First Gaming PC - Need a second opinion!

[n00bst3r]

Hi all,
Think this is the right part of the forum for this post, but apologies if it isn't. I have finished my system in writing, but need a second opinion on my hardware of choice. Will be used primarilly for games, such as: World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 (when it's out), and shooters like Black Ops and the new Medal of Honor. The Specs are as follows:

CASE: Cooler Master HAF 932 Black

CPU: AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz

MOTHERBOARD: ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 (was going with the GTD model, but this has x16/x16 PCIe capabilities)

MEMORY: G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) Ripjaws 1333 DDR3

GRAPHICS CARD: XFX Radeon HD6850/HD6870 1GB (option of adding another card down the track)

PSU: Antec TruePower Quattro 850W TPQ-850

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB

CPU COOLER: Cooler Master V6GT

OPTICAL DRIVE: 22x SATA DVD/RW Drive (Samsung, Pioneer, LG)

NETWORK CARD

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

I'm pretty sure this CPU will be no bottleneck for crossfire 6870's, and a network card will fit on the board with the crossfire, but i need a second opinion. Does it seem like a stable build? Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks.

n00bst3r

 

[Lemur]

Specs look great. Have you thought about a SDD drive?

 

[stormy13]

Looks OK to me with the exception of the network card. Any particular reason for one over what is built into the motherboard? And please don't say it is one of those overpriced pieces of snake-oil known as the Killer NIC (apologies to anyone that fell for the straight up marketing BS of these cards).

 

[Mashed1316]

Seems nice, but i looked the MoBo and you could go with DDR3 1600MHz instead of 1333MHz without needing to OC..

Really stable build.. actually a Dragon Platform (i don't know if AMD still uses this term)

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Consider this MSI board as it allows you total flexibility on your second GPU any make or model!
MSI Global – 870A Fuzion - Flexible upgradability and great 3D performance
Ditto on the SSD.

 

[Mashed1316]

Consider this MSI board as it allows you total flexibility on your second GPU any make or model!
MSI Global – 870A Fuzion - Flexible upgradability and great 3D performance
Ditto on the SSD.

Hmm, don't know... chipsets are different...

Asus M4A89TD PRO/USB3 has a 890FX + SB850
MSI 870A Fuzion has a 770 + SB710

Don't know if that could be a con for the OP

BTW, ditto on the SSD as well..

 

[LiquidSnak]

Looks great, I'd drop the network card on an ASUS board, you will be just fine.

An SSD would be good if it is in your budget, though for a gaming machine, you might want a large one that you can install games onto as well as the OS

 

[Prof Kerfuffle]

Seems great makes my rig look like crap but I like mine because its very stable, consider a Gigabyte MB but other than that great.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Reports are this ASUS board has high fatality. May take 2-4 to get a good one.

 

[n00bst3r]

Thanks for all the replies. In response to the comments, I notice many people have said to stick with the integrated network card, sorry I meant wireless network card when I was typing it up (unless it has an integrated wireless network card). I have no way to route cords into my room.

Reports are this ASUS board has high fatality. May take 2-4 to get a good one.

You mean to say I may have to take the board back a few times to get one in working order?? That doesn't sound good, please tell me where you acquired this information.

Have you thought about a SDD drive?

In fact a 60GB SSD to run some games and the OS off was in my list of possible future upgrades, but that is coming after i upgrade to crossfire.

you could go with DDR3 1600MHz instead of 1333MHz

Thanks, I didn't know it supported that, ill look into it.

If this motherboard isn't the best choice, then I will go with the GA-890GPA-UD3H (only does PCIe x16/x8 - could limit performance?), but give your opinion on which would be the better option.

Thanks, noobst3r.

EDIT: Sorry, aparently that Gigabyte board I just mentioned runs at PCIe x8/x8 which will not do. Any alternative ideas are appretiated .

 

[linnemeyerhere]

n00bst3r,
Quick google search and I read both Amazon and Newegg comments on this board. Take these things with a grain of salt but when 5-6 out of 10 are having major issues and they say they have expert knowledge??? But like I say for every one who slams ASUS there is 1 or 2 that will slam MSI, Gigabyte, Biostar & EVGA. I do have to say I dig my MSI but it's my first build.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

With any modern board it will have all USB3 and SataIII headers so for sure I love the Crucial Real SSD and at 135.00 for 64gb it's perfect for OS and Apps.

 

[LiquidSnak]

Take newegg reviews with a very large grain of salt. That board will do you well.

I have been using ASUS since I could get them, and I have had one board go bad, RMA'd it (2 week process, very easy) and no problems since.

 

[smarteyeball]

Take newegg reviews with a very large grain of salt.

A VERY large grain of salt.

It's a good looking build. Not much to change (if any really)

Except as already mentioned, go for 1600mhz on the RAM. Particularly if you are tempted, or plan to OC.

Maybe a Samsung F3 instead of the WD?

And if budget allows, the HAF X?

 

[RJLEXUS2011]

There is only a 2% difference in speeds going from 8x/8x to 16x/16x. Research it.

 

[mr bluesky]

Just my opinion: you should get 8GB RAM or more...

 

[smarteyeball]

Unnecessary for a gaming machine.

 

[pparks1]

Just my opinion: you should get 8GB RAM or more...

I couldn't disagree with this more. Totally 100% useless on a gaming machine. If he also uses the machine to run 3+ virtual machines...then MAYBE.

 

[Mashed1316]

Take newegg reviews with a very large grain of salt.

A VERY large grain of salt.

It's a good looking build. Not much to change (if any really)

Except as already mentioned, go for 1600mhz on the RAM. Particularly if you are tempted, or plan to OC.

Maybe a Samsung F3 instead of the WD?

And if budget allows, the HAF X?

Check out my System Specs.. i have a Samsung F3, it totally kick ass! planning to buy a 2nd one to have them in RAID

 

[Odd Job]

Very similar specs to the build I am about to start.

This is the M/board I am using:

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula - AMD 890FX - Socket AM3 - PCI-E 2.0 - DDR3 1600/1800/1866 - SATA 6Gb/s RAID - SupremeFX X-Fi Audio - CrossFire - ATX

It's a republic of gamers board, one of the best asus boards there is. You might want to consider it.