I need help with an AMD/nVidia build.

[Jaak]

So I would be able to use a GTX 470 as a Graphics card and an 8800gt as a PhysX card in the Asus Crosshair IV Formula?

[rapmaster]

Yes you could.

[Lpfan4ever]

Here's what I slapped together following your rules. I personally would go with a Gigabyte board, an XFX ATI 5870 or two 5850's, and a WD Caviar Black hard drive, but that just destroys what you said you didn't want.

As for the RAM, I'm not 100% sure on it. My friend is getting an AMD computer built with it, but I can't tell you for sure if it's gonna 100% work or not. Somebody else will have to chime in on some RAM that is 100% guaranteed to work. The case is personal choice, I just threw something in there relatively low cost just to take up space in the budget As well, the 1055T is in there, but it's your choice if the extra MHz of the 1090T are worth the $100 since you're not overclocking. And last but not least, PRICEMATCH. That'll probably shave a hundred or so dollars off your build.

[Jaak]

Thanks for all the help and answering questions, but I have a few more. This is the system I have decided to try to build.

Cooler Master HAF 932 Full size tower
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Box
Asus Crosshair IV Formula
eVGA nVidia GTX 470 <--- Decided on the 470 over the 480 due to heat issues and minimal performance increase
XFX nVidia 8800GT <--- From old computer (will be used for PhysX)
SSD Intel X25-M 80Gig <--- Need help here
Samsung 1TB <--- From old computer
8gigs ram <--- Need help here
SysKonnect SK-9821 V2.0 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Adapter, PCI64 <--- From old computer
Power supply <--- Need help here

Here is where I run into problems. I know next to nothing (except what I glean from Wikipedia) about SSDs and nothing about brand quality when it comes to power supplies and RAM.

I want 16 gigs of ram. I know this is pointless at this time and 8 gigs is still a little overkill, but I want to be able to upgrade to 16gigs at a later date so I need to get two sticks of 4gigs. This is where I need advice what speed and brand to get so that it is compatible with the board.

Knowing nothing about SSDs and seeing how many are out there is enough to make my head spin. I chose the Intel SSD because it's a safe bet, they do not make a bad product. I want to use this SSD to store my OS and games. That is all. It will be fast, it will be glorious. Am I getting the right drive?

The power supply. I have cheap'ed out twice on a PSU and regretted it both times. Fool me once, and all that. I need a power supply that can handle both video cards and future CPU upgrades and my dream 16Gigs ram. Like the SSD I have no idea what to look for and who makes good supplies and who to not touch with a ten foot pole.


I hope you guys can help.

P.S. Do I need to get an after market heat-sink/fan for the CPU or is the factory supplied setup a good one?

[_dangtx_]

haf 922 for case
not so sure about cpu
meh ill just shut up :p

[Lpfan4ever]

Ok, just ignore the build I showed you I guess...I didn't randomly pull those parts out of my ass. They're there for a reason, because I know they work damn good.

So, to be a bit more helpful with what you revised. Intel SSD is good, don't think you need that Gigabit NIC since the motherboard already handles that, and for the power supply, go for a good Corsair like the TX750, or if you prefer modular, go with the HX750. (Or a higher wattage Corsair model if you want some more future proofing/room for expansion.) And why would you go for a quad core, when for nearly the same price you can get a Hexacore?

Also, guessing by that build, I assume your budget has dropped substantially?

[Jaak]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

haf 922 for case

I defiantly want a full size tower.

[Jaak]

Originally Posted by lpfan4ever

Ok, just ignore the build I showed you I guess...I didn't randomly pull those parts out of my ass. They're there for a reason, because I know they work damn good.

So, to be a bit more helpful with what you revised. Intel SSD is good, don't think you need that Gigabit NIC since the motherboard already handles that, and for the power supply, go for a good Corsair like the TX750, or if you prefer modular, go with the HX750. (Or a higher wattage Corsair model if you want some more future proofing/room for expansion.) And why would you go for a quad core, when for nearly the same price you can get a Hexacore?

Also, guessing by that build, I assume your budget has dropped substantially?

I did not mean to snub you and I defiantly did not ignore your build. I have done a lot of reading and found that the Phenom II X4 and X6 CPUs are limited to DDR3-1333 RAM. Faster ram will not preform any better (please correct if wrong). Why did you choose only 4Gigs of ram for the build you posted for me?

The power supply you chose for the list was spot on for what I wanted. I did not even know they made power supplies with modular connectors until I looked into that one.

As for the the II X4 965 (please let me know if that is not the best AMD quad) is over $100 cheaper than the X6 1090T and the increase in game performance is minimal. I also do no photo editing or CAD so I can not justify the six core CPU, just like the ram. I want 16gigs but I can barely justify 8gigs.

Speaking of ram, I am having trouble finding 4Gig sticks on the Asus Crosshair IV Formula ram list. It looks like I may have to choose a different board if I want to have 16Gigs in the future.

I also realized I do not need a new hard drive. I have a 1TB drive that I am going to reuse for bulk storage.

My budget is still $2000.

The SysKonnect SK-9821 V2.0 network card I plan to keep as it is a server quality card that blows away any on-board nic I have ever seen.

[timbruun]

You're not really making any sense. You don't want to upgrade certain parts because it's not that much of an improvement yet you want ram coming out the ying yang for not apparent reason?

[Jaak]

Originally Posted by timbruun

You're not really making any sense. You don't want to upgrade certain parts because it's not that much of an improvement yet you want ram coming out the ying yang for not apparent reason?

Yha, I have this thing about RAM. I must not have had enough when I was growing up.