A new computer ^_^

Post by **Gogeta70** » 17 Feb 2010, 08:46

Hey guys. I'll be getting over $7000 from the army soon, and i thought i would use some of it to build myself a nice gaming computer. After spending some time looking for parts, this is what i've come up with. Tell me what you think ^_^

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131398

CPU: AMD Phenom 2 X2 @ 3.1 Ghz
I'm gonna overclock this to about 3.8 Ghz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103674

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811160031

PSU: 700W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171037

Hard Drive: 750Gb SATA 3Gb/s http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136359

RAM: 4Gb DDR3 1800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820104135

Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT
I'm gonna buy 2 of these and go SLI ^_^
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125286

Whatcha guys think?

Post by **bad_brain** » 17 Feb 2010, 09:56

looks nice so far, if you can spend 50 bucks more you might get an AMD Phenom 2 X4 955 BE instead, and if you want to get into overclocking you definitely should also get a nice heatsink (the boxed AMD one sucks)...check out the Noctua ones (especially the compatibility lists), they are also available on newegg: http://noctua.at
(if you decide for a Noctua one better get different RAM modules without those big headspreaders)

and for 2 g-cards you better should get a 600-650W PSU, also better get one from a well known brand, the PSU is the wrong place to save money (better get just 4GB RAM instead of 8 then).
search for "bequiet" on amazon, it's just 80 bucks for 600W and you can be sure it's a high quality and silent one...

Post by **Gogeta70** » 17 Feb 2010, 10:44

I took a look at that processor you mentioned, the phenom 2 x4 955 black edition, and it's a quad core. From what i understand, most games today only use two cores even if you have four. Wouldn't it be smarter to just buy a dual-core one?

I found a nice heatsink for the processor though, and think i'm gonna add it to the list. Here's what one of the reviews said:

"Under stock cooler my Phenom II x2 550 at 3.7 was 55 under load 47 idle. After this cooler my load temp is 34 - 36 and my idle is 28-30 and this is at 3.7ghz and 1.38 volts."
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835185096

Also, i took your suggestions on the ram and PSU, and changed the links above to the new ones i found ^_^

Post by **Big-E** » 17 Feb 2010, 10:59

Well, anything that exploits parallel programming will benefit from Quad Core over that of Dual Core. The problem is getting programmers to learn parallel programming when they have all be taught differently. Currently, the only type of programs to exploit multiple cores are tasks which have previously taken a long time to complete and they are forced to exploit parallel programming. (Think Encoding, Audio Engineering, Video Engineering)

If Software Engineers weren't so hard headed, we would be reaping the benefits of Quad Core right now. But if I knew what I know now when I purchased my computer I would have went with high clock speed and less cores. (Currently OC'd @ 2.4ghz). I also have 8GB of RAM, because an extra 4GB was only $40 and I had the space. ON THE CONTRARY, it has been 5-10 years since multiple cores have been introduced, they sure as hell should start catching up on the software side of things anytime soon. That would be something to look into.

Post by **Gogeta70** » 17 Feb 2010, 11:20

Well, i guess it wouldn't hurt to have a quad core cpu.

Post by **Big-E** » 17 Feb 2010, 11:21

gogeta70 wrote:Well, i guess it wouldn't hurt to have a quad core cpu.

For 50 bucks, it would be worth it. Just keep the clock in mind though, for most every day tasks, as things stand right now. 3.2ghz Dual Core > 2.8Ghz Quad Core.

Post by **Gogeta70** » 17 Feb 2010, 12:15

I found this 3.2 Ghz quad-core for a nice price. I may get it instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103674

Edit: I've decided to use this as my processor instead. ^_^

Post by **bad_brain** » 17 Feb 2010, 14:04

good decision with the CPU...

and Scythe is known to build good heatsinks...that brand was #2 on my list when I built my system.

Post by **lilrofl** » 17 Feb 2010, 16:09

Looks like a good rig!!

Definitely get a good PSU to run your SLI (I feel it worth mentioning that I'd look at ATI cards, but I have bad nvidia luck so maybe it's just me) That being what it is, the PSU is not where you wanna be saving your money from lol.

Scyth heatsink has good reviews and looks to be a good choice.

I'd go with the quad core phenom for a little more future resistance, and at just a few dollars more it would be money well spent I think.

Awesome motherboard BTW, my dad just picked one of these up to build a PVR system (way overkill if you ask me...) it's a great board though, good find!

Looks like you're gonna have a blast!!

Post by **Gogeta70** » 18 Feb 2010, 00:49

Thanks guys. I did spend a while choosing the parts, so i would hope that they're good

Anyway, i'll make sure to take pictures when it's built.