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What I am thinking so farMobo:ASRock B75ProCPU:intel i5-2310RAM:crucial 4x2Gb DDR3 1600PS:FSP Aurum Gold 400Case:some cougar thing ive never heard of. But midsize, PS on bottom, not obnoxious, usb3.0 on front panel (faces forward) so yayaaand old crap moving into new buildGPU: Radeon 6750HD: Hitachi 1TBthanks guys, all opinions welcome. Not building this until I move and get a paycheck so im just starting to watch for price fluxuations.Also I know alot of you people here are big AMD fans but after reading this article I stopped consideration immediatelySpoiler: this is a direct quote from the conclusions "As such, we're almost-shockingly left without an AMD CPU to recommend at any price point." loledit:after talking with the choopaloopa I realized that I made some mistakes here. The powersupply, if Im going to go gold, should be closer to the 450 or 500W mark to allow for upgrading of video cards. Additionally, maybe I should just go upgrade the video card straight up. Thinking 560 Ti which can be nabbed for 200 on amazon right now including rebate. see below -
I wish I knew more about building PC's. I've been using a mac for the past 6 years so I basically just know that a bigger screen means a more powerful computer =x -
Yeah that power supply is no good. get a 700+ watt and you can upgrade all you want and not worry about drawing more power than your psu can give. and yeah video cards are worth investing more into. im using a 6850 and already im starting to struggle a bit on some games -
I'm a big AMD fan, they're cheaper and they do perform just as well as Intel despite what that article says. -
Hi Lucig3n,
I enjoy building custom systems, I do anywhere from 3 to 5 a month. Few friendly recommendations -
A. Power Supply
I'd definitely recommend going with at minimum a 500W with that build, and avoid a 400W one. This is one area in a custom build you do not want to skimp out on and short cut yourself. If you go with a 500W, I'd recommend a quality brand such as Thermaltake or Corsair so you know your getting a guaranteed 500W. With other brands, I'd recommend going with a 600 to 700W - just because the rule of thumb with them is most times you will not be able to use what they are rated up to. Such as a 700W one your lucky to get maybe 500W out of.
B. Radeon 6750
I'd recommend tossing some money into a new card.Go with a 6850 or 6870, if your on a limited budget. The problem I see with the 6750, it's 128-bit. It has the 1GB RAM, decent clock and processors; however you will be amazed at the difference between a 128-bit card and a 256-bit+. With the 6850 or 6870, your increasing both the clock and processors slightly, however the largest change is the bit size which will give you dramatic increases. Also down the road it wouldn't cost an arm or a leg to purchase a second card for cross-fire. However if you plan on this, make sure to get a mobo that has the proper PCI Express slots.
C. CPU
I'm with Kyle, I'm an AMD supporter. I do build some with Intel, however for my own personal systems I use AMD. For the price and what you get, they cannot be beat. Honestly, if your other hardware is up to par, they are beasts.
D. Memory
What's with selected RAM with no heatsinks?
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I've been building my own computers for years now Lucigen and my over all issue with what you've chosen so far, and is a common mistake by new builders is that they try to go cheap on important components. In the long run you can build a computer that will last you years if you buy the right components. For example I picked up my 1200W PSU about 4-5 years ago, and although it was expensive the thing will be good in any system I put it into until either 1. It dies, or 2. We change power connectors (which is unlikely). I also wouldn't buy from lesser known brands. They may be cheaper but coverage is worse. I don't think I have a single component besides the CPU in my system that does not come with a lifetime warranty.
For the PSU I highly suggest going with something from Corsair since their PSUs have been top notch for the last several years. Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020
will treat you much better than what ever the hell brand that other PSU is, and also has a high enough wattage to power what you'll throw at it. Remember 80+ means its 80% efficient, so you're guaranteed that it will be able to put out 80% of its wattage rating.
For the CPU, I'm an Intel guy. AMD doesn't often have SLI support which is a big no no for me. If you get an AMD CPU and you want to go dual GPU down the line you'll have to go ATI.
And for the GPU I'm a nVidia guy. ATI has had issues, and continues to have issues with drivers and optimization. nVidia although they have the same issues with games upon their release they're usually fixed sooner. Generally when I build I go with EVGA for my GPUs because it has a double life time warranty which means the person I sell the cards to will also have the life time warranty. Its been a while since I bought a card, but I did RMA them two GPUs (GTX 280s) about a year and a half ago, maybe 2 years ago and they sent me back brand new GTX 470s as replacements.
For memory Corsair, Mushkin, G Skill, Patriot, and Kingston are all good. Avoid everyone else.
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rbeldessi said:For memory Corsair, Mushkin, G Skill, Patriot, and Kingston are all good. Avoid everyone else.
He mentioned Crucial, which is one of the best premium RAM brands. Not sure why they are not on your list. However I would recommend going with some with heatsinks installed, such as Crucial Ballistix.
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Alright hooray we have some commentary. i've modified my build significantly since day 1 of research (the OP).PS: yea I was considering the experiement with aurum but F that, I've used a number of Corsairs as well, so this is the new plan. Not gold cert but still a little happier than my current inefficient bastard. I dislike the concept of getting a higher wattage PS tho because from my experience, the closer they are operating at maximum efficiency (atleast with most of the ones Ive ever made)GPU: bloodbath I love your commentary on this, thanks for that. Typically I've swapped out cards a number of times before replacing the entire system. However I think I found a buyer for my old card already so it might be time to step it up. Looking for around 200-250 card, any suggestions gents? Also on the topic of sli/crossfire... at what point does that become economical. Ive always just swapped out cards because otherwise you have to have the cost of a better ps,mobo, and 2 cards as opposed to just 1 newer card. Ive never had 2 cards as a result, but at what budget is this a feasible solution now?CPU: its already a bit overkill but I still like this or the 2400 and thats not going to changeRAM: crucial has always been awesome for me. Ive had trouble with patriot and kingston before but crucial and gskill have always been top tier in my book. Didnt look into it a whole lot though, Blood you mention heat sinks... Im not planning on OCing this system ever, and i have never had a problem with RAM overheating. Im not convinced for this level of computer that heatsinks do anything, especially since I have a ridiculous number of fans at my disposal to get the airflow exactly how I want italright guys, thoughts round 2: GO! -
PSU - Excellent choice with the Corsair 500W. You don't need more than that, for the system your going for. Also I completely forgot to mention Antec which is the brand I use - however Corsair and Antec are basically identical when it comes to quality. One good thing about the brand, if you require an upgrade and need to sell it, it'll hold it's value nicely and help fund a new one.
GPU - No problem, glad you enjoyed it. Anyone who keeps up with technology, knows that advancements are being made faster than ever. This means hardware is being outdated at the same rate. Because of that, I do the same as you. Upgrade hardware and video cards until it's at the point where you simply need to build a fresh system. It's also easier that way, so you can simply sell off your old hardware without it being so old that it has no value. Instead, it helps fund the upgrade and makes it more justifiable. The only time it's economical to go with SLI/Crossfire in my honest opinion, is if your requiring more video power however are unable to afford a single top tier card. In this case, you purchase a second card which gives you the needed boost. For example, I run a single MSI 6870 Hawk right now. This card is holding up extremely well, but I could use a bit more power. So if I were upgrade now I'd either choose to go cross-fire with two MSI 6870 Hawks, or jump up to a top tier card such as a 7950 or 7970. Also cross-fire and SLI is mostly convenient for those who have the proper PSU and mobo already. If not, that's extra costs involved in upgrading to support it. So at that point, it might be more worthy to simply buy a top tier card and call it good. For $200-250 range, I'd recommend the 7850. Not gaining to much when it comes to the clock and processors, however your gaining 256-bit plus 2GB.
CPU - Intel i5 is definitely a beast. We have servers using the 2500s. Just curious, have you considered AMD FX Eight-Cores? Same price or even less, your able to go up to 8 cores plus 8MB L2/L3 cache, 32nm. That's a nice looking 24.8GHz of CPU power sitting in a desktop. With the 3.6 CPU it's nearly 30GHz. Just curious is all.
RAM - I never really had problems with my Patriot or Kingston RAM in the past, but I do use Crucial Ballistix in my systems right now - works amazingly well. Just like anything, having the heatsinks ensures the best possible performance possible from your RAM and extend it's lifetime. It's just like most parts, there's heat being dispensed from the hardware - even RAM - so the heatsinks help remove that, and then allows your fans/coolers to do the rest. It's not there to look fancy (although most do look very badass), it's there to give the heat somewhere to go. I always thought the teeth designs on the heatsink were awesome - it's what my Ballistix ones look like - since the air can travel between the teeth, to cool it even faster.
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bloodbath about Crucial I just forgot it for what ever reason. I was looking at it, and just didn't put it in the list.
As far as the GPU you goes right now there is no reason to drop a ton of cash on a top tier card from either ATI or nVidia. Games aren't being released that push the cards to their maximum limits. I haven't bought a game I couldn't almost max on a single GTX470, and certainly not on 2 470's since I got them. It's mostly a result of the current console generation just being old. I suggest looking into a GTX560. You can push good FPS for any game with one of those. You'll be close to maxing out most games, there are a few I can think of that will be hard such as Metro 2033, how ever that is also probably the nicest looking game out, and has a few optimization issues as a result of it also being one of the first DX11 games out. If you get a motherboard that leaves you open for SLI support later down the road then you can just pickup a second GPU to give yourself that boost if games happen to make a leap in the next few years. Essentially if the new console generation are powerhouses then games will take a leap.
You might be currently better off not purchasing a new GPU, at least right away, and then sinking the extra cash into a better motherboard, CPU, and PSU seeing as those are the 3 main components that determine how upgradeable your system is, and you want them to last. Then in 6 months or so when the midtier cards for the 600 series have rolled out, like the GTX 660 you could take a look at those, or the top tier 500 series card or the ATI equivalent at the time.
Note: If the motherboard you pickup has dual-GPU support, just as an upgrade path for later I highly suggest you buy a GPU based on whether its Crossfire or SLI just to leave that upgrade path available.
Also why get an 8-core for a home desktop? We don't have great multi-threading support for games... You're better off with faster and fewer cores as a result of most games only supporting dual threads, there are a very limited few who support quad, and none I can think of that support 8. The 8 core CPUs really are for things like CUDA, or Premier, how ever with GPU acceleration support for most software like that, the usefulness of the 8 core is questionable there as well. It's only worth it if the clock speeds are faster, and the CPU is cheaper.
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GPU - rbeldessi im not really in any rush to build this thing, and as of now the 6750 is doing rather well. I was thinking about a 570 but if theres a new line of cards on the horizon maybe I should wait for those to come out and hope the older stuff dropped in price. I am still not convinced though that dual GPU is really an economical choice (especially if you are selling the old card).CPU - im not an 8 core guy. Primary purpose of this thing is for games, and the serious number crunching it will have to do isnt significant enough to spend more on specifically for it. Honestly I still am kinda considering the i3s which do awesome by the stats.PS - awesome, I liked it too :PRAM - Patriot failed when i was playing bf2142, and ive had 2 kingstons conk out on me randomly. Ill look around a little more though as per the suggestion. As i said, I really didnt do much work on the RAM for the OP -
Well the 6 series is already out, its just that the mid tier cards (the GTX 650 and GTX 660) haven't been released yet. I'd assume the GTX570 will drop even further in price. The reason to have a mobo with SLI or Crossfire isn't to go for dual GPU right away, its to upgrade to it later down the road. Depending on the game it is a nice 20-35% boost in power allowing you to crank up things like AA and AF with little to no FPS hit. Its nice to have as an option later because you can really extend the longevity of your build. I managed to not have to upgrade for 3 generations of graphics cards just because I had 2 GTX 280s, and I could had probably gone longer but they burnt out when my old mobo literally melted. EVGA how ever was nice enough to replace my 5 year old parts all for free with brand new stuff.
