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| Thread ID: 113381 | 2010-10-17 04:15:00 | Opinions sought on potential PC build specs | loopy_larry (16030) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1145599 | 2010-10-17 04:15:00 | Hi guys, It's been a long time since I went through a desktop build (and a long time since I could remember my password/email for my old user account here!) so I was wondering if I could grab any feedback on a potential desktop build I'm looking to do. I am a desktop user who went notebook for several years and am now going back (motivated by the difficulty/expense of finding decent gaming notebooks). For my genuinely mobile needs I'll probably grab a netbook. Anyway, to the point. I'm trying to build a decent gaming system with an eye to saving money wherever possible. Here's what I've roughly built on paper so far: HDD: 2x [in RAID 0 setup] Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS Hard Disk Drive, 1000GB, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, SATA-2 Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H Motherboard, Socket AM3, 4xDIMM, DDR3, 2xPCIe-16, 1xPCI, 1xPCIe-1, 12xUSB2, Firewire, Audio, Video, 1xATA, 5xSATA, RAID, M-ATX, USB 3.0, DVI, HDMI CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU, 3.2GHz, Socket AM3, 32/64-Bit, Retail pack with fan Video: 2x [in Crossfire setup] Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 Video Card, Radeon HD 5770, 1024MB, DDR5, PCIe-16, DVI, CrossFire, HDMI Memory: Corsair XMS3, CMX6GX3M3A1600C9, 3x2GB, DDR3-1600, PC3-12800, CL9, DIMM PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus, 650W ATX PSU, Black Optical: LiteOn iHAS324 DVD Writer, DVD 16R/24W/8RW, CD 48R/48W/32RW, Internal, SATA, Black Case: none yet (any recommendations? :)) So yeah, any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated as I really can't afford to screw this one up. Thanks! |
loopy_larry (16030) | ||
| 1145600 | 2010-10-17 04:33:00 | is the ram triple channel? [EDIT]: With regard to the case, if you're wanting to save money, might be an idea to just get a cheap case to allow you to spend more money on the parts that really count |
jareemon (5207) | ||
| 1145601 | 2010-10-17 04:36:00 | I think it is triple channel, yeah | loopy_larry (16030) | ||
| 1145602 | 2010-10-17 06:09:00 | HDDSeagate Barracuda [b]Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Video: 2x [in Crossfire setup] Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 Video Card, Radeon HD 5770, 1024MB, DDR5, PCIe-16, DVI, CrossFire, HDMI Memory: Corsair 3x2GB, DDR3-1600, PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus, 650W ATX PSU, Black Optical: LiteOn DVD Writer, Case: none yet (any recommendations? :)) ! Looks OK, decent brands there. Except GPU - I'd go ASUS or Gigabyte. Graphics, mmmm, I tried SLI once. Didn't think it gave enough performance to justify the cost of two cards. I personally would just buy a single brilliant card. However, nothing bad about that choice. Case - doesn't matter, Depends on personal taste really. Posh cases with lots of cable management and light weight materials tend to cost loads. The PSU is taken care of so it's not bad to pick a cheap case with terrible cable management and steel construction. I have, plenty of times. Tidy the cables the old-fashioned way instead. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1145603 | 2010-10-17 06:19:00 | i concur with pctek, get a single high spec card, and if you must have more than one, sli tends to support more games, apparantly | jareemon (5207) | ||
| 1145604 | 2010-10-17 06:24:00 | Cheers guys - so maybe onto the Radeon 5850? (ascent.co.nz) As for the case, yeah, I'll see how the budget stands at the end but probably just opt for a cheapie |
loopy_larry (16030) | ||
| 1145605 | 2010-10-17 19:39:00 | Dont stripe your raid set, you wont noticed any difference unless a) your moving large files around and b) you have another storage solution able to keep up. Raid array increase latency and stripping just increases chances of failure...Arrays are for servers or home setup with fast storage unit able to keep up with large file movement. As for GPU, well, I prefer NV, however if going for ATi, they are releasing the new generation tomorrow, wait and you can either get new generation or last gen for low cost! |
SolMiester (139) | ||
| 1145606 | 2010-10-17 19:45:00 | Yup definitely wait a couple of days, recommend Radeon too. | TickTech (15391) | ||
| 1145607 | 2010-10-17 19:53:00 | Cheers guys - so maybe onto the Radeon 5850? (ascent.co.nz) As for the case, yeah, I'll see how the budget stands at the end but probably just opt for a cheapie dont go TOO cheap, or you might have problems with the power button wires not being the same as the plugs on the mobo etc |
jareemon (5207) | ||
| 1145608 | 2010-10-17 20:34:00 | Dont stripe your raid set, you wont noticed any difference unless a) your moving large files around and b) you have another storage solution able to keep up. Raid array increase latency and stripping just increases chances of failure...Arrays are for servers or home setup with fast storage unit able to keep up with large file movement. Sorry, my error - I meant to type RAID 1, so as a mirror setup! Thanks for the advice on ATi everyone, I will probably not be purchasing for a couple of weeks so hopefully the price hits trickle down in that time... |
loopy_larry (16030) | ||
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