Help with $850 AMD gaming budget build. - Page 5

And to bring this thread back to topic for the op, if you take the time to read it at all he wants to build amd. im sure he is aware of the existence of other platforms but they do not relate to the opening thread topic or question for the intended build.

Hi Mdocod, very sensible approach to editing. I would have no argument backing your build suggestion. you are a very informed, valuable and well read member of this community. I would just like to suggest that your build proposal is strong enough to stand alone, on its own merit, without any reference to the performance of amd cpu at all. Glad to see the thread back on topic

DO NOT GET A FX8170. Really, that is a waste. A FX6100 is good, unless you reallly want a FX8170. Also, I wont start a fight or nothing, but Intel's i5's are currently faster, same price, a lot cooler.

They also make zero differences in a gaming scenario.

Thread cleaned yet again.

Let's keep this on topic and help this guy with his build please.

So what status is the build in yet what items is he looking for?

Here's what I suggest for the AMD build:

MOBO/CPU cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1033347
$15 combo savings, good MOBO for OCing the more power thirsty FX series chips. Great looking board with room to grow the GPU performance.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010
$20 off promo savings. Best gaming performance for the dollar from AMD right now IMO. A 4170 would also be an option but I'd rather have 3 bulldozer modules, and hope for an improvement in scheduling to spread the load across these 3 modules. 3 "cores" was a sweet spot for a long time in gaming, 3 "modules" should also prove effective with proper scheduling.

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161400
6% off promo code. Just trying to go AMD theme here and keep the budget. The 7950 lines up nicely in this case. This is as much GPU as I can comfortably fit into the budget after throwing a liquid loop at the CPU. It's a little more power hungry than the GTX670, and a little less gutsy, but close enough really. If you can provide the case with good airflow this should have some room to OC pretty comfortably.

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096
$5 off promo. Great low voltage chips for OCing. Set to 1.5-1.6V IMO and see what sort of crazy memory speeds/timings you can get out of them.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
$10 off promo makes this a great deal. Going to need a 750W to have some comfortable overhead for OCing and going dual GPU in the future (if applicable). There are many other great 750W PSUs with 4x6pin connections to choose from around $100. The Rosewill Hive series is another option that would save a few dollars. Unfortunately, this build, with the lower efficiency PSU, and the higher TDP of the AMD components, will have higher operating costs than the intel/nvidia build I proposed before, especially when it is OCed to close the gap on the performance of that other build.

Optical: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

$861 shipped.

I'd take the intel machine I proposed before, but this machine would be no slouch once OCed.

Not a bad build there above, but there's no need for a 750w PSU. A good quality 500w PSU would handle it fine or a 650w with crossfire in the future (same goes for the Intel build you said earlier).

That could eqaul a little more $$ saved, especially if you opt for like a Rosewill Green or something cheap but good.

Might even be enough saved to grab a 7970 instead.

Hi Pioneerisloud,

I agree that a well made 650W would handle it, but I like to see some overhead.

The Intel build suggestion I made before, would have been ~435W TDP GPU+GPU+CPU (worst case scenario) if SLI'd, a 650W PSU makes sense there to pick up the rest of the system while having enough overhead for OC and aging.

In the case of the AMD build I proposed above, it's more like ~525W TDP if Xfired. The extra ~90W potential consumption of the "main" power sucking components, for me, means that if I apply the same logic as above, a 750W is the correct PSU size to accommodate OCing and aging.

In the real world, hitting full TDP on a multi-GPU setup is rare, so you're right, for most people, a smaller PSU would work fine. I just know that if it were me, I would spend the first 2 weeks on such a machine blasting it with every benchmark I could get my hands on just for fun, and some of those benchmarks will find ways to draw more power and make more heat that normal gaming and use. I'd want the overhead in place personally

Obviously, if we drop the dual GPU support, we can drop the PSU size by about 200W (for either build).

Regards,
Eric

True enough.

All I know is that my little 650w handled SLI GTX580's no problems at all with my 4.9GHz overclock. So I have zero fear at all of recommending a 650w unit for "future proofing" most rigs or a 500w or less for a single GPU. Heck, I've ran my sig rig no problems for WEEKS off a CX430 before while my TPN650 was out for RMA. That was with overclocks and everything.