Computer Plans

Going to be building a computer at the end of the year or beginning of next year.

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 955
GPU: MSI 6870 Twin Frozr II (Crossfire in future)
Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth 990FX
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 6gb DDR3 1600MHz C9
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 750w
SSD: Patriot Torqx TRB 32gb
HD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

What do you think?

Budget is around $1000-$1300

Phenom II 955 or 965? 965 is $20 more with .2 more Ghz.

Is it easier to OC a 965 to 4 Ghz?

By the time I get the computer, AM4 will probably be out and the AMD FX (or Bulldozer, not sure) will be out. I heard that the new chips will be like $300. If they are, is it worth it?

You're over-budgeting and your going to lose quit a bit of money. Don't get the i7, if you have the money the i5 is a very good choice. Same with the 560 vs. 570's, the increase in performance just doesn't warrant the price.

You're also paying too much for a case. Again if you have the money, I guess, but there are a lot of good ones that are perfectly fine size/build quality/air flow wise that are around the $100 mark.

You also only need 750-watts. You could overclock both your 560's and it could run it no problem.

If you lower your specs on that then the money you save basically gets you a free SSD which I recommend and just using the WD as your secondary. The SSD doesn't have to be that big either, just big enough to hold your OS and a game or two since you won't really notice that much of a performance increase with anything else (games just so you can record to the secondary hard-drive and have even higher FPS).

Thanks Echo. You pretty much answered all my questions. I'll change the specs and make my budget cheaper.

Not really one to talk since I'm an AMD proponent, but I would go with the i7 JUST for Hyper-Threading. If you can front the price of the 2600k, I'd say go for it.

IMHO, 1000W and above PSUs are just a big waste of energy. If you can't get your dual-SLI to run under 850-900W with an 80+ Certified PSU, then screw it. You don't need THAT much graphics processing power to play games efficiently and at high quality. I personally support single-card builds, but I am looking into a dual-card setup for my next project once Bulldozer comes out, so what I'd suggest is (if you can't get both cards now) go for two 460's, the tier below you. You'll save money, you'll easily pull in under 800W, and there's no reason that won't run anything you throw at it, unless you play above 1920x1080. Of course, I'd suggest the ATi/AMD 6k series since they scale better together. I've been moving away from Nvidia since I got the last gen 5770.

Edit since Echo posted before me: Running the 560's actually will push him dangerously close to 750, and OCing would be a no go. Add on whatever crap the case is gonna have (lights/fans/IOs) and it may prove taxing on the CPU, which is something you don't want to have. Remember, always look for 80+ Certified units, especially Silver or Gold ranked ones, as those maintain an energy efficiency level of 80% at key load levels.

Should I pay $30 more for a Caviar Black with 64MB cache or stay with a Caviar Blue with 32MB cache? Both are 1TB and 7200RPM.

And which one of those SSDs?

Going with the Corsairs, huh? I'd say the F40, not for the size, just the speed, since that's what you want for a boot SSD. As for your regular platter, I'm interested in how the 64MB cache runs, but I'm not sure if it's worth 30 bucks. The Caviar Blue should be fine.

Thanks.

I actually found a different one. It's the Patriot Torqx TRB 32gb. It's $35 cheaper than the F40 but also faster than the v32. I guess I'll go with that.

Also

P67 or Z68 chipset?

I heard Z68 comes with SSD caching. What does that do?

Updated.

Are you honestly buying your OS?

Yesh.

I have the Black Caviar with 64mb cache. The file transferring speed increase is noticeable,

Oh and get the Z68 if u plan on getting a I5-2500k or I7-2600k so u can have the best of both words. Integrated graphics for when ur GPU dies and dedicated graphics.

oh as for a psu if u plan on using 2 560s I recommend a 850w PSU

I got the Raidmax 850w 80+ old cert psu on Newegg. I think its still on the cheap side atm. Go check

lol 3 months late. K.

well u haven't built it yet have you?

Nope. But new things will be out by then.

Ok now is a good time to go ahead and purchase Sandybridge. AMD's Bulldozer was a big disappointment. Even AMD's fan base was unhappy. Yes it has a large number of threads but side by side comparison with other processors it barely beats the I5-2500K and has lower core to core performance when compared to Phenom 2's.

I7-2600K beat it in just about all the tests except for 2 or 3.... Choice should be obvious now. If AMD doesn't really step up there game, Intel will Steamroll over them(get the joke?)

Ivy Bridge bro

Damit, I say get a Z68 board and a I5-2500k. Then when the Ivy is about to come out sell your I5-2500k and purchase the Ivy bridge.

Ivy Bridge will be expensive as hell when it comes out though... thats why I was thinking it would be better to settle with a I7-2600k and get the Ivy as a upgrade after its retail price drops a little.

So what happened to the computer plans u had?

I'm going to get it like December or January.