Hello! I Would Like To Discuss A Future Build.

Hello!

I built a computer some years ago (P4 2.8C HT, GeForce 6800GT etc), and it held onto performance for quite some time when it came to being able to play new titles. It was a great system, but it started to 'fall behind' when it came to titles like MW2, Far Cry and Fear (on max settings) to name a few. I've since gave up on graphic intensive games and usually play WoW or even go back to play old titles (Deus Ex, Diablo 2, CoD4 and Starcraft / Warcraft III). I have now saved up some money for a trip and it proved to be a little too much ($400 over) and so I'm toying with the idea of building a new gaming rig for bargain prices.

What I don't want to do is to bottleneck my build or get some part which has a bad reputation.

I'm on a budget here so I really don't want to spend more than $500 on this beast. I guess it will be ok to go over by about $50, but I really want to try not to.

I have a few requirements when it comes to my next computer. I don't want bottlenecks even in it's initial set up. I want every part to be able to function fully (however, I do not O/C). I want the system to be as upgradeable as possible in order to make it more flexible when it comes to the future. I want enough performance to play new titles (MW3, BF3 etc) at 1280 with at least medium settings.

Here's a rough-draft of my plan (core parts only):

CPU: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor - $159.99 (promo)

MOBO: BIOSTAR TA990FXE AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $99.99 (rebate)

GFX: ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity - $129 (rebate)

I already have a 1TB SATA HDD, 8 GB of RAM, Tower w/ 500W PSU and an 23.6" LED monitor. I am considering getting a SSD for the OS and my favorite games while using the SATA for storage. Feel free to comment about that as well.

Edit: Oh, and I'm going to have to buy a copy of Windows 7 as well, so we can tack $140 to the $390 I'll spend above ($530 - sigh). Maybe I can go with cheaper parts

How does it look so far?

Thank you

 

I'll offer a quick look now, will post back tomorrow with better explanations.

I can't see anything wrong with the motherboard and couldn't see anything better.

This Nvidia card would be a bit better than the ATI one, though slightly more cost - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162084

As for the processor, I am not sure the eight core processor would be worth it yet, as not much takes advantage of 4 cores nevermind 8, personally I'd go for the higher clocked quad core processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106009
And save a bit of money for now, that would bring your cost closer to $500 but not much else can be changed unless we start compromising on performance on my quick glance.

 

Thank you

While I believe I'm going to go for the processor you chose, I don't think I'm going to go with the video card. For one, it's more expensive, and I want to keep it all an AMD system since my last system was mostly Intel / GeForce. I mean I know it's not the best card, but I like the upgradeability of both the CPU slot, and the video card. I'm just going for something different, albeit a bit literally. I'm also not a fanboy of brand, just of a solid system.

Would you care to comment on my SATA vs SSD 'delimma'? I've always made it practice to have at least two physical drives if only for the backup utility. I'm just wondering if it's a good investment to go for a SSD with it's small space compared to SATAs in the same price range? Is the performance really that much better, and is the space enough to run the OS and my favorite programs (if not all programs)?

Thank you for your time

 

Hi Darkblade,

My one comment is yes, the SSD for the OS is definitely worth the investment. The HHD is, IMO, always the bottleneck and the SSD goes a long way to speeding the system.

Bill

 

Fair enough on the graphics card it does make sense to keep it all AMD.

As Bill has already said an SSD is worth the investment, you would probably want to look at a 120GB SSD for the OS, your programs and some of your games, you might have to sometimes juggle games about between your SSD and HDD depending on how much space is used.
But you'l be looking around the $100-175 mark for a 120GB SSD, so you might want to wait a bit based on your budget having gone on these other parts.

 

Thank you both for your time

Before, I move on I would like to know if there's any particular brands of SSDs I should be weary of?

Take care

 

If you haven't already gone ahead with buying the parts, the only brand I would say to avoid is OCZ I've read of some mixed reports on the reliability of there SSD's, though they seem to be the earlier models, the latest ones sound to be more reliable though.

So really if you go with an SSD from Intel, Samsung, Corsair, Crucial or Kingston you should be fine, as reliability is usually in the 1-2 million hour range or so many loads terabytes.

 

One thing I am not clear on is which level of SATA are we talking about for a SSD, is it SATA 1, SATA 2 or SATA 3?
However I saw recently, for comparison purposes only, a Sandisk, 2.5 inch 120GB SATA 2 for £69-95 GBP. a drop in price from an original £94-99. Unfortunately from a UK supplier, but it makes Sandisk worth a look at from USA suppliers in case there is comparable price drops available.

Nev.