Gaming Comp Opinions

[enigm@tic]

Planning new comp.. first time I'm gonna be deciding what hardware to get and bit confused on some things that I put in brackets.


Btw I do not intend to overclock, anyway so far...

CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 955

MOBO - undecided but atm looking at: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards VS Newegg.com - ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards .... unless you would recommend another board.

RAM - 6GB DDR3 G.Skill (1600) (G.Skill or Kingston?)

GFX - Asus GTX 285 (the place I'm buying this card from has on the list "1GB GTX 285 Inno3D /Gainward /Gigabyte /ASUS" with each brand varying in price... what's the difference if it is the same card?)

HDD - Seagate 1tb (Seagate or Western Digital?)

PSU - No idea yet but was thinking of getting Coolermaster RealPower Pro 650w? will need advice here

Case - Antec 902

Already have dvd drive, monitor, speakers and accessories.

 

[hikaricloud]

Personally, I wouldn't go with an AM3 mobo. DDR3 is wasted in dual channel, and you really won't see that much of a difference with it over DDR2.

That being said, if you're going nVidia, you won't need more than one PCI-E slot, since you can't SLI on those boards anyway. Also, instead of the 955, I'd get the 940. The 955 isn't really worth the extra cash. I would get this combo in that case:
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Unless you're doing some crazy VM stuff, you won't need more than 4gb of RAM. I would get this kit:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Desktop Memory

Also, get this PSU, great deal for the cost:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Between Seagate and WD it doesn't really matter. I would get whichever is cheaper. I know WD has the green series with 32mb cache now for 10 bucks less than the black version:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

What are the cost differences between the cards? Out of those I'd get ASUS myself, it's more of a brand thing, and probably not so much a difference between the performance. Also, how much are you getting it for?

 

[enigm@tic]

Cool thanks.

This is the price of each brand for the same card..
Inno3D $459
Gainward $459
Gigabyte $483
ASUS $505

I'm in Aus so if the prices look high that explains it. I can't buy from newegg I just used it to demonstrate.

Would getting an AM3 mobo leave more room for upgrading in future? I usually buy a new pc every 4-5 years though..

That being said, if you're going nVidia, you won't need more than one PCI-E slot, since you can't SLI on those boards anyway.

What do you mean by can't SLI on those boards? I'm noob with this.

 

[hikaricloud]

Only on select boards (besides x58 boards) are you able to SLI. Non x58 boards have to be a nVidia chipset. The most common boards with AMD are AMD chipsets, like the 780G or the 790GX/FX/X.

It's not so much of a problem finding AM3 specific boards, if you get a board that's AM2+, it'll be able to handle AM3 regardless.

I personally like the ASUS, and if you're willing to spend an extra 50 bucks, go for it. The Inno3D though, I've heard okay stuff from them, if you wanted to try that one. But to be on the safe side, I recommend the ASUS.

 

[enigm@tic]

Can I use triple channel ram with AMD?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

No. The only way to use triple channel ram is with a Intel Core i7 and a x58 motherboard.

 

[veg1992]

Newegg.com - Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

+

Core i7 920 from Microcenter(@$ 200) is cheaper than a PII 955 + that 2nd AM3 board

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Newegg.com - Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

+

Core i7 920 from Microcenter(@$ 200) is cheaper than a PII 955 + that 2nd AM3 board

You can't beat faster and cheaper.

 

[enigm@tic]

I can't get that mobo where I'm from but I can get an Asus P6T Newegg.com - ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards


Would this build give better performance?

cpu - core i7 920
mobo - Asus P6T Newegg.com - ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
ram - 6GB DDR3 G.Skill
gfx - Asus gtx 285
psu - Corsair 650w
hdd - seagate/W.D. 1tb

 

[S0ULphIRE]

^I just built a new system recently, also got parts from msy (which is I'm assuming where you're buying from)

I got the Asus P6T, it's GREAT. Does everything I want, and I love that it includes an eSata port on the back.

I went with the Inno3d GTX 285. I looked up the cards, they all have exactly the same specs. Only differences are in the physical design of the cards/cooling I suppose. Not worth the extra cash just for 'Asus' to be written on the card.
for the ram I got the G.Skill PI set, apparently it was the last set you might have to settle for the NQ set. timings are a little rough, but hey they're passable.
Also, if you're getting the i7 920 I suggest you don't get it from MSY. veedub is selling a couple of D0 i7's for 300US shipped. Comes to around 377AU bucks. Grab yourself one of those.