Building my first rig

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banshee43

New Member
i have never built a computer from components but i am familiar with them and what is required from each one. if this wont build properly or if you have a better idea please let me know.

i was thinking for the Case - COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer SGC-1000-KWN1
with an additional 200mm Cooler Master fan on the top

Graphics - GIGABYTE GV-N430-2GI GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Processor - AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD

Hard Drive - Western Digital AV-GP WD5000AUDX 500GB IntelliPower 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"


i am about to select my ram but i am finding it difficult to find ram that functions with my mobo. any sugestions? also what is the deal with ram timing? also if you have any suggestions for better cooling and case designs. that would be much appreciated! thanks in advance!!
 
claptonman

claptonman

New Member
What's your total budget? You're still missing a power supply and an operating system.

The 430 is a rather low-end card, so if you want to do a lot of gaming, that would not be the right one for you.

For the RAM, you want the lowest possible timings at 1.5v. But seeing that you have a limited budget, I would suggest these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161474

I guarantee those would work with your motherboard.
 
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banshee43

New Member
My total budget is around $800

I was checking the cheapest adequate build first, then I was going to optimize the important parts.

What are the details of motherboards that set them apart from each other?

I was thinking of having 8GB of ram, there’s no need to skimp with something like that! ☺
Something like CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800).
 
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claptonman

claptonman

New Member
Well, first of all, I would get an aftermarket CPU cooler. A phenom II quad will outperform that FX stock. Only way it will beat it is by overclocking. Here's a build list:

Your motherboard is fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...BYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240&Tpk=coolermaster storm enforcer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103962

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134131

Total: $812

You will still need windows, unless you already have an unused copy. There are a number of things you can downgrade, and there are so many choices. This is just one example.
 
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banshee43

New Member
What is the difference between the AMD Phenom II X6 and the AMD FX?
never mind figured that one out duhhhh!!
i was thinking the AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz would i even need to mess around with an OC on that??
 
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wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
The FX-8150 is not a true 8 core design, it is more related to HT on a quad core design and not a very good one at that. Basically it has 8 1/2 ores set in 4 sets of 2.

the Phenom II x6 actually has 6 full cores, all be it not a great design.
 
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banshee43

New Member
wolfeking said:
The FX-8150 is not a true 8 core design, it is more related to HT on a quad core design and not a very good one at that. Basically it has 8 1/2 ores set in 4 sets of 2.

the Phenom II x6 actually has 6 full cores, all be it not a great design.
Click to expand...

Do I sense an Intel bias?

PS I havnt even looked at an intel based system. I am still in the beginning stages of looking
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
banshee43 said:
PS I havnt even looked at an intel based system. I am still in the beginning stages of looking
Click to expand...
If you want an Intel CPU, may I recommend an i5 2500K? I have one now overclocked to 4.5GHz with an aftermarket cooler (Freezer 13) and it seems stable enough. Temps are around 40-50C at 60-70% load. This CPU overclocks like crazy and even at stock is a great performer. Price wise, the 2500K is $220, so it's $70 more than the FX-6100, but I think it may be worth it.

If that's too expensive, there's always the i5 2400 which is $190 and the i5 2300 which is $180, or even the i3 2120 which is a dual-core but uses HT so it has 4 threaded cores (but two of them virtual) which is a great performer and costs $130. However, the 2500K is the only unlocked CPU of the bunch I listed so it's the only one that can really overclock.
 
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banshee43

New Member
im always a sucker for speed! :p
i would of course get an am cooler. seems that intel can run hotter than amd?

how does the intel compare graphics wise?
 
Ankur

Ankur

Active Member
banshee43 said:
im always a sucker for speed! :p
i would of course get an am cooler. seems that intel can run hotter than amd?

how does the intel compare graphics wise?
Click to expand...

Intel has the HD 3000 inbuilt GPU, it cannot play latest games, but is good enough for normal purposes. If you want to go forward with inbuilt GPU, the wait for the Ivy Bridge with the HD 4000, it can even play BF3 at 720p Medium. This is about the inbuilt GPU, but you can still get a GTX 570 or 560 Ti in ur budget. That is what I will recommend (if going for gaming).
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
banshee43 said:
Do I sense an Intel bias?

PS I havnt even looked at an intel based system. I am still in the beginning stages of looking
Click to expand...

I am not Biased either way. i will always go for whatever has the best performance for the price. Back in the day, that was AMD, now, Intel is powning AMD. I would suggest intel especially if you are gaming at all, or do anything that is dependent on a high IPC. If you want to overclock, AMD is pretty good at it, but the 2500K will pown them all both in IPC and overclocking ability from what I see.

Intel does not have the best graphics, but AMD is not far ahead. Really if you can afford a GPU (the entry level ones that will outperform both Intel HD and AMD's integrated offering for around like $40) then integrated graphics would be a bad reason to go with the less than efficient AMD processors.
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
banshee43 said:
im always a sucker for speed! :p
i would of course get an am cooler. seems that intel can run hotter than amd?
Click to expand...
Intel does not run hotter. The temperature of the CPU depends entirely on the clock speed, cooling, case etc etc. My i5 2500K at 4.0GHz is running at around 35C on idle and up to around 50C at a 60% load, at 100% it's around 60C. Those temperatures are fine. At stock frequencies it's cooler of course. Performance wise, a 2500K should be faster than an FX-6100, but the 6100 is cheaper. As you said "I'm always a sucker for speed" go for the 2500K and get an SSD - Crucial M4 is my recommendation. Been running a 128GB M4 for half a year now, no problems stability wise, and did I forget to mention it's quite fast? I'm talking 10-15 Windows 7 start up times with the M4 and a 2500K.

banshee43 said:
how does the intel compare graphics wise?
Click to expand...
Onboard graphics are not the best. I'm using the 2500K's HD 3000 graphics now whilst I wait for a GTX 660. The HD 3000 is pretty good for integrated graphics but you don't want to be playing games on the integrated graphics really.
 
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banshee43

New Member
will the ivy bridge processors be available in the same i3,i5,i7 format? or is this unknown? these are suppose to be released in the near future right?

i will be doing a fair amount of gaming and graphic intensive computing, so i would be getting a non integrated graphics card if possible. can you buy only the cpu without built in graphics or is this mandatory?

the last thing i want is a slow rig so the cpu would be overclocked with an aftermarket cooler.
 
Ankur

Ankur

Active Member
Yea IVB is in the normal CORE generation format i.e. i3, i5, i7, its really performing good at the testing times.
Well it doesn't matter, you can get the HD 4000 GPU in it, its good enough.
 
Ankur

Ankur

Active Member
banshee43 said:
would say the i5 HD 4000 be over $500?
Click to expand...

See the i5 is a CPU which has a built in graphics thats HD 4000. And the price of i5 3570K will be 230$ only. It is almost 10-15% faster than 2500K and is more efficient at load.
You can get the GTX 570 or 660 with it for gaming.
 
claptonman

claptonman

New Member
You can get the i5 2550k which does not have integrated graphics. Could probably get a few more ghz out of it. But you can disable the onboard graphics easily.
 
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banshee43

New Member
are those sandy bridge prices or IVB?
if IVB is going to be that much more powerful then would i be better off waiting until they come out?
 
ShadowGates

ShadowGates

New Member
If you are building from a budget do what I did. I found all the parts I wanted, then made a wish list for them. Over 4 months I bought each part that I could buy at the time. While I was doing that I was enjoying my lap top. Best of luck on the build and show us lots of pics when done.


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