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Building my first rig and need feedback

804 Views 22 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Fearlessleader
hi guys...been a lurker for a while, researching about components and decided its time to get some feedback from the pros


My last PC was a Pentium 4 so yeah, its about time !!

Here is what I have so far :

- Cooler Master CM 690
- Corsair TX 650W PSU
- Western Digital 640 GB hard drive
- Samsung 21.5" 1080p monitor ( will also be hooking my system to my 46" LCD from time to time )
- Already have keyboard/mouse

Here is what I am considering buying.

Processor - Core i7 920
Mobo - Asus Rampage II Gene
Video Card - ATI Radeon 5850 ( when they are in stock lol )
Memory - 4 GB DDR3 1600
Speakers - Logitech X540

I have waited long enough for each part and bought them during the past few months being tight on my finances.

Have some questions and will appreciate any feedback. :

- How does it look overall ?


- My main concern is the Motherboard and RAM. MicroATX or ATX ? I will be using only one video card, max 2 hard drives, a sound card ( probably a Xonar next year ) and don't intend to overclock at the moment. I am thinking between EVGA's mATX mobo and Asus Rampage II Gene. What will I benefit from going with ATX ? Any suggestions/recommendations ?

- I understand brands other than Asus, EVGA cost less but don't know how reliable they are in terms of their product/support. 1366 mobos under $200 are tempting but I don't know, it just doesn't feel right lol.

- Any suggestions about RAM in general for mATX mobos ?

- I know i5 is an option but considering their prices/performance, I'd rather go with i7 LGA 1366 and be 'future proof'. And not interested in AMD even though I gather they cost a bit less and perform almost the same. AMD just doesn't do it for me. Its a mental thing so I will leave it at just that


- Plan to go with Win 7 64 bit so any feedback on how the drivers are doing for people with the OS and having any of the components I listed will be nice.

Please note I am in Canada so its hard to find good prices but hopefully, the holiday sales will have some good deals I can jump on. I usually buy from Canada Computers ( can go to store and pick up so no shipping/handling ) but will be on the lookout for good deals.

Can't wait to play games in my collection which I haven't even openend yet.

Hope I am not too vague and look forward to the feedback.

cheers
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For the remaining parts, I don't want to spend more than $1100 ( Canadian ).

Mobo - 250$
Processr - 300$
Vid Card - 300$
Windows - 150$
RAM - 100$

Speakers - I can wait a bit cos I can hook up my old 2.1 creative speakers.
Would you consider getting CF 5770s instead of a single 5850?
Not really a 2 card guy but I can consider it if the performance and price justifies it over getting a 5850.

As of now, CF 5770 costs > 5850.
If you tight on money but want a nice card look for a bit and find a good deal on 4870X2 card. The 58 up is overkill unless you use eyeinfinity

Why buy 5770 they are just re-numbered 4850 or 4870 in a nice stuffy box. You could save a bunch and just add one 4870 4890 then crossfire down the road.

Also why buy a micro Atx board? Yuck!! When you are buying a mid to full tower that don't make make sense!!

Go ATX form factor leave the micro's to the lan box's

Don't get caught in the hype on the 58 series cards they are great cards for Uber Gamers with fat wallets that think that they will play better to 5 frame more per second

Any who get a bigger PSU 650w to small. not that it can't run what you want now, but it damn sure won't run what you want later.

I would not buy any supply that don't have at least 2) 8 pin connectors and 2) 6 pin for video power

Memory sound cool but what brand you have in mind.

Last look for some used deals cut your cost and have it much faster.

Here the guys always have nice stuff in the for sale section and some good peps too!! help the guys out and spend some money where the peps help you out hang out.

920 is the best bang for the buck and overclocking beast just make sure you get a 920 D0 batch B
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Quote:


Originally Posted by itzhoovEr
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So you don't have any RAM yet?

Don't buy ram till you have the board ask whats working first. Some memory don't play nice with some boards be carefull here. no joke!!!
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Quote:


Originally Posted by Azathoth
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Not really a 2 card guy but I can consider it if the performance and price justifies it over getting a 5850.

As of now, CF 5770 costs > 5850.

Your not a 2 card guy
Why not best way to get started buy one now and when you get more cash later you got a smoking rig. why save up forever to drop all your cash and be back to broke.

Look even the 5970 is not as good as 2 5870's Ya I know I hear it for that but it true. I guess I am not the green peace type.

Find a deal on a nice fat 1kw 0r 850w PSU used and stuff that bad boy with them nice power hungry GPU's

Ya 2 4870x2 now that is power and I have 2 now and got the pair for the same price as one 5070 that you can't buy anyway. Even just 2 4890's phuuuu do you really think there is something out they can't run full out.

I don't think so!!

Really man 3 to 5 frames per second won't make you have more fun on a budget.

Later when they get a games out that really can use that nice new 5970 or a crossfire 5870 pair they will be half price and you will be snacking them up for 200 a pop. It happens every time. I have been a pro builder 12 years.

That just why I am snacking on $200 4870x2 right now and there tasting might fine.
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Fearlessleader View Post
Your not a 2 card guy
Why not best way to get started buy one now and when you get more cash later you got a smoking rig. why save up forever to drop all your cash and be back to broke.

Find a deal on a nice fat 1kw 0r 850w PSU used and stuff that bad boy with them nice power hungry GPU's

I understand that being one step behind the the latest tech gives the best price/performance ratio but I am an Uber Gamer myself and would like to spend on a video card that has the latest tech ( i.e DX 11 ), performs 25% more than last gen and costs around 300$ max. The 5850 fits the bill nicely and I can CF them later if need be.

btw, I thought 650W Corsair would be more than enough to power what I have in mind atm ( no crossfire ). I may need more if I go CF.

Appreciate the feedback guys...and don't get the hate towards micro ATX mobos. I don't mind putting a mATX mobo in mid tower or even full tower. I got the case CM690, cos its a well reviewed one, like its style plus had a great deal at the time of purchase.

So, which mobo and RAM you guys recommend ?

Mobo budget - 250$
Memory - 100$

Thanks
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Wow you have a lot to learn.

Micro Atx board target OEM builders as a low cost solution. I have only seen one good performing matx board that I have ever used and it does kick butt in a lan box DFI LanParty JR P45-T2RS Now that is a nice Lan box board Overclocks like crazy too.

Dx 11 now that is something I hope I live long enough to see.

How many DX 11 Games do you own?

How many Dx 10.1 games do you own?

How many DX10 games do you own?

How many games do you own that are written in 64 bit code from the ground up. Not some patch up 32 bit game a real 64 bit game.

This one I will answer for you none because there are none there also are no DX11 games at this time and may be years before we ever see either of these.

The hardware you buy today will never see a DX 11 game in it's life. Not if you call your self a Uber gamer anyway.

Phuuu and I may never see it in my life at all at the rate there going.

Do you know that some of the most hard core gamers are still using Dual Core CPU's and overclocking the crap out of them hitting 5ghz and more.

Why you ask? Most games can't use more then 2 cores so why build a PC today that will be out of date by time they need more then 2 cores

Builds a gamer for what there is today and plan to upgrade when the time get here for tomorrow.

I bet you my house that by the time there is a DX 11 game that you play out, the machine you building will be landfill
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Quote:


Originally Posted by Azathoth
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btw, I thought 650W Corsair would be more than enough to power what I have in mind atm ( no crossfire ). I may need more if I go CF.

Thanks

This is easy the PSU is the one part that if you buy big enough today may still be in your rig 3 years from now and still have warranty

If you buy a 650 watt today maybe next year or sooner it will be history and still be like new.

Buy a 1Kw today and that will future proof the one thing that it possible to future proof.

I don't care every other part of you PC built today by next year will be old news but the PSU won't if you go big enough first time out.

I bought my 750W PSU 2 years ago. I rebuilt my rig 3 time since then. I was still using it.

I am still using it but not in my gamer anymore it now on my test rig.

I found a good deal one day on Fleebay and got a nice Cooler Master 1.25KW for 100 bucks free shipped. it was 2 weeks old and came with the invoice. Newegg sells it for just under 300

This PSU can do quad SLI or crossfire

I will have for a long time
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I got grab a coffee and I will hook you up with a link or 2 for some boards
Quote:


Originally Posted by Fearlessleader
View Post

Wow you have a lot to learn.

Micro Atx board target OEM builders as a low cost solution. I have only seen one good performing matx board that I have ever used and it does kick butt in a lan box DFI LanParty JR P45-T2RS Now that is a nice Lan box board Overclocks like crazy too.

Dx 11 now that is something I hope I live long enough to see.

How many DX 11 Games do you own?

How many Dx 10.1 games do you own?

How many DX10 games do you own?

How many games do you own that are written in 64 bit code from the ground up. Not some patch up 32 bit game a real 64 bit game.

This one I will answer for you none because there are none there also are no DX11 games at this time and may be years before we ever see either of these.

The hardware you buy today will never see a DX 11 game in it's life. Not if you call your self a Uber gamer anyway.

Phuuu and I may never see it in my life at all at the rate there going.

Do you know that some of the most hard core gamers are still using Dual Core CPU's and overclocking the crap out of them hitting 5ghz and more.

Why you ask? Most games can't use more then 2 cores so why build a PC today that will be out of date by time they need more then 2 cores

Builds a gamer for what there is today and plan to upgrade when the time get here for tomorrow.

I bet you my house that by the time there is a DX 11 game that you play out, the machine you building will be landfill

I don't get what you mean by matx boards not performing. In what sense ? Do they fail, DIMM slots fail ? Not enought features, crappy drivers or just a bad luck with a faulty one ? Keep in mind I won't be overclocking anytime soon.

About DX11 and multi core support, well, you gotta start somewhere. What is the point of getting 4870x2 that costs more than 5850 considering 5850 performs better and has support for DX11 ? I know there are like what 3-4 games that use DX11 atm and not all games are programmed to take advantage of multi core support but why not take the plunge now and play current games to the max and still have juice to play DX11 whenever they come out instead of getting another video card ( around the same price ) 'just for DX11' if I plan to play a game that supports it ?

And I can ask u the same question regarding i7 920 in your rig. Why go Quad Core ? Do you need all those cores for gaming ? Or other stuff ?


Its been too bloody long since I have had a descent pc and I won't be using it for only gaming. I will be using it for video editing, encoding and movies/music as well.

Sure, there are 'hardcore' gamers who still play on a Dual Core overclocked but most of them would get an i7 if they have some money to spend on an upgrade/new build. They just don't have the money usually


Look forward to your suggestions....caffeine 4tw
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Ok,

real easy why 920 for me I am a pro builder how can I sell what I know nothing about?

matx hmmmm there just not great benchmark boards they are intended for use in HTPC small lan boxes and low performance solutions that price and size are more important.
So few are made for real gamers

Poor power circuits poor cooling of the nothbridge. it just goes on and on ect....

They don't buy dual cores because they want a qaud trust me check out my auction on ebay for the worlds most expensive dual core the e8700 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220518926013
Well I am not saying btw you should buy a dual core anyway I was just making a point.

I have been looking at what Ncix.com sells but they do have much do they.

I just spoted this board there GA-EX58-UD3R but I am not into the matx so I guess I would have to compare the reviews the Asus you picked looks like one of the rare boards that might be a nice board even if it is a matx but do the reviews. I would look at the Bloodrage by Foxconn also when looking for a board with a bit less money is involved hell I would look at the Bloodrage even when its not
Bump.

Need more feedback guys. mATX or ATX mobo and which one for 250$ CDN ? Which DDR3 RAM to get and what do I gain with triple channel vs double channel ? Is it really that much of a performance boost ?

cheers
You did say You were going I7 920 right?

Then you need triple channel memory X58 chipset boards all use triple channel for the socket 1366
Ah damn, brainfart


Yeah going with i7 920. Just a bit worried about the mobo and RAM not compatible but guess I didn't read some basic stuff.

Anyways, good suggestions for mobos around $250 for 1366 platform ? Keep in mind I won't be overlocking it in the near future, using only a single GPU, 2 hard drives, sound card ( if I am not satisfied with onboard HD ).

Any other criticism of the build will also be welcome


Thanks
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