First custom build

[jonnylew]

Hi all I'm looking in to my first PC build and am after some advice. I want a mid-range gaming PC and am looking at the following...


CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition with ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro

MOBO: ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB

GPU: XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890

PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB

CASE: NZXT BETA EVO Classic Series with 4x ARCTIC COOLING ACF12PWM 120mm Case Fan


I already have everything else I need, but with this being my first build I was hoping to get some advice from those with more knowledge than me on what I am considering.

Bearing in mind that this puts me right on the limit of my budget, will what I plan to get do the job I want, and possibly more importantly, are their any cheaper options that will achieve almost the same?

Thanks in advance

[Aaron_8015]

Nice build.

Have you considered the 5770? I have heard alot of bad things about the XFX version of the 4890.

[jonnylew]

Nice build.

Have you considered the 5770? I have heard alot of bad things about the XFX version of the 4890.

I did consider the 5770 but a lot of people have said it's nowhere near as powerful as the 4890. Others however have said that this won't matter as much when DX11 is in common use. I don't know if this is the case tbh with you.

[Aaron_8015]

Well DX10 has been around for a few years and hasn't really taken off, so doubt DX11 will either. Mainly due to games being developed for consoles also. The 4890 is a faster card than the 5770. The 5770 performs just under the 4870, and the 4890 is basicly an overclocked 4870.

Its your call, the 5770 will be less power hungry and much cooler, not to mention cheaper.

[ShyguyXPC]

those AC fans are only exhaust fans, and with that case your going to want some intake fans on there, the 2 top fans could be exhaust, as well as rear, but your going to want the 2 side ones possibly be intake fans to feed cool air to the GPU and CPU for cooling, or at least one for the GPU anyways. the PSU will be exhausting as well.

basically your going to have more exhaust fans than there is for intake, which hinder cooling performance.

and all the fans you have selected are all exhaust fans.

[jonnylew]

Well DX10 has been around for a few years and hasn't really taken off, so doubt DX11 will either. Mainly due to games being developed for consoles also. The 4890 is a faster card than the 5770. The 5770 performs just under the 4870, and the 4890 is basicly an overclocked 4870.

Its your call, the 5770 will be less power hungry and much cooler, not to mention cheaper.

Cheers, I'll give it some consideration

[jonnylew]

those AC fans are only exhaust fans, and with that case your going to want some intake fans on there, the 2 top fans could be exhaust, as well as rear, but your going to want the 2 side ones possibly be intake fans to feed cool air to the GPU and CPU for cooling, or at least one for the GPU anyways. the PSU will be exhausting as well.

basically your going to have more exhaust fans than there is for intake, which hinder cooling performance.

and all the fans you have selected are all exhaust fans.

Any recommendations? Cheers

[2monsters]

I think you can do better on the psu.
Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Power Supplies

Not as pretty as the ocz but I can tell ya first hand the psu is rock solid. I think Aaron
will back me up on that.

Let's see if we can find you a different case.

Other than that I think you are on the right track for an awesome build

[JPMiller]

Why would he want to change cases?
Thats a solid choice with good design, airflow, and its even pretty cheap after rebate...

However I would swap out that cooler for a cheaper bettr version...
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Cheapest fan with decent airflow to decibel ratio is this...
Newegg.com - XIGMATEK XSF-F1251 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans
If it were me, I'd buy these though...
Cooler Master 120mm Blue LED Case Fan OEM 43CFM 22dBA*at SVC.com
I have 5 of these in my rig and they work quite well

[jonnylew]

Of course, I've now changed my mind

I'm now looking at the following with a view to OCing. Again, any thoughts from people on whether what I plan to get will do the job and are there any other options?

Again, thanks in advance


CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache with ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

GPU: XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB

CASE: Antec Three Hundred Black

[Aaron_8015]

Looks good also.

[jonnylew]

Looks good also.

Cheers. The PSU will be fine then & should be able to handle any OCing I throw at the CPU?

[Aaron_8015]

Well your air cooler will hit the limit before the cpu does... but you should easily get to 3.6 - 3.8ghz (depending on the CPU).

[JPMiller]

Please dont buy the freezer pro...
That was a good option 6 months ago, but its really NOT the best option for the money now...
The CollerMaster 212 is a much better choice