How is this build?

[Atranox]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

- The primary use is for gaming, particularly MMOs, Left 4 Dead 2, and Call of Duty.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

- I'm looking to spend around $1000, give or take a bit. Less is of course, always better.

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

- US.

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.

- No preference really. I chose AMD because the CPU was signiciantly cheaper, and competed with i5's and i7's in most gaming benchmarks. Obviously i7's own AMD for multitasking, video compression, and most benchmarking tools - but for gaming, the difference didn't seem to be too significant (particularly considering the cost).


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

- Negative.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

- I've read tons of threads, reviews, benchmarks, newegg reviews, etc.


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

- I'll probably do some moderate overclocking, nothing extreme.


8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

- 1680x1050. I might switch to something slightly higher sometime next year.


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

- Sometime this month.

This is what I was considering. Any feedback?

Case: AZZA Solano 1000
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 BE
Cooling: XIGMATEK Dark Knight
GPU: Radeon HD 5850
RAM: 4GB DDR3/1600MHz A-Daya
PSU: Corsair 750W
HD : Western Digital 500GB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Thanks.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

SSD or a 10k RPM HDD. You didn't break down the cost so I don't know how under or over budget you are currently.

 

[Atranox]

Yeah, sorry about the cost. I'm at work right now, so I don't have time to look up the exact price. I think I was sitting around $1100 or so for this particular build.

 

[fffblackmage]

I'd probably just go for an SSD and avoid 10k rpm drives. Hard drives like the velociraptor have generally good response times, but aren't that much faster in transfer speeds compared to normal 7200 rpm hdds (not to mention less storage space and higher price).

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

I'd probably just go for an SSD and avoid 10k rpm drives. Hard drives like the velociraptor have generally good response times, but aren't that much faster in transfer speeds compared to normal 7200 rpm hdds (not to mention less storage space and higher price).

Agreed, and my reason is that they are mechanical and thus more prone to failure sooner than SSDs. But you definitely want fast access times.

 

[Atranox]

Thanks for the responses.

Would the 750W PSU be able to handle Crossfire if I eventually choose to down the road? Keep in mind, I'll likely have a modest OC on the CPU as well.

 

[fffblackmage]

Agreed, and my reason is that they are mechanical and thus more prone to failure sooner than SSDs. But you definitely want fast access times.

oh yeah, that too.

Thanks for the responses.

Would the 750W PSU be able to handle Crossfire if I eventually choose to down the road? Keep in mind, I'll likely have a modest OC on the CPU as well.

750W is a lot of power. It should be fine. It's not like you're building some sort of crazy superubergamingcomputer and OCing it to the max (unless that's your actual plan...).

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

There are power calculators on the net which will give you a better idea of needed power rating than anyone here can give you. Even then each calculator either estimates on the high side or the low side and depends on actual parts and load conditions. It's just for a rough calculation. This one, I've heard, gives a high-estimate but I'll never really know: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

I shoot for the most efficient range of the PSU, which is probably somewhere between 40-60% utilization.