Discussion Forums > Technology
Help with building a tower
kyubixmunky:
--- Quote from: Lupin on June 05, 2011, 09:56:55 AM ---
--- Quote from: kyubixmunky on June 05, 2011, 05:16:52 AM ---AMD Phenom II Black x4 3.4 Ghz
--- End quote ---
This is a 965 if I'm not mistaken. Get the 955 instead. It a better overclocker from what I have read. I have a 955 but I don't overclock.
If you intend to go with AMD, get a board that supports AM3+. It doesn't have to be a 900 series mobo. 900 series is almost the same as the 800 series but with a few tweaks to support bulldozer's features + SLI
As for the PSU, I use a PSU calculator to compute the power requirements. I max out TDP, cap aging and utilization in that calculator then add 50 W more to the result. The result will be more than you need but you'll be able to use that PSU longer (assuming you get a good PSU)
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What's the rule of thumb for vcore adjustments per ghz increase on the calculator?
--- Quote from: datora on June 05, 2011, 06:20:15 PM ---.
If you want your system by the end of July & are willing to go with what you've already suggested:
Go with the AMD 955 @3.2 GHz. You can get that up to 3.8 GHz stable on stock air cooling. So, no cooling block budget, and you can get a 955 for ~$135-$140 by watching for specials.
Adjust my above base estimate down to ~$510.
Now, you can also consider going with 4 GB RAM. Definitely stay with the 1600, but look for chips with aggressively low timing. G.Skill is very solid and affordable, and you can get a 4 GB kit for ~$45. This is plenty, although you might have to pay attention to your OS and make sure you're not running a stupid amount of apps & candy all at the same time. You can get another 4 GB kit by end of year, or even an 8 GB for a total of either 8 or 12 GB.
Adjust the base system estimate down to ~$470.
You now have ~$330 to distribute across video card, possibly an SSD, or go with a Caviar Black for your OS install drive. Depending on your needs to purchase an OS (or not) &/or an extra case fan &/or surge protection, you may well come in under $800, maybe as low as $750.
Don't worry about playing 1080 video: this system will eat them alive.
Stuff like Photoshop will be fine, especially if you get the SSD and budget room on it for your work space.
"Some" encoding will work just fine. Your render times will be longer, but you're not in it for bulk production. It would help to list the 2 or 3 apps you intend to use for this.
The remaining question is: which games you intend to play/are interested in? I'm not a gamer, but if you list five of the most resource-intensive games you're interested in, I'm sure other folks can jump in on the video card you'll want to match to them.
As said, you can also just watch the market and new hardware releases for the next 3-4 months and start buying in October. Almost nothing listed here will apply by then, unless you want to try and get this system for ~$600 or under ...
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Yeah it's not likely going to be done by the summer. Waiting till December is fine with me. The most graphics intensive game I'll most probably get is Skyrim. And for video editing, I'm using sony vegas.
mgz:
i didnt read the whole thread but i would avoid ocz psu only psu i have ever had die on me was a ocz. I personally have stuck with corsair for years since that happened
kitamesume:
--- Quote from: datora on June 05, 2011, 06:20:15 PM ---.
The remaining question is: which games you intend to play/are interested in? I'm not a gamer, but if you list five of the most resource-intensive games you're interested in, I'm sure other folks can jump in on the video card you'll want to match to them.
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--- Quote from: kitamesume on June 05, 2011, 12:30:08 PM ---for some decent reference:
i3-2100 (is in between AMD phenom II x4 840 and AMD phenom II x4 955 so yea 955 is faster)
HD6670 (is in between HD5670 and HD5750. is in between GT240 and GTS250)
4gb ram 1600mhz CL9
crysis : 1920x1080p med 0xAA settings = 40fps stable(dips to 25fps at some occasion)
metro 2033 : 1920x1080p low 0xAA settings = 30fps stable(dips to 20fps on some occasion)[this monster of a game eats too much fps]
WoW : 1920x1080p med 2xAA settings = 60fps stable(dips to 30fps on some occasion)[i hated wow for being a pay to play game -,-]
CoD4 : 1920x1080p med 2xAA settings = 60fps stable(dips to 40fps on some occasion)
HoN : 1920x1080p med 0xAA settings = 60fps stable(dips to 30fps on some occasion)[say hello to open beta on Garena :D]
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i listed some games and their settings that ran on my HD6670 and listed their fps, for the most part you could fine tune the settings more to get an acceptable 60fps.
(click to show/hide)[Prices are from newegg]
[115$] AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
[105$] ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3
[85$] Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 CL9 (the G.Skill that i thought was the cheaper was only DDR3 1066)
[100$] MSI R6670-MD1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
[70$] HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 2TB - baredrive (HDD)
[125$] OCZ Vertex 2 60GB (SSD)
[70$] CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W
[60$] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
SUM : 730$ without rebates.
[Prices are from newegg]
[125$] intel i3-2100
[85$] MSI PH67S-C43 (B3) -OR- [85$]ASRock H67M (B3)
[85$] Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 CL9 (the G.Skill that i thought was the cheaper was only DDR3 1066)
[100$] MSI R6670-MD1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
[70$] HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 2TB - baredrive (HDD)
[125$] OCZ Vertex 2 60GB (SSD)
[70$] CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W
[60$] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
SUM : 720$ without rebates.
[Prices are from newegg]
[190$] intel i5-2400
[120$] ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) -OR- [115$]MSI P67A-C43 (B3)
[85$] Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 CL9
[100$] MSI R6670-MD1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
[70$] HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 2TB - baredrive (HDD)
[120$] OCZ Vertex 2 60GB (SSD)
[70$] CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W
[60$] Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
SUM : 815$ without rebates.
i dont like the reviews about Hitachi. a better choice though more expensive [150$] Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB - baredrive (HDD).
ouch, its the hard drives that made it expensive -,- theres some other HDD 2TB for something like 70$ so that would drop down the sum to 760$ then bump the processor to i3-2400 and you get a 825$ rig.
note: the motherboard is expensive because its a p67, the h67 would mostly cost about 80ish$, the hdd is weee expensive plus the ssd and the ram is an 8gb(2x4gb) for 85$.
PS: the whole thing uses less than 400watts, even if you put in the i5 instead.
for reference point, an i3-2100 is in between AMD phenom II x4 840 and AMD phenom II x4 955, an i5-2400(this can be overclocked via turbo mode by up to 3.8ghz) is just right in between AMD Phenom II X6 1075T and AMD Phenom II X6 1090T cpubenchmark - high end cpus.
REWORKED: changed some products. separated i3 and i5 and added a phenom II X4.
Lupin:
--- Quote from: kyubixmunky on June 05, 2011, 06:32:35 PM ---What's the rule of thumb for vcore adjustments per ghz increase on the calculator?
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Sadly, I can't help you with overclocking. The last time I did overclocking was during the Barton days.
I would add around 100W to what you get from the stock results though.
--- Quote from: kitamesume on June 05, 2011, 12:30:08 PM ---for reference point, an i3-2100 is in between AMD phenom II x4 840 and AMD phenom II x4 955, an i5-2400(this can be overclocked via turbo mode by up to 3.8ghz) is just right in between AMD Phenom II X6 1075T and AMD Phenom II X6 1090T cpubenchmark - high end cpus.
--- End quote ---
using a single benchmark and a synthetic one at that is a reference point?
About the PSU, this might be useful: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913.html
kitamesume:
it can at least help, rather than reading tons of articles and reviews. more like its their ranking and it is still pretty accurate.
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