Ok so im attempting my 2nd build.....

[omslemming]

My first build had a few issues mainly revolving around known issues with the asus motherboard p5ql pro and installed software/drivers with it and the audio used on the motherboard causing various bsods etc

So its a few years later now and I want to build a new system mainly for gaming not the highest of the high specs as I cant afford that but something that will be resonably future proof for a couple of years.

Because of the issues ive had in the past(that I wish id known about at the time but due to lack of research I ended up being stuck with the parts) id just like to know if theres any known issues with any of the kit im choosing to use, any compatability issues etc and if theres any suggestions for a better option please feel free to advise me as I said this is only my 2nd build so im still pretty new to all this.

Ok so heres the components with links to there listing on ebuyer(mywebsite of choice for components) so you can see what im talking about.

Case-Antac dark fleet df85 (love the airflow of this case-along with the 7+ fans should more then give me enough cooling) Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case | Ebuyer.com

Powersupply-coolermaster gx650(would like some advice on this mainly as im going to run 2 graphics cards with crossfire, is this powerful enough? or should I go for an 850+w supply? Coolermaster GX 650W PSU | Ebuyer.com

Motherboard-Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio AT...

Processer-AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Memory-Corsair 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz Vengeance Memory in a 4 times 4gb configuration Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1....

Graphics-XFX HD 7850 2GB DDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card
This is the XFX duel fan version of the 7850 and im going for 2 of these in a crossfire setup
XFX HD 7850 2GB DDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPor...

Processer cooler-Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo Socket 1366 1155 1156 7... Again this is another thing im unsure of, is an air cooler enough for this kind of build? or should I use a closed loop water cooled cpu cooler such as a Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 High Performance.....

Soundcard-Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

SSD drive for os and programs/games used regualy OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu...

Backup regular harddrive for large storage- Seagate 2TB Barracuda Internal Hard Drive Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Card reader-Sweex internal card reader Sweex All-in-1 Internal Card Reader. USB | Ebuyer....

Optical drive-Pioneer 12xbdrw Multilayer 128gb Retail Pioneer 12xbdrw Multilayer 128gb Retail | Ebuyer.c...

So thats the plan! It will be running on windows 7 home premium 64bit edition and will being used as a gaming/media pc I might dabble in overclocking or though im a complete newbie there so anything I did try would be lightweight.

So any advice?

 

[Norton]

If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...

UD3 versions use 8+2 phase power which gives you a much more stable board

The rest of that setup should run fine.

*Note- Intel Core i5/i7 build suggestions are incoming....

**EDIT- sorry didn't notice you wee interested in Crossfire. Use the 990X board instead (does Crossfire and SLI):
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 7.1 Channel HD A...

 

[omslemming]

If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...

UD3 versions use 8+2 phase power which gives you a much more stable board

The rest of that setup should run fine.

*Note- Intel Core i5/i7 build suggestions are incoming....

**EDIT- sorry didn't notice you wee interested in Crossfire. Use the 990X board instead (does Crossfire and SLI):
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 7.1 Channel HD A...

Ill give that board a look, and haha yeah I knew id attract some flack here for going for an amd processer but considering price vs performence using the pc benchmark site as a guide I think amds offer better value, im not a hardcore overclocker anyway and the difference isnt massive so im not likly to see the difference between say an i5 and a bulldozer fx chip that much anyway.

 

[Norton]

I prefer AMD... right or wrong to anyone else is fine- It was my choice to make and I made it

I like Gigabyte boards but I got bit by compatibility issues with my last one so I went with an ASUS M5A99X Evo (990X) this time. We have some nice detailed reviews here of that one and the ASUS M5A97 Evo (970)

Links:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A99X_EVO/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A97_EVO/

No regrets on my choice of board btw

Main difference between the two is you get 8x/8x Crossfire AND SLI on the 990X board. If you end up going ASUS make sure you go with an Evo as non-Evo has a weaker power setup.

 

[omslemming]

Im a little bit put off asus boards after the last experience with my first build(one which is still ongoing part of the reason im just building a new one haha) got a p5qlpro board and had no end of issues with bsods motherboard software issues, general instability, memory issues etc etc thats why ive deicded to go something else in this case gigabyte this time.

 

[Norton]

Im a little bit put off asus boards after the last experience with my first build(one which is still ongoing part of the reason im just building a new one haha) got a p5qlpro board and had no end of issues with bsods motherboard software issues, general instability, memory issues etc etc thats why ive deicded to go something else in this case gigabyte this time.

If Gigabyte wrote a BIOS with FX support for the GA-890XA-UD3 I would still be running it... that was a great board A lot of the board makers have really stepped up and improved the quaility of the products lately.... even Biostar and AsRock are making decent quality boards now!

 

[eidairaman1]

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167562&highlight=980+vs+4170

http://www.techspot.com/review/452-amd-bulldozer-fx-cpus/page10.html

read those threads for performance deltas

Seems Only 8150/8120 have a chance against the Phenom II line for performance

 

[Jstn7477]

Windows 7 Home Premium will leave you no room to upgrade your RAM, as Microsoft's "limit" for Home Premium is 16GB. It's debatable whether you will even still have Windows 7 HP or even the computer if you upgrade, but it's something to consider.

 

[omslemming]

Windows 7 Home Premium will leave you no room to upgrade your RAM, as Microsoft's "limit" for Home Premium is 16GB. It's debatable whether you will even still have Windows 7 HP or even the computer if you upgrade, but it's something to consider.

Hmm may go for the ultimate edition then, thats why I wanted to post on a forum like this, I knew about the 32bit windows 4gb limit however until you said that I had no idea it was also limited memory by version. I may want to upgrade to 32gb in the future so will be going for a different edition cheers for the info.

So can anyone tell me 1.will my 650w power supply be enough to support a crossfire setup with 2 cards and 2.Should I go for watercooling for the cpu rather then air cooling?(closed loop of course im not messing around with coolent and reseviours etc)

Kind of like the stats on that link posted enough comparing the processers performence, it seems to me the amd bulldozer chips perform well at 1920x1200 res and I do intend to upgrade to a monitor which can support high res like this (hence why im going for a crossfire graphics setup-want hd to be a breeze for it) so I may be going down the ideal road there.

 

[eidairaman1]

I honestly wouldnt waste cash on Ultimate- Professional Id spend money on

 

[omslemming]

I honestly wouldnt waste cash on Ultimate- Professional Id spend money on

Does professional support more then 16gb then?

 

[eidairaman1]

does professional support more then 16gb then?

192 GB 64 bit

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7

 

[omslemming]

Biostar TA990FXE Socket AM3+ 8 Channel HD Audio AT...

This is the board im considering instead of the one in my original plan, anyone got this one who could give me any feedback on it? I like the fact it has a usb3 header which can be connected to the front usb3 port of the case Im getting, also it has space for a crossfire setup.

Changed my mind re the power supply as well, the 7850s im getting need 2 PCIe 6+2 pin connectors each and the coolermaster power supply only came with 2 connectors which would bne 2 less then id need for my setup, thinkin instead of the OCZ ZX Series 850W OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ... as that has 4 PCIe 6+2 pin connectors and has a bit more power which im thinking I might need with a crossfire setup.

I do have one last question though for you guys, Ive never used a soundcard before my current setup runs off the installed board sound chip, now im thinking of getting a Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com my question is does that also need a PCIe 6+2 pin connector or does a soundcard like this run off the motherboards power supply? Hoping if its the latter if its the former I will have to rethink my power supply again.

 

[eidairaman1]

use the search bar in your favorite web browser to get reviews. Newegg has user ratings as well

 

[omslemming]

use the search bar in your favorite web browser to get reviews. Newegg has user ratings as well

done all that was hoping to get the opinions of experienced system builders though for a bit more detail hence posting in the system builders advice thread

 

[eidairaman1]

system builders can only vouch for the current board they are using, most here use an Intel Core i5/7 2*00K with P67, Z68, Z77 Motherboard from Asus, Gigabyte, AsRock

 

[omslemming]

well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.

Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...

Motherboard- Asus sabertooth 990fx ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ...

Processer- amd fx 8120 AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Processer cooler/heatsink- noctua nh-u12p Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155...

Ram- G skill 1600mhz 16gb kit G.Skill 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866MHz RipjawsX Memory ...

Power supply- ocx 850w modular zx series OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ...

Storage- ocx 240gb agility ssd for os and essential programs OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu... with seagate barracuda 2tb regular drive for storage Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Graphics card my only indescison, either going for 2 7950s in crossfire http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-MS

1 hd 7970 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS or 1 gtx 670 Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI H...

Undecided yet as of this I need to look into it, the 7950 is cheap and therefore more chance of me being able to afford 2 for a crossfire setup but the 7970 and the gtx 670 are better cards.

Decided to go for a new monitor as well as my current one cannot go to 1920 1080, going for the 24 inch led Asus VK248 Asus VK248H 24" LED LCD HDMI Monitor with Built.. ...

And I need a new keyboard so im going to try the world of mechanical keys with the cosair vengence model Corsair Vengeance K90 Performance, MMO Mechanical....

Soundcard Asus xonar d2x Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

and finnaly an lg blu ray rw drive LG BH10LS38 10x BD-RW with DVD±RW DL & RAM.. | Ebu...

So thats my setup, any feedback from the experienced users here on anything that just might not work together or?

 

[Norton]

well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.

Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...

Motherboard- Asus sabertooth 990fx ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ...

Processer- amd fx 8120 AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Processer cooler/heatsink- noctua nh-u12p Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155...

Ram- G skill 1600mhz 16gb kit G.Skill 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866MHz RipjawsX Memory ...

Power supply- ocx 850w modular zx series OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ...

Storage- ocx 240gb agility ssd for os and essential programs OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu... with seagate barracuda 2tb regular drive for storage Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Graphics card my only indescison, either going for 2 7950s in crossfire http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-MS

1 hd 7970 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS or 1 gtx 670 Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI H...

Undecided yet as of this I need to look into it, the 7950 is cheap and therefore more chance of me being able to afford 2 for a crossfire setup but the 7970 and the gtx 670 are better cards.

Decided to go for a new monitor as well as my current one cannot go to 1920 1080, going for the 24 inch led Asus VK248 Asus VK248H 24" LED LCD HDMI Monitor with Built.. ...

And I need a new keyboard so im going to try the world of mechanical keys with the cosair vengence model Corsair Vengeance K90 Performance, MMO Mechanical....

Soundcard Asus xonar d2x Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

and finnaly an lg blu ray rw drive LG BH10LS38 10x BD-RW with DVD±RW DL & RAM.. | Ebu...

So thats my setup, any feedback from the experienced users here on anything that just might not work together or?

I just have a few comments (mostly to save you some money):

Motherboard- Go with 990X (much better prices). These boards do Crossfire and SLI and there is little difference in x8/x8 PCIE bandwidth vs 16x/16x and it sounds like you won't go over 2 cards for Crossfire or SLI (Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 or ASUS M5A99X is what I would recommend)

CPU- just go with an FX-8150 (only a small premium over an 8120 atm) or pick up a Phenom II 965BE and wait to see what Piledriver delivers in a few months

PSU- check prices on a Corsair HX-850 (the older version- 80plus Silver) these are great units and carry a 7 yr warranty. Currently priced to move in the new model so you can save some money on it.

GPU- up to you and your budget but anything from AMD 7850/NVidia 660 on up you should be perfectly happy with. If you want more power later you can always get a 2nd card for Crossfire/SLI and get a good boost in performance. AMD 7850/7870's are dropping in price atm- both are pretty good cards and a good value.

My $0.02

 

[Durvelle27]

well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.

Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...

Motherboard- Asus sabertooth 990fx ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ...

Processer- amd fx 8120 AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Processer cooler/heatsink- noctua nh-u12p Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155...

Ram- G skill 1600mhz 16gb kit G.Skill 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866MHz RipjawsX Memory ...

Power supply- ocx 850w modular zx series OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ...

Storage- ocx 240gb agility ssd for os and essential programs OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu... with seagate barracuda 2tb regular drive for storage Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Graphics card my only indescison, either going for 2 7950s in crossfire http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-MS

1 hd 7970 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS or 1 gtx 670 Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI H...

Undecided yet as of this I need to look into it, the 7950 is cheap and therefore more chance of me being able to afford 2 for a crossfire setup but the 7970 and the gtx 670 are better cards.

Decided to go for a new monitor as well as my current one cannot go to 1920 1080, going for the 24 inch led Asus VK248 Asus VK248H 24" LED LCD HDMI Monitor with Built.. ...

And I need a new keyboard so im going to try the world of mechanical keys with the cosair vengence model Corsair Vengeance K90 Performance, MMO Mechanical....

Soundcard Asus xonar d2x Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

and finnaly an lg blu ray rw drive LG BH10LS38 10x BD-RW with DVD±RW DL & RAM.. | Ebu...

So thats my setup, any feedback from the experienced users here on anything that just might not work together or?

- i think you should go for an Crucial M4 SSD as i had a lot of OCZ SSD's to fail on me and crucial has been more reliable

- this would be a great cooler to
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo AMD Socket AM2 AM2+ AM3...

- and to oced HD 7950's would be on par with 2 HD 7970's non GHz also a HD 7950 would be a better buy than a GTX 670
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/23/galaxy_gtx_660_ti_gc_oc_vs_670_hd_7950

great build

 

[omslemming]

well as of so far ive already got the processer, case and cooler so theyre settled with

As far as the motherboard goes I like the sabertooth as its basically built for overclocking with heavy duty components(military grade as they say lol) etc and with the unlocked bulldozer I intend to dabble in that as well as with the gpu(s)

 

[ShiBDiB]

If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...

UD3 versions use 8+2 phase power which gives you a much more stable board

The rest of that setup should run fine.

*Note- Intel Core i5/i7 build suggestions are incoming....

**EDIT- sorry didn't notice you wee interested in Crossfire. Use the 990X board instead (does Crossfire and SLI):
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 7.1 Channel HD A...

Obligated... theirs 00000000 reason not to go intel besides fanboyism (not a horrible reason i suppose). AMD has no answer for intel cpu's right now

 

[Durvelle27]

are you going to do some overclocking like for 4.8GHz ?

 

[Jimmy2k9]

I don't know nearly as much as most people on this site, but I do know you can save money on your ram. For gaming you will not need more than 8gb, I would give my 2 cents and say get a 2x4gb kit of 1600Mhz.

Also it seems like bad timing to buy Bulldozer (if there was ever a good time) as there is already leaked info on Piledriver, which seems to be what AMD failed to provide with Bulldozer. http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171151

 

[omslemming]

Obligated... theirs 00000000 reason not to go intel besides fanboyism (not a horrible reason i suppose). AMD has no answer for intel cpu's right now

Cheapness and ideal for what I need, I doubt id even notice the difference anyway esp since im gonna be running my build with ssd and a powerful graphics card anyway. ive also seen some benchmarks that suggest the amd chips fare not as badly as you think esp with gaming which will be the main use for my desktop, indeed in the benchmarks ive seen the amd chips beat the i5 framerate wise on a variety of games and the 8150 of the bulldozer variety even beat the i7 on a test running dirt 3.

They also have to potential to overclock higher then anything you could achieve with an i5 which attracted me as thats something I want to get into(may upgrade my cooler to a water cooling block if I decide to run with it)

Im wary of any advice on processers, not to offend anyone but I know the intel/amd rivalry is almost like android/apple in terms of fanboyism so I try not to pay much attention to either side, ive had grief before when talking about builds with an amd base, seems some intel heads dont like compeition heh heh

 

[cdawall]

Make sure you take a look at AMD's business line of processors (B93/B97) and take a good long time thinking about piledriver. AS for the Biostar mobo I have been very impressed with all of their boards. I am currently toying with the idea of ditching my long loved choice of Asus and finally moving all the way over to them. The past 4 or so rigs I have built for people have all been Biostar based. All are very stable well written Bios's with good strong designs.