Advice on gaming build with $1700 budget

[elky10]

This is my first ever build after a long stream of hand-me-down computers. I've done a little bit of research, and this is what I've come up with:

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Power Supply
Gigabyte 890FX/SATA3&USB3.0/A&2GbE/ATX Motherboard GA-890FXA-UD5
Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W
2 of: Zalman ZM-F3 120mm Quiet Case Fan with Silicone Pins
Zalman ZM-MC1 Multi-connector PS to Add Fan
Fan 3 Wire to 3 Wire Y Connector
2 x G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case
NZXT CB-3F Sleeved 3-Pin Fan Extension Premium Cable
RADEON HD 5870 1GB DDR5 HDMI Graphics Card HD587XZNFC
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB Internal hard drive - 300 MBps - 7200 rpm
Sony Optiarc Black 24X 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM

Total for all that is about $1200, and I still need to find a monitor somewhere. Any thoughts about the build, or suggestions for a monitor? I can go up to about $1700 if need be. Thanks in advance!

 

[mfenn]

Looks fine, but here's a few suggestions:

• The Earthwatts is a decent unit, but you can do much better for the price. The 650TX is $60 AR right now.
• The mobo and CPU are overpriced, even in the combo. The 955 is $150 after promo and a simple multiplier change is all that is necessary to turn it into a 965 if you wish. The GA-870A-UD3 is also a much cheaper motherboard that will do everything that you need.
• The GTX 470 is very close in performance to the 5870 after the recent driver updates and can be had for as low as $300.
• Not a big fan of the 7200.12's due to Seagate's firmware issues of late. Go for a Samsung F3 or WD Caviar Black.
• Memory is fine in the combo, but you can also go for 2x4GB G.Skill DDR3 1333 sticks to leave room for future expandability.

 

[tweakboy]

There is no way you need to spend that much.

You can get a solid system with current technology to 1k .. quality stuff, gigabyte is not quality IMO, ASUS pownz all. From the P2B SCSI to now and beyonder. also 4GB is not much unless you just gaming and average user.. go higher on RAM. G SKILL is good. also go nvidia, buy a GTX460 , if you get that ATI Im warning you of problems.. Also you need 2 hard drives at least min. good luck

 

[Sp12]

4GB of ram is fine, and I agree a 470 makes more sense.

 

[elky10]

To clarify, I'm getting two of the 2x2gb packages, for a total of 8 gigs. (I accidentally linked some of those to the combos instead of the actual products, although I guess that's good too.) As for the GTX suggestions, I've heard they're consume a lot more power and run a lot hotter than the 5870?

As for the linked motherboard, it doesn't seem to support Crossfire, which I may look into sometime in the future.

Also the monitor I'm considering is this one right here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thanks for your help so far guys, I might just end up getting everything tonight!

 

[Sp12]

It definitely uses more power and runs hotter. However, it also has 90% of the performance for 75% (or less) of the price. I think if you do choose the ATI card, you should consider a 5850, as it's a 100$ cheaper and within 5% of the 5870's performance per clock.


Are you looking to overclock?

 

[elky10]

I'm definitely considering overclocking. Again, this is my first build, and the last time I even considered building a computer the thought at the time was that overclocking was dangerous and pretty much not worth it, but it seems as though the mentality has changed a lot since then.

 

[Sp12]

You may want to consider an AMD X6, as it's made with high-k gate, and is generally better silicon for overclocking. It's about 33% more expensive than the 955, but has 50% more cores. It's not unlocked, however.

I would also be considering a P55 i5-760 build, as that would be higher performance than the AMD build in most apps, but also more expensive.

An SSD is also a very nice component to have, especially for a build in that price range.

I couldn't get your monitor link to work :/

 

[elky10]

That'd be the weird redirection thing this forum uses -- it's this amazon DOT com/gp/product/B001LYPNFQ/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

CPU speed isn't my biggest concern; I've been working off a laptop's dual-core for years, and the biggest program I use is Visual Studio 2010 (which uses WPF so it's DirectX based for a lot of things). I don't mind saving a bit of money and sticking to the X4, but thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind!

I considered an SSD; most of my data that I move between computers is currently either online or on an external drive, so reinstalling windows isn't a dealbreaker for me. I figure I'll stick to the internal for now, and add an SSD for OS+apps when the price drops a bit more.

EDIT: I'm currently at a total of about 1500, and as I get closer to my limit the more I realize I think I want to keep it around 1500 instead.

 

[Sp12]

That'd be the weird redirection thing this forum uses -- it's this amazon DOT com/gp/product/B001LYPNFQ/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

CPU speed isn't my biggest concern; I've been working off a laptop's dual-core for years, and the biggest program I use is Visual Studio 2010 (which uses WPF so it's DirectX based for a lot of things). I don't mind saving a bit of money and sticking to the X4, but thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind!

In that case you're probably fine with the X4 for those programs and gaming.

I considered an SSD; most of my data that I move between computers is currently either online or on an external drive, so reinstalling windows isn't a dealbreaker for me. I figure I'll stick to the internal for now, and add an SSD for OS+apps when the price drops a bit more.

Sounds good, they definitely new tech and are definitely headed towards better price/GBs.

EDIT: I'm currently at a total of about 1500, and as I get closer to my limit the more I realize I think I want to keep it around 1500 instead.

With which vidcard?

 

[elky10]

Still the 5870 -- I know I just said I want to keep the price stable, but for some reason there's some little prideful part of me that wants to say I own the 5870 instead of the 5850. Call me vain I guess!

I'm getting close to the point of hitting the big buy button; seeing as I'm a newbie, do you think there are going to be any nasty surprises with component compatibility, missing cables, or anything like that? The two fans were recommended to me by someone else, and it looks like their recommendation accounts for extra needed parts, but I'm not sure.

 

[Sp12]

Timely thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1536657

As for the monitor, it's 19*12, which is nice. It's also large, which is good/bad (I dislike the worse pixel density, but a larger screen is a larger screen). However, it's TN, and therefore very expensive for what it is. I feel any monitor past 250$ish dollars should be PVA/IPS. However, those get expensive fast.

And if you want the 5870, that's fine. It's not the best bang/buck around, but it's the fastest AMD single-GPU.

Additional timely thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1537255

 

[mfenn]

To clarify, I'm getting two of the 2x2gb packages, for a total of 8 gigs. (I accidentally linked some of those to the combos instead of the actual products, although I guess that's good too.) As for the GTX suggestions, I've heard they're consume a lot more power and run a lot hotter than the 5870?

As for the linked motherboard, it doesn't seem to support Crossfire, which I may look into sometime in the future.

Also the monitor I'm considering is this one right here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thanks for your help so far guys, I might just end up getting everything tonight!

You're worried about heat and noise, yet you want to do Crossfire? You're going to end up spending $150 more for the same performance. Seems like a bit of a waste to me, TBH.

 

[DSF]

There is no way you need to spend that much.

You can get a solid system with current technology to 1k .. quality stuff, gigabyte is not quality IMO, ASUS pownz all.

Any particular reason?

As for the linked motherboard, it doesn't seem to support Crossfire, which I may look into sometime in the future.

Don't bother. It's not really a worthwhile upgrade path for right now.

 

[mfenn]

Any particular reason?

LOL, it's tweakboy, just ignore him. He spews nonsense more often than not.

Don't bother. It's not really a worthwhile upgrade path for right now.

Agreed.