Build Your Own AMD/Intel Computer Thread III (Updated 10.22.12)

As in 27 or 30 inches? Nope... More like 21 inches.

Quote from thename1000 : As in 27 or 30 inches? Nope... More like 21 inches.

Have you considered getting two cheaper video cards ( e.g. AMD HD Radeon 6870) and putting them in Crossfire?

I'm using one AMD HD Radeon 6870 and I can almost max out most games at 1080P.

I didn't know this was possible. Will the motherboard I listed suport it? Is a mid tower case big enough to hold it? Do I need special cooling?

Quote from thename1000 : I didn't know this was possible. Will the motherboard I listed suport it? Is a mid tower case big enough to hold it? Do I need special cooling?

Yes. Yes. No. You will want a case with decent airflow (6800 series GPUs put out 120-150W of heat each.) but you don't need special cooling. (I have a Thermaltake V9 with 1x 230mm, 1x 140mm, and 1x 120mm fans).

You will need a 10 dollar cable if not included with your GPU. (Link1 [amazon.com] Link2 [amazon.com])

Your 750W PSU is plenty to crossfire a pair of 6870s. (I'm crossfiring 6850s on a Corsair TX 650 V2 with an O/C 2500k. On one 6850 I was easily hitting 60fps @ 1080p on high settings on most games.. I wanted to be able to hit 60fps on extreme settings.)

The other thing I'd suggest is picking up an SSD as your boot drive. You'd be amazed how much that will improve your performance. A z68 motherboard also supports SSD caching through smart response.. I'm a big fan, but some people prefer to keep things simple.

I have a 6870 XFX ZDFC and even without any overclock can max out games at Ultra settings. I was considering getting another for Crossfire but haven't had the need yet.

Also the Z68 motherboard is plenty enough for crossfire. I have the same CPU as yours and have OC'ed mine to 4.5 Ghz on air cooling. If it's not been advised already I'd highly recommend getting an SSD. I have a 128 GB M4 Crucial and get ridiculous speeds. I feel the SSD makes a ton of difference between a traditional HDD.

With the Z68 mobo you could even do SSD Caching.

I have the P67 Pro board and was at one point thinking of selling my board and getting a Z68. If only to unlock Quick Sync. But in the end I feel the setup I have currently is enough.

EDIT: I see similar thoughts posted in reference to thename1000's PC build.

Just wanted to give my setup details.

Intel i5 2500K @ 4.5 Ghz.
CM Hyper 212+ air cooler
Asus P67 PRO 3.0 Motherboard
G. Skill Ripjaw series 16 GB DDR3 RAM
XFX Radeon 6870 dual fan video card
Crucial M4 128 GB SSD
Samsung 1 TB Eco Green HDD
LG DVD Writer
Rosewill 630W Power supply
CM Sniper case
LG S 510 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
Windows 7 64 bit OS
27" Planar Monitor
23" ASUS Monitor.

Thanks for the info. I plan on picking up an SSD too

My question now is..for my needs do you think I should crossfire instead of getting one gpu? It seems there are supporters of both. So if they are comparable I'd rather get which option is cheaper. If you think one is overwhelmingly better obv I'll consider that

Also it looks like microstuttering is an issue for some crossfire'd cards..can you suggest a couple cards for at most around $450 total that don't do this?

Quote from oopsz : Yes. Yes. No. You will want a case with decent airflow (6800 series GPUs put out 120-150W of heat each.) but you don't need special cooling. (I have a Thermaltake V9 with 1x 230mm, 1x 140mm, and 1x 120mm fans). You will need a 10 dollar cable if not included with your GPU. (Link1 [amazon.com] Link2 [amazon.com]) Your 750W PSU is plenty to crossfire a pair of 6870s. (I'm crossfiring 6850s on a Corsair TX 650 V2 with an O/C 2500k. On one 6850 I was easily hitting 60fps @ 1080p on high settings on most games.. I wanted to be able to hit 60fps on extreme settings.) The other thing I'd suggest is picking up an SSD as your boot drive. You'd be amazed how much that will improve your performance. A z68 motherboard also supports SSD caching through smart response.. I'm a big fan, but some people prefer to keep things simple.

guys i have a question.

i have win7 32 bit cd with me(original with serial). will 8gb corsair memory I bought for my system build be useful?

is there a RAM limitation for 32 bit win 7? I read that win 7 32 bit can only support up to 4GB? what are my options here??

I have my friend's 64-bit CD and he reckons that I can use my serial on his CD

FYI, we both got our complimentary CD from MS for attending their seminar during Win7 release. He happened to get 64 Bit CD and I got 32 Bit

Quote from Masterguy : guys i have a question. i have win7 32 bit cd with me(original with serial). will 8gb corsair memory I bought for my system build be useful? is there a RAM limitation for 32 bit win 7? I read that win 7 32 bit can only support up to 4GB? what are my options here?? I have my friend's 64-bit CD and he reckons that I can use my serial on his CD FYI, we both got our complimentary CD from MS for attending their seminar during Win7 release. He happened to get 64 Bit CD and I got 32 Bit

No. Yes. Yes. 32 bit windows can only address 4 GB of memory. This is reduced by the memory on your video card (due to architectural reasons). So if you have 32 bit windows and a 1 GB GeForce/Radeon, windows will only be able to use 3 GB of ram.

Your friend is correct that windows licenses are transferable between 32 bit and 64 bit versions as long as the edition is the same (Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate). You will need a retail CD if you have a retail key, and the OEM CD if you have an OEM key.

In all likelihood, you should be able to borrow your friends 64 bit media and use your key to activate it. Unless you are running obscure or legacy software that will freak out in a 64 bit environment (64 bit windows does not support 16 bit apps, for example), or you have limited hard drive space (64 bit windows takes up a few extra gigs) there is no benefit to running 32 bit windows.

Quote from faizoff : Intel i5 2500K @ 4.5 Ghz. CM Hyper 212+ air cooler Asus P67 PRO 3.0 Motherboard G. Skill Ripjaw series 16 GB DDR3 RAM XFX Radeon 6870 dual fan video card Crucial M4 128 GB SSD Samsung 1 TB Eco Green HDD LG DVD Writer Rosewill 630W Power supply CM Sniper case LG S 510 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Windows 7 64 bit OS 27" Planar Monitor 23" ASUS Monitor.

Nice looking machine. My gaming box is comparable: i5-2500k @ 4.0 ghz, Hyper 212+, Gigabyte GA-Z68-D3, 4x 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333, 2x 1 GB Gigabyte GV-685OC-1GD, Patriot TorqX 2 60 GB SSD, Seagate 5400rpm 500gb HD, Asus BW12B1ST Blu-ray writer, Corsair 650W TX V2 PSU, Thermaltake V9x BlacX Edition case, Apple Aluminium keyboard, Cooler Master CM Storm Xornet mouse, 2x Samsung Syncmaster S23A300B 23" monitors.

1. Purpose of computer mid level gaming/htpc/photo processing (lightroom)


2. Budget: <$800
3. List which parts you have:
a. CPU:
b. Mobo:
c. video card: GTX 460 N460GTX-M2D1GD5/OC2 ($90 after rebate)
d. Hard drive:
e. Ram:
f. power supply: 400W 80 Plus Bronze ($20 after rebate)
g. Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II ($50 after rebate)
h: Optical drive (DVD/BluRay, etc)
i: Keyboard, mouse, monitor (will use existing)
j: Operating system (W7 H Prem or Prof need to decide)

4. Will you be overclocking? possibly

Just added the GTX 460 video card to my list.

Would you guys go with Win 7 Pro 64 bit over Win 7 home premium 64 bit for $14 more?

Thanks

I was putting together a system based on the idea that I'd be taking a case and mobo from my brother but the mobo is lga 1156 and the last month prices seem to be going up on ebay for any lga 1156 cpus. I'd rather spend some extra money to get newer parts than spend more on a used 2-3 year old processor.

1. Purpose of computer: Mostly just light gaming. Guild Wars 2. Maybe watching some video

2. Budget: Between $300-400 for the rest.

3. List which parts you have:
a. CPU:
b. Mobo:
c. video card:
d. Hard drive: Crucial 256GB m4 SSD
e. Ram: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
f. power supply:
g. Case:
h: Optical drive (DVD/BluRay, etc): LITE-ON Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM SATA 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature IHBS112-04 - OEM
i: Keyboard, mouse, monitor: Have a generic keyboard and mouse. Monitor - Asus VH238H Black 23"
j: Operating system: Win 7 Prof 64bit

4. Will you be overclocking? Unlikely

I was wondering if someone could tell me whether or not this CPU, Motherbord, + GPU combo is good.
As of now, I only have the GPU. However, if the CPU and motherboard are good for this GPU, I will buy them from microcenter for the bundle price of $153.68 (Is this a good deal?)

1. Purpose of computer: Budget gaming (D3, GW2)

2. Budget: ~$400. Max of $500.

3. List which parts you have:
a. CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 3.4GHz
b. Mobo: ASUS M5A97 Socket AM3+ 970 MOBO
c. video card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR3 PCI Express Video Card (GV-R667D3-1GI)
d. Hard drive: something cheap; SSD in the future
e. Ram: 4gig (8 gig if it will bring noticeable difference in gaming)
f. power supply: whatever meets the minimum (cheaper the better)
g. Case: something <$100 case for gaming
h: Optical drive (DVD/BluRay, etc): not important; will wait for a cheap deal
i: Keyboard, mouse, monitor; already have
j: Operating system: I have one that came with a netbook; can I use this?

4. Will you be overclocking? No (Unless I don't have to spend too much money on a different power supply and/or motherboard

Quote from Gabriel Turf : 1. Purpose of computer mid level gaming/htpc/photo processing (lightroom) 2. Budget: <$800 3. List which parts you have: a. CPU: b. Mobo: c. video card: GTX 460 N460GTX-M2D1GD5/OC2 ($90 after rebate) d. Hard drive: e. Ram: f. power supply: 400W 80 Plus Bronze ($20 after rebate) g. Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II ($50 after rebate) h: Optical drive (DVD/BluRay, etc) i: Keyboard, mouse, monitor (will use existing) j: Operating system (W7 H Prem or Prof need to decide) 4. Will you be overclocking? possibly Just added the GTX 460 video card to my list. Would you guys go with Win 7 Pro 64 bit over Win 7 home premium 64 bit for $14 more? Thanks

If you are doing photo editing you should invest in an IPS panel LCD monitor unless you already have one.

Quote from bbqloverz : I was wondering if someone could tell me whether or not this CPU, Motherbord, + GPU combo is good. As of now, I only have the GPU. However, if the CPU and motherboard are good for this GPU, I will buy them from microcenter for the bundle price of $153.68 (Is this a good deal?) 1. Purpose of computer: Budget gaming (D3, GW2) 2. Budget: ~$400. Max of $500. 3. List which parts you have: a. CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 3.4GHz b. Mobo: ASUS M5A97 Socket AM3+ 970 MOBO c. video card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR3 PCI Express Video Card (GV-R667D3-1GI) d. Hard drive: something cheap; SSD in the future e. Ram: 4gig (8 gig if it will bring noticeable difference in gaming) f. power supply: whatever meets the minimum (cheaper the better) g. Case: something <$100 case for gaming h: Optical drive (DVD/BluRay, etc): not important; will wait for a cheap deal i: Keyboard, mouse, monitor; already have j: Operating system: I have one that came with a netbook; can I use this? 4. Will you be overclocking? No (Unless I don't have to spend too much money on a different power supply and/or motherboard

If you have a 1080P monitor and want to run it at native resolution for most games you may want to skip the DDR3 Radeon HD 6670 and buy something better. If you have a 1280 x 1024 monitor the Radeon HD 6670 would be a great choice.

Quote from dubleo : If you are doing photo editing you should invest in an IPS panel LCD monitor unless you already have one. If you have a 1080P monitor and want to run it at native resolution for most games you may want to skip the DDR3 Radeon HD 6670 and buy something better. If you have a 1280 x 1024 monitor the Radeon HD 6670 would be a great choice.

I have two cheap monitors that I will be using, and both are not 1080p. They are about 5 years old, haha.... Even if I were to get an 1080p monitor relatively soon, I don't mind changing my native resolution for games. (I just have to go to the game option and change the resolution, right?)

With that being said, could you please tell me if the CPU, Mobo, and GPU are good together? Does this support 6670 crossfireX? (If not, how much more would I have to spend for a mobo that supports crossfireX?)