Building AMD Computer

durkmusic · May 3, 2011

I already have a motherboard asus m4a88td-v so I might as well just build a cheap computer out of it since I'm not going to get any money out of the brand new motherboard. It is new never opened. Payed about $100 for it. Anyways back to the computer.

I guess I want to do like a Phenom ii x2 not really sure. I want it to be fast enough to handle basic gaming not like crysis or anything. I can't afford the graphics card to run those games anyways. So I'm looking at about $100 for the cpu, I already have a heats sink and fan for the cpu, I have an ati radeon hd4830 graphics card I can use and I need some ram. I want 4gb so 2x2 duel channel. That's about $100 as well. Plus I need a hard drive and a dvd drive. I can get a dvd drive for about $30 bucks and idk what hard drive I'm getting. I have a psu I am going to use for this computer but I want to buy a psu for my current computer which also has the same mobo, phenom ii 965 x4 (upgrading to 8gb ram) couple hard drives couple dvd drives, and i'm working on getting a new graphics card. It's actually a hackintosh and the graphics cards I have don't want to play with mac so I have to buy one that I can get to work with full hd.

So looking at roughly $250 plus the hdd plus the psu plus a case.

EXPENSIVE!

jd132 · May 3, 2011

Heres some stuff to consider...
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
CPU (Dual Core) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846
Quad: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103921
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031

RAM is the best for 40, 555 is good, and saves some money for other parts...840 is also good, but does not have the 6MB Cache.

Can get cheaper, but may not wrk well/break...lol

Hitchtech · May 3, 2011

You could make a sweet little headless server out of that so it'll take the GPU out of the equation. give her 4GB of RAM and play around with it, its the best way to learn!

RoRoYoBoat123 · May 3, 2011

For a small gaming computer i would suggest an older amd duel core, relatively cheap, also maybe to increase video capability 2 smaller video cards? idk you can always stick the 4000 series but the newer ones can handle alot now a days, HDD's are relatively cheap now with the new SSD, if its just for gaming look for a faster RPM one over the amound of space since you dont need much room for games. As for ram, do you have 4 slots? if so i would suggest 2 sets of duel channeled 1 gb memory, easy speed up there by dividing the work load, and for a maximum increase of speed i wouldnt suggest windows 7 in any case, a smaller simpler OS such as xp only recognized 4 gigs of ram and works at its very best with that much, so its perfect for you.

durkmusic · May 3, 2011

That psu is going to be for my quad core computer I have now. The one I have has been causing problems I think when I try to overclock. I posted about it and they said it's a low quality psu and that I need to upgrade. Would that one be of good stable quality and be able to power my system?

Phenom II x4 965 BE (125W)
8gb ram at 1600
2 hdd
2 dvd
1 or 2 video cards running duel 24" monitors

I also am putting this setup in a new case. I want it to have plenty of room to keep everything clutter free and cool. And I don't want to pay a lot like less than 50 bucks.

Special thanks to jd132 for the duel core recommendation. I am going with that. Sticking my ram from my quad core setup into this one and getting 8g for my quad core setup. Is that ram you recommended duel channel? Don't I want that? What about: http://www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?966884_g10e

I'm actually thinking of going with a ssd. I mean I'm paying all this money for top cpu and everything to give me the fastest speed.. if I have a slow hdd what's the point? Won't a ssd give me a lot better speed as far as loading, installing, booting, etc. Is it worth it?

Thanks a lot.

jd132 · May 3, 2011

durkmusic · May 4, 2011

Okay, here is what I am ordering tonight. Please let me know if I should change anything:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162046

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

Still deciding on hard drive...

jd132 · May 4, 2011

You should get a better rated CASE... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061 its more, but worth it.

GREAT PSU...I Have the same one.

GREAT RAM.

DECENTLY FAST CPU(Which can possibly be unlocked to 3 or 4 cores{the 555 is just like a locked quad-core} )

Over all, I'd say its all great except the case...Get one with better ratings, or one of the above mentioned.

durkmusic · May 4, 2011

Keep in mind all this stuff is going into the quad core. the duel core is for a separate computer. I will hold of on the case. Ordering psu, ram, and cpu now. More tomorrow. Thanks so much for your help.

jd132 · May 4, 2011

ah...ok...no problm...if yu need more help, just ask.

2048Megabytes · May 4, 2011

I would not order that Rosewill power supply. It is not good quality in my opinion. Take a look at this quality power supply:

Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500 Watt Power Supply - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na&AID=10521304&PID=4169961&SID=cbpr9rlkitl3

You do not need to spend so much money on 8 gigabytes of memory either. 4 gigabytes is plenty. Take a look at this:

G.SKILL 4 gigabytes (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit RAM - $44
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...g.skill_ddr3_1333_4_gb-_-20-231-190-_-Product

This hard drive is a great choice too:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320 gigabyte Serial ATA Hard Drive - $50.40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=samsung_f4_spinpoint-_-22-152-244-_-Product

durkmusic · May 4, 2011

You're a little late I already bought the roswill for $50 bucks shipped. I'm sure it's better than my okia... and i'm going to need more than 500watts. I'm running 8gb of ram, which I do need because I run high end programs like logic pro, photoshop, premiere and after effects. It only cost me $75 shipped so no biggie and its at 1600. I'm also running a quadcore overclocked to at least 4GHz, two hard drives two dvd drives, and possibly two graphics cards or at least one good one. So I'm pretty sure 500 watts isn't going to cut it.

Looking at these cases:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TRAR2-GREEN-Kni...951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439aff3f2f

http://cgi.ebay.com/TR24X-ATX-Compu...890?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45eaabf722
Which comes with a psu so I might just return or sell the roswill.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRHK46X-ATX-Scr...041?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4395e87001
Or one of these and paint it to make it look cool.

2048Megabytes · May 4, 2011

I would take the 15% restocking fee and return the power supply in my opinion. (I think many others would agree with me on the forum). It is not a good quality power supply.

If you need a power supply that can give you more I would look at this one:

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650 Watt Continuous Power Power Supply Unit - $74
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Edit: If you want a second opinion go ahead and post the power supply specifications of what you just bought in the "Computer Cases, Power Supplies and Cooling" section.

durkmusic · May 4, 2011

Is there a way to test the power supply like hook up a meter overclock the crap out of it and run a test that uses 100% cpu and see if the voltage decreases or something? I don't really want to spend the extra restocking fee plus shipping it back plus the more expensive psu.

2048Megabytes · May 4, 2011

I feel bad that someone gave you poor advice on the power supply you bought. But it is better that you lose 15% of your money than the power supply burn out and damage your motherboard or other parts. Do not ever get a cheap power supply. Cheap power supplies can cause performance issues, or worst burn out and destroy even more expensive parts.

Rosewill only has a two year warranty on that unit for a reason in my opinion. And even if it does go they will not replace other parts that the faulty unit damaged.

salvage-this · May 4, 2011

I agree with taking the hit with the restocking fee and getting a better unit. I would hate to see a computer get damaged because of a bad PSU.

I have the EA 650 that 2048Megabytes mentioned and it is a good unit. I would grab that for the price. Great PSU.

jd132 · May 4, 2011

Although this makes me look stupid, mine works better than my friends 2x replaced Corsair. Mine may be a different model, but since they said it won't(in your case)work, get a replacement. Srry for the "Poor" advised info.

durkmusic · May 5, 2011

This sucks. Okay. What about the case.

salvage-this · May 5, 2011

You were looking between the Thermaltake V3 and the NZXT Gamma right? Any others that you want to look at? Budget for a case?

durkmusic · May 5, 2011

Budget is about $50 bucks. I want a nice big cool case. If you look at one of my previous posts I listed a few cases I was looking at. I like the way they look but idk if they are rated well lol

Building AMD Computer

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