Is this a decent combo?

E

EthanJM

Member
I am in need of an upgrade. I am on a budget, so I am trying to keep things cheap while still offering a good round performance. The only thing I feel I am spending a little more on is the cpu. I do some gaming, but it is not a major hobby. I wish to be able to run GTA 5 when it is released. My current specs are as follows.

Biostar TA790GXE
4 gb DDR2 ram (Don't remember mhz)
AMD Phenom 965
GTX 660
A four year old 1TB (probably 3 gbs/sec) SATA HDD

I cannot afford a new card at the moment, and I feel like I am not getting the most out of it anyway. My heatsink is old, a thermaltake v1 I have had since 2008 or so. It still works, but the fan is making some noise. I will get a new one as soon as I can but I can't at the start.

What I am planning on getting.
ASUS M5A97 970
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

This all comes to 450 bucks, about as high as I am willing to go.

So the thermaltake v1 and gtx 660 will be transferred to my new system, as well as my tower and 650W power supply. Ram can be upgraded to 16 gb in a year or two if necessary, as well as a different GPU. This is about as good as I can do, but a lot of you are way more computer savvy than me, and I wanted to hear some ideas if anyone had any to offer. The systems I have built so far have been pretty solid.
 
Not sure why, the blue ones have a better cas latency so you are getting better ram. The 8320 will overclock up to 8350 speeds and past (4.5 ghz) anyway as long as you have a good aftermarket cpu cooler attached.
 
johnb35 said:
With the money you save I would probably spend a little more on the motherboard and get this one. Much better then the asus.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651
Click to expand...

The two motherboards appear to be about the same. Why would you recommend this one? As for the processors, I only like overclocking when really necessary, as a matter of fact my current one is not even overclocked despite it being outdated. I like my systems to last four years or so, and overclocking might shorten the lifespan. I was reading the 8350 overclocked at cooler temps. I read you have the 8350, why did you choose it? Is it worth the extra 40 bucks in your opinion? I have set the budget at 450, a little higher or lower will be okay. To be honest I usually slack a little on the motherboards price wise, it has done okay for me so far.
 
Gigabyte usually has better build quality. I used to be nothing but Asus when I first started building. I now only use Gigabyte. I don't tend to overclock, only play FPS games so really not needed. My previous build had a Phenom II 965 that I oc'd to 4.0 ghz from 3.6ghz.
 
johnb35 said:
Gigabyte usually has better build quality. I used to be nothing but Asus when I first started building. I now only use Gigabyte. I don't tend to overclock, only play FPS games so really not needed. My previous build had a Phenom II 965 that I oc'd to 4.0 ghz from 3.6ghz.
Click to expand...

I would overclock mine right now but I need to apply some new thermal paste, I lost my tube like two years ago. Doesn't really matter because I am getting a new system anyway. I am considering your recommendation. Still seems like the asus with 8350 would overall be better than the gigabyte with 8320. The ram you showed me was a no brainer though, thanks for that.
 
Your welcome. I can tell you right now that most if not all veteran members here will tell you to get the Gigabyte board.
 
Get the 8320. The 8350 and the 8320 are the same chip but the 8350 is faster out of the box. I've heard some things that say the 8350 is cut from a better grade of silicon and is thus better at higher clocks but I don't know how much of that is true. Or if it truly matters unless you're trying to push the absolute envelope of overclocking.

For reference, I've got an 8320 that I overclocked to 4.2 GHz last night from the stock 3.5. My temperatures are in the low 50's at full load and I'm using a 30 dollar air cooler (CM 212+) and some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. I would go higher but my motherboard isn't stable enough for more power. Point being, 8320 can overclock the 8350 specs with probably even the stock cooler, but definitely with even a cheap aftermarket one.

Also, I'm going to drop my clocks back down simply because I don't need the extra speed since the processor chews up anything I throw at it like it's cotton candy.
 
Alright, I checked out. Thanks for the help as usual John. Been coming here off and on for years now and you always help out.
 
Denther said:
Get the 8320. The 8350 and the 8320 are the same chip but the 8350 is faster out of the box. I've heard some things that say the 8350 is cut from a better grade of silicon and is thus better at higher clocks but I don't know how much of that is true. Or if it truly matters unless you're trying to push the absolute envelope of overclocking.

For reference, I've got an 8320 that I overclocked to 4.2 GHz last night from the stock 3.5. My temperatures are in the low 50's at full load and I'm using a 30 dollar air cooler (CM 212+) and some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. I would go higher but my motherboard isn't stable enough for more power. Point being, 8320 can overclock the 8350 specs with probably even the stock cooler, but definitely with even a cheap aftermarket one.

Also, I'm going to drop my clocks back down simply because I don't need the extra speed since the processor chews up anything I throw at it like it's cotton candy.
Click to expand...

I debated myself forever about this and opted for the 8350, I may regret it later but it is just 40 bucks, what's done is done. The way I saw it, since I had some doubts, the price wasn't significantly higher, so just go for it. I have been reading that the 8350 stays cooler, and that the reasoning for pushing myself into it. In the summer this room causes my temperatures to spike to 60C at full load now with the 965, I want to be able to get stable temps without a 100 dollar heatsink with the 8350. I also don't like overclocking if I can help it, I like my systems to last at least three years, preferably four.
 
Fair enough. My Phenom ran really hot compared to the 8320 so your temps will be a lot lower with your 8350.
 
Alright, it arrived sooner than expected. Hard drive was DOA, so I ran to best buy and got another, will be sending the broken one back to newegg. Everything else went fine without a hitch, now I am just getting everything back the way it is suppose to be. I am using the stock cooler for the 8350, don't know idle temps, but with a minor workload (transferring files) it is running 36c. Will be giving it a harder test soon.
One question though, for the case fan, do you all use the SYS connector or PWR connector? I am using SYS now, I guess the motherboard is suppose to be able to control the voltage this way from what I read.
 
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