considering the fact that for a few extra dollars I can potentially make my computer last a little longer than I wanted (especially if I can wait until a few years before I feel the need to overclock). I may be spending a few hundred extra today, but if I can squeeze an extra year or two out of it before I have to upgrade again then I'm actually saving money.

For $20 extra, or "free" considering the combo deal with the video card, I like the slightly higher speeds of the 965. If this can give me even an extra few months before I want to OC, then it's more than worth it to me. However, since I don't honestly know much about OC I will look into whether or not that is even a viable thought to be considering. I think in the end, the extra $20 I could be saving (they also combo'd the 955 with this card) isn't a big deal either way.

Unfortunately PSU's are also an area where I don't have a lot of knowledge. This one received amazing reviews on newegg thoguh and also came as a "free" upgrade to me (the same price as if I had purchased the original 650W I was considering and the case separately rather than in a combo deal - no combo deal for the 650W was available) and I know that a 1000W system should be able to come along to my next build saving me even more money. I also like the fact that it's modular so I don't have to have a bunch of extra cords to try and tuck away.

The reason I went with Win7 Professional over Home Basic/Premium is the memory limitation. Home Basic is limited to 8GB and Home Premium 16. Originally I thought that this would be fine, but I read an article that said that RAM is not the only consideration on the memory limitation. It also includes other factors like the 1GB on the video card. This shouldn't be a problem at the moment even if I upgrade to 8 total GB of RAM later on (I won't know until I learn more and then determine if I'd benefit equally to the amount of money that would cost me).

There is the concern that the OEM version is meant for a single system, and after upgrading my motherboard down the line I will have to see if they will renew my license and allow it to move on to another board. I have read articles saying that you cannot do this, others saying that it is up to the Microsoft Rep you talk to, and yet others that say if you tell them your motherboard failed and you HAD to buy a new one that they are required to renew it. Personally I won't lie about something just to get something for free, but then again with this motherboard, there is a good chance I will only have to upgrade the processor on the first round and be able to squeeze an extra year or two out before I have to upgrade completely.

Originally I had believed that once I had to upgrade the processor, I would probably want to upgrade the motherboard anyways. However, I've been thinking and there's a possibility that going to the Phenom II X6 might be a worthwhile upgrade if multi-threaded games become more and more prevalent down the road and perhaps make good use out of more and more cores. I'm not sure if that's even a realistic statement to make, but at the end of the day I received the Professional version upgrade for "free" by bundling.

Before I make the actual purchase I will consider swapping over the PSU and Windows version based on what you are saying here. I like the future proofing of the PSU, and I like the huge memory limit of Win7 Pro, but given how unsure I am about the Pro version being of viable use to me in my next upgrade, I may very well switch over and save a few dollars.


Thank you very much! You've given me a higher degree of confidence in what I'm doing, and a few things to think about. :-D
 

CtrlAltDefeat

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You definitely do not need a 1000W PSU. For a single 5870 HD a good 650W PSU will more than suffice. Also, you're paying extra for the X4 965 (over the 955) on nothing essentially. All you need to do to turn a 955 into a 965 is go into the BIOS and change the multiplier (which you can do because it's a Black Edition CPU).
 

omnionus

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I got the the upgrade from a 650W to a 1000W PSU for FREE with the combo deal. It's overkill now, but may very well be useful/necessary on my next build. I may be able to save a few bucks (although I doubt it with the $50 rebate for this combo) I'd rather be able to keep the power supply for future builds to save money for those upgrades.

As for OC the 955, I'd rather just keep the 965. I'm not sure why everyone keeps making a fuss over the $20 difference. I put a lot of thought into which processor I want, and it's the only thing I said that I'm firm on. It's honestly worth it to me. Honestly.

Thanks for the input though! :-D
 

DokkRokken

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Glad to have been of some help. It's quite a challenge to weigh all the pros and cons that go with hardware decisions, but it seems you've done your homework; more than I did my first time, at least.

Personally, I would not worry about the 16GB limit. If you were using your PC as a workstation, running multiple VM's, then Professional would be the best option. However, for games, and general operation, that limit shouldn't concern you.

I understand your concern with the OEM stuff. However, some food for thought is that 'Windows 8' is already under development. So when the time comes to upgrade, the new OS may be compelling enough to purchase. But that's only something you can determine for yourself.

Frankly, I don't see you needing to upgrade the MSI 890 board for quite some time. The 790FX is a venerable chipset that has been doing duty since 2007, the only major revisions being the Southbridge. Unless AMD does debut a new chipset, I don't think you'll be needing to even consider an upgrade for at least three years. Heck, I'm aiming to keep mine for five. Even if AMD does go ahead with something new, they have a history of being very good to their customers, even keeping people with older 'AM2+' in the loop with their new CPU's.

Now, in regards to the Phenom X6, and multithreading, I would adopt a wait and see on that one. Currently, as you know, the sweet spot for games today is three cores. I believe that when the time comes for six-core systems to be of any value to gaming, way better CPU's will already be out. Additionally, AMD is working on their 'Bulldozer' architecture which 'should' be released next year, and that would put the good ol' K10 architecture out to pasture. Hopefully, it will be compatible with the AM3 socket.
 

omnionus

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I think you're right about the motherboard that I have on this build currently (MSI 890FXA-GD70 AMD AM3 890FX SATA 6GBs USB 3.0 ATX) being a bit overkill, but I've been drooling over it for too long to worry about the $100 difference at this point.

I did however decide to drop down the Win7 Home Premium saving me about $40 (which I'm just putting toward the more expensive mobo) as I don't think this build will ever go above 16gig of memory. Even if I decide to upgrade to 8GB of RAM I can't see ever passing up 16GB with the whole system. Not to mention, as you said, that Win7 may very well be outdated by the time I need to upgrade again.

So, either tonight or tomorrow after work I'll be ordering this system. Hopefully it will arrive on Wednesday/Thursday and I can start building either immediately or at least by Friday night. I'm not sure if I want my work schedule to be less this week so I can start the build early, or if I want a lot of hours so that I can make a little more money to compensate for this. I guess it doesn't matter as it's out of my control.

Thank you everyone for all of the help. There's still probably a couple of hours (up to 24) before I actually buy anything, so if there are any last minute suggestions/concerns/recommendations there's still time.
 

omnionus

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Jul 24, 2010
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Well, I couldn't wait any longer. I finally placed the order! With 1-2 days for processing and 3 day shipping I hope to have everything by Friday! As always it's nerve racking to place an order that size ($1,600 total, although that includes 2 builds as I'm also upgrading a system for my brother), but I'll get over it.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and support!