$600 Moderate Gaming Build

[blake2616]

Wanting to get some input on this build I'm thinking of. It's preliminary, so I'm open to any suggestions.

Price range: $600-650

Intended Usage: Moderate gaming mostly. WoW, starcraft, diablo, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Preferred Site: Newegg

Components not needed: mouse, keyboard, monitor, OS, speakers

Overclocking: Yes

CrossFireX: Yes(in the future)

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024, maybe a little higher

Parts:

AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model ADX435WFGIBOX....$74.99

HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail....$149.99

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail...$119.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail
AND
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ....$109.98 for the PSU and HDD

A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1600GB2G9-AG - Retail....$105.99

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail....$39.99

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM....$23.99


Hopefully, I haven't missed some glaring fault in this build. I would like to make sure, first, that this build will work together. Second, whether it will be adequate for moderate gaming and future upgrades. But, whatever changes would make this build better, I will be up for it. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[glc]

That power supply is not certified for two 5770's and we don't recommend Samsung hard drives (look at WD Black).

[blake2616]

Originally Posted by glc That power supply is not certified for two 5770's and we don't recommend Samsung hard drives (look at WD Black).

Good catch on the psu. It said it was crossfire ready, so I thought it was good to go. However, when I checked the OCZ website the psu only mentioned sli.

And the samsung choice was mainly because I could get it in a combo for less money and more GB than my first choice which was WD black. So, I'll probably go with the WD, because I've only heard good things about them.

[glc]

The PSU is definitely crossfire ready - it has enough connectors - but it's not certified by ATI for two 5770's. When using Crossfire, it's recommended you only use power supplies certified for your card pair. From a power standpoint only, it meets specs - BARELY - exactly 600 watts. Getting a true certified unit is going to blow your budget. Rather than worry about crossfire compatibility, by the time your single 5770 no longer games effectively, you probably won't be able to find a matching card and a new more powerful card will be very affordable.

[blake2616]

Oh okay, thanks for clearing that up. So drop crossfire, because the 5770 should do well enough? Could I then opt for a less expensive mobo? I had a less expensive Gigabyte 770 picked out for about $95 before I started thinking about crossfire.

[Khalil]

I would stay away from OCZ products for the time being they are having major production issues and a lot of the stuff leaving their factories is arriving DOA. I hope they correct this problem soon, they used to make a very good product.
I would look at Antec, they are great power supplies and are offering some great deals http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-015-_-Product

[orbrit]

Here's my experience with the 5770s.

I started with a single Sapphire 5770 in my new gaming PC. It was night and day difference to my old Dell PC with 1st gen dual core P4 and ATI X1950.

My multiplayer stats (COD MW2) went up significantly and I was a consistent middle of the board player.

Out of curiosity (and having spare money to spend!) I bought another 5770 and set it up in Crossfire.

Prior to this I was running at 107W idle and 224W Peak in game.

Now in Crossfire I am at 133W Idle and 270W Peak in game.

My Corsair 550VX is not Crossfire certified but I am well within it's capabilities.

The important thing for me is my gaming has improved significantly. I'm now consistently top on the stats in multiplayer games. I was being held back by my video card - even when I had the single 5770.

Here's a typical example of a game experience now, as recorded on XFire (anyone know why the sound is ahead of the video?)
http://www.xfire.com/video/273245/

[blake2616]

Alright, so far I'm going with this build. I'm pretty happy with all of the benchmarks of the cpu and gpu. The motherboard supports crossfire x8/x8, so that works for me. My main concern is compatibility. Second, will 600w be enough to crossfire? Two 5770s would take 324w at peak and the cpu would take 197w oc'd to 3.77. These are according to tomshardware. I only want to oc to about 3.2-3.4, though.

I might just give up xfire so I can get a less expensive mobo and not have worry about the power supply. And according to the benchmarks, what glc said is right, the 5770 should be able to game well until next summer-ish when I plan to upgrade Thanks again for the comments.

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 2.9ghz
GPU: HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
Mobo: GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX
RAM: A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 1600
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w
HD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 7200 SATA

[glc]

Please get rid of that Samsung drive.

[blake2616]

Originally Posted by glc Please get rid of that Samsung drive.

Why? Is there something bad about it that I haven't came across?

Also, this post made me laugh(in a good way). I can just sense your hostility for the brand.

[glc]

The reliability history of Samsung hard drives and optical drives has not been very good. They may make great monitors and TV's, but their storage products don't follow.

[blake2616]

Well, I'll look for a WD combo with the psu(the current build is a psu+hd combo), then. I'm not really partial to any particular brand, so it's not a big deal.

[Khalil]

You should be partial to what brands you buy if you care about your hard earned money, many computer hardware brands are rubbish and they offer zero support and a bad warranty!

[Jdorty]

I think what he meant was he wasn't partial to any brand, like Samsung, so he didn't have a problem listening to GLC's advice of changing the brand. I don't think he was saying he wasn't partial/impartial to Samsung so it wasn't a big deal to him if he still used the drive. =]

[blake2616]

Yeah, that was it.