Gaming PC spec? opinions please.

[sastusbulbas]

Hi guys, I was thinking of the below spec for use as a gaming PC and all round PC use, I have a case and Sapphire Toxic 4870 1gb graphics card and a monitor I can use.

Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £139.99

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £159.99

Corsair Dominator XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9D Twin3X (TW3X4G1600C9D) £84.99

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £59.98

LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black/Beige) - Retail £21.99

Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant Power Supply £105.00

I was also wondering how the Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard compares? I was wondering if it's dual ethernet sockets would allow me to connect directly to my internet and throughput a connection to a wireless router?

I was also wondering if there are any brackets that allow a Scythe Kama Angle cooler to be used with an AM3 socket?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[PermaBanned]

Good board, there are alternatives though.

Why not just the 955 and overclock it? Personal opinion really.

I'd have gone with the Patriot AMD stuff.

Nice, again alternatives.

Why not the Sony 24x with Lightscribe, SATA? £18.99... you're paying less for more.

What's wrong with the Straight Power version for £40 less?

Yes, any board with ethernet ports will have an ethernet adapter, and so can connect to a router of any kind.

Do you already have this cooler? If not, i would get something else. If so, it comes with the AM3 bracket already... if you lost it then you might be able to get some more from Scythe.

 

[sastusbulbas]

Hi again Supa,

Any other recomandations on the motherboard front?

A 955 would be considered, it saves a couple of pounds.

I thought the memory I specced was faster and also has AMD support, though I am not sure if the mobo choice is suited to 1600mhz ram? I guess I always look at Corsiar ram through habit.

The LG has a 120ms access time and retail pack, Sony is 160ms and OEM, not too bothered about writing disc speeds. Not too fussy about drives though.

I like modular PSU's and tidy internals

As for the router ethernet question. If I wire my current pc to the moddem it is faster than when wired via router. My wireless set up is not very compatable with Virgin Media, so I was wondering if I was to wire my computer directly to the moddem to make the most of my 20mb connection, could I wire my router to my PC without the main PC suffering from poor internet connection, thus leting the upstairs PC connect via wireless to the router which is connecting to the internet via the main PC and not the router?

The cooler I have, I never used it as it turned out too tall for the PC I had, on checking the box I notice it states AM2+ so that's good.

 

[PermaBanned]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £154.99
(£134.77) £154.99
(£134.77)
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £126.99
(£110.43) £126.99
(£110.43)
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 550W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant Power Supply £83.98
(£73.03) £83.98
(£73.03)
Patriot G Series AMD 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333LLKA) £70.99
(£61.73) £70.99
(£61.73)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £59.98
(£52.16) £59.98
(£52.16)
Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card (90-YAA060-1UAN00Z) £59.98
(£52.16) £59.98
(£52.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51)
Sub Total : £500.79
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £76.62
Total : £587.41

RAM wise speed isn't so important. CAS Latencies are a balance with it. This will probably do 1600MHz at slightly higher latencies anyway.