# Ultimate Amd Gaming rig... any suggestions...



## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

Right now i am scrapping my old computer (CPU/Mobo/Memory/Video card) because the video card shorted out, and am deciding on building new one.... and am a big AMD fan... here are the specs..

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131339

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121277

possible update items: PSU (currently a 565W dual rail) and water cooling components (bigger radiator... only have single fan radiator now) 

Recycling items : 22.5" X2gen monitor, Bose 2.1 sound system, and logitech MXlaser 5000 mouse and whatever keyboard (i buy em 3 at a time, expecting to ruin em quick, i am clumsy with beverages near keyboard) i have 1 150GB raptor Sata drive (with XP and games) , 2 500gb WD caviar HDD, and 1 400 Seagate HDD (with vista ult 64)

I realize that i will probably need to update my PSU and Water cooling setup, i just dont have the heat dissipation that i will need for both the Graphics card and proc (both of which generates a TON of heat). Also any suggestions on what size radiator i will need?? 2 120mm or 3 120 mm radiator?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

are you " big AMD fan" enough to jump in a new rig that is guaranteed to always be second fiddle to what you could have had for the same price ??


brand loyalty is a great thing ........ as long as you are well aware you will pay big for it in performance loss right now ?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

go to toms hardware cpu comparison chart ........ then check the Intel E8600 against your spec'd cpu 

we wont even get into the fact the E8600 can eaisly hit 4.0 ghz on air vs the phenom will top out 15% above the 2.6ghz ................. thats a BIG sacrafice


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

except i am water cooling, i have no reason to trash my $300+ water cooling system that i have configured myself, so heat transfer is not an issue. and bang for the buck, amd hands down is better, also considering the phenom is the only quad core proc with 4 information pipelines... the top of the line intel only has 2... even though gaming hasnt yet caught up with the quad core, i am mostly interested because if i purchase another am2 proc, i can only use the 800 mhz memory, but with the phenom (being AM2+) i can use 1066 memory...yes i realize there are hard core intel fans and amd fans, i am amd all the way, i would rather spend the money towards a company in which i believe makes a better product, and could use my business, than contribute to a juggernaut, in which my contribution makes almost no difference. (also because AMD owns ATI, which, arguably make the best video cards out there...) and if you are going to comment on my preferrence on cpu.... why join a forum thread that says "AMD GAMING RIG"?? just a thought, not trying to be rude... also the e8600 is 20% more expensive than the amd counterpart, and yes, i did check toms hardware, and for what i want to do, the amd phenom 9950 dominates the e8600 intel...also i am keeping my 60hz monitor, so framerates above and beyond 60 fps doesnt really appeal to me for games, i dont really care that the Q8600 can show crisis at 110 fps, what good does that do me? your eye cant even perceive that fast...if i wanted to spend 1200 on a 120 hz monitor.... Not only games, but i also need to do some compiling, and this is the closest on toms hardware that would compare...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...008/Sandra-2008-Processor-Arithmetic,803.html

and

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...008/Sandra-2008-Processor-Arithmetic,802.html

also... if you are going to compare amd to intel, it should be on a less biased forum/chart, tomshardware is funded by intel...

oh, and i dont play crisis, but i do play supreme commander... but here is toms take on the AMD phenom vs the E8600...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...-Commander-Forged-Alliance-1680x1050,821.html

last and foremost, I have gone with AMD for 3 reasons, price to performance (barely comparable to intel) right now i can buy the phenom 9950 BE 120w for 190$, the CHEAPEST i can find the E6600 is 260 ($70 difference) and for that price, the performance is marginally better if at all... 2nd reason: the BE chips can be easily clocked to 3.2 or higher (25%) and with my water cooling setup, i should be able to reach 4.0... 3rd reason: the reason i am loyal to AMD over intel is because they make a better product for what i need, yes intel does make better procs, but you pay for it. to get equivalent intel quad core it is almost 5x the price!! not worth it in my opinion, and when programmers can keep up with the hardware, amd will dominate, 4 pipelines vs 2...

sorry about ranting and raving, i just feel that i was looking for a suggestion to my build, not to change my company (perhaps a different amd proc, but NO INTEL!!!)...


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Ok....... sorry no offense meant ..... many fellas come in here wanting the best and the fastest; period


you sepc looks very good ....... about the only thing you havent covered yet is the power supply

very hard to beat the Corsair 750-TX ..... at provantage.com they sell for about $105.00

that would give you a very high quality power supply capable of feeding the quad core and water cooler 

as for water reservoir; I would get the biggest you can afford

the ATI 4870 is an awesome card 


enjoy your rig .........


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

hey thanks, it is prob 4-6 monts ahead, gotta buy one piece at a time, as for the PSU, i dont know if i will ever upgrade to 2 of the 4870s, so i think i will end up getting a 1200 watt modular one... it is radiator that i am looking at for size, i am just curious if 2 fans will work or do i need 3? because the Phenom is quite a hot beast, and so is the 4870... does anyone have a suggestion on a radiator? perhaps i should be in a watercooled thread... i would really prefer a 2 fan, or multiples thereof (fan controller can control 2 [or multiples of 2] at a time) but get different specs on the same product... none of which have a thermal transfer rating...and i know my pump is good enough, it is the Innovatek HPPS pump that can pump 360 lpm (litres/minute) which is about 9.6 gallons/ minute so pump power is not an issue... anyways, thanks for the point out on the psu...


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

IMHO watercoolers are very challenged now days because the GPU and CPU can get soooo hot from overclocking ....... its very difficult to reduce the temperature of the coolant ....... i dont believe three fans would cool any better than two would ? its really boils down to what is the temp of the air that is being moved thru the reservoir ?

I have recently played with a set-up using the hydrocool 200 which has a water chiller ........ that works VERY well especially when coupled with a case designed for water cooling.


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

There's only two comments I'd like to put forward; 

Hardwarenerd, I understand your viewpoint, however, one piece of sincere advise I can give is -- with that CPU, you won't be hitting anywhere near 4.0 GHz with water-cooling. If you have a *very good* CPU compared to the average, then you will achieve 3.6 GHz fully stable, at best. The average for that processor is around 3.2 GHz, you are right. Just keep that in mind.

Secondly, the Phenom CPU will require anywhere from 1.400v to 1.600v to reach such speeds (23 - 38%) with full stability. With that comes excessive heat, which your water-cooling can control nicely but you also have excessive power consumption tapping on along with it. Make very sure you have a PSU that can supply 16-20A minimum through the EPS 8-pin 12v connector because that's the power draw of a high-end overclocked Phenom. At the same time, make sure the VRM section of the motherboard is well cooled.

Hold on..... 4 - 6 months ahead? Don't buy a Phenom 65nm then. :4-thatsba

Wait for late November; there are two new AMD 45nm processors coming at 2.8 GHz and 3.0 GHz. They are rated at 125W TDP but that is a marketing misnomer only. Your chosen motherboard will run them fine with your RAM. They are much lower power consumption and overclock quite a bit better as well as posing 5 - 15% better performance per clock than the current Phenom 65nm. The current Phenom range will drop in prices much more by January when even more Phenom processors will be introduced (next generation). 4.0 GHz with them will be possible.


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

thanks for the wait suggestion on the proc, i have been thinking that i should wait for the next gen of procs... because in 2 mos the 9950 phenom will be ancient... lol.

To address the heat issue with my water cooling system, i previously had my AMD FX-60 oc'd from 2.4 to 3.54 with no overheating issues whatsoever, also my 7900GTX 512 both on the same circuit, with only a 1 fan radiator, keeping temps to about 45c, and i live in AZ, witch inside temps dont exceed 80F or about 27c, so i think that radiators really need to show a threshold of somesort for amout of heat dissipated... unless someone knows of a website that has them listed or compared somewhere.
Plus i dont use water for my cooling system, water is too easy to heat up, i use a bit thicker, which is harder to heat/cool, but will stay pretty steady once it hits a mean temp....


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

linderman said:


> IMHO watercoolers are very challenged now days because the GPU and CPU can get soooo hot from overclocking ....... its very difficult to reduce the temperature of the coolant ....... i dont believe three fans would cool any better than two would ? its really boils down to what is the temp of the air that is being moved thru the reservoir ?
> 
> I have recently played with a set-up using the hydrocool 200 which has a water chiller ........ that works VERY well especially when coupled with a case designed for water cooling.


Actually the hyrdocool 200 does not have a waterchiller, it just has a single fan radiator....


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

i must have got the model wrong ....... was playing with two diff ones ,,,,,, one had an external chiller that cooled the cooling solution in the reservoir ...... will check the model number but its rather pricey at $380 something


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

ya, i dont really want to add another 300+ to my somewhat limited budget... i think that a 2 fan radiator will be fine...


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

is your reservoir internal to the computer case or external ? I have found the external ones to be much better ....... in our server room we put the reservoir next to the A/C unit


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## Hardwarenerd (Sep 24, 2008)

I was going to install it internally, but i dont have a lot of room in my case, so it will be external, i have one of those plexiglass mid-tower cases. although i do have 5 internal fans, i turn em all down/off except the ones for the HDD (the raptor gets HOT), and i dont have a A/C unit (i have central air.) I just wish radiators could show how much heat they are capable of dissipating...does anyone know of a website that compares them??


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