Building a new system, anything I'm missing pre-order?

**Catering** · 2011-03-04, 07:02 PM

So I'm gonna take a crack at building a system. I know how, just never took the leap. I'm curious about some of my choices and what more experienced people think. I'm building what I think is a strong system now and apart from maybe CPU, should have plenty of room for upgrades (ram, another card in crossfire).

Case - all my friends recommend this case for spaciousness and pretty nice style
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119160

DVD Drive - Ignore, just a part of the system but I'm not needing anything extravagant.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204

500gb HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

Mobo - I hear good stuff about Asus, but shockingly most boards on newegg are 3-4 eggs. Egg ratings aside, looking for a good card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131402

Radeon HD 6950 - When games start to push this system, I should be able to crossfire another in. It's a newish card so should be around for a while
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121416

PSU - Newegg says an upgraded version of my build would use 887 watts (O_O), that's the system I'm listing here with 2 more 4gb sticks, a second hard drive (which I want to go SSD when that becomes appropriate) and a second 6950 potentially.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171049

Memory - 2x4gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233144

Windows 7 64bit

AMD 6core Phenom II black - From what I can read, most users won't use the additional 2 cores and games aren't using them, but that's only for now. the price on the chip is stellar and hard to pass up.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103849

I want to get an SSD later but the price per gb is stupid atm. That would be my "second" hard drive, later.

Thanks for your help

**Cantii** · 2011-03-04, 07:15 PM

Corsair HX 750 is all you will need for your setup, delivers enough amps for Crossfire/SLi of top end cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0&Tpk=hx%20750). Should go for a 1TB Caviar Black drive or a Samsung Spinpoint.

Newegg will say that you need a million watt power supply if it'll get you to buy it. A second 6950, 8GB more of RAM and an SSD + Mechanical drive isn't going to tax a solid 750W PSU. At max power draw, you might be pulling 500W, and it'll provide enough amps to power everything.

**llDemonll** · 2011-03-04, 07:57 PM

get a caviar black drive or samsung spinpoint f3

Deleted · 2011-03-04, 08:22 PM

The overall cost, which is over $1080, is too close to what you could spend on a setup with Intel's 2nd generation CPU. For less than $1000 you could get a system with just as much GPU performance, excellent CPU performance and more harddrive space.

Other things to consider, downgrade the case. There are plenty of good cases around ~$100 mark. If you're a first time builder, my guess is you've not overclocked your processor/gpu before. If you have then my apologies. Alot of cases offer decent airflow and good features for this price. Don't limit yourself to the expensive Cooler-Master case.

Secondly other GPUs to consider for cheaper are the 560TI or the 1GB of that card. Yes you can flash the 6950, but at the 1920x1080 resolution those cards can certainly handle anything you throw at them.

**nwo** · 2011-03-04, 08:35 PM

Honestly, an Antec TruePower TP-750 750W Continuous Power will be enough for a dual 6950 setup, assuming you flash them to a 6970. A Crossfire 6970 system uses only about 550W (not just the cards, the whole system). This leaves you with plenty of room for other upgrades and overclocking because just like the Corsair HX, the Antec True power is a high quality PSU that will have no problem delivering up to 750W of continuous power.

One of the major reasons I would recommend an i5 build over AMD hexa cores is because Intel's turbo boost is leaps and bounds ahead of AMD. Intel's turbo boost kicks in whenever you need it, regardless of how many cores you are using. The extra clock speed boost depends on your system temps, and not how many cores you are putting the load on. AMD's turbo boost on the other hand only works when you are using 3 cores or less, and it is a static increase of only (up to) 500MHz.

The other reason is that Intel i5 2500k is at least 30-50% faster in games than AMD's hexa cores. Best of all, it costs roughly the same as the AMD build you are looking at.

If you are primarily going to use your rig for gaming, then why sacrifice so much gaming power in hopes that games will start using more than 4 cores? In 3-5 years they might, but as of right now, most of them use 2, maybe 3 cores.

---------- Post added 2011-03-04 at 09:36 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Drudgery

Secondly other GPUs to consider for cheaper are the 560TI or the 1GB of that card. Yes you can flash the 6950, but at the 1920x1080 resolution those cards can certainly handle anything you throw at them.

The extra $30 or so is worth it if you are planning to flash it to a 6970. If not, go with the 1GB version or a 560TI, but just remember that you cannot flash the 1GB version.

**Catering** · 2011-03-05, 04:20 AM

Very helpful replies!

Originally Posted by Cantii

Corsair HX 750 is all you will need for your setup, delivers enough amps for Crossfire/SLi of top end cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0&Tpk=hx%20750). Should go for a 1TB Caviar Black drive or a Samsung Spinpoint.

Newegg will say that you need a million watt power supply if it'll get you to buy it. A second 6950, 8GB more of RAM and an SSD + Mechanical drive isn't going to tax a solid 750W PSU. At max power draw, you might be pulling 500W, and it'll provide enough amps to power everything.

Haha no surprise there. I was shocked at the 887 watt claim.. like floored but I trusted it lol. I've seen topend systems a few years old running on 650 and 700.. this isn't topend but it will be good. The aim is generally for new generations to be decreases, neutral-differs, or at worst the smallest increase they can justify. The ozone! The ozone!.

Originally Posted by llDemonll

get a caviar black drive or samsung spinpoint f3

As the above poster also said.. @both of you, I'll check thse out.

Originally Posted by Drudgery

The overall cost, which is over $1080, is too close to what you could spend on a setup with Intel's 2nd generation CPU. For less than $1000 you could get a system with just as much GPU performance, excellent CPU performance and more harddrive space.

Other things to consider, downgrade the case. There are plenty of good cases around ~$100 mark. If you're a first time builder, my guess is you've not overclocked your processor/gpu before. If you have then my apologies. Alot of cases offer decent airflow and good features for this price. Don't limit yourself to the expensive Cooler-Master case.

Secondly other GPUs to consider for cheaper are the 560TI or the 1GB of that card. Yes you can flash the 6950, but at the 1920x1080 resolution those cards can certainly handle anything you throw at them.

Any recommendations? The price differents of the two seems large in some areas. I've also heard that AMD Blacks are super friendly to nub overclocking where Intel is not, especially outside of their K series. Still irrelevant I know, because an overclocked turd is still just an overclocked turd, no matter how easy it was to do it. (Neither company is hardly turds, but you get it).

The only upgrade I've made to my current toaster is a decent NVidia card. I've overclocked it some, trying to make the best cake that a toaster can make. It is not impressive. =P

On the case--Everyone I know seems to really like it, and like i said in OP, it's spacious. Most of the good-feedback cases around $100 are mid-cases. As this is a first time for me, I want a case people seem happy with that should be most easy for me to work with.

Originally Posted by nwo

Honestly, an Antec TruePower TP-750 750W Continuous Power will be enough for a dual 6950 setup, assuming you flash them to a 6970. A Crossfire 6970 system uses only about 550W (not just the cards, the whole system). This leaves you with plenty of room for other upgrades and overclocking because just like the Corsair HX, the Antec True power is a high quality PSU that will have no problem delivering up to 750W of continuous power.

One of the major reasons I would recommend an i5 build over AMD hexa cores is because Intel's turbo boost is leaps and bounds ahead of AMD. Intel's turbo boost kicks in whenever you need it, regardless of how many cores you are using. The extra clock speed boost depends on your system temps, and not how many cores you are putting the load on. AMD's turbo boost on the other hand only works when you are using 3 cores or less, and it is a static increase of only (up to) 500MHz.

The other reason is that Intel i5 2500k is at least 30-50% faster in games than AMD's hexa cores. Best of all, it costs roughly the same as the AMD build you are looking at.

If you are primarily going to use your rig for gaming, then why sacrifice so much gaming power in hopes that games will start using more than 4 cores? In 3-5 years they might, but as of right now, most of them use 2, maybe 3 cores.

---------- Post added 2011-03-04 at 09:36 PM ----------

The extra $30 or so is worth it if you are planning to flash it to a 6970. If not, go with the 1GB version or a 560TI, but just remember that you cannot flash the 1GB version.

Nice, an intel recommendation,. 6 cores sounds pretty and everything but the biggest trap for me was i5 being a middleground CPU whereas intel's high end stuff is more realistically priced. I couldn't help but think, though probably wrong that the AMD would be better.

As a person said, this build sits right near $1100.. 13 is about my limit as the rest of tax money has other places to go. I've got plenty of cushion.

**Cantii** · 2011-03-05, 04:31 AM

**Catering** · 2011-03-05, 04:54 AM

Thanks Cantii.

It's kind of tough finding a good rated motherboard (in the $100-200 range). I haven't had this problem with anything else. It's easy to find 5 egg products with everything else, especially since a lot of 4 eggs are complaining about something like "Cons: PRICE PRICE PRICE".

Motherboards on the other hand.. people talking about ethernet going out, usb going out, "If I OC anything, it won't boot". No brand is immune to this. I realize that feedback is more likely to be complaints than positive because that's just how people are (moreso with hardcore gamers--when they're immersed in their game, playing every free hour, there's no time to say "Thanks, nice product").

Has anyone else noticed this though? Motherboards, even from otherwise good companies that people are happy with for other products (Intel, Asus, EVGA, MSI,

**Cantii** · 2011-03-05, 05:11 AM

Originally Posted by Catering

Thanks Cantii.

It's kind of tough finding a good rated motherboard (in the $100-200 range). I haven't had this problem with anything else. It's easy to find 5 egg products with everything else, especially since a lot of 4 eggs are complaining about something like "Cons: PRICE PRICE PRICE".

Motherboards on the other hand.. people talking about ethernet going out, usb going out, "If I OC anything, it won't boot". No brand is immune to this. I realize that feedback is more likely to be complaints than positive because that's just how people are (moreso with hardcore gamers--when they're immersed in their game, playing every free hour, there's no time to say "Thanks, nice product").

Has anyone else noticed this though? Motherboards, even from otherwise good companies that people are happy with for other products (Intel, Asus, EVGA, MSI,

Yeah, I've noticed that trend. However, when I look for a motherboard, the only time I really consider the bad reviews is when they out-number or are equal to the good reviews, that way I'd have a good idea of what I'd be getting in to if I bought it. Like when I bought my current one, the ASUS Sabertooth X58, I dwelt on the poor reviews it was receiving, even though the good outnumbered them. There were reports of heatsinks being loose, the board being DOA, bad ethernet port etc. I'm glad I didn't listen to them this is one badass board

Though generally I look for "official" reviews (such as from enthusiast mags like Maximum PC, or respected sites like tomshardware, guru3d etc.) and then go for the user reviews if there are any. That motherboard I linked you, the MSI P67A-GD65, is a solid board and has gotten many high reviews for the features it has, its performance and its price, I'm actually glad I can recommend something other than an ASUS

**iSythe** · 2011-03-05, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by Cantii

This one looks good. Its definately better then the AMD option you had. The difference is huge for the $30 extra you pay on the CPU and the i5 2500K is about as noob friendly as you can get for OCing a CPU.
1TB HDD is also def the ones you want to be looking at, at the moment. You only need to play a few extra $ for 500GB extra space.
If you wanna drop the price a little, only things i could see that you would wanna drop would be a little on the RAM(maybe just get 4GB for now and maybe cheaper case.

**Scoobasteve1226** · 2011-03-05, 07:32 AM

Originally Posted by Cantii

This, but I'd change your mobo to this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-682-_-Product

My reasoning?
Well, I've always found Asus to have better products. But also, watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBN-cBPs98
The first few minutes are helpful, but watch from 18 on. It self overclocks (Autotuning).

**spongebob** · 2011-03-05, 08:44 AM

Sythe do you think you could recommend any particular case that would do well with this build?
I'm pretty much piggybacking this thread because I was looking for a build with the revised motherboards.

I didn't wanna spend that much on a case - im not going SLI- and maybe wanted less ram also-

I've never built a PC before so I'm just concerned about cheaping out on a case and it not working out

**Catering** · 2011-03-05, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Scoobasteve1226

This, but I'd change your mobo to this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-682-_-Product

My reasoning?
Well, I've always found Asus to have better products. But also, watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBN-cBPs98
The first few minutes are helpful, but watch from 18 on. It self overclocks (Autotuning).

That video was super informative. An ASUS board is definitely what I'm going to buy. I enjoyed the whole thing.

@Spongebob, I know I've established that I'm a newbie to this stuff but I'm not going Crossfire (or SLI =P) either but it seems like a smart choice so that if the board you choose reaches a point it's no longer able to max settings, you can hopefully (so long as your software puts multiple cards to use) drop another card in. At the point that you need a second card, it should be pretty cheap.

Also, I've just heard some of these cards are really really long. lol

**Cantii** · 2011-03-05, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Scoobasteve1226

This, but I'd change your mobo to this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-682-_-Product

My reasoning?
Well, I've always found Asus to have better products. But also, watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBN-cBPs98
The first few minutes are helpful, but watch from 18 on. It self overclocks (Autotuning).

Well then, why doesn't everyone just buy Asus and all other companies go under? The P67A-G65 is a hell of a good board and costs a hell of a lot less than the P8P67-Pro for a lot of the same features and is also EQUAL IN PERFORMANCE to the P8P67, however it does have a slower SATA II/III interface but that's due to drivers at the time, which have improved and it's better this time around. It's also faster than the P8P67 in gaming.

The MSI board also has "Autotuning," OC Genie which is actually superior. Not only can you tweak it from within the operating syste, but you just have to press a button on the motherboard and you get instant 4.2 GHz overclock. One button. Before you even turn it on. One button. Unless you're going to be making extensive use of the built-in bluetooth, there is absolutely no reason why you should wait and spend more money for a couple extra features, MSI is a great company and they make fantastic motherboard unless, of course, you have that much of a hardon for Asus.

**Scoobasteve1226** · 2011-03-05, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by Cantii

Well then, why doesn't everyone just buy Asus and all other companies go under? The P67A-G65 is a hell of a good board and costs a hell of a lot less than the P8P67-Pro for a lot of the same features and is also EQUAL IN PERFORMANCE to the P8P67, however it does have a slower SATA II/III interface but that's due to drivers at the time, which have improved and it's better this time around. It's also faster than the P8P67 in gaming.

The MSI board also has "Autotuning," OC Genie which is actually superior. Not only can you tweak it from within the operating syste, but you just have to press a button on the motherboard and you get instant 4.2 GHz overclock. One button. Before you even turn it on. One button. Unless you're going to be making extensive use of the built-in bluetooth, there is absolutely no reason why you should wait and spend more money for a couple extra features, MSI is a great company and they make fantastic motherboard unless, of course, you have that much of a hardon for Asus.

I never said they weren't. Don't take my comment as a fanboy comment. And your sitting here bashing me for liking one company because of my use with them isn't needed. I just gave my opinion on why I like the Asus board. I never looked into the MSI one. I already have my parts list, and it happens the Asus one is in mine, and I felt it necessary to show others the autotuning. Also, watch the video. On the Asus board, you hit one button, and it took it all the way up to 4.84 ghz. 4.8 for one button press, or 4.2 for one button press? No offense, it sound like YOU'RE the fanboy.
But like I said, don't have to be a jackass.

---------- Post added 2011-03-05 at 08:48 AM ----------

Originally Posted by spongebob

Sythe do you think you could recommend any particular case that would do well with this build?
I'm pretty much piggybacking this thread because I was looking for a build with the revised motherboards.

I didn't wanna spend that much on a case - im not going SLI- and maybe wanted less ram also-

I've never built a PC before so I'm just concerned about cheaping out on a case and it not working out

I like the HAF932, but if that isn't in your price range, I can also recommend this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-097-_-Product
Another nice case, very good airflow, etc.

**Cantii** · 2011-03-05, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by Scoobasteve1226

I never said they weren't. Don't take my comment as a fanboy comment. And your sitting here bashing me for liking one company because of my use with them isn't needed. I just gave my opinion on why I like the Asus board. I never looked into the MSI one. I already have my parts list, and it happens the Asus one is in mine, and I felt it necessary to show others the autotuning. Also, watch the video. On the Asus board, you hit one button, and it took it all the way up to 4.84 ghz. 4.8 for one button press, or 4.2 for one button press? No offense, it sound like YOU'RE the fanboy.
But like I said, don't have to be a jackass.

You're right, I AM a fanboy. I'm a fanboy of making informed decisions. You never stated why YOU like the board, you clearly stated that the OP should wait, without a doubt, the this specific board when the board available is just as good for $40 less. I like ASUS as much as the next guy, hell I'm using an Asus X58 motherboard right now because it had the features I wanted for the right price. Do you know what makes the P8P67 Pro $40-$50 more than the P67A-GD65? Bluetooth. Yep, bluetooth, that's it. That sort of price is not justifiable for the features of the board.

Now, if the board came with, say, all Intel-based SATA III ports (instead of craptastic Marvell) and more USB 3.0 at the rear, it might be worth the premium. Hell, not even the front USB 3.0 headers are worth the extra premium. And the point of "just push one button and you get 4.2GHz" is that, if you read carefully, "before you turn the computer on." I.E. you don't need to even boot the computer to achieve the overclock, what could be simpler than that? If that's not enough, then just use the OC Genie software to crank it to 5GHz without messing with voltages or anything, it's just another click of the mouse.

$179 for all the same features as a $240 board, minus front USB 3.0 headers and bluetooth. Sounds like a better deal to me.

Edit: Wait, wait.. the P8P67 Pro DOES have a second gigabit Ethernet port...

**Alan1187** · 2011-03-05, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Catering

Nice, an intel recommendation,. 6 cores sounds pretty and everything but the biggest trap for me was i5 being a middleground CPU whereas intel's high end stuff is more realistically priced. I couldn't help but think, though probably wrong that the AMD would be better.

As a person said, this build sits right near $1100.. 13 is about my limit as the rest of tax money has other places to go. I've got plenty of cushion.

The i5 2500k out performs the AMD 6 core with stock clocks and overclocks. Plus most of the new mobos come with a 1 click OC button for noobs who want an OC CPU... AMD CPUs are behind intel, where did you hear otherwise?

Edit: also I currently use the P8P67 pro board, and it's great, but MSI does also make great mobos, when you pick a mobo it comes down to just the stuff that you need out of it. Such as how many PCIE slots it has, does it have your CPU socket, and will it have enough connectivity (usb's sata ect).

**Scoobasteve1226** · 2011-03-05, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Cantii

You're right, I AM a fanboy. I'm a fanboy of making informed decisions. You never stated why YOU like the board, you clearly stated that the OP should wait, without a doubt, the this specific board when the board available is just as good for $40 less. I like ASUS as much as the next guy, hell I'm using an Asus X58 motherboard right now because it had the features I wanted for the right price. Do you know what makes the P8P67 Pro $40-$50 more than the P67A-GD65? Bluetooth. Yep, bluetooth, that's it. That sort of price is not justifiable for the features of the board.

Now, if the board came with, say, all Intel-based SATA III ports (instead of craptastic Marvell) and more USB 3.0 at the rear, it might be worth the premium. Hell, not even the front USB 3.0 headers are worth the extra premium. And the point of "just push one button and you get 4.2GHz" is that, if you read carefully, "before you turn the computer on." I.E. you don't need to even boot the computer to achieve the overclock, what could be simpler than that? If that's not enough, then just use the OC Genie software to crank it to 5GHz without messing with voltages or anything, it's just another click of the mouse.

$179 for all the same features as a $240 board, minus front USB 3.0 headers and bluetooth. Sounds like a better deal to me.

Edit: Wait, wait.. the P8P67 Pro DOES have a second gigabit Ethernet port...

I thought it was only 20$ more. My bad.
But either way, just get the basic Asus board than. They all are basically the same thing. It just comes down to preference. And the reasoning I like asus is because I've always had good customer service/great parts off of them. Not once have any of my Asus products messed up. But my buddy have a video card that did, and he just sent it back and had a new one in two days. I found that quite nice. I never bought MSI, so I wouldn't know. I was just stating personal experience.

**Cantii** · 2011-03-05, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by Scoobasteve1226

I thought it was only 20$ more. My bad.
But either way, just get the basic Asus board than. They all are basically the same thing. It just comes down to preference. And the reasoning I like asus is because I've always had good customer service/great parts off of them. Not once have any of my Asus products messed up. But my buddy have a video card that did, and he just sent it back and had a new one in two days. I found that quite nice. I never bought MSI, so I wouldn't know. I was just stating personal experience.

MSI really is fantastic, I've never had any problems with them and they've always worked right out of the box. Their customer support has been pretty good whenever I needed to, and my Dad has nothing but good to say about MSI's RMA process. That said, for the longest time I hated ASUS because every board I got from them was DOA, or something didn't work and since that time, ASUS has come a long way for me and IMO they're equal to MSI in terms of quality. You really can't go wrong with either, but the MSI right now is less expensive and just as good without the frill of the Pro and Deluxe ASUS boards.

I'm actually considering upgrading my video card to one of those ASUS DirectCU 6950s or GTX 560 or 570, I've heard many good things about them, except they are kind of loud from what I've heard.

**Scoobasteve1226** · 2011-03-05, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cantii

MSI really is fantastic, I've never had any problems with them and they've always worked right out of the box. Their customer support has been pretty good whenever I needed to, and my Dad has nothing but good to say about MSI's RMA process. That said, for the longest time I hated ASUS because every board I got from them was DOA, or something didn't work and since that time, ASUS has come a long way for me and IMO they're equal to MSI in terms of quality. You really can't go wrong with either, but the MSI right now is less expensive and just as good without the frill of the Pro and Deluxe ASUS boards.

I'm actually considering upgrading my video card to one of those ASUS DirectCU 6950s or GTX 560 or 570, I've heard many good things about them, except they are kind of loud from what I've heard.

I was considering the Asus 6950, so I could flash it, but I decided otherwise. First because I'm too lazy.. Second, because I saw this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814261099
Always was more of a Nvidia kinda guy, so I liked it better XD

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