This is going for my first build and I need some help critiquing it. I dont need an OS, keyboard, mouse, or monitors. The total cost of whats listed below is $1060 USD and my budget is at 1200 max. I just want to make sure that im not bottlenecking my 5850 and that the psu is good enough for dual 5850s (im getting the second one next year).

Feel free to critique and let me have it. I plan on ordering this saturday so urgent replys please. Thanks

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 Video Card

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

COOLER MASTER 932 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Case

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R SATA Black 24X DVD

Antec 650W Continuous Power SLI/CrossFire Ready Power Supply

Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

I would say the largest weakness in your system is your HDD, get this for $5 more.

CPU wont bottleneck at all and the PSU is fine. With that extra $200 you could try and go for an i7 build? Iantheone

Im a amd fan so i like that i get more bang for my buck than intel and i can use the extra case for a better heatsink, nicer fans, and better keyboard and mouse.

I would say the largest weakness in your system is your HDD, get this for $5 more.

Luminouslight

thanks, i added that instead of what i had, but im not going to update the thread

Here's a better build for ya:

Sony DVD Drive

NZXT Hades Case

OCZ StealthXStream 700W PSU w/ Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD

OCZ AMD Edition 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM w/ Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Motherboard

XFX 5870 Video Card w/ AMD Phenom II X4 955

Total: 1079.92, 1095.86 w/ shipping to postal code '32434.'

And just a little tidbit for you people: That case can fit the 5970 :shock:

Here's a better build for ya:

Sony DVD Drive

NZXT Hades Case

OCZ StealthXStream 700W PSU w/ Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD

OCZ AMD Edition 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM w/ Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Motherboard

XFX 5870 Video Card w/ AMD Phenom II X4 955

Total: 1079.92, 1095.86 w/ shipping to postal code '32434.'

And just a little tidbit for you people: That case can fit the 5970 :shock:

ravenguard90

yeah thats a much better build thanks...

The only thing is that im not a fan of that case. But do you think the case that i have will fit the 5970?

Yep, the HAF 932 will easily fit the 5970.

Yep, the HAF 932 will easily fit the 5970.

ravenguard90

well i just decided that ill use the money i save on your case and use it for a decent heat sink, do you have any suggestions?

Some good heatsinks you can get for your build are the Sunbeam Core Contact Freeze, the Corsair H50, and the Prolimatech Megahalems with a Scythe Slipstream fan. All three of them are very capable coolers, organized in terms of low-high pricing and performance.

I also found two alternatives that will give you the same performance, but at a slightly cheaper price:

- The first one (which is the cheapest) is to switch the motherboard to the one you had (790FX-GD70) and get the Corsair 4GB RAM instead. That would bring your total to 1049.92/1062.90 with shipping.

- If you wish to keep the 790FXTA-UD5 for its USB 3.0 and SATAIII capabilities, then just take it with the Corsair memory as well. That would bring your total to 1066.92/1083.10 with shipping.

[QUOTE="Iantheone"]CPU wont bottleneck at all and the PSU is fine. With that extra $200 you could try and go for an i7 build? damann22

Im a amd fan so i like that i get more bang for my buck than intel and i can use the extra case for a better heatsink, nicer fans, and better keyboard and mouse.

Some good heatsinks you can get for your build are the Sunbeam Core Contact Freeze, the Corsair H50, and the Prolimatech Megahalems with a Scythe Slipstream fan. All three of them are very capable coolers, organized in terms of low-high pricing and performance.

I also found two alternatives that will give you the same performance, but at a slightly cheaper price:

- The first one (which is the cheapest) is to switch the motherboard to the one you had (790FX-GD70) and get the Corsair 4GB RAM instead. That would bring your total to 1049.92/1062.90 with shipping.

- If you wish to keep the 790FXTA-UD5 for its USB 3.0 and SATAIII capabilities, then just take it with the Corsair memory as well. That would bring your total to 1066.92/1083.10 with shipping.

ravenguard90

I think im going to go with the prolimatech heatsink and keep the 790FXTA-UD5 but use the corsair memory instead of the original

Thanks a lot raven you were a great help

EDIT: I just checked the price of all the revisions and im going to get the 5850 so later I can upgrade to the 5970 when it goes down in price

Here is the build I came up with. Total cost around $1070 USD w/out shipping

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5850

Sony Black 24X DVD/CD drive

OCZ StealthXStream 700W CrossFire Ready Power Supply

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive

GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 AMD USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

NZXT Hades Crafted Series Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Prolimatech Megahalems CPU Cooler Heatsink

Get a ATI 4890 instead, then run two of them. They're arguably better than then 5850, plus a good bit cheaper.rastaman219

Err... no. One 4890 is beaten easily by a 5850, and although two of them do beat a single 5850, it will cost more.

As for the revised build, that is an excellent build. But I have come across some crucial information about that case. Although it fits the 5970, the case has trouble fitting large tower coolers, like the Megahalems. So, you have two alternatives for your situation:

- You can get the Corsair H50 as it does perform quite close to the Megahalems, but smaller in height.

- You can keep the Megahalems, and go with the HAF 922 instead. It will still fit the 5970, but it comes at a hefty $30 increase including shipping.

Just a quick suggestion on the CPU fan front, if it were me I'd opt for the Noctua NH-U12P SE2. It's very quiet, thanks to the two high quality 120mm fans it includes and the thermal results are pretty damn impressive. Probably works out cheaper or roundabout the same as the Megahalems since you don't need to buy additional fan(s).

Rest of the build looks pretty solid to me, although if you're concerned with cable neatness you might want to contemplate a modular PSU which will obviously eliminate a lot of the unnecessary wiring.

[QUOTE="rastaman219"]Get a ATI 4890 instead, then run two of them. They're arguably better than then 5850, plus a good bit cheaper.ravenguard90

Err... no. One 4890 is beaten easily by a 5850, and although two of them do beat a single 5850, it will cost more.

As for the revised build, that is an excellent build. But I have come across some crucial information about that case. Although it fits the 5970, the case has trouble fitting large tower coolers, like the Megahalems. So, you have two alternatives for your situation:

- You can get the Corsair H50 as it does perform quite close to the Megahalems, but smaller in height.

- You can keep the Megahalems, and go with the HAF 922 instead. It will still fit the 5970, but it comes at a hefty $30 increase including shipping.

well then ill have to with the Corsair H50. Good thing too cuz im not a modder in anyway.

Okay, after reading all the new reviews of that power supply, I'm starting to regret the build I proposed to you. I've had no problems with OCZ personally, but I won't be able to sleep knowing I recommended a power supply that could potentially burn your house down :| Here's an alternate build for you, which comes up to the same price (-ish):

Sony DVD Drive
NZXT Hades Case
Samsung F3 500GB HDD
Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Motherboard
HIS 5850 Video Card
Silverstone 650w PSU
Corsair DDR3-1600 4GB RAM
AMD X4 955 Processor
Corsair H50 CPU Cooler

Grand Total: 1071.81, 1085.90 w/ shipping

Here's a better build for ya:

Sony DVD Drive

NZXT Hades Case

OCZ StealthXStream 700W PSU w/ Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD

OCZ AMD Edition 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM w/ Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Motherboard

XFX 5870 Video Card w/ AMD Phenom II X4 955

Total: 1079.92, 1095.86 w/ shipping to postal code '32434.'

And just a little tidbit for you people: That case can fit the 5970 :shock:

ravenguard90

Okay, after reading all the new reviews of that power supply, I'm starting to regret the build I proposed to you. I've had no problems with OCZ personally, but I won't be able to sleep knowing I recommended a power supply that could potentially burn your house down :| Here's an alternate build for you, which comes up to the same price (-ish):

Sony DVD Drive
NZXT Hades Case
Samsung F3 500GB HDD
Gigabyte 790FXTA-UD5 Motherboard
HIS 5850 Video Card
Silverstone 650w PSU
Corsair DDR3-1600 4GB RAM
AMD X4 955 Processor
Corsair H50 CPU Cooler

Grand Total: 1071.81, 1085.90 w/ shipping

ravenguard90

cool i can change it...but will it be able to eventually power a 5970

Yeah, it will still power one. I used this gpu support list from Silverstone to check.

CPU wont bottleneck at all and the PSU is fine. With that extra $200 you could try and go for an i7 build? Iantheone

[QUOTE="Iantheone"]CPU wont bottleneck at all and the PSU is fine. With that extra $200 you could try and go for an i7 build? UltimateGamer95

yeah im going with a mid tower and also its much cheaper on the s/h from newegg. Also my apt is really small like my desk so I need it to be as small as possible.