New AM3 build

david p

Hey all, I'm thinking of putting together a new build soon enough and I just wanted to get your opinion. I'm going to be using it mainly for movies and games, mostly Source-engine stuff but possibly some Just Cause 2 as well. I'd like it not to go too much above €900.

Just a few questions:
- Is this RAM any better than the one I have down there (this one)?
- Would I be better off taking out the CPU and motherboard and turning it into an i5 build? I'd have to take out the screen as well to keep it on budget, but I have a 19" Dell TFT lying around that I could use either if I needed to. Would putting in an i5 750 give me much of a performance boost for what I'll be using it for or should I just keep it as it is and get the 24" monitor? I guess what I'm trying to say is: what would be better value for money?
- Can anyone reccommend a decent enough keyboard and laser mouse (preferably wired)?

Thanks in advance :pac:

edit: Also, forgot to mention that I'll need a wireless network card too. I had a USB adapter on my last PC but that was a little slow games-wise, so maybe somebody could point me in the direction of a good internal wireless card.

david p

Nobody?

Monotype

The first ram is better (i.e., the CL7).

If you want more power, you could just pick a better processor. There's probably also room to mildly overclock what you have and a chance to unlock a 4th core. IMO: AMD is about the best value you can get at the moment*.
Source engine will run well on that, just cause 2 should run reasonably well, but you might need to turn the resolution down a little with that monitor.

*Although intel are dropping some prices, but nothing really useful to you.
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/INTC/970440878x0x387632/A519A83C-BF39-4BF3-9E60-F6A50F491DFB/July_18_10_1ku_Price.xls.pdf

nVital

A beter PSU would be advisable, a HD 5770 on 450W?, check the requirements.

Monotype

450W is more than enough. You could even get away with 400W, I say.

PSU calculator rates it at around 300W, unless there's loads of fans in that case.
http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Overheal

I just built an AM3 machine with the same objective in mind: I dont even have the Video Card bought yet - on the Motherboard's chip alone this thing is rocking portal on full settings, 4xmsaa 8xaf 1200x800 resolution and High (not Ultra) Texture res. Thats what it defaulted to. And its getting 30 frames. the PSU is probably too much oh well

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66968072&postcount=22

Obviously I think the Onboard chip is the bottleneck despite having very meaty features on it, like a healthy pipeline for AA and AF.

ninja 12

Monotype wrote: »

There's probably also room to mildly overclock what you have and a chance to unlock a 4th core. IMO: AMD is about the best value you can get at the moment*.

I agree with Monotype about unlocking cores and overclocking .

I'm using the board you have listed (MSI 770-C45 ) with an Athlon II 620 . Stock speed for the cpu is 2.6Ghz , but I have mine running at 3.12Ghz ,without any issues .

The last few computers I've assembled have all been AMD , much better value than Intel builds .

Overheal

with regard to overclocking a lot of the reviews on newegg for my Processor cited the same motherboard and case getting 4.0ghz overclocked to run stable.

How much that claim can be trusted is up to you. You should easilly be able to get up past 3.0 but I wont be performing any OC'ing until I've done burn-ins.

david p

I wouldn't be all that bothered about overclocking to be honest, at least as long as the 440 would be enough for what I'd be using it for. If there's a little headroom for overclocking with the stock cooler than that's a plus, but I'm not all that pushed provided I have enough power for games and the odd movie Also, what are people's experiences with playing games at less than their native monitor resolution? The reason I'm asking is that I'd consider settling for a cheaper graphics card to save some money and upgrading somewhere down the line. Is this a good idea?

Oh yeah, I just chose the 450 watt PSU to be safe, but I suppose I could go for the 400 watt version either. I know "future-proofing" is sort of a bad word when it comes to PC building, but would going for the 450 watt mean I might be more able to reuse it if I decide to do another build in a few years time? In the unlikely event that I unlock the fourth core on the CPU, would the extra wattage would help?

And can anyone suggest a good wireless card? Thanks again!
edit: How about one of these?
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28575&agid=271
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28576&agid=271

Monotype

david p wrote: »

In the unlikely event that I unlock the fourth core on the CPU, would the extra wattage would help?

Yes, I'd stick with the 450W. It's handy to have a bit extra room for overclocking/upgrades.

Re: Being able to use it in a few years time - Maybe, depending on the number of years. I reused one there a while ago from a few years back, which was fine since there wasn't any overhaul in connectors, but today's ones are quieter.

Jonny7

I am running a 5770 and AMD 955 black edition on a 400 watt power supply - no issues

As for wifi, anything from TP-link should be fine, if you want more range look up Yagi antennae from China on ebay, they are the business and insanely powerful

zappb

For a new AM3 build, I am doing this:

this case,

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2&prod=42

This mobo,

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=jGAoIFEziW5sPYy7&templete=2

Any AM3 processor, (95 watts or under)

This graphics card *if it fits* or just use on board,
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3683/

If you want more storage instead this card:
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=345&cl_index=14&sc_index=47&ss_index=123

and 6 x 2 TB hard drives

enjoy!

Overheal

What do you need with 12 Terabytes of storage?

You realise thats enough space to replicate your brain twice over?

zappb

Overheal wrote: »

What do you need with 12 Terabytes of storage?

You realise thats enough space to replicate your brain twice over?

this is going to sound terribly geeky...

Not according to Deep space nine - when their ship exploded mid transport, five crew members got trapped in the transporter buffer.

they had to format the entire space station system, and then they stored their patterns while they repairs the transporter, but doing so uses almost all of the station's memory, putting many station systems off-line.

Their physical patterns end up in the computer controlling the holosuite, where they appear as characters in Bashir's program. (Our man Bashir)

DS9 will be real in about 400 years, Year 2410 - now if i can only figure out how to upload my "pattern" into this Fractal Array, and wait for chief O'Brien to sort me out,


tbh...12 Terabytes is not enough with all this HD stuff coming online.

The human brain needs at least 100 terabytes, especially after a christian brothers education...

Overheal

zappb wrote: »

Not according to Deep space nine - when their ship exploded mid transport, five crew members got trapped in the transporter buffer.

they had to format the entire space station system, and and then they stored their patterns while they repairs the transporter, but doing so uses almost all of the station's memory, putting many station systems off-line.

Their physical patterns end up in the computer controlling the holosuite, where they appear as characters in Bashir's program. (Our man Bashir)

tbh...12 Terabytes is not enough with all this HD stuff coming online.

The human brain needs at least 100 terabytes, especially after a christian brothers education...

If you insist on Trekking out this thread, the Neural information stored in a human brain, I am sure, is far, far less complex than trying to store the atomic and molecular makeup of an entire human being with the intent of reassembling them with every atom and molecule back firmly in its place. Nevermind the thought of trying to keep 5 such containers/files seperate from eachother. Also, DS9 was of inferior cardassian construction, like trying to game on an eMachine. And Im sure for whatever absurd 45-minute logic they only stored them in RAM, not the Hard Drives

zappb

Overheal wrote: »

If you insist on Trekking out this thread, the Neural information stored in a human brain, I am sure, is far, far less complex than trying to store the atomic and molecular makeup of an entire human being with the intent of reassembling them with every atom and molecule back firmly in its place. Nevermind the thought of trying to keep 5 such containers/files seperate from eachother

Haven't you ever heard of partitions?

. Also, DS9 was of inferior cardassian construction, like trying to game on an eMachine. And Im sure for whatever absurd 45-minute logic they only stored them in RAM, not the Hard Drives

Overheal my respect for you has gone through the roof!

there must be something like Acronis for that very problem and if you like your production IG (GITS) or Dollhouse (although Dollhouse hadn't invented SSD's yet - for some reason old mechanical 7200 rpm hard drives are best for saving human brain patterns), you would have some very similar systems that will soon be developed. (in say the next 500 years)

Ireland needs to invest in some of this ****, - knowledge economy and all. I suggest we take the bones of this thread and make it into a colourful proposal (we need to use a nice font and some bright colours), to ask enterprise Ireland to fast track us as a high potential startup. (if Bus eireann will spend millions on star trek bus stops - that make buses warp speed around ballymun - such visionary spending - why not!)

So David, Listen to our advice, your new computer, powered by the federation class AM3 socket - is better than an inferior Cardassian iCore space station system.



But please remember to install microsoft security essentials - as the federation class AM3 socket system are very vulnerable to ghost hacking.


Thread closed!

david p

Federation it is! Thanks for all the help, and the emm...enlightenment about space ships and the human brain!