My Complete Build - Spot any errors?

Gandeh

Gandeh

Gandeh

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Joined
21 Jul 2011
Posts
545
Hey everyone,

I've taken loads of advice over the past few weeks and I want to thank you all for that. Now I've got my final build decide upon and I wanted to see if any of you willing will look it over and point out any compatibility issues you spot or even just any tips from your own experience:


Case - HAF X
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-203-CM

HD - 2x Seagate Momentus XT 500gb 1x Corsair Force Series 3 120gb
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-021-CS

Motherboard - Asus Sabertooth 990FX
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-460-AS

Memory - 2x Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-292-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

Processor - Bulldozer
I will be waiting for one of the new AM3+ processors to be released

Gfx Card - ATI Radeon 5700 series HD
This is my old graphics card that I will be keeping




Know Issues:

I know that I am buying three Hard drives that are all 2.5" and that the HAF X case only has 1 adapter that changes a 3.5" bay into 2.5" however I've contacted Coolermaster and I'm hopefully going to find a way to purchase two more adapters. This will be done before I buy any Hard Drives. I am also putting my old 1tb into the case but that will be used for dumping movies and music files on.



So as I said if you can flag up any obvious blunders I would really appreciate it :).
 
any reason your going for two 500Gb hybrid drives for £90 each, rather than one mechanical 1TB drive for £40?

if you are determined to have the two hybrid drives, may i suggest one of these:
Akasa Dual 2.5" SSD/HDD Mounting Kit

also, the RAM you have will interfere with almost any aftermarket cooler you put on the bulldozer because of its tall heatspreaders. it would be far more sensible to go for 8GB of the cheapest 1600Mhz RAM that doesnt have high aftermarket heatspreaders (such as the corsair XMS3, kingston or corsair vengance low profile, not corsair vengance or Gskill Ripjaw).

there is very little performance difference between RAM speeds
 
Thanks for the great responses.


So if I swap out that RAM for the below linked, do you think that would be a sensible substitute?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS


Can I ask, because I'm not completely tech savi. When you say that you would advise against going for a Bulldozer because of my GPU, you mean that there is little point to a high end processor considering my graphics card correct?

The reason I was planning on a bulldozer was because this build will take some time to buy, I'm saving and buying bit by bit. So by the time I buy it all it is likely the Bulldozers will be out. And it seemed sensible to me to go for the new best processor and then simply update my Gfx card at a later date?

I would be interested in your feedback on this subject as I had considered just ignoring the fact that the new processor was coming out and going for this one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-304-AM
 
Ah I see then I will maybe go for the processor I stated above.

Responding to the why I'm getting 2 seagate hybrids. I read about the hybrids and solid state drives and I'm very interested to see if there load times will be quicker. I'll be running them at 3gb/s and the plan is this: I will run my OS off the SSD and then spread my games between the two hybrids. I will put the bulk of my movies, music and pictures on my old 1TB.
 
Why go for the Phenom II? That's pointless at the price.
Your money is best off on Z68 and a 2500, then get Ivy Bridge (Which is Intels next generation which will work on 1155)
 
I was going for AMD products. I don't really understand the set up you are proposing, but am I right in presuming you mean buying two processors and then using this 'Ivy Bridge' which will effectively run them both at the same time?

If that were simple I would consider it but what kind of Ghz would I get? And would it really be cheaper and as stable as a Phenom II?
 
Gandeh said:
I was going for AMD products. I don't really understand the set up you are proposing, but am I right in presuming you mean buying two processors and then using this 'Ivy Bridge' which will effectively run them both at the same time?

If that were simple I would consider it but what kind of Ghz would I get? And would it really be cheaper and as stable as a Phenom II?
Click to expand...

Stable as a Phenom II? I don't even :p
Just get 1155, it's faster than anything AMD has to offer.
 
"Spot any errors?"

Yep. Going for AMD Phenom II instead of Intels SandyBridge i5/i7 at this moment is an error itself :D

Phenom II...even the Hex core (6-cores CPU) are streets behind SandyBridge i5/i7 (Intel's current fastest platform) and cost almost as much, and AMD's next gen Bulldozer is not guaranteed to be faster than it neither (it is actually same gen as Intel's SandyBridge, but it got delayed for a long, and even now 6 months later still no confirmed release date. So don't make the mistake of thinking "since Bulldozer is released later than SandyBridge, it is newer tech"- no, it is just same gen platform, but got seriously delayed).

SandyBridge is "next gen platform available today", unlike Bulldozer being "next gen platform available god knows when".

Either grab a Z68 1155 motherboard and a i5 2500K CPU and be done with it right now, or wait for the actual release of Bulldozer and read some reviews, before decide if AM3+ platform is worth investing on or not, or if SandyBridge is in fact still faster.
 
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Thank you for all the advice, I know my knowledge is sometimes laughable :P

I've looked at some SandyBridge processors on OCs and the maximum I can find is a 3.4Ghz now I'm running this 3.4Ghz now:
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...4&hl=en&cid=2309817463474533886&os=tech-specs

So I don't see any point in changing to an intel that is also 3.4Ghz and I don't get how a 3.4ghz SB is quicker than a Phantom II that is 3.7Ghz.

I'm not planning on over clocking so the base Ghz is all I look at. I'm looking for a quick processor so isn't the 3.7 AMD better than a 3.4 SB?
 
The AMD 3.7GHZ is no where near as fast as the 2600k, the 2600k also has HT.
Also, the SB's have turbo, and you'd be looking at either a 2500 or 2600 if you're not overclocking.
If you're running a 3.4GHZ Phenom II X4 now, why are you wanting a new 3.7GHZ CPU?
Core clock isn't everything.

Something sounds amiss imo.
 
The reason it came about is because I was getting new HDs which require a new motherboard and since I was getting a new motherboard I looked into processors.

Now I don't have to replace my processor but I bought it a while ago and was looking at other options on the market.

I don't mind switching up to intel if it's going to be quicker, but if you're suggesting it's not worth it based on the processor I've got then I could easily keep my current processor, go for AM3+ compatible motherboard that will take my current processor and that will be me sorted for a while.
 
Unless you are banking on BD to deliver, the best choice right now is 2500K (gaming) and 2600K (heavy work).

Both overclock to over 4GHz real easy, very efficient, and great value for money. I would get a 2500K, a P67 / Z68 board, 8GB, and you're set for a few years.
 
Gandeh said:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A79XTD_EVO/

The reason for a new board was so that I could use Sata 3 HDs
Click to expand...

If that's SATA 3 HDD's you're wasting you're time.

No HDD can even reach SATA 2 speeds regardless of the interface it has.

A SATA 3 HDD will work perfectly well in a SATA 2 port.

I assume this whole upgrade is so you can use a SATA 3 SSD which seems a bit over the top.
 
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