Building a new comp, need advice

[Tomorrow_Rains]

Hello all,

Well i'm building a cost -efficient Gaming Computer (I want to spend under 800 Dollars)

I need some advice...The pieces i want to buy are below please let me know if these are great, The reason im getting a new PC is for star craft 2, Garry's mod , Cry-sis and Well pretty much Any PC game, I want to run them smoothly on High (Doesn't have to be Ultra)

Okay.. Here are the Few items i've picked out

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX

x 2 500GB HDD (Caviar)

I need help selecting a Motherboard, And RAM. Something Between 50$ Dollars and $150

Oh and Ofcourse i'm getting a Gaming Case, And i;ve already got an ATX power supply running at 950W.

Any Help is Appreciated. (Reason i want a HEXACORE is because i dont want to lag two years from now on the technology that comes out, i want this computer to last me until im 50, and im 23)

Thanks!

 

[raybay]

Methinks the CPU and motherboard should be decided in a package... Pick the motherboard first, then CPU, as it is less important. Your motherboard determines the ability to tweak and adjust, and is key to the long term reliability.
You left out Power Supply... critical in a good gaming machine... as well as case and CPU cooling.
You probably cannot do what you wish for under $800... you are going to be involved in too many compromises.
Building a budget gamer is not going to get you there two years from now. You don't have any information on problems and troubles and long term reliability. Nobody knows the direction the Hexacore is pointed two years from now.
It would see to me that building for today, using a CPU and motherboard that are three months old or more, will save you a lot of bucks. Get a motherboard that can be upgraded to a better processor, then wait for things to develop.
You might even want to wait a few weeks... until October 1, to see where technology is heading... Two ares are becoming more important... USB 3.0 will be out, and you will be able to see which way the new drives are going.
There are plenty of tests of hard drives that have just been released... Look at Tom's and other websites for the reports on what is good and what is fast
It is likely the new hard drive and the motherboard with its memory abilities and sockets will be more important... but getting the Hexacore and the right memory and the right hard drive on a board (with RAM) that is only $50 to $150 may disappoint you down the road..
Get a board with USB 3.0 on it, along with the capability to utilize 6 to 8 memory sockets so you know you have the latest... and with the capability to handle two or three of the best processors. for future upgrades.
Were it mine, I would build a decent gamer system now with the plan to learn from what you do, then sell that one and build the great one two years from now based upon what you have learned.

 

[Tomorrow_Rains]

That was actually extremely helpful Thanks.

 

[raybay]

I, for one, would like to hear what you decided and how it worked out, and whether it made you happy or disappointed.
Some of us old timers grimace a bit when we think of building our first gamer, and what we learned about stress and technology... there are somethings that none of the big wizzes ever put in a book or manual... but it is fun, and it changes you.

If you have children, or roommates, try to find a place to build it that will not be bothered by others when you are not around.

And always keep GOOD notes that make sense a week or two later.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
EVGA 01G-P3-1371-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

That totals $700, but does not include case, hdd, or OS/peripherals.
If I were you, i'd go with a Phenom II X4 instead to give myself a bit of wiggle room.

 

[mailpup]

He has even more wiggle room. He already has a power supply.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Oh well...good for him.
Maybe he can bump it up to a 5850 or something.

x 2 500GB HDD (Caviar)

Any particular reason?

 

[Alster37]

it seems strange that people buy the BE of the phenom x6 which is (the sites I use anyway) £65 more expensive. couldnt the 1055t be overclocked close to the BE anyway?

 

[Tomorrow_Rains]

Well it's finished and running Awesome.

Simple Specs

AMD Hexacore Running SLI

16gb Ram, 1TB Memory (Two 500gb HDD's)

1 SSD Drive (250gb)

A Full ATX case Liquid Cooling ($45 used on Amazon, Works great..Except Minus 1 hose for video cards but video cards are fine being fanned)

all in all i ended up spending a little over 800..but definately under 1000.

I run starcraft 2 on Ultra, 4 vs 4 runs smooth as heck. Crysis Runs awesome, Garrys mod (with all those Minge spammers) Never crashes.

Thanks all for your help!

BTW i have a 64 bit system, Incase you're wondering about the 16gb of Cheap ram. (kingston)

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

BTW i have a 64 bit system, Incase you're wondering about the 16gb of Cheap ram. (kingston)

I wonder about the cost effectiveness of that o.o.