Need advice on new gaming PC

[rustam]

This will be my first time building a computer. I'll be using this computer primarily for gaming. I would like to keep my budget under $900.

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103471

Every system I've owned has been Intel so far. The new i7's are a bit out of my budget so I decided to go with AMD because of the price vs. performance value. Should I stick with this chip or go with one of the older Intel quad cores like the Q6600?

MB
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131361

GPU
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102801

RAM
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122

HD
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136218

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139005

Case
COOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119161

DVD Drive
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827136152

Total: 846.93

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mpilchfamily]

I'd suggest going Intel.

 

[rustam]

Can you elaborate on why you would suggest intel? Also what chip would you recommend thats within my budget?

 

[polarbear6]

welcome TO THE FORUMS fellow brotherin .........

only go for the fx board if ur high on budget and have plans on going crossfire in the future (i dont see any point in buying a board for over 150$)
what i heard about the phenom in in its initial stages is that
it was only competing with the basic quads of intel like the q9400 and q6600
so i think u shld go for the q9550 as far as i know phenom is only for those guys who have 250~ 200$ budget
but the phenom is a monster over clocker

btwn out of the topic
r u frm the middle east or india cause u have a muslim name
if so u know u have a brother here (ME!!)

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: ganesh1


only go for the fx board if ur high on budget and have plans on going crossfire in the future

wth does that mean? how could he be high then be on a budget? Whats high? and how does high describe whats what?

 

[polarbear6]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN

Originally posted by: ganesh1


only go for the fx board if ur high on budget and have plans on going crossfire in the future

wth does that mean? how could he be high then be on a budget? Whats high? and how does high describe whats what?

my bussiness is not in dollars but what i understood is that
fx is 175$+
and gx is 125$-
so high is 50 dollars more

 

[Denithor]

Make sure you buy the PhII 940 + Asus M4A79 Deluxe combo (you'll save $55).

Or you could save $50 more by getting this combo.

And grab these G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 sticks for $41 shipped.

Otherwise your parts list is excellent, good choices in there.

 

[rustam]

Thanks for your input guys,

@ Denithor: I'm actually going with the AMD CPU/MB combo offers on newegg, hence why I decided to go with the more expensive motherboard. But as Ganesh mentioned, I think I might be better off going with a GX, the FX seems a little too pricey. Would the performance difference really be enough to matter? (I want to stick with Gigabyte or Asus in terms of the brand)

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...3128384&Tpk=13-128-384

vs.

ASUS M4A79 Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131361

Also in regards to the RAM you posted, I decided to go with the ones I originally picked because the specs on that one are slightly higher for not much more money.

Cas Latency: 5 Timing: 5-5-5-15

vs.

Cas Latency: 6 Timing: 6-6-6-18.

@Ganesh1: I actually got this name from a character in a novel I read for a mid east literature class at my university

I looked at some benchmark results and the Phenom does seem to lag behind some of the higher end quad intels like the Q9550. I could switch to an intel system with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, the difference would be about $60.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115041

Here's some of the benchmarks I looked at:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...owdoc.aspx?i=3492&p=19
http://www.extremetech.com/art.../0,2845,2338347,00.asp

Also what do you guys think about choosing between the ATI 4870 I picked before vs. a
EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130370 ?

 

[bamacre]

I would also recommend choosing a different brand video card. Sapphire is crappy. If it were me, I would go with an XFX, much better warranty.

 

[rustam]

Originally posted by: bamacre
I would also recommend choosing a different brand video card. Sapphire is crappy. If it were me, I would go with an XFX, much better warranty.

That particular card got really high user ratings though. It's also really affordable considering its power.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: rustam

Originally posted by: bamacre
I would also recommend choosing a different brand video card. Sapphire is crappy. If it were me, I would go with an XFX, much better warranty.

That particular card got really high user ratings though. It's also really affordable considering its power.

Up to you, just sayin'. IMO, a better brand is worth the extra $$.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150352

Same price after MIR. This is a no-brainer, get the XFX.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Nah, Sapphire is great. unless it isn't American made then go with an American made card

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
Nah, Sapphire is great. unless it isn't American made then go with an American made card

Are you kidding me?

Sapphire warranty = 2 years
XFX warranty = double lifetime

And, IIRC, you have to pay $15 to get warranty service from Sapphire.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

When is the last time you had to return a card to the company - lol

in the past 8yrs for me ** thinks ** = zero

 

[rustam]

Not gonna purchase a card based on the warranty. If the cards good I won't have need a warranty to fall back on beyond a few years. Plus a graphics card will probably get replaced every few years.

What do you guys think of going for the GTX 260 instead of a ATI 4870?

 

[Denithor]

I actually have had to return two cards within the last year.

First was a Sapphire 1900GT that started artifacting badly. Looked into RMA with Sapphire, they wanted to charge a fee even though the card was defective & within warranty period. Looked a little further, discovered that it was still covered by newegg's "1 year standard return policy" (that they have mostly discontinued, unfortunately) and sent it to them instead. Got a ~$135 credit on an 11.5 month old card.

Second card was an EVGA 8800GS that arrived with a bad fan (clicked continuously). Shipped back to them, they replaced with a 9600GT.

For OP consideration:
Core i7 920 + MSI X58 combo $454 - $20MIR
Crucial 3x2GB DDR3 $76

So for about $100 over the cost of the PhII system you can have an i7 build instead.

I know which I would choose...

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
When is the last time you had to return a card to the company - lol

in the past 8yrs for me ** thinks ** = zero

How many have you purchased? I sell computers, and buy video cards often. I will not buy Sapphire. In fact, lately I have gone Nvidia all the way, eVGA and XFX almost exclusively.


http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=31&threadid=2214235

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
When is the last time you had to return a card to the company - lol

in the past 8yrs for me ** thinks ** = zero

How many have you purchased? I sell computers, and buy video cards often. I will not buy Sapphire. In fact, lately I have gone Nvidia all the way, eVGA and XFX almost exclusively.


http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=31&threadid=2214235

My 9800 pro, 1900XTX (currently in this machine) o' my old MX 200, and my 4870 all still work flawless - i've never returned a card cause of overheating thus artifacts, but regardless the warranty with XFX is better than Sapphire, I just wouldn't call them crap :roll:

 

[polarbear6]

i would suggest palit
cause it has a dual fan IMO its noisy but would overclock good with two fans ...........

 

[Denithor]

Unless you plan to run F@H you're better off with the 1GB 4870 than the GTX 260/216.

And I would definitely go with the XFX card linked above versus the Sapphire you picked out. XFX offers the double lifetime warranty, one for as long as you own the card and then transferable to the next person who owns the card. Just make sure you register it when you buy to qualify for this program. That program increases the resell value of XFX cards above any others on the market.

 

[rustam]

Thanks for the advice, yeah think I'm gonna go with XFX then.

Why do you personally recommend the 4870 over the GTX 260 Denithor? Was looking at some gaming benchmarks and it looked like the GTX preformed slightly better.

What do you guys think of going with:
XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150329

 

[Denithor]

No real preference here, it's frankly a toss-up performance-wise. Look at the benchies, one performs better in certain games while the other wins in others. Pick whichever suits your gaming style better. Honestly you'll be happy either way.

 

[Zerohm]

Hey Rustam,
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I'm having trouble deciding between a handful of budget gaming CPUs. Let me preface by saying, I've never overclocked, but I'd like to with my next buy.

Quad- There are 3 CPUs that look like great deals to me:
Phenom II X4 920 - $180
Intel C2Q 6600 - $200
Phenom II X4 940 - $220

With each you get a ~10% increase in cost but also performance for high res FPS FPS (first person shooter frames per second lol) benchmarks. One drawback to the q6600 is that it uses the 65nm process. It's probably not going to be as good of an overclocker as the AMDs and it uses an older architecture. (I'm not one to upgrade CPUs though. I just build a decent system, use it for 3-4 years and then build a new one)

Now to complicate the matter, there are 2 dual core CPUs that average outstanding benchmark scores considering their price.
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 - $190
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - $165
They might actually be below your price range but they hang right with the Phenom II's in the scores I've seen

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

There is no reason to get a 65nm chip

Q9550 would be a good choice

 

[rustam]

Yeah I'd rather not go with the older intel chips. Q9550 is a good choice but its also expensive, not much cheaper than the i7 920. Problem with going with i7 is having to pay a lot more for the other components like the motherboard and memory.