First PC Build

GuppyGuppy Warren, MI Icrontian
edited October 2012 in Hardware
My system right now is running alright, but I think it's time I upgrade. I'm looking into building a decent gaming rig that will perform well, stay in my price range ($600-800), and would allow for upgrading down the line. I've already got a case and PSU. Here's what I was thinking of getting for everything else.

Processor: Phenom II X4 965
or
Phenom II X6 1045T
They're the same price at Micro Center.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3

RAM: Corsair Dominator Platnium
8GB DDR3-1866

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB

GPU:HIS HD 7770 1GB

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.




Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    The CPU choice is a no-brainer. Get the Phenom II X6 1045T. The extra two cores don't hurt.

    That motherboard is great.

    Here is another memory kit to consider: GeIL EVO CORSA 8gb kit for $47.

  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    you may want a faster main drive, if possible
  • NullenVoydNullenVoyd Orlandish Icrontian
    shwaip said:

    you may want a faster main drive, if possible

    Agreed. The Green drives are useable but for gaming I'd opt for a WB Black drive, with less space if needed. Course an SSD would be great, and I've heard the hybrid drives are something to check out, but the WD Black drives I've had experience with and haven't personally had issues with.

  • SignalSignal Icrontian
    256GB Crucial M4 2.5" SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive just came up for sale at newegg. $199.99 - $40 w/ promo code EMCYTZT2293 = $159.99

    A word of warning though: once you go SSD, everything else will be torture.


    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=KqxU6g4lEeK-FALjBHCCfw0_0_ElJ_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16820148443
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    Skip the DDR3-1866 unless it's no more expensive than DDR3-1600. 1866 won't make any meaningful improvement to your system's performance.

    And if you buy soon, you can get a 7850 (much faster than 7770) for $159 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150617
    midga
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    Great build! I'd consider a solid state, or faster HDD over the Caviar Green, and Thrax's GPU suggestion is spot on.

    What PSU are you using? A good PSU is the cornerstone of a happy, stable system.
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    Gonna toss my voice in on that SSD. If you run it as your primary with a HDD secondary, you can install Steam (assuming you use Steam) on your HDD, and then use Steam Mover to shift what you're playing currently over to your SSD . Will keep you from filling up the SSD too quickly, and allow you to have more than just a few games installed at a time.

    @Signal How long is that promo on that SSD going to last?
  • SodaSoda Ann Arbor, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    Also agree with the above recommendations. SSD if you can manage, drop the memory down to 1600. Also...handy link with that Steam mover, which I'd never heard of. I highly recommend the Samsung 830 for an SSD which is probably the best all around performer you can get from a consumer oriented SSD, and is priced quite well at $200 for the 256GB and $90 for the 128GB.

    If you're curious about memory, AnandTech did an article on the effect of memory timings about a year ago. Although it was designed for sandy bridge, anything with an integrated memory controller will have very similar results.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Don't use Steam Mover. Just enable Steam beta then you can use the legit method of installing.
  • SignalSignal Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    Don't know how long the deal lasts, saw it on Slickdeals.net this morning.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

    $160 for 256 GB Crucial M4 with code: EMCYTZT2293


    //edited to make referral link. <3shwaip
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    Without a doubt I would at minimum consider a 60 GB SSD for your OS install. They are reasonably priced and the value of having your OS installed to a separate fast drive is massive. Get a Caviar Black drive large enough for your game collection. And everything @Thrax just said. Honestly, DDR-1866 offers no tangible value. DDR-1600 will be more stable, and cost a little less. 8 GB is plenty. And the graphics card, without a doubt consider that 7850 vs. the 7770.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    Tushon said:

    Don't use Steam Mover. Just enable Steam beta then you can use the legit method of installing.

    This only works with a very select few of the newer games. The game has to support Steamworks some-such version number blah blah. Basically, newer games might support this, and new games moving forward will, but a lot of older games don't.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Ohhh. I see. Good to know, but also good to make sure people know that feature is being cooked in now.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    you can just symlink the directory (or individual directories) anyway
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    shwaip said:

    you can just symlink the directory (or individual directories) anyway

    That's what Steam Mover does. The program is for those of us who are either too dumb or too lazy to figure out how to do it manually.
    Tushon said:

    Ohhh. I see. Good to know, but also good to make sure people know that feature is being cooked in now.

    I have beta enabled, and I have not heard of this feature. What menu is it under?

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    In the Big Picture beta, if you go to install a game, a select few will ask you where you want to install it. Eventually as games are ported over to the new Steamworks model, they'll all support this, but for now most don't.
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    Oh, neat. Pity Big Picture runs fullscreen-only (unless they've changed that, of course).
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    It doesn't run full-screen only. It runs normal.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    It's just the Steam Beta in general, I think this feature was the last beta release before the opt-in for big picture (inb4 could be wrong, and I'm not digging through change logs to see if that is true). The capability is detailed here
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    Oh, well cool then.
  • GuppyGuppy Warren, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    @primesuspect
    That's what I thought, but the 1045t is 2.7Ghz while the 965 is 3.4Ghz. I wasn't sure if that would make a big difference in performance.

    @NullenVoyd
    It looks like the WD Black is the way to go.

    @Thrax
    I've had bad luck with XFX in the past, but if this card works like it's supposed to, the 7850 is a good deal.

    @BuddyJ
    OCZ ZS Series 750W

    @midga
    I hadn't heard about Steam Mover. If it works well, it sounds like an SSD is definitely worth investing in.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    As to CPU speed-- 2.4 GHz and up is enough for almost anything. The advantage would be to the 1045t anyways since it has 6 versus 4 cores or 1.5 X the number of cores of the 965. For just gaming, most games cannot take advantage of 6 cores and most folks run one game at a time, but for gaming and other things later, the other things can use two cores while a future game might use 4 cores. As Brian says, the 6 cores might come in handy.... :)
  • GuppyGuppy Warren, MI Icrontian
    I've got everything now except a HDD and a couple of SATA cables. I'll pick those up tomorrow and attempt to put it all together.
  • GuppyGuppy Warren, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2012
    PC is all set up and running great. Thanks for all the help, everyone!
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    Now that you have it all set up, have you considered overclocking? There are a couple simple tweaks you can do to get a decent speed boost without much work.
  • SodaSoda Ann Arbor, MI Icrontian
    hah, that applies a bit more for intel to be fair =P
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    The 1045T overclocks extremely well.
  • GuppyGuppy Warren, MI Icrontian
    I haven't looked into overclocking yet. It's running fast enough for me right now.
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