AMD-ATI "Spider" Platform Build

[dabro15]

Hello all, I just ordered up all the parts for a Spider Platform build. This is my second build and I can't wait to see how it runs. For those of you who don't know what the Spider Platform is, its an AMD 9000 series CPU, ATI HD 3800 series video card, and an ATI 790FX chipset (mobo). Take a look at the parts:

Case- Cooler Master 830 Full Black Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119122

CPU- AMD Phenom 9600 2.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...u=CP1-AM2-9600

Motherboard- ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/Wi-Fi AMD 790fx Motherboard
https://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec...8&RSKU=BA24448

Video Card- ATI Radeon 3870 512MB Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102713

RAM- Mushkin 4GB PC6400 800MHz Dual Channel Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146692

Power Supply- Ultra 750 Watt Power Supply
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...595&CatId=2533

Hard Drive- Western Digital 500GB 16MB Hard Drive
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...126&CatId=2459

CD/DVD Drive- LITE-ON Superallwrite Lightscribe SATA CD/DVD Drive
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...533&CatId=1624

It all came out to just under $1,200 for everything. How does the AMD 9600 run? (kinda to late for me cause I already bought one lol). Please post your comments or questions.

[Alaron]

I wish you had posted this before buying. I'd serious considering replacing that Ultra power supply with something of higher quality. Corsair makes very nice units. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Otherwise it looks fine. Do you already have a 64bit OS?

[dabro15]

Thanks for your response. I'm still not sure whether to put on 32 bit or 64 bit Vista. I tried to find the best power supply I could for around $100 (I bought that Ultra 750 watt new for $103 shipped on ebay). I see that on that list that it was under the "bad" list of PSU's. It seemed like legitimate wattage for what your paying for it. $130 of a website for 750 watts tells that it is decent. Im not trying to defend my purchase over here. It is still new, I could always purchase a different PSU and sell the Ultra one I bought. What power supply would you recommend? I probably will purchase another ATI 3870 down the road but for now Im going to run a single GFX (so keep that in mind). Does this OCZ 600w look like a good choice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341010

How does the rest of my build look? Thanks for the help.

[Masaki 7-11]

The power supply looks pretty good and provides over 20A per rail, so I think it will work fine. If you can get the computer running, I would get a voltage monitoring program to see how the power supply functions, if the voltages are stable, then it should run fine, if the voltages readings change more than +/- 5% from rated settings frequently, then you should look into buying another power supply. Just because a manufacturer is in the bad list doesn't mean you will always get a bad power supply, it just means you are taking a pretty big risk. Make sure you also run a few other tests like 24 hour burn in, this way you'll be able to figure out if the power supply is stable enough or you need a new one.

Regarding the rest of the parts you picked out, I would say they are pretty good quality, and the phenom processor works pretty well for multi-tasking or multi-threaded applications. It's also better in terms of gaming per clock than an Athlon X2, so the phenom you picked out in terms of gaming could compare to a 2.8GHz Athlon X2. Needless to say, it will provide enough performance for games and such that the processor is very unlikely to be the bottleneck. Overall I think the spider platform is a good idea since it includes well performing parts with good supply and at a good price. Intel is generally a better platform than AMD in performance, but for around $1000 and lower, AMD has very good price and performance.

[dabro15]

My previous build had an AMD X2 6000. I figured the quad-core would definitly be an overall better CPU over the dual-core. You said for gaming that the 9600 is equal to a 2.8GHz X2. Am I going to see a less performance or the same as my old X2 6000 for gaming? Also should I bother replacing the Ultra 750x PSU with that OCZ or not?

[Masaki 7-11]

For current games, the old X2 6000 will be faster, but newer games are starting to take advantage of more cores, so newer games should work better with a phenom. RTS games in general and especially Supreme Commander will run a lot faster on the phenom than the X2 6000. Regarding the OS, don't bother going with 64-bit, lots of compatibility issues and slower because hardly any programs run natively in 64-bit. 32-bit is a good choice, and although it won't take full advantage of all your ram, it will be a decent amount faster than 64-bit and has less compatibility issues.

[dabro15]

Yea I did hear that a 32-bit OS only uses 3 1/2 GB of total ram, is this true? Cause I am putting 4GB of RAM in and Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

[Alaron]

Yes, that is true. You can still put in all 4, just be aware that Windows will report/use 3.2GB.

[Masaki 7-11]

The amount of ram that windows 32-bit uses can be anywhere from 3.5GB to 2.5GB, but as long as you have at least 2GB, you won't have any speed issues. 64-bit may be a good upgrade path once more programs are developed for 64-bit.

[Tin]

The Corsair 550VX would be a much better power supply for your purposes. As nice as the Ultra looks with its shiny finish and modular connectors...its really not a good power supply. Ultra isnt a recommended brand and they are known to crap out. The drawback of modular power supplies is the extra connectors in the power path add resistance, thus supplying you with less than rated power to your components.