Building a new computer

[Kini]

So as the title says by the end of the month I'm hoping to build myself a new budget gaming rig to tide me over till I have more money and bulldozer comes out. This isn't the first rig I've built, but I was hoping on some input on the parts I've chosen. My budget was about 900 including parts I already bought(PSU) and Windows 7.

Mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

My constraints weren't much for the mobo, I just want something that works and is cheap really. I've only had one experience from ASUS and it was a bad one, but this motherboard seemed to have the best ratings for a product with many buyers. Not really worried about USB3 or SATA 6gbs, or crossfire for that matter. I've still got a while to change my mind on whether I want those 2 or crossfire on a cheap motherboard considering theres only a 1 dollar difference.

Here's the alternate mobo I'm speaking of: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131651

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

I originally wanted a hex core cpu, but quickly realized that it would only be useful in bragging rights. I'm a reasonable person who just wants cheap performance for gaming and for school, Photoshop and Flash. I was originally going to go with the 970 but it came into mine that .2 Ghz increase from the the previous step wasn't going to impact my gaming much, and then I even read in a previous post here that the 955 was a better value then that, so I settled on this.

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189
Ram here is my biggest concern, I don't normally rely on the QVL on ASUS boards, but I felt that I should take it into consideration and the only one I could find on that list that newegg had in stock was that kit. I figure it should be good, but I did see a bad review from someone with the same board. I was thinking of finding something else but I'm not quiet sure, maybe even go for 8 gigs if I can squeeze some extra cash out of other obligations and into my computer budget. I would really like some input about the mobo/ram combination I've chosen, preferably from someone who has this mobo and a stable system at their rams advertised latency.

Graphics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102898
Does what I want it to do, and cheaply. Not really looking to try the 6000 series, couldn't find one near the same price as this 5770 that provided the same performance. Might have not looked hard enough, but this is why I'm asking for help.

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Just needed a simple hard drive with plenty of space for movies and music, was thinking of a small SSD for booting Windows 7 but that can be saved for much much later.

Optical drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Again, just needed something simple. Was thinking of getting a bluray drive considering they are pretty cheap right now but not cheap enough I think.

Chassis: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068
Full tower was a must, I wanted something that was going to have plenty of space to work in and add parts to later.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018&Tpk=OCZ Modxstream pro 700w
Bought this part already on impulse, got it to convince myself that I was going to go through with this and that no matter what I would be building myself a computer.

Thanks for at least reading this far, and if you have any ideas on better parts that would still fit in my budget I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Here are my recommendations:

Mobo: All have usb 3.0, sata 6gb/s, and 2 pcie x16 slots

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m3_motherboard_usb_3.0-_-13-157-198-_-Product

2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (Single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m3_motherboard_usb_3.0-_-13-130-297-_-Product

2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m3_motherboard_usb_3.0-_-13-131-647-_-Product

2 PCIe 2.0 x16 Slots (blue@ x16 mode, black@ x4 mode)

I really like the ASRock, but I wish it had a 3 year warranty like the others as opposed to 1 year. Beyond that, the dual x16 slots on the msi is nice and the price is good after rebate. The Asus has 2 pcie x16 slots though one is at x4 (though performance should not be drastically lower). I recommend 2 as that will give you the ability to crossfire in the future. USB 3.0 and sata 6gb/s are pretty standard now for future proofing so I would def recommend those as well as they come on even the cheaper mobos.

Ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...65&cm_re=4gb_1600_ddr3-_-20-178-265-_-Product

ddr3 1600, still cas 8, cheaper after rebate

Graphics:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515&cm_re=6850-_-14-150-515-_-Product

6000 series is a must...this card is $5 more after rebate and the performance will blow the 5770 away. Also, the rear exhausting fan will help with case temps.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-review/14

Here is a nice comparison in warhead...37 vs 27 fps

BFBC2...38 vs 28 fps

Hard Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...85&cm_re=spinpoint_1tb-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Save yourself the money...these perform excellent.

Beyond that, I like your cpu and case (which is always preference though). Hope these are helpful.

 

[reflex99]

1. That mobo is a VERY good choice. Given the price it is, I have been recommending it all month now.

2. 955, 965, and 970 all OC pretty much the same. 955 is the best choice

3. That ram is fine, and a pretty good deal too

4. I love my Phantom. Really nice case.

5. Now we come to the only thing i can critique about your build. The PSU. The modXstreem isn't exactly known for it's reliability. It isn't a bad PSU by any measure, but there are much better options. Like the Antec TruePower New 550. Based off seasonic design (very similar to the S12II). Much better regulation and ripple suppresion than anything that OCZ can make, and a better value overall.

Even if you get a second 5770, 550w will be more than enough.


@huckle, The mobo he posted in the OP is better than any of the ones that you posted. 790X chipset > 870 by a long shot.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Where is this info from reflex? I see chipset making little real world difference. Features on the other hand are quite important. As well as the mobo itself.

Ram is decent but there is better.

PSU was already bought or I would have recommended something better.

 

[reflex99]

790 has always OCed better than 870. I really don't have a source other than personal experience.

I've owned a gigabyte 790X board, and benched on a few 770 boards as well as a 870 board. The 790 chipset is more stable at higher clocks.

The only thing you gain in the options you posted is USB3 and sata6, but who even uses either of those? Even if you did, add-in cards can be had for less than $30.

Also the board he posted has heatsinked 8 phase design. Major plus in my book, especially running 125w parts.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

Why add them in later when all the new ones come with them now. Seems stupid to get an older model because it is older and you have had better experience with it. I doubt this board will be used for massive overclocks considering a custom heatsink has not been mentioned in here. Though I'm sure the 870 can run a decent overclock....not everyone does benches. Most people just want a decent oc for 24/7 use.

 

[reflex99]

Better OCs while benching usually translate to better OCs for every day use.

 

[Kini]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150515&cm_re=6850-_-14-150-515-_-Product
6000 series is a must...this card is $5 more after rebate and the performance will blow the 5770 away. Also, the rear exhausting fan will help with case temps.

Not sure if I'm willing to trust XFX, had some quality control issues with their 5000 series card. I may take a stab at the sapphire version though. Gonna see how much some car repairs I'm gonna have done are going to cut into my money, but if it's not much I may switch to that card.

It does seem that samsung has been killing WD in price:quality but reading the reviews for their 1tb makes me think they are having some production issues lately due to demand and I'm not sure I like the 50% failure rate I'm seeing.

The ram you posted is looking like a good deal too, might try it if moneys good.

@Reflex, as I said I've already bought the ocz psu. I understand that the output is a bit overkill but when I got it I was thinking of a more powerful computer, then car repairs cut into my budget. As far as reliability goes, I bought OCZ power supplies for years and all of them are still running, maybe I'm just lucky, let's hope I still am.

 

[Ph?bus]

I have an XFX 6850. No quality issues to report. I'd recommend one, they're great value for <$200.

 

[reflex99]

XFX pretty much fixed the QC issues. Their 6850s are much better than the bad-batch 4890s

 

[Mr.Game]

XFX Double Lifetime Warranty > Other Warranties


I'm not entirely sure, but wouldn't 4GB sort of be the bottleneck to the rest of the system? (I'm not saying to get it right now, you can always upgrade/add it later)

 

[a pet rock]

4GB of RAM won't be a problem right now. The only place you would see a noticeable difference is in benches that are RAM intensive, not in actual gameplay. This will change eventually, and it's impossible to know when, but if the idea of buying more RAM now for future use sounds good to you then that's fine. I just imagine that by the time 8GB is the standard, there will be some other big change, such as DDR4 or different amounts of channels.

 

[Kini]

XFX Double Lifetime Warranty > Other Warranties


I'm not entirely sure, but wouldn't 4GB sort of be the bottleneck to the rest of the system? (I'm not saying to get it right now, you can always upgrade/add it later)

4gb a bottleneck? this is a budget build I've never seen a gaming system need more then that unless it was used for heavy editing.