Potential Computer

terrystar · 10 Nov 2009 at 07:46

Hello everyone,
I am about to build my own gaming pc with a budget of about 850.00.
This is what i have chosen.
Case: CM Storm Scout
CPU: AMD Phenom 2 x4 955 3.2
M/board: MSI 790fx-gd70
GPU: MSI HD4890 Cyclone
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500gb 32mb cache
DVD: LG GH22
PSU: Corsair 850w HX
Memory: Corsair 6gb DDR3 XMS3
OS: Windows 7 home 64bit

I would like your opinions wether this is a good option of if you would change anything? also would you mind letting me know if this ram is suitable?

Many thanks for you time

Terry

Stelly · 10 Nov 2009 at 07:49

looks good to me, you could down grade your PSU a little and spend the money on other things...

Stelly

beefybarn · 10 Nov 2009 at 07:53

Hi, welcome to the forums. All looks good apart from the ram, Phenom uses dual channel ram so get 4gb of Corsair xms3 as it works fine in the Msi board, this set Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) [CMX4GX3M2A1600C9.

Stelly · 10 Nov 2009 at 07:55

Ah missed that one!

Stelly

SfnX · 10 Nov 2009 at 09:50

tbh its a bad time to get a new system, come end of december/start of the year the fermi cards will have come out and your new 4890 or so will be outdated. tbh get a new PC i5 etc but geta card you have lying around.
THEN make a new psot or renew this 1 ok =).

Cheers.

terrystar · 10 Nov 2009 at 17:15

Would you say a 750w PSU would be a suitable down grade?
Also what are your opinions on the Cooler Master PSU's?

jms198 · 10 Nov 2009 at 17:33

Looking at april for Fermis to surface now. The 4890 is still in the mid range 5xxx series. a 5770 may be an alternative. I like the idea of a pair of 4770s for less than the price of the 4890.

Most of the branded PSU are made by someone else usually seasonic cwt or FSP so its worth finding specific reviews on the model you want.

If you actually intend on using quad crossfire then a 850W may be a good idea but keep an eye on teh number of PCIe cables are enough for all those graphics cards! If you are never going to use 4 cards I would downgrade to a dual crossfire and save some pennies.

The 965 C3 may be worth a peek too; if you are not going to overclock then the 955 will be fine.

terrystar · 10 Nov 2009 at 18:06

Thanks for the info JMS198,
I was looking at the 5770 but i couldnt see any real obvious differences between that and a 4890?
Also i may change my mind with my choice of motherboard as i dont O/C and i will not be running two GPU's.
Do you have any ideas for a good quality motherboard without these options?

Thank you

Terry

foomonkey · 10 Nov 2009 at 18:35

i bought all this for £889.61

... i must admit however i purchased it from 2 other sites and i am still waiting on my gx card (though the demand/delivery on it is the same anywhere you go).

if you modify it alittle you could easily get it under your budget

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 10 Nov 2009 at 18:40

I would look at getting the Phenom II X4 965 C3 due to its lower idle power consumption and the fact it can run 4 DIMMs of DDR3 at 1333MHZ as opposed to 2 DIMMs with the earlier C2 stepping.

I would also look at getting this Gigabyte motherboard instead:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3096

Also some 1600MHZ DDR3 and run it at 1333MHZ using lower latencies as this is the optimal configuration for the Phenom II memory controller:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-ii-ddr3,2319.html

Here is a comparison of the HD5770 and HD4890:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5770-hd5750.html

The HD5770 is basically an HD4890 with 128 bit memory access and an improved architecture which supports DX11 built on a smaller 40NM process.

I suspect that the HD5770 will be better in future games which support DX11 whereas the HD4890 will be better in most DX10 and DX10.1 games due to its higher memory bandwidth.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 10 Nov 2009 at 18:59

terrystar · 10 Nov 2009 at 20:54

Hey everyone,

Excellent replies and support!!!!

Just thought i would add, i only play world of warcraft so would a HD5850 be a bit ott?

Thanks again

Terry

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 10 Nov 2009 at 20:59

terrystar said:
Hey everyone,

Excellent replies and support!!!!

Just thought i would add, i only play world of warcraft so would a HD5850 be a bit ott?

Thanks again

Terry

Check reviews to see how an HD4870 would fare. If it can fare well then an HD5770 should also do the job.

Even an X3 720BE CPU should do the job AFAIK.

Here are the Warcraft system requirements:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/technology.html

MasterPlan1 · 10 Nov 2009 at 21:03

terrystar said:
Hey everyone,

Excellent replies and support!!!!

Just thought i would add, i only play world of warcraft so would a HD5850 be a bit ott?

Thanks again

Terry

Not really, you'd be able to play at max res\ultra quality... I've got a 4850, and my FPS dips to 16 when in Dal.

Biz.Kid09 · 10 Nov 2009 at 22:54

If i was you I would go for a
Phenom 965 c3
5770
4gb G_Skill ripjaw
Asus 785 Evo
Corsair HX750
Sony Dvd drive
Win 7 Home Premium
Coolermaster CM690
That will give you good fps in every game out there

jaket · 11 Nov 2009 at 07:45

Biz.Kid09 said:
If i was you I would go for a
Phenom 965 c3
5770
4gb G_Skill ripjaw
Asus 785 Evo
Corsair HX750
Sony Dvd drive
Win 7 Home Premium
Coolermaster CM690
That will give you good fps in every game out there

Yes, would get even better result with a little CPU/GPU overclock!

jms198 · 11 Nov 2009 at 13:29

For only a single GPU a downgrade to a 550W would be more than enough; it should handle two low power cards in the future easily. Even a 500W would be more than enough.

The Asus 785 Evo looks good to me although check if it runs in real 2 x 16xPCIe while in cross fire. If one runs at x4 in Xfire it may impari high end cards. The decent cooling on the Asus is a big plus if you decide to OC later. The price difference between that and the GB770 is much smaller than it should be considering the features.

Retail cooler on the 965 should be ok too; you can upgrade later if you want ot drop temps.

I'm with CtV on the C3 revision. The tricore is another interesting proposition as you may get to unlock a lucky 4th core (but don't count on it!).

If you are only playing WoW you can probably halve your budget and get a very decent machine.

SSDs are coming into fashion and will be much cheaper later on; I would save a little cash for that eventuality.