New PC for gaming

[Syl4r]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and i'd like to have some opinions on a new pc i'm gonna buy!

This is the configuration i've got so far:


CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W Thuban Boxed

RAM DDR3 Kingston Valueram KVR1333D3N9/2G 1333Mhz 2GB CL9 x2

Motherboard Asus M4A77T Socket AM3 DDR3 SATA2 USB2.0 ATX

VGA Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Core 800MHz Memory GDDR5 4800MHz 1GB HDMI DVI

Arctic Cooling F12 PWM 120mm fan

Case Midi Cooler Master Elite 370 Gaming black with 520W PSU

HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200rpm 16MB SATA2


I'd like to know what do you think about this configuration!

sorry if i didn't write the prices, but i'm Italian, so the prices are in euros...
And sorry if my english is not too good
Thanks!!

 

[jmsellars1]

That would probably run most games on ultra high (<1920x1200), maybe new games and stuff like Crysis you might have to turn a bit of AA down. I think we can improve on this however.

Firstly, it seems there is not much reason to go with AMD for this type of gaming build these days. Even the first generation of i5 processors ie. i5-760 would outperform that Phenom in games, we are now in the second generation.

Depending on the sort of games you play and whether you want to overclock or not, i can recommend either an i3-2100, i5-2400 or i5-2500k.

If you play more CPU dependant games like Battlefield or Starcraft and other RTS games then i would go for an i5 (i5-2400 if not overclocking and i5-2500k if you are.)

If you play more GPU dependant games like, well pretty much all other games then i would go for the i3.

If you decide to go for the i3 then you should have saved some money and should be able to get a better GPU, i would aim for a GTX 560 or HD 6870. If the budget won't stretch there even after getting the i3, i would aim for GTX 460 1GB or HD 6850 1GB (still better than the HD 6770)

Obviously if you go an i3-2100 or i5-2400 you are going to need an Intel motherboard. At this budget i would just go for the cheapest H61 board that suits your needs. If you want to overclock i would go for a low end P67 board.

I would then ditch the extra fan in favour of some better RAM like Corsair XMS3 or G.Skill Ripjaws, try to get 1.5v. Don't worry about losing that fan, that case will easily handle these parts at stock clocks.

 

[michxymi]

What's your budget?

 

[Syl4r]

That would probably run most games on ultra high (<1920x1200), maybe new games and stuff like Crysis you might have to turn a bit of AA down. I think we can improve on this however.

Firstly, it seems there is not much reason to go with AMD for this type of gaming build these days. Even the first generation of i5 processors ie. i5-760 would outperform that Phenom in games, we are now in the second generation.

Depending on the sort of games you play and whether you want to overclock or not, i can recommend either an i3-2100, i5-2400 or i5-2500k.

If you play more CPU dependant games like Battlefield or Starcraft and other RTS games then i would go for an i5 (i5-2400 if not overclocking and i5-2500k if you are.)

If you play more GPU dependant games like, well pretty much all other games then i would go for the i3.

If you decide to go for the i3 then you should have saved some money and should be able to get a better GPU, i would aim for a GTX 560 or HD 6870. If the budget won't stretch there even after getting the i3, i would aim for GTX 460 1GB or HD 6850 1GB (still better than the HD 6770)

Obviously if you go an i3-2100 or i5-2400 you are going to need an Intel motherboard. At this budget i would just go for the cheapest H61 board that suits your needs. If you want to overclock i would go for a low end P67 board.

I would then ditch the extra fan in favour of some better RAM like Corsair XMS3 or G.Skill Ripjaws, try to get 1.5v. Don't worry about losing that fan, that case will easily handle these parts at stock clocks.

Thanks for the reply!
well...i went for AMD because a few reasons:
First of all, i'm gonna run Linux as my OS and Windows just for games, and AMD does better than Intel on Linux as far as i know.
Second, i forgot to mention that i do 3D renderings, so i went for a 6 cores CPU.
Third, even though it's not that relevant, i prefer AMD on Intel

One thing i'd like to know about my initial configuration is: will the 520W PSU that comes with the case handle well all that components?

And...i think i'll get rid of that extra fan for a better RAM!

What's your budget?

in euros it is 380 €

 

[Syl4r]

I wouldn't bother with that psu at all.

If you plan on adding a 2nd 6770 later you will need a psu with atleast 600W

If you don't plan on adding a 2nd 6770 you can get a decent 500W antec or corsair.

corsair and antec have some great quality power supplies. seasonic and XFX are also good but only if the XFX is actually made by seasonic.

I personally (along with a large number of others) would never let a coolermaster psu touch my system. They make some nice heatsinks but they should leave the psu making to the professionals.

I've gone for this choise becouse my budget is not so high...
Why are CM PSUs so bad?? ..i mean...are they dangerous for my configuration??

 

[jmsellars1]

I don't think it's fair to imply that a Coolermaster PSU is going to fry his system. Maybe theyre not as good as Seasonics etc. but theyre adequate, especially on a budget.

@Syl4r - I wouldn't be surprised if those Intel CPU's beat that AMD in rendering too to be honest. The i3's have hyperthreading and the i5's have 4 physical cores (32nm over the AMD's 45nm). Go with the AMD if you want but i would highly recommend at least looking at some benchmarks first.

 

[Syl4r]

I don't think it's fair to imply that a Coolermaster PSU is going to fry his system. Maybe theyre not as good as Seasonics etc. but theyre adequate, especially on a budget.

Thanks!
I think i'll stay with this PSU and as soon as i get a bit of money, i'll buy a better one!

@Syl4r - I wouldn't be surprised if those Intel CPU's beat that AMD in rendering too to be honest. The i3's have hyperthreading and the i5's have 4 physical cores (32nm over the AMD's 45nm). Go with the AMD if you want but i would highly recommend at least looking at some benchmarks first.

Thanks for the suggestions, but i think i'll go AMD, because i had a look to the CPUs you mentioned, and saw that they cost much more!

I watched some benchmarks too, and saw that the X6 1075T is a good processor and on a basic overclock (increasing the bus speed to 240 Mhz which brings the CPU to 3.6 Ghz at 1.4V) it beats even the i7-960!

 

[jmsellars1]

Yeah the i7-960 isn't really designed for gaming, also it is first generation not second. Where i come from that i3-2100 is nearly half the price of that Phenom and in games it will beat it. The i5-2400 is only like £10 more and that would destroy it in everything, including rendering. Maybe try a different site for your prices.

I'm sorry to sound like i'm pestering you about this. I'm just trying to let you know that in gaming at least, Intel is simply superior at the moment. If your mind is made up though, ill leave you alone now.

 

[Syl4r]

Yeah the i7-960 isn't really designed for gaming, also it is first generation not second. Where i come from that i3-2100 is nearly half the price of that Phenom and in games it will beat it. The i5-2400 is only like £10 more and that would destroy it in everything, including rendering. Maybe try a different site for your prices.

I'm sorry to sound like i'm pestering you about this. I'm just trying to let you know that in gaming at least, Intel is simply superior at the moment. If your mind is made up though, ill leave you alone now.

After this discussion, i watched lots of benchmarks and stuff like that, and i actually saw the i5-2500k is a monster CPU, and it obviously beats the X6 in almost everything, but it costs too much here in Italy (185 € against the 127 € of the X6); i also checked out the i5-2400, and also this beats the X6 in gaming, but in things like encoding videos or 3D rendering they're the same, and sometimes the X6 is better; i didn't consider the i3-2100, because i'm buying a new PC after 5 years having my single-core AMD sempron 3600+ 2 Ghz, and i don't want to pass to a dual-core CPU.

I think i'm gonna keep my AMD configuration even though the i5-2500k and 2400 are clearly better CPUs, because the X6 isn't a bad CPU either! and maybe in the future more apps will support 6 cores!
Thanks anyways for letting me know Intel's potential!

With that said, i changed a bit my config:

RAM DDR3 Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9AD3K2/4G 1600MHZ 4GB (2x2GB) CL9

MotherBoard Asrock N68-S3 UCC Socket AM3 DDR3 SATA2 USB2.0 MicroATX

CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Thuban Black Edition Boxed

Hard Disk Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200rpm 32MB SATA2

Case Midi Cooler Master Elite 330 Black -->This may change with an Elite 430 used

PSU Rasurbo DLP55.1 Silent & Power 550W --> still scared about this...if i read correct it has 2 12V rails at 19A one and 18A the other...is this good??

VGA Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Core 800MHz Memory GDDR5 4800MHz 1GB HDMI DVI --> i think i'm gonna take an Asus EAH5770 CuCore 1gbd5 used from a friend!

what do you think about this configuration??

 

[jmsellars1]

According to this the HD 5770 needs 40a.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/273578-15-5770-5750-real-power-requirements

EDIT: I should say too, at least take a look at that i3 because it will beat that Phenom in games by quite a nice margin according to that link in my last post. It also has hyperthreading which is 2 more virtual cores so it is effectively a quad core in hyperthreaded apps. If you want the Phenom get it though, ill stop pestering you now, really .

 

[Syl4r]

According to this the HD 5770 needs 40a.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/273578-15-5770-5750-real-power-requirements

EDIT: I should say too, at least take a look at that i3 because it will beat that Phenom in games by quite a nice margin according to that link in my last post. It also has hyperthreading which is 2 more virtual cores so it is effectively a quad core in hyperthreaded apps. If you want the Phenom get it though, ill stop pestering you now, really .

I'll take a closer look to the i3, but i don't think i'll take it...
anyways, for the 40A thing...is this so bad?? i mean, my PSU has got 37A total on the 12V rails ..is that 3A difference really relevant?? ...i'm sorry if i'm saying stupid things, but i'm really bad at electronics at school

 

[jmsellars1]

The PSU is probably the most important place in your PC to make sure everything is right. I would strongly recommend NOT risking it and buying a better PSU.

 

[Syl4r]

The PSU is probably the most important place in your PC to make sure everything is right. I would strongly recommend NOT risking it and buying a better PSU.

I'm going for a Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ...it has 25A on both the 3.3V and the 5V rails and 40A on the 12V rail (it has only one 12V rail)...is this a good one??
Thanks!

 

[jmsellars1]

^ Agree

 

[Syl4r]

Hi!
I changed my rig a little bit: i decided to spend a bit less on the CPU and take a better motherboard!

So, here's the new rig:

RAM DDR3 Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9AD3K2/4G 1600MHZ 4GB (2x2GB) CL9

MotherBoard Gigabyte MA770T-UD3 Socket AM3 DDR3 SATA2 USB2.0 ATX

Case Midi Cooler Master Elite 331 Black

CPU AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Deneb Black Edition Boxed

Hard Disk Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200rpm 32MB SATA2

PSU Corsair Builder Series CX600 V2 600W

Asus EAH5770 CuCore 1gbd5 (used)

and...if i get it, i'll buy a Corsair Air Series A50 CPU HeatSink

I think this is gonna be the final rig, but i'd like to know if all the components are compatible with each other!
Thanks!