which mobo to choose? plz help

[blayker127]

hey guys, looking to my first build i have a few questions and a few problems to overcome any help would be greatly appreciated, firstly this system is mainly for gaming so thats what it will be revolving around! in the end im hoping to spend around 2500 for the tower basically my budget so heres my system so far btu there are a few issues

 

CPU: Phenom 1100T possibly sandy bridge 2600K but am really leaning towards the phenom as ive heard much better for gaming?

 

MOBO: Either ASUS crosshair IV Formula, Asus crosshair IV extreme or even if you guys have any ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

Graphics: either Radeon 6990 or GTX590 was really leaning towards the 590 but the MOBO's arent SLI so eventually if i want to upgrade to two cards ill need a new MOBO (is that correct?)

 

RAM: C13-5714 ::Corsair CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9 Vengeance 12GB DDR3 RAM - PC12800, 1600MHz, 3x4096MB, Non-ECC, Unbuffered(0.75 lbs) from My link

 

thats the important stuff that im not sure about i was also looking to the coolermaster HAF X full case, along with 2 x 1TB WD Caviar Black HDD and Corsair H70 liquid cooling.

any input and help is much appreciated! cheers guys

Edited March 28, 2011 by blayker127

[IVIYTH0S]

where are you ordering from, spending 2500, I'm going to guess you're not in the states

 

right off the bat though, that memory kit isn't for you. It's created for a 1366 system, AM3 and 1155 systems have 4 ram slots

[blayker127]

no im in australia so with the MOBO's im very limited, i can get most of the stuff off Tigerdirect.com and get it shipped to AUS but that wont be including Power supply, Case and MOBO all of which i can only find one site to get them from in australia and they are literally almost twice the price of sites like newegg hence why my tower will actually cost me around 3000 the HAF X alone is almost $300 here but its the one i want.

 

with the RAM though basically ill need a kit that has 4 RAM cards is that it?

 

for example My link the 16GB version 4x4GB

Edited March 28, 2011 by blayker127

[Locutus]

with the RAM though basically ill need a kit that has 4 RAM cards is that it?

 

for example My link the 16GB version 4x4GB

Or two identical 2-stick RAM kits.

[Alexandre]

Hi mate and welcome to OCC!

 

First off I want to ask where you are planning on getting all your gear from? MSY? I personally don't really trust Tigerdirect.com.

 

The 2600K is an amazing chip but if you want more bang for your buck then I wouldn't pass on the 2500K. For it's price, the 2500K runs like a star and overclocks to the moon. All the CPUs you are thinking of getting are more than enough for any game.

 

If you go for the 2600k or 2500k, Look for a P67 chipset 1155 socket mobo for your CPU. These mobos support SLI so you won't really be in trouble as you would with the other AMD boards.

 

With the RAM, since this computer is mainly for gaming I would probably suggest you save some money and go for a decent 2x4GB set.

You really wont need any more than 8 gb for the life of your computer considering that applications these days only really use about 3 gbs of system memory and the increase in RAM usage over the last few years has been pretty slow.

 

If you do find that you need more RAM in the future then you can always upgrade and add some more sticks into your spare slot. If you do ever reach that point it would probably be cheaper to buy the RAM anyway.

[Deathmineral]

With the RAM, since this computer is mainly for gaming I would probably suggest you save some money and go for a decent 2x4GB set.

You really wont need any more than 8 gb for the life of your computer considering that applications these days only really use about 3 gbs of system memory and the increase in RAM usage over the last few years has been pretty slow.

 

If you do find that you need more RAM in the future then you can always upgrade and add some more sticks into your spare slot. If you do ever reach that point it would probably be cheaper to buy the RAM anyway.

:with stupid:

 

8GB (2x4) would probably be good for you if your main purpose for the computer is gaming, I personally only have 4GB (2x2) and I do a ton of gaming and heavy multitasking and haven't had any problems so far, only reason I would recommend going for 8GB for you is because RAM isn't terribly expensive at the moment and it would probably help future proof you a little as I see RAM usage going up in games before long.

 

The CPU part, I think I will leave others to cover that area as I'm partial to AMD and probably not as knowledgeable about CPUs as many others here because of my bias.

 

As for ordering from tigerdirect, I personally have ordered a lot from them and have always had great service and support from them so I recommend them fully, but you will probably see a lot mixed feelings about tigerdirect on here so I would say just go with what serves your wallet best when you decide on who to order from.

 

Good luck with the build, sounds like you will have a nice one when you get it.

[blayker127]

thanks for the replies guys....ultimately i dont want a computer that in a year is going to start lagging behind hence why i figured id spend a bit extra upfront as im not too concerned about the money side to an extent. the other reason i was leaning towards the hexa core 1100T CPU is that i do a lil amatuer/semi-professional photography and would be nice to have the extra oomph for photoshop and speed it up a bit more aswell, its kinda the same boat with the RAM yes 8GB will do me but again if you had the money you'd all go 16GB yeh? when it comes down to it its only $200ish and itll save me upgrading in future as to the point of spending a lil more to start with lol

 

From all the reviews ive read there are almost no bad reviews of the 1100T, with the 2600k iver heard OC can be complicated and tricky unless you know exactly what your doing however reviews of the 1100 sat that OC to 3.8 is simple on the phenom i doubt ill be OC too much except to show off lol i think itll handle everything easily without it.

 

@alexandre ye i was looking at majority of parts from tigerdirect, ive had a few friends buy from there and no problems and was also reccomended by my local pc store (they buy some parts wholesale) when it comes down to it they are a heck of alot cheaper than Australian based sites! some people have problems and some dont unfortunately i really dont have much choice unless i wanna pay 1200-1500 for the radeon 6990 (5 pc shops in brisbane quoted)! To buy this system locally would double the price and msy dont have all the parts anyway unfortunately ie 1100T or the 2600k so they are fairly useless except maybe for the MOBO but then they dont have the case i want lol so the case and mobo are coming from Mwave

 

Im happy to fork out a bit extra dosh and for 3grand, its gunna be a pretty kickass beast that will last me a while before having to upgrade....basically i just want to make sure that what i have will all work smooth together especially the Cpu/Mobo/Graphics card.

 

once again thanks for the input and any more is much appreciated!

@Deathmineral im leaning to the AMD anyway lol

[Deathmineral]

Personally I wouldn't go for 16GB but if you do want it then I'd say go for it since having more can't really hurt you.

 

1100T is a pretty good overclocking, especially since it has the unlocked multiplier. However I think 2600k might serve you better, and this is coming from an AMD fanboy ,here is a nice comparison of the two at stock speeds if you're interested, the 2600k seems to outperform in the photoshop area. Regardless of which one you go for though, both will serve you well and last you a long time I'm sure.