Me and my friend have put together this list of components for a gaming PC, and we think it would work, but want to check before we buy anything, so here's the list, do you think that there are any problems with building a pc from these components?
-Corsair H40 Hydro water cooling
-AMD A8-3870K FM1 3.0GHz 4MB 100W Quad Core APU
-Asus F1A75-V Pro Motherboard(AMD FM1 Socket, DDR3, ATX, Auto Tuning)
-Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866MHz Dual Channel kit
-Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB HDD
-Corsair Gaming Series GS500 PSU
-Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Mid-Tower Case
-Samsung SH-B123L - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM drive
-Asus ATI 1GB Radeon HD 6670 PCI-E Graphics Card (adding to the APU, not sure about crossfire? is it necessary for the setup? if so, is this card good for crossfire?)
So yeah, if you think there are any problems with this setup, or you're want more details on a particular part of the setup, then your feedback would be appreciated.
Using mid settings, it should play most games at acceptable frame rates. High settings and/or high resolutions will probably drag it down on newer 3D games. As spec'd, the AMD Dual Graphics should approximate an HD6700 series
I'ld drop the Hydro cooler; a decent air cooler will give you the same performance at lower cost.
Swap out the FM1/A8 for an AM3+ board and FX-4100; cost about the same or less for better performance.
As spec'd, the power supply should carry the system, but it's on the low side of where I'ld like to be. Also, I'm not a fan of the Corsair GS series.
Save up a few more $$ and get an HD 6800 series.
Thanks for the suggestions, I shall probably follow them, except for the last one: I can't really "save up a few more $$" as I'm already getting over budget as it is, it's at the upper edge of manageable, hence why the psu is at the lower end of what will manage.
Also, my friend asks: Is there a faster option than using a AMD A8-3870K processor and an Asus ATI 1GB Radeon HD 6670 graphics card, in crossfire for the same price?
(Considering the price of the motherboard that needs to be changed too)
An FX-4100 and a 550 Ti will outperform that setup and run into fewer compatibility issues. Install it onto an ASUS M5A97 and you're good to go. Total cost for the three is about $330.
IMO the APU dual graphics setup is only worthwhile if your budget is too tight to buy a video card with the initial build, then want to upgrade cost-effectively down the road. If you want a gaming computer now, go with a more traditional setup.
EDIT: If you do choose the APU dual graphics route, save some money and get a GDDR3 6670 instead of the GDDR5 version. Your comp will normalize all the RAM used by your GPU, so the GDDR5 on the 6670 would be ran at the same speed as your DDR3 system RAM.
the corsair gs series are not made by seasonic they are the low end versions of their good power supplies. You should go for a corsair TX or TH model and make it 650w
crossfire and sli doesn't make a lot of difference apart from creating more heat and needing and even more powerful power supply. You are always best to go for the fastest single card you can afford. I would not go for two 6670s for a possible 20% increase in some games
Not alot of games can take advantage of more than one card.
Your list will work but you could do better.
Liquid cooling is a waste of money and of no benefit for the normal user. Air cooling is fine and no concerns about leakage. If no OC'ing will be done, the OEM cooler will be fine.
G'Skill or Corsair would be a better choice for the RAM as would 1600MHz.
The CX & GS Series Corsair are lower quality and not recommended. 500W is also underpowered for the 6670 GPU. You need to be at 550W minimum.
As for Crossfire, one better GPU is almost always the better option for increased graphics quality.
I would also suggest you use our suggested build list as a guide to insure you get top quality components.
I am "the friend" I've accidentally the technical language, I meant dual graphics mode not crossfire (previously called Hybrid Crossfire). Meaning I meant 1 discrete graphics card with the AMD APU.
Definitely drop the CPU cooler and spend the $$ on a better video card. The stock cooler will be fine until you feel like overclocking. And if you already feel like overclocking, a better video card will affect gaming more so than overclocking the CPU.
Anybody got any ideas how much overclocking the cooling that comes with the AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz processor (see components list for more details) will take? (i.e. how much can it be overclocked without needing extra cooling? Can it be overclocked at all without the extra cooling?)
Not much if at all. You'd have to monitor temps and stress test with each overclock attempt. But the FX-4100 is a very capable gamer right out of the box on stock settings.
The role of the processor in gaming is much smaller than the video card. For the most part, all it really needs to do is bring your video card "its homework" quickly enough for the video card to process it. That processor won't slow you down until you're playing at extremely high settings on a very demanding game. Problem is, you'd have to spend $250 or more on a video card that would be capable of needing a faster processor!
So while I'm a fan of overclocking (got +1Ghz myself), you're much better off spending more on the video card than processor. I would recommend getting a cooler later down the road.
No problem. For some reason, companies seem to be stressing the processors more than video cards for gaming these days. I guess it just sells better for lay-customers.
The 6850 is generally better than the 560, but that can depend on which game you'll be playing and the resolution of your monitor. There should be plenty of benchmarks for whichever game(s) you play the most.
ECS, OEM PC's use a lot of their Mobo's, is a lower tier manufacturer.
EVGA-Asus-Gigabyte for Nvidia chipped GPU's.
Your Mobo uses AMD chipsets so using an ATI/AMD chipped GPU avoids any issues.
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