• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.
  • The forums have been upgraded with support for dark mode. By default it will follow the setting on your system/browser. You may override it by scrolling to the end of the page and clicking the gears icon.

First Build in a While for Polaris. Would like some feedback

Polaris573

Senior Moderator
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,268 (0.57/day)
Location
Little Rock, USA
Processor LGA 775 Intel Q9550 2.8 Ghz
Motherboard MSI P7N Diamond - 780i Chipset
Cooling Arctic Freezer
Memory 6GB G.Skill DDRII 800 4-4-3-5
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD 7850 2 GB PCI-E
Storage 1 TB Seagate 32MB Cache, 250 GB Seagate 16MB Cache
Display(s) Acer X203w
Case Coolermaster Centurion 5
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 600 Watt
Software Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Hey everyone. It's been a hectic and stressful 5 years during which I all but abandoned thoughts of computer hardware, overclocking, and gaming even though it used to be my biggest hobby. My current computer has grown long in the tooth and my girlfriend wants me to build her a gaming machine, so I'm plan on building near identical systems for each of us.

I feel like I've assembled a decent list of parts based on past knowledge, but I feel like you up to date guys and gals might like to look over it and let me know if there is any part I could swap out for better performance, reliability, or money savings.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=28962706
 
The 380x is supposed to be coming out in a couple days for about 249.99. It may be a better option than that 290 for the same price.

I've had bad experiences with corsair lately. I'm not so sure they're the same quality they used to be. EVGA has been really good, though. May just be my bad luck with those corsairs.

Like this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...438030&cm_re=evga_850w-_-17-438-030-_-Product
 
Build looks sound. You'll get a lot of advice but in the main, everything looks sound. I'd maybe look at a cheaper case (plenty of high quality ones out there) and put more money into the gfx card. The 390's (although only slightly modified 290's) have better performance. The Asynchronous ability of GCN 1.1 and above means AMD has a decent headway with DX12, so the Hawaii and Tonga cards should keep their worth.
 
Welcome back. To me, the biggest changes are in the area of power usage and how quiet a powerful system can be today.
IMHO, you don't need a PSU that big. Also, the Corsair RMx series are on sale/rebate right now: Entire line of Corsair RMx PSU's Even the RM550X comes with 2X 8 pin PCI-e power cables which means it's good for up to 300 watts for a GPU. If you're not planning on Crossfire, a smaller PSU will do just fine. But, if you want to stick with 750 watts, the RMx series is superior to the CX series and is currently the same price, for one of them anyway. MIR is limited to one.
That GPU is LOUD. Much better choices out there than the "leaf blower" versions, especially in that case. MSI Gaming and Asus Strix top the list of quiet GPU's.
Luxury item: M.2 SSD's are expensive right now, but having no cables is nice.
As for the case, you might want to consider: Fractal Design Define S or Fractal Design Define R4 Blackout with Window or Fractal Design Define R5 Black Window
 
Thanks everyone, I appreciate your help! Some good things to think about.
 
Well if you're still taking suggestions there are a few things worth mentioning. One is that while 16gb of RAM will be necessary in the next few years, 8gb is fine for now and that's easy to upgrade later on so you can save a bit there and put it towards something else. Two, that processor doesn't come with a stock cpu cooler I'm pretty sure, so you're probably gonna wantt o get a budget cpu cooler. Also Corsair's CX series psus aren't great so you could get something of higher quality for a bit less if you look for it. Three with the money you save from the psu and RAM you can afford a nice new r9 390, which is an excellent card. So I'd go with this if I were you.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/y6sWkL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/y6sWkL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($253.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($144.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($44.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($85.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card ($317.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $999.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-16 20:22 EST-0500
 
  • Like
Reactions: XSI
your build is decent, but it is missing a CPU heat sink (K CPUs do not come with a stock heat sink anymore), and personally I don't like the idea of a 290 compared to a 390 in a Skylake build.

My suggestion is very similar to the one in the post before this post, with the differences being my build has a better PSU, an ATX motherboard as opposed to a mATX board, twice the RAM, and it is only $30 more expensive- http://pcpartpicker.com/p/czHsTW
 
  • Like
Reactions: XSI
The only thing I would suggest is to drop the PSU down to a 600-650Watt. I have a SeaSonic although I can't remember the model but it is gold rated. My wife has a Rosewill Capstone that is Gold rated and performing perfectly fine too.
 
Also I would think about the GTX 970 as well.

Least expensive 970 according to PC Partpicker is $294, the 390 without the $20 mail-in rebate is $295, the 390 has equal performance to the 970, but with 8 GB of VRAM. Personally, I'd take the 390.
 
Pick the 290,100% because is better than 380/X,the 290 perform way better and games,high res and max details.
The 380X will have better tehn like freesync,delta compresion and pwm optimisation.
If u want take 390 or GTX 970,the 380/X is just a 285 chip,rebranding :)))
Also keep in mind if u want 380/X or 390/X u must have a panel with Freesync tehnology,So ...
And also for all guys talking about is so great and good 380/x or 390/x i must tell is the same GCN 28nm,with low pwm and some good feature..
PS: Revolutionary is Fury X ! Have a nice day :)
 
Back
Top