Getting a new PC, advice welcome

Tinman

Tinman

MyGaming Silverback
I have recently come into some money :) and am using it to buy a new PC.

I know there was a thread like this a while back but obviously times have changed.

I have about R15,000 to spend.

I need everything, including a new screen.

AMD was kind enough to send me a Phenom II 955 Black edition to use for a few weeks (or as long as I can squeeze them for) and based on my experience I may decide to buy my own. This means that I wont have to buy a CPU immediately.

With that in mind, I will be looking for a nice AM3 motherboard. This means ddr3 ram, but I see that the prices are not too bad at the moment.

I also saw that Wantitall were selling HD4870s for R2400 each last week, so I may be leaning towards a pair of them :) to run a nice 24inch monitor.

I will be looking around and posting parts as I find them. Everyone else who is interested is more than welcome to make suggestions, and as always, links to any sweet deals are welcome.
 
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Just from that last thread, I can tell you that the guys who know, are gonna tell you to go for an Intel instead ... either a Quad or the i7. I know enough to be jealous of you getting 2 HD4870's to run on a 24" monitor :o
 
Well seeing as you've already got the CPU sorted, I won't be adding 1 in.

MotherBoard:

Asus M4A79T Deluxe AM3
http://www.prophecy.co.za/asus-m4a79t-deluxe-motherboard-ddr3-crossfire-140w-p-34350.html
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...sk=view&id=309&Itemid=69&limit=1&limitstart=3
R 2727.86

Ram:

Corsair TW3X4G1333C9 , XMS 3 , with heatsink , 2 x 2Gb Kit
http://www.prophecy.co.za/corsair-tw3x4g1333c9-with-heatsink-2gb2048mb-p-31038.html
R 957.81

Graphics cards:

Sapphire HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI-I / TVO Toxic
http://www.pcinternational.co.za/components.php
R 2,337
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAP-48701
Sapphire HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI-I / TVO Toxic
http://www.pcinternational.co.za/components.php
R 2,337

Gaming Chassis:

Cooler Master CM690
http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/coolermaster-with-acrylic-seethrough-side-window-p-1503.html
R 984.96

Power Supply:

Corsair TX750W
http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/corsair-tx750w-80plus-certified-energy-saving-750w-p-1451.html
R 1787.52

Hard Drive:

500GB-7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA II (Seagate)
http://www.pcinternational.co.za/components.php
R 739

LCD Screen:

Samsung T240 24"
http://www.pcinternational.co.za/components.php
http://www.overclockersonline.net/?num=2051&page=articles
R 3,418


Grand Total: R15 289.15 inc vat.:D

cooler_master_690_01.jpg
 
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Will you be using your machine for gaming, movies and music or do you also want to overclock your machine?
 
I like to run a slight overclock and will primarily be using it as a gaming machine.

Thanks for the links Joker, i will look into these
 
Ah well, then the extravagant motherboard and ram will probably be worth it.

CPU Cooler? [Seeing as you are wanting to squeeze your CPU]
 
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No problem mate, Pm me if you need any help.
The graphics cards are incredibly sweet and that machine will run like a monster.
You would never need to overclock with a rig like that.
 
I checked out that Motherboard Joker, and I'm not convinced. If I was going to use more than two graphics card then maybe but I read this on Toms, and I like the sound of the GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P.

It provided the best overclock of the roundup, which included the Asus
Asus M4A79T and apparently has the best cable header lay out.

The only place I can find it is on Wantitall. Its kinda expensive at R3158.00, but I am buying everything though MG so will get Vat back which makes it R2716, minus R100 using my voucher = R2616.

Still a bit more than I usually like to spend on Motherboards, but I am a huge Gigabyte fan and this looks like the board for me.

Will continue the search tomorrow.
 
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You are using more than 1 graphics card mate..
Oh and the mobo I provided isn't the normal Asus M4A79T, its the deluxe edition.
 
The Joker said:
You are using more than 1 graphics card mate..
Oh and the mobo I provided isn't the normal Asus M4A79T, its the deluxe edition.
Click to expand...

Sorry, meant to say more than 2.

And the Toms AM3 round up did make use of the deluxe edition. At standard clock speeds it performs almost identically to the Gigabyte, but the Gigabyte has overclocking and a better layout on its side, apparently.
 
OK so I am well on my way to building this thing, and it is turning into an absolute beast.

Im buying this as a benchmarking/review rig for MyGaming, which means I claim vat back from SARS. My listed prices are excluding vat.

So far I have:

CPU - AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition - Donated by AMD.

Case - Coolermaster Sniper AMD Dragon Edition - Donated by AMD
http://www.techenclave.com/reviews-and-previews/cooler-master-storm-sniper-amd-dragon-133931.html

Ram - 4GB (2x2GB) of Mushkin DDR3 1600MHz - R1000 @ Prophecy

Motherboard - GIGABYTE-GA-MA790FXT-UD5P - R2500 @ Wantitall (R100 off voucher:D)

Still to order:

PSU - Corsair 850W - R1600 @ www.landmarkpc.co.za

Undecided

Graphics Cards - Cant make up my mind here. I read an amazing review of the HD 4890 in Crossfire, and while it offers insane performance, it may be overkill and is noisy.

So then I considered getting two of the Force 3D HD 4850s that Prophecy was selling for R1300 each. This would definitely keep me happy until AMD releases its 40nm DX 11 GPU later this year. 2 HD 4850s for R2600 is insane value.

Unfortunately they sold out, so I looked at getting two HD 4870s, but I see that they are almost as noisy and use the same power as 2 HD 4890s, not to mention they are only R400 cheaper, which brings me back to the Crossfire HD 4890s!

I can get the HD 4890s for R2400 each (no vat :)) at pcint, and that is what I will probably end up with. The crossfire option is tempting though...
 
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Eish! That's turning out to be mighty cheap for you :p And here I'm sitting here on this piece of s*** xD Good times.
 
Oooh, idea time ...... how about trying to organise a Xmas time comp that involves some hardware Tinny? ...... seeing as you have these sponsors standing by :p
 
Toxin said:
Does AMD mobos run tri-channel DDR3? If so than it might've been better to get tri-channel.
Click to expand...
Afraid not, only Intel 1366 sockets support tri-channel ddr3 :( In fact, from what I've seen, the differences between DDR3 and DDR2 are neglible in dual channel.


Hey brother!

*Drool* Very nice setup! By the way, I would agree with your leanings towards the Gigabyte mobo - based on that Tom's article, very suitable. Especially since you'll *only* be running a dual graphics setup :D Maybe I'm jsust buying into ultra durable 3 marketing hype, but I think there might be something to it. You certainly want the best components on your board.

Regarding your graphics choices, hope this isn't too late, but I'm sure you want this to be a gaming beast, and if you're running 22" and up, every little bit helps. Crossfire is making a difference (just look what it does for X4770s Crossfire 4770 - Toms ), so if you can afford it, you must.

I hear your concerns on sound levels though. I notice that the HD4890 is no longer available from PCInt, but the "HD 4870 Vapor X Cool" is. This should be noticably quieter and thus excellent for crossfire. HD 4870 Vapor X Cool Review. It's also the 2GB version, so if you're high-res gaming - excellent :o Of courses crossfire 4890s would just be amazing as well!

Busy putting together my own AMD rig. Spotted a 4830 for R1000 from PCInt, so placed my order today :)

So jealous dude, can't wait to see it altogether.

Aight!
Andy Halley
 
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