Build

[Fanatic]

OK, gentlemen here's another one to critique. Let me know if I missed anything and or your opinions.

 

 

 

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $122.99

 

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor $169.99

 

G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $79.99

 

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply $89.99 ($40 instant rebate)

 

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $89.99

 

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM $99.99

 

XFX HD-567X-ZNF3 Radeon HD 5670 1GB 128-bit DDR5 $79.99

 

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $54.99

 

 

Grand total = $787.92

 

 

 

Thoughts?

[Stonerboy779]

Should have gone 6xxx series otherwise pretty solid build

[bp9801]

Go for a different RAM kit. Nothing wrong with what you have, except its a triple channel kit instead of dual. One of the sticks will be left out to dry, basically. I'd go for this 8GB kit for $55, this 1TB hard drive for $60, which gives you enough spare cash to pick up this 550 Ti for $130.

[dihartnell]

Would go for the AM3+ equivalent mobo.

[El_Capitan]

I would wait. Once Zambezi gets released, or is about to get released, the AM3 CPU's will drop in price. Heck, possibly even the Sandy Bridge CPU's. Not to mention those that are upgrading will look to sell the components they are upgrading. Right now, you can find about the same deal but better performance with a Z68 and i5 2500K combo.

[NikolaT]

Considering you have a ridiculous amount of RAM and a weak GPU this will be a a productivity rig, correct? If so:

 

 

 

The X6 performs quite well with media and processor intensive tasks in general, at least for the price. The 2600 from Intel is a beast for the same purpose but costs quite a bit more.

Go for AM3+ if you want AMD. It'll allow you to upgrade to one of their Bulldozer processors must you need it in the future. The Phenom II's are pretty old as it is.

 

Don't take a triple RAM kit - AMD's current and next generation Zambezi processor are/will be dual channel. 3 sticks of RAM will disable this performance increasing function. Go for 8GB (2x4) or 16GB (2x4) but unless you're processing jesus you probably wont need more than 8GB.

 

What are you gonna do with that nuclear reactor of a power supply? A quality 400W (~40-50$) is going to be enough as long as the graphics card stays low power. A quality 500W (~50-70$) will cover beefier cards but if it's a work machine you probably wont need one. Although something like the 6750/6770 (only like 20$ more, just about the amount you'd shave off with my other suggestions) would be a nice touch!

 

Trash the hard drive - take the 1TB Spinpoint F3 for 60$. It performs amazingly and is cheaper.

 

The case... I'd go for the NZXT Source 210. It's a neat little case for a nice price (40$).

 

 

 

 

If it's for gaming (doubt it) the rig needs a lot of modifications.

[Fanatic]

Thanks for the critiques so far, I am going to definitely look at the AM3+ board and drop the 3 channel ram. I don't know how long I can hold out before buying. This is a product rig, so you were spot on with that. Don't figure much will be needed in the way of graphics since I was looking very serious at just using the on board video, so I thought I'd throw something in a bit better but not a budget breaker. Keep em coming! off to make some changes.

[OrangeJuice]

If you plan on doing no gaming whatsoever on this rig then yeah go ahead and save the 80$ and use the on board video.

[Fanatic]

I am keeping the power supply for expandability (more drives, fans etc..). Changed the ram to the suggested which does look much better. I am still torn on the HD, but only because it transmits at 3.0/Gbps and not the 6.0/Gbps. The main issue now is the motherboard. I can not find a MoBo that's AM3+ that seems to be any good. Any suggestions?

[bp9801]

I am keeping the power supply for expandability (more drives, fans etc..). Changed the ram to the suggested which does look much better. I am still torn on the HD, but only because it transmits at 3.0/Gbps and not the 6.0/Gbps. The main issue now is the motherboard. I can not find a MoBo that's AM3+ that seems to be any good. Any suggestions?

 

For a mechanical hard drive, SATA 3Gbps or 6Gbps really doesn't matter. Save the money and get the cheaper option.

[Speedway]

I can not find a MoBo that's AM3+ that seems to be any good. Any suggestions?

 

I would think you would have a hard time deciding between good AM3+ mobos But, to offer a good suggestion, more info is needed! Like did you decide that the onboard video will be enough, or are you going to use a GPU? Even if you do use the GPU, do you still want a mobo with onboard video just in case?

 

And bp makes a good point above, when it comes to mech drives!

[NikolaT]

For a mechanical hard drive, SATA 3Gbps or 6Gbps really doesn't matter. Save the money and get the cheaper option.

 

This. Mechanical drives don't even fully utilize the 3gbps standard, let alone double the bandwidth. As mentioned, whatever is cheaper is the way to go! I still recommend the Spinpoint F3.

 

If you want to use on-board video (no gaming whatsoever) you'll have to go for an 800 series chipset. The 900 ones don't have on-board video.

 

 

This one seems OK:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490

 

6 SATA ports and it's a Gigabyte product - they seem to make reliable enough hardware for the most part.