Hey all thanks in advance for any advice given. This is a somewhat strange build as I live in South Africa, which means computer parts (especially enthusiast/gaming parts) are about 45-70% more expensive than they are in the states. Luckily I have 6 family members flying down from the US to South Africa on Dec 15th, and they are happy to bring the components over for me, all items will be bought from newegg.com. I know im taking some big risks with the components being DOA or breaking after a few months, but I still think its worth it. E.g. the 5870 im looking at is $ 339 in the US but here I?d be paying $ 671 So for the mobo and GPU which are the components that I feel would be most likely to fail I have tried to choose the most reliable ones with the best customer ratings. Also what are people thoughts on a 6870 rather than a 5870? Budget: +- $1100 Main uses of intended build: Gaming, internet, some photo shopping and movies/entertainment. Parts required: CPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W $209 cooler : Thermaltake Frio $59 Thermal paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $ 9 MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 $105 Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $80 power supply: Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W $99 GPU: SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 $340 fan controller: Scythe KQ01-BK-3.5 "KAZE Q" Fan Controller $19 fans (1 x 140 & 2 x 120): Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm Case Fan $30 for 2, XIGMATEK Cooling System XLF XLF-F1454 140mm LED Blue Case Fan $13 keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard $53 mouse: RAZER Imperator Black USB Wired Laser Ergonomic Gaming Mouse $80 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" $69 Total cost: $1165 Previous build information (list details of parts): I will be buying the following here in South Africa (these items are not included in the budget), these are the only real options available here. Monitor: SAMSUNG P2450H, 1920 x 1080, DC 70000:1(1000:1), 2ms(GTG) Case: COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced Black Monitor resolution: 1920 x 1080 Storage requirements: 1TB should be fine for now Will you be overclocking: yes, will probably aim for 3.2 GHz now and push it higher when it?s necessary Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): Extra information about desired system: Also need a wireless card/dongle: need someone to recommend a good one. Does anyone know if i will have an issue with the frio and the ram slots on this board as well as an issue with the height of the frio in the case. Last thing i can think of is the length of the gpu in the case. ________ FETISH STOCKING
looks fine...definitely will get the job done for the intended use, and good quality to help guard against doa on the main components. i would go 6870 over 5870. but overall i think my personal favorite at the moment would be either the 6850 or gtx460.
Yes the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced can definitely fit a 5870. The CM 690 II Advanced can accommodate heatsinks up to 177mm in height (according to CoolerMaster's website), the Frio is 165mm in height, so you will be fine in that regard as long as you don't want to install a fan into the top side panel fan bay. Fans are usually 25mm in 'height', the difference between 177 and 165 is not 25, so the fan would have to be 12mm or less to fit. I cannot answer your question about the heatsink overhanging the memory slots at this time. You could probably find out in which slots (white or blue) you need to install the DIMMs into by downloading the manual for the motherboard from here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3440#manual If you could install them in the white slots then you'd be extremely unlikely/unlucky to have problems IMO. I believe another advantage of getting a 6870 is that they cost a substantial amount less than a 5870. But then it doesn't offer the same performance, which is disappointing in some ways.
The 6870 is actually weaker than the 5870 because of the weird naming thing that happened with ATI's new line of cards. The main reason why you would get the 6870 is because it's a next gen card and thus will have a few features the 5xxx series doesn't and it'll be more future proof. I seem to remember reading that the 6xxx series cards have support for 3D. Did you buy the parts already? I just got an email from newegg basically saying that they're having a "black friday" sale all month. I'll link you to some parts that are on sale (but most of them are kinda junk, I'll pick out the good ones). You can also have the coupon codes because I don't plan to use them this month at all anywayz ^^. The razer imperator is a good mouse, but this just went on sale and is cheaper without sacrificing very much . Plus there's a combo savings at the bottom of the page for a mousepad too. here's a wireless adapter on sale for $10 with promo code: EMCZZYN23 this psu is a bit more expensive ($140 with promo code EMCZZYN68, $120 after MIR) but it's an option for you (note that you don't need a higher wattage psu). That's about all I can see that would be helpful to you from the on sale list You don't need to get any of the on sale parts, I'm just giving them to you b/c I got the email that they went on sale . Your build looks like it'll be just fine.
cool, thanks for the comments guys. will def get the cm 690 then. will check out the manual for the mobo(thanks for the link). surely though someone has the GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 and the frio and ram similar to the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series in the forums. im on the ball with new radeon naming schemes, will see what happens in the next month with the prices of the 5870, 6870 and 470 AMP! ________ VAPER GENIE
Hehe I got a pair of Xigmatek 140mm XLF-F1454 White LED Blue Blade fans for the top exhaust of my 690 II Advanced case as well, and I moved the original top CoolerMaster 140mm fan down the the bottom middle intake slot (both CM site and the manual says it fit a 120mm fan for that slot, but I can tell you that it fit a 140mm fan there, not a 120mm fan. I also bought a side-window for the 690 II case for £13.25. I am really glad that I went for the CM690 II Adv over the Antec 902, as it is JUST wide enough to fit even the huge Thermalright Silver Arrow...whereas people that got Antec 902 reported they couldn't shut the side-panel after fitting the Thermalright Silver Arrow.
thanks marine, are the Xigmatek's pretty quite and are you seeing decent tepms with the fan configuration as you have it? ________ BIG TITS ASS
have add'd the wireless usb, the mouse is def a good price but its seems a bit dodge. only buying end of nov so will keep checking the sales. ________ Mercedes-benz w114
I'd get a PCI/PCI-E wireless card over a USB thing- should give better connection/latency, as well as freeing up a USB slot and being neater.
The thing is...perception of quietness varys from people to people...while the Xigmatek 140mm XLF-F1454 White LED Blue Blade fans "acceptable" quiet enough to me, I do wish it could have been quieter. If I put my ear right next to it, I would say it's around the same noise level as the CoolerMaster 140mm Blue LED intake fan that comes with the the 690II Advanced. If I was giving the chance to get two 140mm fan for top extaust again, I'd probably try the Yate Loon D14SL-12 Blue LED instead. Besides the 140mm fan, I gotten two Xigmatek Blue Line 120mm Fan White LED XLF-F1256 fans as well. They shift LOTS of air, but while the rear exhaust noise level isn't too bad with the fan spinning at 1500rpm, the one on the side window is too loud spinning at 1500rpm. I use my motherboard's fan control and drop the speed down to 1300rpm, and it becomes nice and quiet. P.S. My PC is on my desk and I'm roughly an arm's length away from it. Also another tips for you is that you SHOULD install a 140mm fan to the bottom middle intake, as the air go directly into the inside of the case, unlike the front intake fan the air that are going in will be interrupted by the drive bays. Some pics here: ^^^ As you can see, I've moved the 140mm top exhaust fan that comes with the 690II Advanced down to bottom intake slot.
Newegg has more offers, but these are going to expire soon: For 48 hours newegg has any HDD available for 10% off if you put in promo code: EMCZZYR25 at checkout. This offer expires 11/5/2010. Maximum discount is $10 and it will only be available while funds last. For a limited time newegg has any graphics card 10% off if you put in promo code: EMCZZYR24 at checkout. This offer expires 11/12/2010. Maximum discount is $50 and it will only be available while funds last.
yea i know, but i fiqured asking that question on bit-tech i'd get an informed reply. thanks for the pic. will check out the 120mm fans that you have got. ________ LESBIAN AGGRESSIVE
thanks for all the promo codes, gonna hold out till the end of november for the purchase. suspect there mite be somemore price drops for the GPU's coming. although if i see a great deal i'll take it. ________ HERBAL AIRE
One thing you should note is that the 120mm fan in my pic (the Xigmatek Blue Line 120mm Fan White LED XLF-F1256) is actually White LED on the transparent blue fan, so it doesn't make the inside of case turn blue like most Blue LED fans do. If that is what interest you, you should check out the Xigmatek CLF - F1251 instead: http://www.erodov.com/forums/xigmatek-clf-f1251-120mm-led-fan-review/28370.html Again, if you prefer quietness over the amount of air being shifted, Yate Loon D12SL-12 Blue LED is a good alternative to the Xigmatek...and they are cheaper as well. The Yate Loon fans shift decent amount of air (not as much as the Xigmatek), but not as aggressive as the Xigmatek (1350rpm vs 1500rpm) and so it is quieter. Also, if you are interested in the side-windowed panel for the 690II Advanced, you will have to buy it separately. I got mine for £13.25 from scan...not sure if the online stores in the US sell it. Also, the side-window would only fit a single 120mm fan, unlike the original side panel that comes with the case will fit both 120mm and 140mm fan.
I'm not sure if you know this, but the Friday after Thanks Giving is called "Black Friday". This is the day when just about every store (online or not) in the US has major sales and offers. You can expect newegg (and many other stores) to have even more sales on this day (but most sales are 24 hours). I'll post the promo codes for that day here when they come.
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) for $65 with promo code: EMCZZYX22 Corsair 650TX (650W psu) for $80 with promo code: EMCZZYX24 Has a $20 Mail-in-Rebate Antec Six Hundred for $65 with promo code: EMCZZYX28 All Motherboards are 10% off with promo code: EMCZZYX74 All codes expire on 11/15/10
TBH, I wouldn't go for an i5 760 for the tasks you intend to use the machine for. You can save money on an i3. The i5 is Quad core, sure, but it's not needed. You will benafit more from the higher clock speeds of the i3 plus it's Hyper Threading tech. The i5 is lower clock speed and not Hyper Threaded.
