Phenom II x4 Black Edition PC

[newfireorange]

I will be building it tomorrow. Tell me what you think.

Case: Antec 1200 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Case - 8 Fans (because I ordered two more fans for the optional slots; Rosewill brand)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA ATX AM3 Motherboard - Sata 6Gb/s USB 3.0
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4ghz Quad-Core
Memory: 8GB OCZ AMD Black Edition DDR3 RAM 1600mhz
GPU: XFX HD Radeon 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 DX11
HDD: 2X Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 3Gb/s 7200RPM 32MB Cache 500GB HDD's RAID 0
CD/DVD: 2X Samsung DVD Burner Black SATA Model - Lightscribe
PSU: Corsair 850W PSU - Fully Modular Cables
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Fan Controller: Sunbeam Rheobus-Extreme Fan Controller Panel
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Please note that I will be getting a SSD 16GB OCZ Vertex to put Windows 7 on eventually so it will boot almost instantly.
I plan to overclock the CPU to at least 3.7ghz and hopefully 4.0ghz.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Assuming you're gaming...

We could do a whole lot more if you posted according to the guidelines from the link in my signature. We specifically need a budget.

RAM: 8 GB of RAM is overkill. Lower that to 4 GB.

HDD: WD is losing the HDD battle right now. Grab two Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB for less. They'll also be faster, quieter and cooler.

CPU: The X4 955 is a better buy. It can be overclocked just as high.

HSF: The Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus is a much better cooler.

Case: The Antec 1200 is overkill. The HAF 922 is basically the best full tower (despite being mislabeled a mid tower) for $70 cheaper.

SSD: Bad, bad idea. A 16 GB SSD WILL NOT HOLD WINDOWS 7. Even if it did, it would be slow. SSDs like to have at least 20% open space. That means you need something more like a 32 GB for the OS to run as fast as possible.

Overall, it's decent.

Here's an equivalent build in terms of gaming performance:

CPU: X4 955 $161
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $140
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: 2x Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $110
Case: HAF 922 $90 after rebate
GPU/PSU: HD 5870 and Antec Earthwatts 750W $463
HSF/Optical: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus and cheap SATA DVD burner $40
OS: Win 7 Ultimate $180

Total: $1,299. So if you're paying more than this, it's not a good buy.

 

[osu43130]

Antec 1200 is over kill should stick with HAF 922

HDD: Seagate 7200.12 are better hard drives due to the 500gb platter. The WD black 2TB has a 500GB platter but for smaller drives the Samsung F3 Spin point or the seagate are a much better purchase.

Ram: 8GB is over kill for a gaming Computer only need 4 gb

Processor: 955 is pretty much the same as the 965 and should clock to the same.

SSD: A 16 GB SSD is a waste of money. SSD's need a certain amount of free space or they start to loose their efficiency.


EDIT****

Note to self Refresh the screen to make sure the Admiral has beaten me to the punch again.

 

[newfireorange]

Thanks for the input.
Didn't know that about SSD's needed the extra space, I will maybe get the 32GB later.

I like the 8GB of RAM because I like to run super intense games like Crysis on max settings and record video of the game at the same time.
I video edit in Pinnacle, use Photoshop CS4 also.

In my i7 920 rig, I have the Samsung Spinpoints and read tons of reviews on those and the caviar blacks, they seem to be faster, noise is not a problem for me at all.

Didn't know the Hyper 212 was compatible with the Phenom, thanks so much I have this cooler also and nothing beats it besides water cooling.

I like the Antec because it is super huge with crazy air flow and perfect cable management. I even bought a 12in 24 pin adapter so I can run my PSU 24 pin motherboard connector to the back of the case and up and over to the motherboard 24 pin slot so the coard will not be in front of the motherboard.

Total was $1600

This is because of the RAM, tower and the 965. I chose the 965 over 955 because its .2ghz faster and only like $20 more and I heard it is a second edition of the 955 and overclocks easier.

I would have gotten the 750W PSU but the only one I could find with super long modular cables for my Antec 1200 was that 850 watt i linked.

 

[MadAdmiral]

There is a second edition of both 965 and 955 that overclocks better. The 965 is just a factory overclocked 955.

The HAF is bigger. It's 22.2"x10"x19.7" versus 20.2"x8.4"x22.9".

The Spinpoint is a lot faster. It should be quieter too. The Seagate is the same.

 

[newfireorange]

Best answer selected by newfireorange.

 

[newfireorange]

Thanks. I guess there's no way to send back my hard drives and case is there? From Newegg.

 

[MadAdmiral]

No idea. They aren't too bad if you can't. The others are just minor changes that would improve the build slightly and lower the cost a tad.