New gaming rig, 800 $(roughly)

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wuggi

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May 18, 2009
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Hi there :)

I'm about to purchase a new gaming rig and while I've been able to find some of the parts I'm still lacking others and could in general use some advice on the whole rig. Details should be explained below :)


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next few weeks.

BUDGET RANGE: Very uncertain about this because I live in Denmark and not only do we have a different currency, prices on computer parts are also a tad higher over here. I'd estimate my budget to be around 800 $.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, mousepad, speakers, monitor, OS.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Again the whole Denmark thing makes this a bit tricky as I shop from this Danish site, www.shg.dk, and I doubt that you'll understand much of it, though the technical mumbo jumbo of course is quite universal. I'll provide Newegg links for the parts I've considered.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Nothing in particualar.

OVERCLOCKING: Depends on how difficult and risky it is as I have no experience with it.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Planning on Crossfire.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Not certain and I also intend to purchase a new monitor later when I get the money to do so.


A list of parts that I've considered.

Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD

CPU

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor

Hard drive

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

RAM

I was looking at some DDR2 1066 ram but I must admit that the different brands, fan or no fan, 4x1/2x2 things got me pretty confused.

Video Card

At first I considered a pair of ATI 4770's as recommended by this very site but realized the short supply dried out very quickly. My choice is now to go with these Asus thingies as they are the only available 4770's or get some single radeon card, and then add an additional card later in Crossfire when I get the money for it.

Case

No idea.

PSU

No idea.

Drive

No idea.


Any feedback is greatly appreciated :)
 
Thanks for the replies so far :)

Regarding the PSU, apart from brands what kind of power do I need ?

And regarding the video card(s) are the asus 4770 cards worth investing in, compared to "standard" (in lack of a more fitting word) 4770 cards? And if not, what are the best single radeon cards available in the same price range as two 4770's?
 
Don't buy a cheap PSU. Worth a laugh every time I watch it (and hear the "what an idiot" music): http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=622747
Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, and Enermax are all decent; some FSP and OCZ also. Look for one that has Active PFC (won't have a little red voltage switch), and is 80+ certified. You should be able to Crossfire a pair of HD4770s with 500W-550W. For a pair of HD4850s, 600W-650W would be better. There is a PSU sizing calculator at http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp.
DDR2-800 using 1.8V is the JEDEC standard. AMD CPUs can take advantage of DDR2-1066, but this almost invariably means more voltage. Higher voltage will mean more power (W=E*I), which means more heat. Personally I like Mushkin RAM, and have also had good results with A-Data and G.Skill, but that's been all DDR2-800.
You might consider a single HD4870 (requires a 500W PSU), and see if you even need another one later, perhaps when you get a new monitor.
 
Your budget doesn't have a lot in it for a case, which is ok. The Antec 300 is very nice for the price. If you need to go cheaper, I recommend Rosewill over Coolermaster due to quality issues, but I don't know if it is available there because I think it's Newegg's house brand.
 
Thanks for the fix jtt. The bfg is 69.99$ after MIR, my pricing seemed a little confusing after reading. The corsairs can be purchased for about 20$ and 30$ more respectively.
 
Thanks for all the input :)

I've settled on a 750 W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair%20750%20tx

This should give me some room to upgrade and support two 4870's (I've decided on a single 4870 at the moment and plan on buying one later when the need arises).
My question is whether it's overkill ? or is potentially harmful for my system ? Might be a very stupid question but I wouldn't like risking my entire system and I don't know anything about PSU requirements.

Furthermore it seems my budget can be stretched a little more which I've considered using on a phenom II x4 940 (AM2plus, black edition). Would that be able to run on my motherboard mentioned in my first post?
 
That board is rated for am2/am2+/am3 sockets. So you're good if u decide on the upgrade. But remember, with few multithreaded games (that being the only/most important use) available, adding another core won't really be much of a benefit. In a few years when applications are specifically written for more cores, you'll likely be upgrading again anyway. The x3 720 seems to be the choice for your price range and uses and is a sweet overclocker with an unlocked multiplier.
 


Exellent point. Would the money be better spent on a cooler or something else? otherwise I'll just save it for monitor and other stuff :)
 
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