Rate My Build 1-5 YAY

[jake_larkee]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next week

Budget Range: 700-780

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, web, other stuff

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: quality

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Thanks



Hey guys I just wanted to know if this build would work.

CASE-Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

HDD-Seagate SV35 Series ST3500411SV 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148728

MOBO-ASRock 760GM-GS3 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157215

GRAPHICS CARD-EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661

CD/DVD DRIVE-ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A7T/BLK/B/GEN - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135224

PSU-APEX AL-D500EXP 500W ATX12V Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817154026

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

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

CPU-AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX635WFGIBOX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103702

OS-Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986


Also, is the OEM version of windows gonna be an issue?

I'm open to any criticism, so tell me any thing that is wrong with this build.

Thanks

 

[jake_larkee]

Yeah its really about 750 with 50$ in rebates.
And yeah win 7, why is that a problem? it works with this amd build.

 

[jake_larkee]

If it stutters enough to aggravate me with the x4 i can always swap out that cpu with a bulldozer when those come out. (very soon i hear)

 

[dalauder]

CPU: $120 i3-2100 Here's one of many reasons I say Sandy Bridge over AMD K10: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

Mobo: $125 GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-68A3HB3&c=FR&pid=e1f80e9a960b2ffb2dad3d9d4b119f8013c2ca8fed044338e01c18bb9fb97316

RAM: $25 PNY Above

Case: $55 Antec 300 Illusion

Graphics: $200 AR Palit GTX 560Ti http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261100

HDD: $58 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB look around on Amazon.com. I bought one last week at $58 including shipping.

DVD: $20 Any

PSU: $90 Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026

Windows: $100 (or $30 if you're a student)

TOTAL: $793 (after rebates)

Of course, I would just buy the case and RAM today. Then wait until this weekend's Newegg deals. And buy the other parts over the course of a week. You'll probably find a solid 750W PSU for $75 in that time. And you can always upgrade the i3-2100 if you decide it's not enough sometime. It also saves you the cost of buying a cooler to overclock the Phenom II just to match it.

 

[dalauder]

To clear things up: Windows 7 was not a problem. It was merely a budget constraint I had not considered that made putting together a build more of a challenge. Due to Windows 7, I had to back down from an i5-2500K.

 

[dalauder]

Is your AM3 motherboard above Bulldozer compatible?

 

[jake_larkee]

Yeah, I checked on that. Anyway I really appreciate all of your help, but i'm saving intel for next years mega-awesome dream pc i plan to build.(maybe you can help me with when the time comes) So I think I'll stick with the revised build I have above. Once again thanks alot for all of your help. Case Closed And you are obviously getting best answer. lol

 

[jake_larkee]

Best answer selected by jake_larkee.

 

[dalauder]

What I'm saying is to go with the $75 Phenom II x3 720BE or the i3-2100.

Also, that motherboard only supports 16x/4x on the PCI-e lanes, which means it can't do SLI. Since you're going with GeForce graphics (and won't be able to do Crossfire, which can do 16x/4x), you may as well go with this Gigabyte that's AM3+ for $55: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128504

With the Phenom II x3 720BE, this saves you $60 total. This Gigabyte board also has ACC, so you might be able to unlock the CPU to a quad core.

 

[dalauder]

Alright, enjoy your build.

Don't overlook my Palit GTX 560Ti linked though. The GTX 560Ti is a good deal better than the GTX 560 (non-Ti) and costs only $5 more.

 

[jake_larkee]

ok, that's a better deal any way on the mobo, more for less. so i did that.

but where are you finding that cpu?

 

[jake_larkee]

wait that mobo on does 1333 on the mem speed, i dont want to waste that ram speed

 

[dalauder]

Just run the 1600MHz RAM at 1333MHz with tighter timings and you're not wasting the speed. 1600CL9 RAM is pretty much the same stuff as 1333CL7--so you don't have to worry too much about it.

Phenom II x3 720BE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652&cm_re=phenom_ii_x3-_-19-103-652-_-Product

No heatsink included though...hmmm I don't like that 30 warranty. My bad.

 

[dalauder]

I'd buy this x3 720BE on ebay, but that's me: http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-Phenom-II-X3-720-2-8-GHz-HDZ720WFK3DGI-Processor-/190552221878?pt=CPUs&hash=item2c5dcc28b6#ht_500wt_1244

You should probably just stick with the Phenom II x4 955BE you already selected. Too bad you missed Newegg selling them for $100 a couple weeks back.

 

[jake_larkee]

Check that out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235R

 

[dalauder]

Personally, I think that's awesome!

A lot of people don't like used/returned/refurbs as much as I do. I'd totally get that though.

 

[dalauder]

Wait! One thought...If your PSU isn't big enough to SLI, what's the point of a bigger board with two PCI-e slots? Also, it might not upgrade to Bulldozer, which makes it worse in one way to the other motherboard.

 

[jake_larkee]

Dude I'm a refurbaholic. lol

 

[dalauder]

So if I got that, I'd also get this PSU: $59.99 (after rebate) XFX 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207014

 

[dalauder]

Well, if you're a refurbaholic...

CPU: $70 then I'd go with the ebay Phenom II x3 720BE w/ a heatsink I linked above.

Mobo: $41 The one you just linked

PSU: $60 Buy the XFX above new. Don't buy refurb PSUs because they degrade with time (same as SSDs).

Total Savings over your build posted up above: $60

That motherboard can unlock cores: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/267859-30-nf750-unlock-cores-phenom

So you've got a 60-40 or so in your favor of unlocking to a quad. I've attempted to unlock two Phenom II x2 555BE's. One unlocked and overclocked (VERY stable) to 3.6GHz.

Even if you didn't end up using this build to upgrade to SLI'd GTX 560's, you could drop the PSU and GTX 560Ti in your high-end build next year and didn't lose any money.

 

[jake_larkee]

Cool I'll check it out thanks

 

[dalauder]

By the way, I'd rank your build a 4 now. 5 if it gets 60fps in most games. The Phenom II might bottleneck the GTX 560Ti now and then.

 

[jake_larkee]

yeah newegg screwed me again that mobo is now out of stock. so now im going with the "original" original mobo. sli is a waste any way with an amd setup

 

[jake_larkee]

All I need is for new egg to keep their s**t in stock for 2 days and i'll be fine.

 

[dalauder]

yeah--SLI would be a waste.

But IF that board ends up being Bulldozer compatible (most AM2 boards are AM3 compatible even if they don't "officially" support it), it would've been worth SLI'ing on. I still think the $70 Phenom II x3 720BE is the way to go.