[TGTBATQ]

Hey everyone, i'm fairly new here so bare with me if I've made some blatant screw ups in the build.
I'm looking to have my very first overclock with this build!
I have a 1k budget, and I do NOT need an OS/Case/Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse
This is what I came up with so far, it's only 900 because I didn't see any super huge performance boosts vs 100 bucks, so I kept it lower.
http://i55.tinypic.com/25qf8us.png

Here's the case, if it's any factor into anything
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146068

I appreciate any help anyone would be able to offer.

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Samsung Spinpoint F3 is always my choice at HD..it's cheaper and a little faster than blacks.

I wouldn't recommend that PSU because it is outdated and there is a V2 now I believe. I will work on getting you a recommendation, need to check the sales, but you can use this guide:
http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...-supplies.html

Edit: Here are two to look at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817207003

Both will cover you for now and future upgrades, especially if you decide to add a second 6950, which most people seem to do

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah Samsung Spinpoint F3 is always my choice at HD..it's cheaper and a little faster than blacks. I wouldn't recommend that PSU because it is outdated and there is a V2 now I believe. I will work on getting you a recommendation, need to check the sales, but you can use this guide: http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...-supplies.html

Noted.
I'm still undecided on if I am going to crossfire in the future sometime, so I'm still undecided on a PSU as-is, but I have removed what you said from my build.
Should i go with a 600~w or an 800~w?
I just don't know 100% if i'm going to crossfire, but I don't want to get a 600w, then make up my mind to crossfire and have to get a new psu along with another 6950.
Any advice on that?

Edit:
Just saw your edit.
On the Newegg site, I did the "Which PSU is right for me?" (assuming it's reliable..)
And it said with 2x 6950s, I would need a minimum of 750w?

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGTBATQ Noted. I'm still undecided on if I am going to crossfire in the future sometime, so I'm still undecided on a PSU as-is, but I have removed what you said from my build. Should i go with a 600~w or an 800~w? I just don't know 100% if i'm going to crossfire, but I don't want to get a 600w, then make up my mind to crossfire and have to get a new psu along with another 6950. Any advice on that? Edit: Just saw your edit. On the Newegg site, I did the "Which PSU is right for me?" (assuming it's reliable..) And it said with 2x 6950s, I would need a minimum of 750w?

I'm definitely not a PSU guru, I just use the resources available to us. being the recommended PSU list and the review database.

As far as what you need for a 6950 CFX and an i5-2500k, I am not entirely sure. I know for crossfire 580's you generally want an 850 to be safe for full overclocking, but I believe 6950's draw a little less power.

The XFX Black Edition PSUs are my personal favorites..they are Seasonic rebranded units, mostly modular (only necessary wires hardwired) and they are just generally high efficiency new tech units.

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah I'm definitely not a PSU guru, I just use the resources available to us. being the recommended PSU list and the review database. As far as what you need for a 6950 CFX and an i5-2500k, I am not entirely sure. I know for crossfire 580's you generally want an 850 to be safe for full overclocking, but I believe 6950's draw a little less power. The XFX Black Edition PSUs are my personal favorites..they are Seasonic rebranded units, mostly modular (only necessary wires hardwired) and they are just generally high efficiency new tech units.

Yeah, the XFX Black looks like a strong choice, thank you!
I'll leave it up just in case someone has a different input, but thanks a ton for your help thus far.

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGTBATQ Yeah, the XFX Black looks like a strong choice, thank you! I'll leave it up just in case someone has a different input, but thanks a ton for your help thus far.

No problemo

And like I said on the other thread, a nice SSD for a boot drive + 1 or 2 of your major games made a world of difference for me..I made the switch a few years back on the old gen Intel models and even now it still holds strong, and is still my favorite upgrade of all time.

If you're interested, we can look through a couple of them, see if there are any decent sales. There should be some decent sales since the next gen SSDs just came out, making the 2nd gen SSDs which are still great, real cheap

 

[Fuell]

The 212+ seems a bit pricey at $35, I see it all the time for roughly $20 locally and online. As someone else pointed out F3's are a good alternative to the Blacks,esp. if cheaper (usually is).
Something else, and I'm expecting some backlash on this, the corsair PSU... Sometimes I find that, although of very high quality, sometimes people buy the corsair PSU because its a corsair, regardless of prices. There can be much cheaper alternatives out there that will perform almost just as good, so keep up on the sales for sure.

Overall its a solid build with little room for improvement. An SSD boot drive might be a nice addition since you have $100 headroom in that budget.

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuell The 212+ seems a bit pricey at $35, I see it all the time for roughly $20 locally and online. As someone else pointed out F3's are a good alternative to the Blacks,esp. if cheaper (usually is). Something else, and I'm expecting some backlash on this, the corsair PSU... Sometimes I find that, although of very high quality, sometimes people buy the corsair PSU because its a corsair, regardless of prices. There can be much cheaper alternatives out there that will perform almost just as good, so keep up on the sales for sure. Overall its a solid build with little room for improvement. An SSD boot drive might be a nice addition since you have $100 headroom in that budget.

No backlash here!
I just figured, hell, 79.99 for a 650w psu with 5 eggs after 1.5k reviews would be a great buy!
But, I might go after that XFX, just for the possibility i'll be crossfiring in the future.

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGTBATQ;13065968
No backlash here!
I just figured, hell, 79.99 for a 650w psu with 5 eggs after 1.5k reviews would be a great buy!
But, I might go after that XFX, just for the possibility i'll be crossfiring in the future.

Keep in mind that Eggs are not a good measure of PSU reliability for a few reasons..

First reason is that your average egg reviewer does not have enough knowledge of the inner workings of a PSU aside from "does it turn my computer on" and second being that a unit can have 5 stars and be great but it can have a successor (see TX 650 v2) rendering it obsolete.

The resources we have here are far superior, between the stickies in the PSU forum and just simply stating your needs in the PSU forum and creating a new thread..people love spending other peoples money

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah;13066240
Keep in mind that Eggs are not a good measure of PSU reliability for a few reasons..

First reason is that your average egg reviewer does not have enough knowledge of the inner workings of a PSU aside from "does it turn my computer on" and second being that a unit can have 5 stars and be great but it can have a successor (see TX 650 v2) rendering it obsolete.

The resources we have here are far superior, between the stickies in the PSU forum and just simply stating your needs in the PSU forum and creating a new thread..people love spending other peoples money

Well, I was just pointing out the eggs as far as reliability goes, I don't really think it would have 5 eggs if it was crappy

Anyway, it looks like i'll be ordering the XFX.
Are you sure that the XFX would support a crossfire in the future?

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGTBATQ;13066957
Well, I was just pointing out the eggs as far as reliability goes, I don't really think it would have 5 eggs if it was crappy

Anyway, it looks like i'll be ordering the XFX.
Are you sure that the XFX would support a crossfire in the future?

If you are worried about future crossfire/SLI endeavors, I would bump it to the 850. 850 has shown to be a good number for any 2 way SLI or Crossfire configuration, and power consumption in cards seems to be going down, rather than up (see 480 vs 580 and a few others). The 850 XFX Black will eat any 2 way crossfire/SLI that you throw at it, as well as some 3 way configurations. It is future proof as well

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah;13067352
If you are worried about future crossfire/SLI endeavors, I would bump it to the 850. 850 has shown to be a good number for any 2 way SLI or Crossfire configuration, and power consumption in cards seems to be going down, rather than up (see 480 vs 580 and a few others). The 850 XFX Black will eat any 2 way crossfire/SLI that you throw at it, as well as some 3 way configurations. It is future proof as well

Do you think it's worth it?
If XFX750 (the one i've decided on, thanks to the PSU section) can handle dual 6950s, I don't see the point in getting an 850.

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGTBATQ;13067813
Do you think it's worth it?
If XFX750 (the one i've decided on, thanks to the PSU section) can handle dual 6950s, I don't see the point in getting an 850.

It all depends on what you want for the future

The 750 will run 2x 6950, 2x 6970 even! It would struggle to run overclocked 580's and an overclocked CPU, 480's, for example.

The 750 is a great unit and it will do almost anything you need it to do

Up to you in the end! If your most important trait is running dual 6950s, you are all set!

 

[SpammisT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah;13065197
Samsung Spinpoint F3 is always my choice at HD..it's cheaper and a little faster than blacks.

"Crush the blacks, that's video terminology"

sorry, had to

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlahBlahBlah;13067846
It all depends on what you want for the future

The 750 will run 2x 6950, 2x 6970 even! It would struggle to run overclocked 580's and an overclocked PSU, 480's, for example.

The 750 is a great unit and it will do almost anything you need it to do

Up to you in the end! If your most important trait is running dual 6950s, you are all set!

750 it is, then!

Alright, so now that we have the PSU sorted out, any other changes?
Mobo? RAM?
A better bang:buck hsf?

 

[gnarlybug5]

You know, other than what has been mentioned already, that build looks pretty solid. One question, what resolution are you gonna be running at? It would bring up the question of if you actually need a 2GB 6950.

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnarlybug5;13067957
You know, other than what has been mentioned already, that build looks pretty solid. One question, what resolution are you gonna be running at? It would bring up the question of if you actually need a 2GB 6950.

The highest my monitor supports is 1920x1080
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049
There's my monitor, if it's of any relevance.

 

[EfemaN]

Get a modular PSU. Cable management will be magnitudes easier. Like this, or if you want to save yourself a few bucks and don't mind partial-modular, this.

Hard drive to this, as mentioned above.

As for the video card, definitely get one with a non-reference cooler; even if it costs another $20, it's worth it by a long shot whether you overclock or not. MSI's Twin Frozr II and III are both up (personally the best coolers available), as well as ASUS's DirectCU II models.

EDIT: Don't forget to grab some thermal paste as well; the stuff that comes with most coolers is sub-par; something like MX-3, Shin-Etsu, etc. Also, if you have a Micro Center nearby, it's worth a look at their deals; processors are usually cheaper in-store.

 

[gnarlybug5]

Yeah, you'll be fine. Be fine for future upgrades, even!

I'm jealous of your rig! wish i could scrape up a grand, then sell my computer and get everything I want in a computer.

 

[TGTBATQ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EfemaN;13068017
Get a modular PSU. Cable management will be magnitudes easier. Like this, or if you want to save yourself a few bucks and don't mind partial-modular, this.

Hard drive to this, as mentioned above.

As for the video card, definitely get one with a non-reference cooler; even if it costs another $20, it's worth it by a long shot whether you overclock or not. MSI's Twin Frozr II and III are both up (personally the best coolers available), as well as ASUS's DirectCU II models.

I already settled on this PSU, modular and such ^^
As for the HD, does the 3.0Gb/s or 6.0Gb/s have anything to do with it?
The Black has 6.0Gb/s, which is why I chose it (I personally have no idea what the big difference is :x)