1st Build, in need of assistance!

[Tek-1]

Good morning all! Thanks for clicking this thread!

I'm trying my hand at my very first home build (woot!) and I just wanted to make sure the component selection is going to be compatible, stable and reliable.**Edited format**

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Heavy Gaming (5-7 hours daily), Stability & Reliability mandatory

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1250 - $1350 before rebates

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel, Asus, ATI

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, Speakers, OS (Win7 64 bit)

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
after a few months of researching components I've selected some parts from other suggested builds.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Not right away, but perhaps in the future.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1920 x 1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
I'm purchasing all parts this weekend, building next week hopefully

Quick Thoughts: I purchased a pre-built VPR Matrix 226R back in '02 and besides upgrading the GPU, it's still the same machine. I've been so out of touch with the computing world for the last 8 years that I thought I'd check and see if my selections are adequate for a gaming build in this budget.


The Goods I've SelectedSo Far:
CPU / Mobo combo deal: i5 750 & Asus P7P55D-E Pro = $374.98
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4Gb (2x2Gb) Cas7 1600Mhz = $119.99
Hard Drive:Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500Gb = $54.99
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5870 = $419.99
Optical: Asus Black 24x = $25.99
HSF: CM Hyper 212+ = $34.99
Case: CM HAF 922 = $89.98
PSU: Corsair 750tx 750w 80+ certified = $109.99

Total = $1,230.99

**Edited format to follow exact layout rules**
If there are any other components that can / should be swapped to better optimize the system I'd be all about suggestions.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and thanks in advance for your input!

Tek

 

[Tek-1]

No takers?

Did I post incorrectly?

 

[Reincus]

You only edited it 15 min ago. =)

Your set up looks good. You can probably do some shopping around and get some better prices/combos, but nothing major. For example there is a Samsung DVD drive that is free shipping for $18 on Newegg right now.

You might want to consider getting 2 1GB 5770s. Gets you 5870 performance for 20% less. You can get 5770s for 120-140 bucks on specials.

 

[busydude]

I would advise against crossfire. Although 2 5770's have greater performance potential than a single 5870, its extremely dependent on games per se. Crossfire has greatly improved with 5XXX series but there are yet somethings to be desired (Read: min FPS).

I have heard some horror stories regarding barracudas. I would go with a samsung f3 instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-181-_-Product

With that kind of a budget I would advise you to throw in an SSD as well.

 

[Tek-1]

You only edited it 15 min ago. =)

Please forgive my haste! lol

You might want to consider getting 2 1GB 5770s. Gets you 5870 performance for 20% less. You can get 5770s for 120-140 bucks on specials.

I figured I'd start with one 5870, then add a second in crossfire in a year or two. As I'm building my first PC ever, seems like messing with crossfire will rack my brain even more. Perhaps this is a false assumption, however. Still, I'd think that two 5870's will destroy two 5770's : )

I have heard some horror stories regarding barracudas. I would go with a samsung f3 instead.

Awesome feedback, this is what I'm looking for! So I'm at work right now and can't exactly compare the two drives at this moment in time, but off the top of your head is the performance similar? I was advised to grab that Barracuda because 'it is the faster drive'. I don't need a lot of storage space because I don't run any huge apps, I don't do video editing, I don't store music OR video files on an internal drive. I'm just after stability, and reliability of the hard drive itself.

The reason I haven't included an SSD in that budget is that I still have yet to purchase the OS, and a new monitor. I was barely able to squeak those parts into that budget.. If I DO go ssd, I'd probably have to sacrifice some quality of parts to keep the overall hardware in the $1300 realm.

Anyway thanks much for the replies! Keep them coming!

 

[mfenn]

Awesome feedback, this is what I'm looking for! So I'm at work right now and can't exactly compare the two drives at this moment in time, but off the top of your head is the performance similar? I was advised to grab that Barracuda because 'it is the faster drive'. I don't need a lot of storage space because I don't run any huge apps, I don't do video editing, I don't store music OR video files on an internal drive. I'm just after stability, and reliability of the hard drive itself.

The reason I haven't included an SSD in that budget is that I still have yet to purchase the OS, and a new monitor. I was barely able to squeak those parts into that budget.. If I DO go ssd, I'd probably have to sacrifice some quality of parts to keep the overall hardware in the $1300 realm.

Anyway thanks much for the replies! Keep them coming!

F3s and WD Caviar Blacks are pretty much the fastest spinning disks on the market. Honestly though, as long as you don't get a "green" drive, the performance difference won't be noticeable. Now that SSD's are around, people just don't care much about HDD performance (see the lackluster reception of the new Raptors).

 

[MisterDonut]

F3 or WD Caviar Black 640GB. I like WD's . CFX is really unnecessary for that resolution. Stick with one card, and if, in the WAY future, you need a beefier card, I'm pretty sure something like HD9850 will be out. Two 5870's will probably destroy your house. Again, I'm really feeling the penny pinching mindset, so if you're gaming and want to put money towards other things (not just your rig), you can drop down to AMD (But you'd only save about $100).

 

[Tek-1]

F3s and WD Caviar Blacks are pretty much the fastest spinning disks on the market.

Awesome, I'll switch from Seagate to Samsung.

CFX is really unnecessary for that resolution.

(1920 x 1080)
Kind of what i was thinking, however I'm sure I'll upgrade monitors in a few years. Perhaps mess with ATI's Eyefinity tech then, along with adding an additional GPU.

I'm really feeling the penny pinching mindset, so if you're gaming and want to put money towards other things (not just your rig), you can drop down to AMD (But you'd only save about $100).

Generally I'm a penny pincher myself. However after 2 months of getting myself back up-to-speed on modern CPU's, it just seems like Intel makes the better processor. I'm not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, it's just the info that I've seen / heard / read.

Anyway thanks for all the coments. I think I'm ready to click 'BUY' !!!!
I'm SOOOO excited!

 

[Reincus]

Clock for clock, Intel is better. The support costs are higher though, and for gaming it makes very little difference. If you run high resoltuions and your CPU has 3+ cores at over 3GHz, you are GPU limited.

 

[MisterDonut]

On second thought, you can probably drop down to the 5850 to save $100 or so. It's easy as hell to OC, does that resolution just as well as the 5870 (on OC). You probably won't miss the frames, but I'm sure you'll miss $100 .

 

[Tek-1]

Clock for clock, Intel is better. The support costs are higher though, and for gaming it makes very little difference. If you run high resoltuions and your CPU has 3+ cores at over 3GHz, you are GPU limited.

Let's see if I understood this correctly...
Since the i5 750 has 4 cores @ 2.66Ghz (stock), I'm assuming that if I overclock to anything over 3Ghz I'm bottlenecking my GPU? Seemed like the i5 750 + HD 5870 at stock speeds would be great for modern games (BF2BC for instance)
If I have that wrong I'm not sure about being GPU limited.

On second thought, you can probably drop down to the 5850 to save $100 or so. It's easy as hell to OC, does that resolution just as well as the 5870 (on OC). You probably won't miss the frames, but I'm sure you'll miss $100 .

Honestly I'd rather not OC yet. I'm too new to that stuff. I can definately build a computer as I'm familiar with motherboard layout and component connections and all that, and I would STOP and ask questions and make sure I'm doing it right if I was ever unsure about something (which is why I'm here : ) I just don't know enough about overclocking to say that I would do this on a new build, right off the bat. Which is why I chose a stronger GPU in this application. I'd like to run at stock speeds to start off.

 

[busydude]

On second thought, you can probably drop down to the 5850 to save $100 or so. It's easy as hell to OC, does that resolution just as well as the 5870 (on OC). You probably won't miss the frames, but I'm sure you'll miss $100 .

I concur with MisterDonut

I don't mean to force you, OP, I am bit biased towards SSD's.
It's a fact that your gaming experience wont depend at all on an SSD but the overall computing experience will be gratifying.

My suggestion: 5850+SSD.

EDIT: My bad didn't read your previous post.

 

[Reincus]

Let's see if I understood this correctly...
Since the i5 750 has 4 cores @ 2.66Ghz (stock), I'm assuming that if I overclock to anything over 3Ghz I'm bottlenecking my GPU? Seemed like the i5 750 + HD 5870 at stock speeds would be great for modern games (BF2BC for instance)
If I have that wrong I'm not sure about being GPU limited.

You are running at 1920 x 1080, which is moderate resolution, but not high. That means that with everything cranked up on video options in the most intense games, you will see a marked increase in FPS by overclocking the CPU. That is CPU limited. In the most CPU limited games, you will see exactly the same FPS on a 5850 and a 5870, or a a 5850 stock vs overclocked.

If you step up to, say, 2560 x 1600... then you become GPU limited. That means that same CPU overclock you applied above will have a much much smaller impact on your overall FPS. In this situation, you will see huge difference between 5870 and 5850, or by overclocking the GPU.

So... you are getting a 5870, which will smash just about every game out there at 1920 x 1080 with everything cranked up. You will get big gains in FPS by overclocking that I5... here is caveat... you are already exceeding 60FPS, so you can't even tell the difference. Getting 80 FPS or 180FPS or 18880000 FPS is all the same.

Here is the link to the 3 vs 4 core performance for games:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cores-performance,2373-9.html

Here is a link to comparison between Core I-5 and Phenom II 965:
Tom's Hardware - Benchmark DivX 6.8.3
Note that I-5 is in general a better chip (with a couple exceptions) but in games they tend to be close. Those are stock speeds however, so it changes a lot when you factor in overclocks.

Another chart comparing I-5 750 to PII 965
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/8
Note that the settings are on medium so that the differences in the CPU can seen. As we dicussed above, the higher the resolution gets, the less that CPU matters in relation to the GPU.

I'm not trying to deter you from going Intel, just show that as long as you have a high speed multi-core CPU for gaming, the perforance will be limited by your video card in high resolutions. Pick the GPU first and build around that, instead of CPU.

 

[mfenn]

Let's see if I understood this correctly...
Since the i5 750 has 4 cores @ 2.66Ghz (stock), I'm assuming that if I overclock to anything over 3Ghz I'm bottlenecking my GPU? Seemed like the i5 750 + HD 5870 at stock speeds would be great for modern games (BF2BC for instance)
If I have that wrong I'm not sure about being GPU limited.

I'm not sure what games the other guys are talking about, but in BC2, you will absolutely be GPU-limited at 1080P. BC2 does love a fast quad, and 2.83GHz (remember you will be turboed essentially all of the time) of Lynnfield certainly qualifies as that!

 

[MisterDonut]

Let's see if I understood this correctly...
Since the i5 750 has 4 cores @ 2.66Ghz (stock), I'm assuming that if I overclock to anything over 3Ghz I'm bottlenecking my GPU? Seemed like the i5 750 + HD 5870 at stock speeds would be great for modern games (BF2BC for instance)
If I have that wrong I'm not sure about being GPU limited.

Honestly I'd rather not OC yet. I'm too new to that stuff. I can definately build a computer as I'm familiar with motherboard layout and component connections and all that, and I would STOP and ask questions and make sure I'm doing it right if I was ever unsure about something (which is why I'm here : ) I just don't know enough about overclocking to say that I would do this on a new build, right off the bat. Which is why I chose a stronger GPU in this application. I'd like to run at stock speeds to start off.

More power to you . However, I will make a note that OC'ing the 5850 is literally sliding two sliders up. Many people already have done it, and there are some pretty good "standard" clocks going around. It's as easy as googling and a little bit of research . If you choose XFX, the warranty covers overclocking, so keep your mind at ease.

 

[Tek-1]

@ Reincus - awesome feedback. Thanks so much, that clears up a lot actually..

Thanks everyone for posting. Helps more than you know!

 

[Tek-1]

I hope this isn't redundant, or against forum rules, but if you all have time check out this other thread here in the Graphics category.

I may have made a mistake buying a non reference card.
Please help me set my mind at ease!

 

[busydude]

You will be fine. Since you don't plan on overclocking, there is nothing to be worried about. Reference designs allow for voltage tweaking.

The non reference design is quieter and runs cooler, albeit slightly, than the reference one.

 

[Tek-1]

You will be fine. Since you don't plan on overclocking, there is nothing to be worried about. Reference designs allow for voltage tweaking.

The non reference design is quieter and runs cooler, albeit slightly, than the reference one.

Nice! I guess I got tossed a little from people saying "It's complete crap"
Not the kind of thing I want to read after dropping a huge chunk of change!

 

[MisterDonut]

XFX warranty supports OC (I never fully read it, but I would assume it supports voltage tweaking...). Register it ASAFP.

 

[Tek-1]

XFX warranty supports OC (I never fully read it, but I would assume it supports voltage tweaking...). Register it ASAFP.

My thoughts exactly. With every component I ordered really.

I should have everything by tuesday. I'll be registering everything immediately after opening each package.

I'm going to be opening those boxes with the enthusiasm of a 6 year old on Christmas morning lol.

 

[MisterDonut]

Oh you will. I remember getting my 5850. "Screw Santa" is what went through my mind . He'll never bring me anything that good hehe. I will say though, my SSD came pretty close with the exception of very brown pants.

 

[Tek-1]

Oh you will. I remember getting my 5850. "Screw Santa" is what went through my mind . He'll never bring me anything that good hehe. I will say though, my SSD came pretty close with the exception of very brown pants.

Hahaha!


Thanks everyone for your help, you guys are awesome!

 

[Tek-1]

Seems like a successful first build. Got all components in, mobo recognizes everything! POST was fine, installed OS. However, I did struggle a little with installing the HSF (CM Hyper 212+). This was not easy to install, and if I had to do it all over again I would not chose an HDT cooler.

I was not happy with the first application of TIM, so I pulled the HSF off, cleaned everything, reapplied. (I followed instructions on AS5 website on filling in gaps with thermal paste between the copper pipes and aluminum block at the base of the cooler - scraped clean of course, along with a small vertical line of paste on the processor itself).

When I screwed down the retention bracket on the cooler, a very small amount of AS5 squeezed out past the edge of the processor. This very small amount is not touching the back of the CPU itself, it's about halfway from the top edge of the processor and the back of the chip. Is this ok? Or should I start over again?

I have not yet been able to stress test. I did however go into BIOS and check idle temp (30C). Ran the Dirt2 Demo (had to showcase my GPU) and after a short round (30 min or so) I restarted and went back into BIOS - Hardware Monitor - and temp was at 37C.

All the while I was checking temp inside the case. Now this case has wonderful airflow. But I noticed the HSF was not even warm. Not even a little bit. Felt like it did when I pulled it out of the box for the first time. Is this normal? Have I just not tested this machine long enough? Or is that really how effecient this cooler is? I'm concerned that the thermal transfer is poor -or non existant. But this could be due to the fact that I'm a newbie.

Any thoughts? Am I overly concerned? Or concerned justified? Halp!

 

[mfenn]

Seems like a successful first build. Got all components in, mobo recognizes everything! POST was fine, installed OS. However, I did struggle a little with installing the HSF (CM Hyper 212+). This was not easy to install, and if I had to do it all over again I would not chose an HDT cooler.

I was not happy with the first application of TIM, so I pulled the HSF off, cleaned everything, reapplied. (I followed instructions on AS5 website on filling in gaps with thermal paste between the copper pipes and aluminum block at the base of the cooler - scraped clean of course, along with a small vertical line of paste on the processor itself).

When I screwed down the retention bracket on the cooler, a very small amount of AS5 squeezed out past the edge of the processor. This very small amount is not touching the back of the CPU itself, it's about halfway from the top edge of the processor and the back of the chip. Is this ok? Or should I start over again?

I have not yet been able to stress test. I did however go into BIOS and check idle temp (30C). Ran the Dirt2 Demo (had to showcase my GPU) and after a short round (30 min or so) I restarted and went back into BIOS - Hardware Monitor - and temp was at 37C.

All the while I was checking temp inside the case. Now this case has wonderful airflow. But I noticed the HSF was not even warm. Not even a little bit. Felt like it did when I pulled it out of the box for the first time. Is this normal? Have I just not tested this machine long enough? Or is that really how effecient this cooler is? I'm concerned that the thermal transfer is poor -or non existant. But this could be due to the fact that I'm a newbie.

Any thoughts? Am I overly concerned? Or concerned justified? Halp!

Regarding the thermal paste, it's probably fine, but if you want to clean up the little drip, just use a Q-tip.

BIOS is not a good way to check load temps since they drop off within 1-2 seconds of unloading the CPU. Start CoreTemp before testing, and take note of the Max temperature it reports after you test.