My First Build - Please help

[gishka]

Hey everyone! First off, I would just like to thank you all in advance for any advice or input you can give me regarding my build. I have done a lot of research and think this build should all work together pretty well and do what I need it to do, but just want to be sure before I bite the bullet and start ordering parts.

I am trying to keep the build in the $700-$800 range if at all possible. It will mostly be for gaming. Diablo 3 for the most part right now, but I do also want it to be able to do more in the near future as well.

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 Black edition
Cooling: Corsair Hydro series H40
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
PSU: Seasonic M12II-520w
GPU: Radeon HD 5770
Case: Antec 900 Steel
Ram: Gskill Ripjaws Xseries 8GB

Haven't decided 100% on the Hard Drive or Optical Drive at this point, and any feedback here would also be much appreciated. I would be willing to go SSD for memory as well if needed.

I need to know first and foremost if all of the parts will work together ok, and also if anyone sees any potential for any bottlenecking where I may need to upgrade. Also, I need to know if the power supply I have listed will suffice or if I need to upgrade a bit. If anyone has any suggestions for a better part for a comparable price it would also be very much appreciated.

Once again, this is my first build and I understand I may be way off with some of these parts and that is why I am coming here for help. Let me know what you think! Thank you again for all of your help.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

it's all compatible.

I like the samsung spinpoint f3 for a hard drive, but if the price was right a wd black would be good, too.

make sure the memory is 1600 speed.

you might be limiting yourself on future gpu upgrades with 520 W on the psu. 650W is probably a safer choice and it shouldnt impact the budget.

the case will be good for watercooling, but take your time to get the air out of the h40.

the 5770 is probably not too much different than the 6770, but it is more dated. the 6770 is the same price or cheaper... as for gaming, this is clearly the place that will be upgraded in the future for performance increases.

any generic dvd drive is probably fine.

and welcome to tech forums.

 

[gishka]

I have heard different things regarding 1600 speed RAM vs. 1333 speed RAM. Some people say the higher speed is a must-have, while others assure me I wouldn't notice the difference. I am leaning towards going with the higher speed just to be on the safe side.

I was afraid I was cutting it a bit close with the 520w psu. Do you have any recomendations on a beefier psu for roughly the same price? I understand it will probably be a bit higher, and that is fine.

Thank you again for all of your input.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

im pretty sure that this is a good psu (with a few exceptions for certain series and models, you can count on corsair, antec and seasonic.)
Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

for $5 more, i would get the faster ram. it is barely faster.. but meh.

 

[gishka]

Kinda what I figured about the RAM since the price difference is so minimal.

This looks like a very nice psu and a very fair price. Should I be concerned at all about a psu being non-modular? That looks like A LOT of cables coming out of the back of that thing.

 

[PP Mguire]

it's all compatible.

I like the samsung spinpoint f3 for a hard drive, but if the price was right a wd black would be good, too.

make sure the memory is 1600 speed.

you might be limiting yourself on future gpu upgrades with 520 W on the psu. 650W is probably a safer choice and it shouldnt impact the budget.

the case will be good for watercooling, but take your time to get the air out of the h40.

the 5770 is probably not too much different than the 6770, but it is more dated. the 6770 is the same price or cheaper... as for gaming, this is clearly the place that will be upgraded in the future for performance increases.

any generic dvd drive is probably fine.

and welcome to tech forums.

Corsair's liquid cooling system is a closed loop so therefor has no air problems.

I have heard different things regarding 1600 speed RAM vs. 1333 speed RAM. Some people say the higher speed is a must-have, while others assure me I wouldn't notice the difference. I am leaning towards going with the higher speed just to be on the safe side.

I was afraid I was cutting it a bit close with the 520w psu. Do you have any recomendations on a beefier psu for roughly the same price? I understand it will probably be a bit higher, and that is fine.

Thank you again for all of your input.

On AMD setups RAM speed is a must. You are pretty much limited to 1866 on an overclocked 955 setup but there WILL be a difference noticeably between 1333 and 1600 since AMD setups are so memory bandwidth limited. On that note, if you plan on overclocking at all grab at the least the H50. The H40 has an aluminum block and single pass aluminum rad which has pretty much the cooling capacity of a medium range air cooler. Also, if you are buying 8GB make sure that it is 2 4GB stick as 4 stick will give most AMD setups problems for beginner users. I'm to understand the 6770 is a rebranded 5770 so shouldn't be any difference but having newer never hurts....sometimes lol.

 

[gishka]

Do you think I should go Intel then? I have thought about this as well, but it seemed like these items were pretty fairly priced for what performance they offered.

The Ram I am looking at is 2 sticks 4GB each.

Appreciate the feedback on the H40. I will look into the H50.

The 5770 is the only piece I already have. Got a good deal from a friend on the GPU.

 

[PP Mguire]

Do you think I should go Intel then? I have thought about this as well, but it seemed like these items were pretty fairly priced for what performance they offered.

The Ram I am looking at is 2 sticks 4GB each.

Appreciate the feedback on the H40. I will look into the H50.

The 5770 is the only piece I already have. Got a good deal from a friend on the GPU.

Honestly if you can afford to go 2500k or i5 750 (used 750 at that) then do it. The i5 750 is still better than the 955BE and you get that sweet Intel memory bandwidth that doesn't really help that much in games
The cycles per clock does though. If you can't afford to jump ship then the 955 will serve you well. I used to game on a 4ghz 955BE 3 years ago, and now I game on a stock 2500k just to show the difference.

 

[gishka]

Awesome. I will check out prices on the i5. May still go with the 955BE though.

So, I guess my last question has to do with the psu again. Should I be worried about the fact that the psu recommended in this thread is non-modular? It looks like a ton of cables. Is this a big deal, or is it fairly easy to manage the cables. I definitely want the tower to have a clean look as there is a window on the tower I want.

 

[gishka]

Another quick question here. I think I found a pretty good deal on the Corsair H50, but its from a site I have never heard of before. Here is the link Corsair H50 Hydro Water Cooler

Most other sites have this item well over $80 if not higher. This site has it at 60 bucks which seems like a great deal to me. Has anyone ever had any experience with this site? It looks legit, but I have never even heard of them. Any feedback would be very helpful.