Bulldozer spec check

[Smudge]

I feel it's time for an upgrade and I'm looking at building an almost complete new system but need a few pointers on the final details if anyones willing to help.

Here is what ive come up with so far, some of the parts are not in stock at the moment, but I can swap in / out bits as needed in the next week or so before I press the order button.


Hazro HZ27WC 8-Bit 27" LED Widescreen Professional Monitor - Black
OcUK V12 Watercooled Case - Coolermaster HAF X **2011 Compatible**
Options applied to the above product: AMD Bracket Fitted
Asus Crosshair V Formula AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair Force GT 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F120GBGT-BK)
Lepa G-Series 900W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard and FREE Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse
Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B)
Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM)

I will more than likely go for a FX8150 & put in my sapphire 5870 for now, waiting out for the ATI 7 series. I also have a 60gb ssd with win7 ultimate and a couple of 1tb HD's that I will recycle into the new rig.

So, good people of OCUK, are my choices good, compatable etc?

Do I need some aftermarket fans to reduce noise levels and increase cooling? If so please recomend.

Can I go for a cheaper motherboard? I'd like to overclock, maybe theres something on the horizon thats better for the new bulldozer, I guess we dont know until after the NDA is lifted.

RAM, buldozer supports faster ram? Should I spec some faster stuff or will the cheep vengance do the job?

Is the OCUK watercooled case I chose a good option? I have a H50 in this Q6600 pc im running right now which has been great, but when I spec'd in a H100 it was only 40 quid more for the dedicated watercooling gear. Will this bring down my temps more than just slapping in the H100? I'm no plumber and want an easy install.

Extra cables and general extra's. I live in Denmark, so if I overlook anything I will have to wait a while to finish this build, so if I want to tuck cables away and get a nice clean build do i need any extra 'bits'. I'd love to order everything I need in 1 go.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
Matt.

 

[Orcvader]

I would wait for Bulldozer to be released first so then we'll have a better idea to see what's best to go with it.

I would also go for the Crucial M4 SSD as they're more reliable. And get 8gb RAM instead, for gaming 4gb is more than enough but 8gb is nicely priced and expected to go up soon. Also, you need a retail version of the BD drive as there is no free software to play Blu Rays at the moment.

 

[d_brennen]

+1 for wait, BD may not be that much better than Phenom II for general use

Got an x6 at 3.5ghz myself, it's not exactly a slouch. Glad to have a compatible motherboard though

 

[Smudge]

I would wait for Bulldozer to be released first so then we'll have a better idea to see what's best to go with it.

I would also go for the Crucial M4 SSD as they're more reliable. And get 8gb RAM instead, for gaming 4gb is more than enough but 8gb is nicely priced and expected to go up soon. Also, you need a retail version of the BD drive as there is no free software to play Blu Rays at the moment.

Thanks Orcvader, ill go for the retail version. I put down the corsair ssd as online reviews put it at the fastest but im OK with changing it.

I put in 16gb of ram as it was cheep and it seemed to me that 4 sticks of ram wasnt holding back overclocking anymore? 8gb would be OK but I wasnt going to penny pinch to much on this build, so if it wasnt going to limit my overclocks I was happy to pay another 45 quid to get the 16?

Thanks for the reply though mate.

Matt.

 

[Orcvader]

Well since the memory controller is on the CPU, if it's like Sandy Bridge then maybe Bulldozer won't be as limited with 4 sticks. But as of yet, no one knows. Best to go with 2x4gb and it will last you for a good few years. I can't see us needing more than 8gb for gaming for another 5 years or so.

 

[d_brennen]

Doesn't BD support 1866MHz RAM or some such? Will be worth studying some reviews when it is released as 8GB of fast RAM may well be better than 16GB of slower stuff for most usage scenarios