New computer

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JunK

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So i have caved and i am going to build myself a new computer, a quad core computer. Yes yes i know, i was all hardcore about not needing a quad core, but i really want dragon age and it has up to a 75% boost in performance for quad cores!! So games are starting to utilize the quads, and since im upgrading anyway, i might as well go all out.

just so ya know, the parts are not really negotiable im just listing what im buying/bought.

Case
CPU (might just get the 955 and overclock higher, save myself 15 bucks)
Mobo (might get the FX instead, in case i want to crossfire later)
PSU
GPU
RAM will be whatever, probably 1333 at lowest possible timings. no big deal, 4 GB most likely. no need for 8, and amd doesn't have triple channel so...ya.

thats it for the new parts, except cooling products. that is where i will need some assistance. i need to find a good am3 socket cpu cooler for not over 100 bucks (50-70 preferred) in order to get that processor up to 3.8-4 ghz.
shouldn't be too bad tho, this case is amazing air flow. right now i have 7 fans inside at only 120mm (can hold 4x 140mm) and its keeping everything nice and low.
 
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Get this HAF 922 case on sale QUICKLY!!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=HAF-_-11-119-197-_-Product

The CPU, stick with the 965 i kinda forgot but i remember reading something on the 955 hitting a brick wall when trying to OC past like 3.7 or 3.8........it was either the 965 or 955 that hit a brick wall when OC'ing.

For your mobo, get one that does x16/x16 when you crossfire and i personally think Asus makes some of the best MOBO's out right now. Yea you should go 790FX
 
Wow! Amazing deal on that PSU. I have that exact same PSU, however, I do wish I got the modular version of it.
 
ya i could have gotten the haf 922 but i didn't, because i hate the look of it. i like my cases to be subtle and not flashy or bulky looking. this one cools just as well as that tho too. also ya i know the 955 can't OC as much as the 965, but thats ok, at my local store i can pick up a 965 for 215 CDN.
also that PSU is great, i got it at my local store for 125 CDN which is actually really good price here. its a beast of a PSU, very long cords (tho still easy to manage) and this thing runs so freaking cool its unreal. i knew it would be good because corsair is great for PSUs, but it blew me away with how cool it runs.
 
PewPewBangBang said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817611009&Tpk=tuniq ripper
I got this PSU which can't be beaten for the price. Had a better rebate when i bought it, i got it for only $80. 1000w for $80!!!!

The quality is there and everything and its quiet and all too, plenty of connections and all that and its stable. Im happy with the purchase and so were many others :)
Got good reviews from websites also
Click to expand...

Build quality is mediocre, it is not modular, voltage regulation is mediocre at best, and ripple suppression is only decent. It does have pretty good efficiency going for it though.

But wait a minute...1000W for $99? That's crazy good, even though it is rather lacking in the quality department.
 
FreakingHell said:
Build quality is mediocre, it is not modular, voltage regulation is mediocre at best, and ripple suppression is only decent. It does have pretty good efficiency going for it though.

But wait a minute...1000W for $99? That's crazy good, even though it is rather lacking in the quality department.
Click to expand...

yea exactly......and i got it for $80, i was like.....can't pass this up and i picked one up.

Its TRI-sli certified and all that so i was like ehh and the quality isn't terrible....i'd say a bit above average, of course nothing like a corsair but its also like half the price of one and gets the job done.

Powers my Q6600 @ 3.6 nicely and hopefully a soon to be 5970, atleast when prices drop to around $300-400
 
PewPewBangBang said:
yea exactly......and i got it for $80, i was like.....can't pass this up and i picked one up.

Its TRI-sli certified and all that so i was like ehh and the quality isn't terrible....i'd say a bit above average, of course nothing like a corsair but its also like half the price of one and gets the job done.

Powers my Q6600 @ 3.6 nicely and hopefully a soon to be 5970, atleast when prices drop to around $300-400
Click to expand...

lol good luck with that, I don't think they will go down in price for quite some time.
 
Heh, my new Corsair HX750 is gonna be ballin.

Got it for $124 after bing and rebates from zipzoomfly, modular and silver effeciency PSU ftw.
 
The Tempest said:
lol good luck with that, I don't think they will go down in price for quite some time.
Click to expand...

yea i know htey wont.....thats y im gonna wait, its gonna go down when the new Fermi GPU cards come out next year, add a couple months to that and thats when the 5970 will start hitting $300-400 probably....almost exactly the same as 4870x2 basically
 
shadows5631 said:
Why don't you save $50 and get the 940 and easily overclock it to 3.4?
Click to expand...

thats a whole nother thing. can i or should i do that instead of getting the 965?? it will save me some cash, which im all for, but how great is this CPU. i would like to have it sit probably at least 3.6....
im already running a phenom ii x2 550 BE except its only running at its base 3.1 ghz. for some reason anytime i try to overclock it the slightest amount, steam doesn't work at all. I was thinking if i got a more overclock friendly mobo maybe that would stop? i dunno but it shouldn't stop working. anyway im going to be getting the 5850 in a couple weeks, and will be saving the cpu/mobo/ram for another time when money is more dispensable. i was looking to get a good am2+/am3 socket cpu cooler tho, hoping i could overclock my current one to around 3.5-3.6 and say screw steam.
would the 940 be that much of a step up from what i currently have if it was running at a lower speed? i was thinking since im upgrading, i might as well UPgrade

edit: still need suggestions on great am2+/am3 socket cpu coolers. anything under 100 bucks should be good
 
JunK said:
thats a whole nother thing. can i or should i do that instead of getting the 965?? it will save me some cash, which im all for, but how great is this CPU. i would like to have it sit probably at least 3.6....
im already running a phenom ii x2 550 BE except its only running at its base 3.1 ghz. for some reason anytime i try to overclock it the slightest amount, steam doesn't work at all. I was thinking if i got a more overclock friendly mobo maybe that would stop? i dunno but it shouldn't stop working. anyway im going to be getting the 5850 in a couple weeks, and will be saving the cpu/mobo/ram for another time when money is more dispensable. i was looking to get a good am2+/am3 socket cpu cooler tho, hoping i could overclock my current one to around 3.5-3.6 and say screw steam.
would the 940 be that much of a step up from what i currently have if it was running at a lower speed? i was thinking since im upgrading, i might as well UPgrade

edit: still need suggestions on great am2+/am3 socket cpu coolers. anything under 100 bucks should be good
Click to expand...

Get either the Prolimatech Mega Shadow/Megahalem or the new Noctua NH-D14.

The new Noctua NH-D14 outperforms the Megahalem as it is newer and supports a better fan configuration. If you get the Noctua with 3 fans......you'll be getting the best air-cooling out there now. The Megahalem is 2nd to the Noctua now.

The noctua does 120mm-140mm-120mm.....outside fans are 120mm and the middle one is 140mm, it comes with a 120 and a 140 so all u need to do is buy another 120mm and you have the best air-cooling available.
 
wow. ok if i keep both of my side panel fans in (which i prefer) i have about 125mm from the base of my motherboard, out to touch the fan. if i take it out i'll have about 1 inch more or up to 150mm. some of these freaking coolers pop out like mad crazy, thats just insane.
im searching around and i don't actually notice anything my local store carries either. maybe i'll just go there or email them and have them send me a list of all the cpu coolers they have. however i know they can order components from anywhere, so it isn't that big of an issue
 
JunK said:
wow. ok if i keep both of my side panel fans in (which i prefer) i have about 125mm from the base of my motherboard, out to touch the fan. if i take it out i'll have about 1 inch more or up to 150mm. some of these freaking coolers pop out like mad crazy, thats just insane.
im searching around and i don't actually notice anything my local store carries either. maybe i'll just go there or email them and have them send me a list of all the cpu coolers they have. however i know they can order components from anywhere, so it isn't that big of an issue
Click to expand...

okay......the Noctua NH-D14 is ridiculous, it's like 2 separated coolers with a fan in the middle and 2 outside if u get a 3rd fan. It kinda like the Cooler Master V10 but the placement is a bit different.

http://pcshoptalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24669&garpg=4
 
ok i actually have more like 146mm before the cooler would hit my fan, but that is from the surface of my motherboard, so maybe like 140mm? i dunno, hard to measure precisely, but ya, that is too big

edit: was thinking along the lines of, http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223
should have lots of room and by the reviews it should keep a 940-955-965 quite cool
 
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JunK said:
ok i actually have more like 146mm before the cooler would hit my fan, but that is from the surface of my motherboard, so maybe like 140mm? i dunno, hard to measure precisely, but ya, that is too big

edit: was thinking along the lines of, http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223
should have lots of room and by the reviews it should keep a 940-955-965 quite cool
Click to expand...

Take a look at this site for the best AMD heatsinks..........
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

scroll down to the AMD reviews and they rate the top 10 heatsinks for temperature and top 10 for low-noise
 
thank you. also upon looking into the 940 i noticed it is only am2+ compatible, and not am3. well that would save me from getting an am3 board, but i already have an am3 processor. however it would also save me from getting ddr3. but again since im UPgrading i might as well UPgrade. i was looking to overclock my phII x2 550 (have it sitting at a cool/stable 3.5 ghz now, load temp 55c) and put it with an am3 board/ddr3 ram (1333 most likely) and eventually get a 955 for overclock, or 965 125w.
so just for the record, 940 is out because i don't want to stick with am2+/ddr2

edit: grrr. unless it wouldn't be that big of a performance boost going from am2+ to am3. i could easily get a 940 now and use it with my current board/ram. and run on my current 2 gb ram until i get my 64 bit windows 7. hrm decisions decisions.
any suggestions or what big differences are on am2+ vs am3? i know that the HT will run at 3600 instead of 4000 in am2+, but that doesn't seem like a big deal. and the ram difference would be very minimal if noticeable at all for gaming
 
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double post yes - what i think im going to do in order to save myself some bucks is get a new am2+ board with 790fx and SB750 and see how high i can overclock my 550. if my numbers still can't really compare to a similar rated 940 then i'll grab up the quad 940 and see how high i can OC that beast. this way i can keep my current ram which is plenty decent, but eventually upgrade it.
i figure i'll save myself the expense of needing to get ram right away if i get an am3 board (which will be more expensive as well) by getting another am2+. as well i'll save myself some cash by getting a 940 rather than 955/965 since i looked it over and they are the same processor, just difference in speeds which i can make up from OCing.
I may just stick with my 550 if i can OC it enough however, because really the only thing i see getting a quad for ATM is dragon age but if i can get the speeds up enough, i should be able to live with this processor for much longer than needed.
i will be getting a 5850 in a couple weeks tho, so that will up my graphics power significantly, and i'll be able to play any game i want mostly maxed out, being able to experience the amazing detail i've yet to see with most games.

in the end this will basically save me hundreds of dollars since i'll save 50+ on the mobo, 100+ on ram and if i don't get the 940 right away and can live with my x2 550, 175 for that.
 
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