# Revised Mid Level Gaming Comp



## diabloben68 (Jan 7, 2012)

A few weeks ago I posted a build that I had planned on doing and everyone here on TSF was really great at giving me advice etc.

I now have a revised and better valued build (IMO), and I would like to get some feedback/advice in areas such as:

1. Comparability of parts
2. Reliability issues
3. Future of this build (is it set up to upgrade easily?)

The build total is $538 + $6 shipping. I was able to combo and bundle to save some, but if you see anything that is better valued or cheaper, let me know.


*1. Video Card $140* - GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series Radeon HD 6850 GV-R685OC-1GD Video Card with Eyefinity

*2. PS $50* - RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W Modular LED Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817152035

*3. MOBO $95* - ASUS M5A97 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #:N82E16813131767

*4. CPU $80* - AMD Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz Socket AM3 Triple-Core Desktop Processor
Item #: N82E16819103911

*5. RAM $37* - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory 
Item #: N82E16820145345

*6. HDD $70* - Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148767

*7. CASE $65* - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129066


Let me know what you think


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## Laxer (Dec 28, 2010)

I am not a huge fan of Raidmax PSUs

This would be a $30 upgrade 100% worth it IMO:

Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power SupplyI prefer Phenom II's over Athlon's but they also cost more.

Overall build looks fine, Lots of headroom for improvements.

Curious... what about an optical drive(disc drive)?

there are lots of decent burner/readers for around ~$25


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

raidmax = crap

they are one of the worst makes of power supplies you can get and I guarantee that it will not be the stated wattage that it claims it is and I would also gaurantee that it would struggle to run that graphics card.

You need a 650w anyway and it should be a good make such as the one Laxer suggested or seasonic or corsair but not gs or cx series


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

pretty sure that cpu is your weakest link (excluding the PSU)

on the same motherboard, you can put in any amd processor you want. here's a pretty fair option for the price:
Newegg.com - AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

$30 more for a much better setup. you'll also officially have the "scorpius platform" online lol not that that really means anything except that you're using all modern AMD products, but the parts _are_ optimized for each other.

Not that passmark is the end-all be-all of CPU benchmarking, but your Athlon scores 2171 while the FX-4100 scores 4327. That's twice the power with a significantly superior memory controller.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

toothman said:


> pretty sure that cpu is your weakest link (excluding the PSU)
> 
> on a motherboard of the same value:
> Newegg.com - ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
> ...


The OPs case would have to have USB 3.0 ports on his case to use that motherboard so he would need another case plus gigabyte boards are better quality than Asrock plus their techsupport is better if its needed.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

greenbrucelee said:


> The OPs case would have to have USB 3.0 ports on his case to use that motherboard so he would need another case plus gigabyte boards are better quality than Asrock plus their techsupport is better if its needed.


I edited the mobo suggestion out earlier


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

All good with the exception of the Raidmax PSU. Go with one of the units suggested by Laxer in Post #2.


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## diabloben68 (Jan 7, 2012)

Laxer said:


> Overall build looks fine, Lots of headroom for improvements.
> 
> Curious... what about an optical drive(disc drive)?
> 
> there are lots of decent burner/readers for around ~$25


I don't think I am going to use an optical drive because I am planning on transferring most if not all files by usb. Is this a mistake? I know there are some fairly cheap dvd rom burners out there, but I figured I can just transfer from my laptop.

Thanks for the advice on the PSU


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## diabloben68 (Jan 7, 2012)

toothman said:


> pretty sure that cpu is your weakest link (excluding the PSU)
> 
> on the same motherboard, you can put in any amd processor you want. here's a pretty fair option for the price:
> Newegg.com - AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion on the FX 4100. I honestly thought I might get lucky with the x3 because a lot of people have said that they can unlock the 4th core. If i was lucky enough to get this to work that would be great. If not, i still think it is ranked fairly high and I could save $40 towards a future CPU. What do you think? Would it just be better to go with 4100 now?


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## Laxer (Dec 28, 2010)

If you can afford it yes go with the 4100.

I would however, upgrade the PSU first.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

the triple core games very well; anyone that has a decent quad should be telling you NO games can work 4 cores beyond 40% each..............now days only the dual cores are struggling to keep up; any cpu greater than a dual core in the 3ghz cataqgory will game very effectively


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## Narcissist (Jan 19, 2012)

linderman said:


> the triple core games very well; anyone that has a decent quad should be telling you NO games can work 4 cores beyond 40% each..............now days only the dual cores are struggling to keep up; any cpu greater than a dual core in the 3ghz cataqgory will game very effectively


 
That is simply incorrect. Try play FSX on a dual or tri-core CPU on max and see how much improvement you get with a 2600K. Huge. Secondly the three core sweet spot has more to do with XBOX ports (the XBOX has a 3 core CPU) but more and more developers are moving towards quad core development. Conclusion | bit-tech.net


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## diabloben68 (Jan 7, 2012)

Narcissist said:


> That is simply incorrect. Try play FSX on a dual or tri-core CPU on max and see how much improvement you get with a 2600K. Huge. Secondly the three core sweet spot has more to do with XBOX ports (the XBOX has a 3 core CPU) but more and more developers are moving towards quad core development. Conclusion | bit-tech.net


I think the 2600k is a bad comparison to use with this thread because it is a $300+ processor. The processor I am looking at is $79.00. The fx 4100 is $109. I am planning on getting the tri core because it is cheaper and I can upgrade in the future when the phenoms x4/x6 come down in price a little more.


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## Narcissist (Jan 19, 2012)

Get the i3, its faster and the same price. Plus it has upgradabilty right through to ivybridge. My point was simply that a statement that a quad core cannot be used is nonsense.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

diabloben68 said:


> Thanks for the suggestion on the FX 4100. I honestly thought I might get lucky with the x3 because a lot of people have said that they can unlock the 4th core. If i was lucky enough to get this to work that would be great. If not, i still think it is ranked fairly high and I could save $40 towards a future CPU. What do you think? Would it just be better to go with 4100 now?


Yes, I think you'll want something that's satisfactory today and worry about upgrading in the future.

Any particular game, in a vacuum, will probably perform not significantly worse on the Athlon tri-core than on the FX-4100, but the FX is a *much* more effective multitasker. The FX can also overclock very easily.

Another great option is the Phenom II x4 960T. I _just_ installed it into a fresh new build yesterday afternoon, and I notice it's considerably faster than my laptop's i3. It also is very overclockable. With the promo code "AMDPHX410" it's $12.50 off, making it only $2.50 more expensive than the FX-4100. And it is a better processor than the 4100.

If you're like me and intend to have Ventrillo and a media player both operating, with Firefox open on the second monitor, while playing a maxed out game like SWTOR or LoL, a quad core will be noticeably smoother.

BTW the i3 recommendation is also pretty decent, but it isn't overclockable and the board will be more expensive.

*EDIT*: If you're considering rolling the dice on a bet to unlock extra cores, a lot of people are successfully unlocking the 960T into a 6-core. Unlocking cores isn't something you should just expect to be able to do like overclocking, but it is pretty cool.


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## Narcissist (Jan 19, 2012)

AMD have recently admitted they have lost the desktop game. If you want to waste your money, get AMD.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Narcissist said:


> Get the i3, its faster and the same price. Plus it has upgradabilty right through to ivybridge. My point was simply that a statement that a quad core cannot be used is nonsense.



I think you should RE-READ my post; I didnt say a quad core cant be used while gaming; I stated the theory that that only a quad core can be effective while gaming is incorrect.

Video cards now do the bulk of their own processing power taking the load off the cpu. games are still struggling to program in more than two simultanous threads.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Narcissist said:


> AMD have recently admitted they have lost the desktop game. If you want to waste your money, get AMD.


AMD's only lost the high-end market. In the $100-150 range, I'd get a Phenom II quad core over an i3 any day. Their performance is identical, but the Phenoms can be overclocked.

If you want a high-end chip, Intel wins. The only reason anyone would ever want to buy an FX-8120/8150 is if they're encoding all day.


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## diabloben68 (Jan 7, 2012)

Narcissist said:


> AMD have recently admitted they have lost the desktop game. If you want to waste your money, get AMD.


They really said that?


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## Narcissist (Jan 19, 2012)

toothman said:


> AMD's only lost the high-end market. In the $100-150 range, I'd get a Phenom II quad core over an i3 any day. Their performance is identical, but the Phenoms can be overclocked.


An I3 2100 smashes a Phenom II. AnandTech - Bench - CPU AND, can be upgraded later right through to ivybridge.



diabloben68 said:


> They really said that?


 
Yes


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

AMD & Intel is purely a matter of personal preference as both are very capable for any type of PC.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Narcissist said:


> An I3 2100 smashes a Phenom II. AnandTech - Bench - CPU AND, can be upgraded later right through to ivybridge.


That's the 955, not the 960t I mentioned above. Anandtech doesn't have 960t benchmarks yet, but Parkmark does. Passmark ranks the 960t as 163rd at a score of 4055, while the i3 2100 is 177th at 3855. Passmark is just one "overall performance" kind of test, but it's usually not far off.

Keep in mind that while the 2100 and 960t cost an identical ~$125, with any two comparable motherboards the Intel's is going to cost about $20 more. That AND the fact that the 960t is overclockable, perhaps even unlockable, while the i3 is not. Oh, and AM3+ boards will support Piledrivers and even AM4 chips when they come out.


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## drosera01 (Nov 7, 2006)

diabloben68 said:


> I think the 2600k is a bad comparison to use with this thread because it is a $300+ processor. The processor I am looking at is $79.00. The fx 4100 is $109. I am planning on getting the tri core because it is cheaper and I can upgrade in the future when the phenoms x4/x6 come down in price a little more.


I bought Phenom II x4 840 Black Edition which had unloccked multiplier for $59.00 about 20 days ago from Microcenter. I dont know if they still have or not but check it once. ie $20.00 cheaper than Athlon 3 core you mentioned. I am sure it can easily be oveclocked to 3.8 GHz after replacing aftermarket CPU cooler like hyper 212 + for $20.00.


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