Ordering today, looking for advice on 2 queries

Emmon

Emmon

Emmon

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
163
Location
Lancaster - UK
Hey there OCUK,

Im after a cpu/mobo/ram combo and have been for a while... got a 7950 a few months back as a stop-gap until i could afford main system components together and as of today i have funds to get the "big 3".

Its a gaming PC essentially and have currently these 3 items in the basket:

1 x Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
Cost inc vat - £158.99

1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail
Cost inc vat -£112.99

1 x Patriot Venom Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (PV38G186C9KRD)
Cost inc vat -£69.95

Total inc VAT - £353.33


Before i decide to go to the checkout though i have 2 questions that i lack the knowledge to answer with confidence enough to make them "ticked off" as it were.

Question 1:
I'm pretty sure that the memory i have in the basket would be a suitable choice for that mobo/cpu combo.. even rang OC sales support to confirm but i get so much of my computer knowledge from you guys on the forums i feel a need for someone here to say "yup.. that'll be fine"

Question 2:
Those items.. along with
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card
2 x Maxtor Diamondmax 10 250gb in Raid 0 (old i know but faithful storage)
1 x OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 60g
(no cd drive / dvd drive)
2 x 80mm case fans

Would they still be able to be powered by my current PSU or would i have to replace my current one? (i'd be looking at going dual gpu in the future if i needed another upgrade so if it isn't fine, could you recommend a wattage size please?)

Current PSU is:
1 - Akasa Ultra Quiet 500W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.2 PSU


Spanish Inquisition-style question 3!

Just remembered i haven't added a cpu cooler.. i'd like to stay on air for now.. any thoughts on something to handle the 8320? (i wont be overclocking right now.. i tend to only overclock when i need the push to meet performance needs)

Thankyou in advance o' Lords of the tech!
 
That looks very unbalanced..

You do need a better PSU certainly..

If you want to keep on the same theme i managed to get you a PSU and cooler along with your core components for the same price as you orignally specced:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £112.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £86.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 620W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £67.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £375.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Though i'd personally go the intel route, but do you have an extra £80+ to spend? I think it may be worth it if you have..
 
thats a good spec there doom :), as im a amd fan :D

i havethe same board with a FX6300 and 8gb (4x2gb) xms3 1600mhz ram.

and it all works like a dream, and overclocking (if you need to like you say) is easy as pie :)
 
My logic with the build was to have a cpu i could rely on for a number of years, splash out a bit on motherboard so i could go dual graphics card down the line aswell as provide some good options when i need to overclock to keep things running smoothly. Then finally add some "that'll do" memory as i dont own any DDR3.

Been researching possible builds for a few months and although there's plenty of plus points in going intel the feeling i have to "wanna try AMD again" seems to always trump them.

Would the 620W be ok for one day going dual graphics cards? or would i need something around the 800W mark?

edit - Oh i've just noticed the memory you've picked for the build.. i had no idea i could go 2400mhz memory, thought i was limited to 1866Mhz.

Thankyou for your help Doom, especially for considering to keep it close to original cost. I kind of have my heart set on the sabertooth motherboard though to be able to use 2 gpus in the future so i think i'll keep it in and just learn to love the taste of noodles again
 
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Emmon said:
My logic with the build was to have a cpu i could rely on for a number of years, splash out a bit on motherboard so i could go dual graphics card down the line aswell as provide some good options when i need to overclock to keep things running smoothly. Then finally add some "that'll do" memory as i dont own any DDR3.

Been researching possible builds for a few months and although there's plenty of plus points in going intel the feeling i have to "wanna try AMD again" seems to always trump them.

Would the 620W be ok for one day going dual graphics cards? or would i need something around the 800W mark?

edit - Oh i've just noticed the memory you've picked for the build.. i had no idea i could go 2400mhz memory, thought i was limited to 1866Mhz.

Thankyou for your help Doom, especially for considering to keep it close to original cost. I kind of have my heart set on the sabertooth motherboard though to be able to use 2 gpus in the future so i think i'll keep it in and just learn to love the taste of noodles again
Click to expand...

Did no-ones read this.. :)

Anyway..

Id go for this if you want xifre/SLI in the future:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £112.99
1 x Seasonic G series 750w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £107.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £53.99
Total : £444.44 (includes shipping : £11.25).



I upped the cooler so you can get a bigger overclock on the CPU (though you will need to make sure it fits your case, the cooler is 163mm tall) but to be honest, i would much rather go for an intel build:

4670k
Z87X-D3H

and keep all the other bits. :)
 
Argh, this is why i keep putting off upgrading.. i keep resorting to gut feelings over good ideas even though i dont have the technical know-how to trust the gut feelings.

Think i'll keep to AMD though.. just cant bring myself to buy a 1150 socket anything because years down the line i'll need to buy another mobo to upgrade my processor.. i was under the impression that AM3+ is staying on a while longer so if i grab a very impressive AM3+ board that can handle SLi then getting a processor for £120 that i could replace down the line but still be a huge upgrade for me now (currently have a E5200 dual core) makes me feeling better about spending all this in one go.
 
just downloaded chrome and found the OCuk plugin to post a "how about this" basket then you find that gem in the b-grade pipson :)

gonna have a good look at that board for a while me thinks :)

with a PSU still to choose who will win this day? wallet or heart?
 
Ok i'm favouring this so far but i'm still in need of a PSU and i have no idea which manufacturers to steer clear from and which to lean towards in terms of quality. I put an Akasa one into the basket that seems great and is the maker of my current PSU but.. its out of stock. I may just wait untill it comes in.

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Asus Crosshair V Formula Z AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £150
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £112.99
1 x Akasa Venom 750w Modular '80 Plus' Power Supply £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38192M2400HC11DC-L) £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £53.99
Total : £488.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Anyone know of some very competent modular PSUs that are 750W+ and are good for their price?

Lastly my case is a very old Antec that looks like this:
antec-pc-case-sx-1040b-ii.jpg


with this exact layout inside.. i dont know the model name but it does have noise insulation inside (material not foam)
antec-chenming-8800gtx.jpg
 
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