azngothdude

After much "stealth-ing" and overall being a ninj4 on the forum I have finally decided to post. This build I'm about to post is probably a couple years in the making (never got to build a gaming pc for me, just family ones). My first build was an AMD 64 X2 so I've always stayed with them. It was painful to see c2d destroy the rest of the X2's, but I sat through it. Then came the 4800's...and Phenom II...and life was good again.

So now as I head off to college I finally have the opportunity to build the one ultimate AMD machine that I deserve(jk). So here it is guys:




Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 940BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103471

Mobo: DFI LANPARTY DK 790GX-M2RS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136058

Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102810

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148214

Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341010

HDD: Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148335

DVD Burner: SAMSUNG Black DVD Burner with LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151173

TIM: Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

Monitor: Acer X233Hbid Black 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009163

HSF: TRUE 120 Black/ XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V / Coolermaster V8 with Scythe Kama LED PWM 120mm Fan with Blue LED
http://www.quietpc.com/us-en-usd/pro...ma-pwm-120-led


So of course I wouldn't post this build if it was perfect right?





Concerns/Issues:

-Upgrade to Phenom 955?
I'm still waiting to see the OC threads on the 955 before deciding if I should upgrade, but for now the 940 seems sufficient.

-790GX vs 790FX
I wanted a DFI board badly for this build because I've only heard good things about their BIOS and I really want this build to be my ultimate OC lesson/experience. I decided on the 790GX sadly all because of one little Firewire port...(freaking DFI can't put a measly Firewire port on ANY of their high-end AMD boards besides the UT).

-4770 Crossfire
The 4870 was on my list for quite a while until a little graphics card called the 4770 came out a couple of weeks ago. After seeing the crossfire results I had to spring for them instead. Those who have read CM Storm Sniper reviews know that its stock GPU cooling isn't terrific so having two smaller cards that get better frames than a 4870 definitely appealed to me. I'm currently waiting for the non-ugly heatsink version (ie. the XFX 4770 coming soon). And yes I am aware that my mobo can only do 8x/8x CF, but I have yet to see significant decreases (enough that it matters to me) in fps due to the lower scaling.

-DDR2 800 vs DDR2 1066
While the DFI can in fact support up to 1066, I know that most boards can't handle 4 sticks (which I hope to upgrade to one day) of said RAM. Anyways, the Crucials can OC to 1066 easily. Besides, I'm a college student! Let me have my bling!

-Blackout Interior
The Sniper caught my attention right when I saw a review for it (I had originally wanted a Thermaltake Armor +mx). But while the preproduction pictures showed a smexy all black interior, the retail model sadly did not... Painting case interiors is no new thing to this forum. I have in fact seen pics of the Sniper with a painted interior (flat like I want it). But the main problem is that the Sniper is not made of the steel like in the Antec 900, but a finer material that is "nicer"? Is this material just as easy to spray flat black? While I need more sanding/priming than on ordinary cases? (Another question- Can I just prime it then spray or do I HAVE to sand?)

-HSF
I'm probably gonna run the 940 on stock cooling for a while so I can lower the initial payment down a bit. But before I head off to college I will need a HSF. The TRUE Black is the ideal cooler as it IS the king of HSFs. The Xigmatek is a cheaper alternative that works almost just as well. My main concern with these two rifle coolers is the clearance for memory. I believe that because of AMD's CPU bracket, these can only be mounted where airflow goes up/down (which is no problem for the sniper's 220mm exhaust). This seems it will not only block two of my slots but (God forbid!) cover my sexy Ballistix LEDs! Can anyone confirm this? I read somewhere that one can use a socket 775 bracket instead and mount the TRUE in a left/right position. Again, confirmation?

The V8 is there in case both rifle coolers will in fact cover the memory slots. Also I've been trying to find out but does the fan on the V8 have red LEDs?

As for the fans on the HSF, these were the only LED PWN fans I could find (yeah in Europe sadly). Hopefully I can use these in push/pull on the TRUE or replace the one on the Xigmatek. Are you supposed to use sleeve bearing fans on HSFs? Is there any point to using PWN fans on a HSF?


I would like to thank everyone of this wonderful community ahead of time for all the help and advice. I probably won't actually get to building this beast until the summer but would like to sort everything out all nice and near beforehand. I have researched all of this parts for hours on hours so I'd appreciate if you guys don't "Oh, your parts suck! Take these instead!" on me. If you do, please keep the parts in the same price range. The build is just above 1k right now and Daddy(who is paying) would like it that way.

And again, a HUGE thanks for all the help!



~azngothdude

videoman5

I wouldn't overlook the 790x boards from Gigabyte.

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azngothdude

I respect Gigabyte (my friend has a EX58-UD4P build that I helped him with which was a beast), but that powder blue...

aaronmonto

I love that blue color. Always looks great and matches a lot of components.

azngothdude

But the black of DFI "Dark" and neon yellow!

kaivorth

Yeah I get where your coming from. I would also avoid DFI though, there customer service is utter trash.
Reconsider a Gigabyte motherboard. You won't regret it.

Look at the Reapers here

I would either CF 4770s, or get 1 4890

Go with a 640gb WD hard drive, versus a Seagate one

I would also look at an Antec Twelve Hundred, or an Antec Nine Hundred Two case. Both are excellent cases for their pricepoint

Arctic Cooling MX-2 is superior to Arctic Silver 5

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azngothdude

I've heard some mixed comments about DFI as they seem to always be slow though no matter what. I've looked at some of the Gigabyte boards but the only one which is priced around the same is a 790x which does CF well?

I need to find out if I can use all 4 memory slots before I can look at those Reapers. :P

I don't feel the need to drop 250 big ones on a 4890. (Hoping that 4770 will drop like crazy during the summer) I've always preferred the slimline Seagates to the WDs. And I chose the Sniper mainly due to it being a generous mid-size case without being a full tower and for the handles, feet, and sadly the fan/LED control. ^^;;

As I mentioned, I don't really wanna CHANGE parts as I've done loads of research on this and am happy with the current configuration.

jimibgood

DO NOT GET 4 STICKS OF RAM. 2 X 2G are plenty even with a 64 bit OS. You will enjoy overclocking with 2 sticks.

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Evil-Jester

get the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Its an AM3 board and take 1666mhz ram AND it dose CF i LOVE it i got me one and its like an omg type thing ... my ONLY gripe is i wish it was a diff color but other then that its good take a look http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...A-MA790XT-UD4P

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Am3oo

+1, nice build budget

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