# New build Phenom II 965. Any thoughts?



## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

PSU: 850watts
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=23_41&products_id=120792

Motherboard: Not sure which one is better or which one to pick
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H

Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3

CPU: AMD Phenom II 965
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=47_517&products_id=123910

RAM: Kingston 2GB
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=478_449&products_id=124548

CPU Fan: 
The Kama Grand Cross

Or this one not sure what is better but guessing the Zalman is
Zalman

I will be using my old PC case standard ATX as far as I know and my HD5770 graphics card plus my SATA 500GB HDD but i plan on adding another HD5770 to it later for crossfire and adding another HDD and raid sync them and posible extra ram when I bother to change windows to 64 bit and I'll use only one DVD rom drive unless I can spare the watts but not sure I can with 850watts if I'm using crossfire and 2x HDD later on.

Total comes to around $742 keep in mind for any suggestions that I can't really spend more than this and would hate to have to wait any longer to get this machine than this week.


Will post images of new comp etc next week when finished building it.

Also curious what I will need to attach fan to CPU


Found this little vid 

The only thing I have never done on a PC is attach Heat sync and attach motherboard.
All looks pretty easy but I have noticed that they use some sort of gell/glue or something for attaching the heat sync. Just wondering if I will need to buy some of this stuff or what.
Not even sure if the Zalman CPU fan comes with heat sync or if I have to buy one or use my old one.


Any help anyone can provide for a PC building noob would be greatly appreciated along with any parts recommendations from the JLK site


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Kingston is not the best choice for performance RAM. OCZ-G.Skill-Corsiar are good brands.
Using two GPU's yields a very small increase in performance. One better card is the best option. 
Zalman CPU coolers are top quality and reliable. 
You will be required to mount the CPU heatsink/fan to the Mobo.
The CPU cooler will come with Thermal Paste and instructions for application and mounting to the Mobo.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

OK cool thanks for the info. Wasn't sure how much better multiple GPUs was.
The cheapest OCZ they have is the 4GB stick for $177 not sure I can afford that one just yet. Can always upgrade ram later, good to know though. Will it really make that big a difference between 1600mhz and 1300mhz ram?

Also any thoughts on which motherboard and CPU fan is best?

Sorry I meant any thoughts on motherboard, I will go with Zalman CPU fan.

And is 850 watts necessary even if I at a later date put 2x HDDs, 4gb or more ram in it and possibly a better graphics card, although most cards staying under 110watts peak these days. 

I tried a watts calculator but I kinda messed up some of the options I think but it came out to 800 watts.


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## guitarzann (Jun 18, 2009)

Between the two motherboards, I would go with the 890GPA - It is the most up to date of the two boards and has more future-proof features like SATA3 and USB3.0.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Cool thanks for the info, for me what I wanted most was the motherboard most up to date and most likely to support future upgrades.

At some later date I will probably get a x6 phenom when its worth getting.

I'll be sure to post how I went building it and if I have any issues and let you know how it all went and what kind of rating and performance I get with this build.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Got all the parts but now I think the DRR3 RAM slots are to near the Zalman fan, they are about 4mm apart from slot 1


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Thats pretty normal for the hsf to be that close to the ram, have bench tested your system first?


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Nope I havnt, everything is working great, except I can't get the power LED light on the front of the case working, got HDD LED, power button and USB on front panel of case working.

When you say bench tested what exactly do you mean, ill post some scans of motherboard manual and my case plugs for power lights.


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## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

How to bench test your system


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Bench testing is basically setting up everything outside of the case and running it to make sure that you have no hardware issues, so that you dont have to take everything back out


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## Dblanchard1278 (Jun 18, 2009)

try switching the wires around for the power led


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

power LED? Who needs a freaking power LED? If it sounds like a 747, it must be turned on!

I never hook up the power LED. Even on my dad's computer that doesnt haveany colored fans or anything, the fan and HDD are loud enough to hear at spin-up.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

lol I know what you mean about the power LED I was thinking of just leaving it out but wasn't sure if I should or not it looks nicer on so would probably prefer it a little 

Here is an image of the finished build


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

lol I know what you mean about the power LED I was thinking of just leaving it out but wasn't sure if I should or not it looks nicer on so would probably prefer it a little 

Here is an image of the finished build


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Sorry for double post had connection problem
For some reason can not connect to this forum half the time 
I'm guessing to much usage

I know what you mean about the power LED I was thinking of just 

leaving it out but wasn't sure if I should or not it looks nicer on so 

would probably prefer it a little 




















Still curious why CPU fan didnt work properly in CPU Fan motherboard 

power slot but works fine in Sys fan 1 slot.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Sorry about retarted posts had lots of connection problems just with this forum. Also sorry about the bad picks taken with camera phone. here is a better pic of the entire PC.










I'm still not sure if I have the RAM right the motherboard manual says 

Channel 0DR3_1, DDR3_3
Channel 1DR3_2, DDR3_4

So I put the two ram sticks in slot 1 and 3
For some reasons windows 7 performance thing is saying my ram is as good as the old, but my old ram was DDR2 1300mhz or whatever and this is 1600mhz
Should I put the ram in two different channels or leave it as is?

Seriously though check out this RAM rating ***? how is faster DDR3 ram the same as slower DDR2, maybe it's because before I had 4gb ddr2 now I have 2gb dd3, even though windows 32bit can't use 4gb anyway and no games I got need 4gb so going to wait to get the extra 2gb 2x more crosair sticks.









The HDD is pretty low I couldnt really give a crap about that going to get another HDD soon the one I got is almost full. not sure if I should get faster HDD or raid sync one like this old one I got.

Here is all the parts I bought with slight modifications to the $1200 AMD build posted in the forums here.










Not including my HIS HD5770

Still pretty pleased nothing went wrong being my first time building a PC 
Thought I was lucky I read a post about checking for screws after finishing i was running the PC yesterday with two screws near motherboard.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

The PC is running great tried Battle Field bad company 2 with as high settings as I could go with this old monitor I'm using (my next part to upgrade ) and the frame rate is still perfect haven't checked fraps yet but haven't felt the need.

Sorry wrong fan in that pic this is the fan I got was CNPS9700 LED










Thanks for the bench test link btw to be honest I'm not sure I could be bother taking everything back out of the case again now. as far as I can tell everything is working. No freezes playing game at high settings that uses 4 cores for about 2 hours last night.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

My only concern really is I don't get this new thing of using dual channel ram to double speed. I switched ram to first two blue slots, slot1 and slot2 from slot1 and slot3 both work fine not sure which one to use for dual channel memory.
Also I'm not sure if there is anywhere to put the audio plugs for front of case audio ports that cables need to go into motherboard.

Here is CPU temp and that at idle all looks fine to me.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

dual channel is where you put the ram modules in the matching colored slots and it runs dual speed.

when you have one dimm (correct term for ram module) say it is 800 MHz it is actually 400MHz doubled pummped or x2 meaning 800MHz so when you have 2 in dual channel they both work at 800MHz each.

BTW never use software apps that came with your pc for temp readings they are generally crap and innacurate always use the BIOS.

And your PSU isn't a great one just dont try and overclock it with that.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

hmm oh really, I thought 720 watts max would be fine, didn't expect it to be going over 650. 

I figured it might be like that I switched the ram to the first two blue dimms DDR3_1 and DDR3_2 

So you think to overclock or later if I put a 6 core in it i would need a better PSU?? not a problem for now but will get to a point where I want to overclock and or get new CPU at some point

If you don't mind me asking what would you estimate my wattage being if CPU is using 120 watts overclocked or whatever it goes to? with one DVD burner and if I put another HDD in it.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

its not to do with wattage its to do with how good the psu is and wattage amperage it can do. In my opinion the psu is the most important coponent in your system buy a crap one and you will have trouble.

Amperage is more important than wattage and if you add up the amps of your psu they should add up to produce the 720w they do not.

I would suggest replacing the psu even if you dont overclock it.

If you are going to add those parts to your current setup I would suggest a good psu that is atleast 650w such as a corsair tx 650 but if your going to add a better cpu in the future the I would go for 750w cosair and BTW you cant put an intel cpu in the motherboard designed for AMD cpus you would need another motherboard.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

interesting, I know intel can't go in this comp, at some point i might get a 6 core phenom.

I thought this was decent enough PSU but guess not  was going off just wattage.

Hmmm what PSU would you recomend from IJK?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

This one http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/produc...13795&osCsid=5b15beb7e6b6c24f0d2267fc100049aa although you can get them for a better price from other places. I am not in US but know for a fact that you can get them from other online places in the us for $80

EDIT the original psu would have been a better choice than the 720w one if you really want a psu that will be good and let you upgrade alot then go for the core 750 tx


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Damn that's only like $10 dollars more than the one I bought wouldn't mind buying it if I could at least get 50% of my money back on this one. doubt they would let me trade it back in for another. Possible if I had a good enough reason.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

richie01 said:


> Damn that's only like $10 dollars more than the one I bought wouldn't mind buying it if I could at least get 50% of my money back on this one. doubt they would let me trade it back in for another.


see my edit in my prevous post. That IJK place seems a little too over priced if you ask me.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

It's Australian prices it doesn't come much cheaper, possible bit cheaper for PSU some where else. I like that place though because I don't have to order it and wait ages I can go to there shop/warehouse.

Australian hardware and software always overpriced


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

okay.

Good power supply makes are: Seasonic, Corsair, OCz extreme, PC Power & cooling, CWT and Thermaltake (toughpower units only). The rest are crap and I always buy seasonic.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

So do you think as it is with one HDD one DVD-ROM 2gb ram, and using TV plugged into PC sometimes also but not while playing games that this PSU will be safe to use?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

what graphics card do you have?


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

HDD5770 110 watts max, but I'm guessing that might be with 3 displays in it not sure though.

This would be just until I decide to do some upgrades and then the first thing will be PSU unless I can get my money back or trade in the PSU I bought last week.

To be exact HIS hd5770


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

it will be fine


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

OK that's good to know at least I might call IJK and see if it's possible to trade it in and claim that I can't use it because I was told after purchasing that it's not enough to run my PC and that I'm going to spend extra money if they trade it in and take the price of that PSU off the top for me.

otherwise going to wait for new PSU when I have the money for more upgrades.

Desperatly need a new monitor first 
Not that i'm the best at knowing which one of those is best except for resolution and color depth.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

Samsung synmasters are great. Samsung make some of the best monitors I have a 22" one


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Nice, was hoping for 23" one but depends on what kinda prices I can find.

Thanks for all the info and help


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

no probs.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Hey would you mind telling me how you calculated the amps?
Im not sure exactly what PSU would be best for $100-$200 dollars

Also would you mind looking on IJK 
IJK
And showing me one that could handle a 6x core CPU with 2x HDD 4x RAM DDR3 4GB etc. One that would be good enough for any future upgrades?

I like this one
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/produc...18218&osCsid=5b15beb7e6b6c24f0d2267fc100049aa

Ths 750 watt corsair fits my price range better
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/produc...13110&osCsid=5b15beb7e6b6c24f0d2267fc100049aa

Or do you think the 850 watt one would be needed with extra upgrades?

If I can trade in the other one I bought I could always get this 950 watt one  
http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/produc...23520&osCsid=5b15beb7e6b6c24f0d2267fc100049aa


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

the 850 will be a bit overkill unless you ended up getting a GTX 495 graphics card the 750 will be fine and would future proof your system for add ons like a better graphics card extra hard drives etc.

when calculating the amps its just adding them together but you need to take into account things like more load on cpu = more heat = more power so you need to give yourself and the computer components room to breath. A power supply only uses what it needs so you may have a 750 w but it will only be dishing out 650 lets say when Idle but when your playing a game it may start dishing out 725w

Always better to be safe than sorry.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Yeah my thoughts exactly, thanks for the info, you have been a big help.
I checked there return policy and I should be able to exchange it at a small fee for store credit and can thus hopefully get a new one, sending them an email today though and will go see them this Friday if they agree to exchange it.

So with the Corsair CMPSU-750TXAU
Power Supply:750W ATX12V v2.2

You think that could handle 4GB RAM 4x sticks, Raid sync 2x HDD, phenom 6core 3ghz+ CPU and posible better graphics card? Thats pretty much the things I had in mind for later upgrades.
I would prefer to get the Seasonic M12D 750W but not sure I will be able to afford it

Like you said I just want to be safe and not sorry  and don't want to cut it close or anything.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I sent an email to the company about the wattage and how newegg list the product as being 610 watts average and there site listing it as 720 watt power supply and how the amperage does not add up to my need and I would like to exchange it, I checked their policy and after spending $713 dollars at there shop I'm sure I have a decent chance of them exchanging it at a cost of up to $35 dollars at least this way though I will be able to afford the $159 crosair CMPSU-750TXAU


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I might just get the 850 watt Corsair CMPSU-850TXAU

If I can afford it I might as well fork out the extra $40 dollars to not have to upgrade PSU ever, 5 years warranty so I don't see why I wouldn't be using it for at least 2-3 years or more or until an entire PC replacement.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

yeah go for it. corsairs which are made by seasonic provide one of the most stable 12v rails in power supplies made these days that means they are good.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I bought the corsair Corsair CMPSU-850TXAU going to hook it up tomorrow 

Last thing I need is a decent monitor going to get one next week.

IJK really has only one above 20" monitor I can afford the by samsung
Samsung P2350

Was wondering though if its worth it thought over a 24 inch one from acer or benq

BenQ G2420HD
24" Widescreen

Or the 

Acer X243HABMID
24"W

Have no idea what the quality difference would be between the these monitors and if its worth losing the extra 1" to get the Samsung.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Also before when you said I should check CPU temperatures on CPU in BIOS I tried to but for some reason I got into BIOS and I get a screen that I can't see, like the MHz is too high for my monitor or unsupported resolution or something like that not sure how I could possibly fix this since all the BIOS settings are on default unless its not a problem with the new monitor. I'm betting this motherboard does not support old CRT monitors


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

please post a picture of this screen.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I'm not at home tonight will be tomorrow, maybe it also has something to do with my graphics card not sure, gigabyte boot screen is fine its only when I go into BIOS options it stuffs up, tomorrow will take a pic.

Looks a lot like this though except even harder to see anything like the lines are moving down fast.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

and it isn't doing this on when the pc boots up?

if it was doing it all the time it would suggest to me that the graphics card is damaged.

When you installed the corsair psu have installed the 4 pin cpu connector, the 20 pin connector and the pcie cables into the graphics card?


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I haven't checked BIOS since new PSU, this issue happens only with new motherboard graphics card was fine on old motherboard BIO.

Yes boot screen shows up fine, but then when I select enter BIOS menu from boot screen then it goes like this, going to go check now with new PSU


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

As it turns out it is working fine now with the new PSU 
I guess the 850tx did the trick lol, I had all the same power plugs connected as I do now both ATX and ATX_12v and CPU fan plugged into PWR_FAN, since CPU_FAN did not work and fan didn't stay on when I pluged it into that one.
Checked tempratures in BIOS and CPU sitting at 25c As far as I can tell CPU fan is working great the fan speed adjuster out side the case works fine. To be honest not really sure why the BIOS menu did that before and not now (as in what I did different) maybe it just pays to have a proper PSU  Glad you pointed it out to me 

Still have not got my power light working though, I do kinda like the little blue light although its not really a huge issue will look into it at some point. 

Any thoughts on which monitor is best out of the three I posted before?
would get the samsung but the extra 1" would be nicer if the quality is pretty much the same.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

The only problem left that worries me is why the Zalman 9700 LED is not getting any RPM reading on BIOS or in EasyTune.

As I stated before it is plugged into PWR_FAN, I could always try SYS_FAN1 if that would make a difference. But in BIOS even when I adjust fan speed all fans show 0 RPM


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

use speed fan and see if it is showing up in there although do not believe speedfan for temperatures and voltages.

It must be working because you have great temps, get the samsung.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

PWR_FAN is for a Power Supply fan(some supplies have a connection to control the fan in the PSU itself).

Do you have a CPU fan speed controller hooked in between the MB connector and the CPU fan plug?

For the front Pwr Lite try reversing the two wires(+ & -) they are polarity sensitive.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Yeah I do have the fan speed controller connected and working. I have CPU_FAN (didnt work in it) PWR_FAN and SYS_FAN1 SYS_FAN2 

I see hmmmm does the the tx850 have such a fan?  
I could always try SYS_FAN1 I don't know why but when I plug the fan into CPU_FAN before, the fan would turn on for about 3 seconds then switch off and stop moving, although I think I tried adjusting speed too but fan would not spin plugged into CPU_FAN.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I tried using power LED plugs in just about every way I could think of and nothing worked, though I did find out that this is what happens if you put negative in positive spot and vise versa.










I believe that's how I got that problem before because when I bought new PSU I took out the front panel power LED plugs and then didn't see this screen again which is exactly what happened today when I put the plugs back in correct spots or almost correct.
I think this motherboard might not support it or something there is 3 pins for the power LED and only 2 individual plugs for my power LED, all the other plugs only use two also but work fine.

I guess if i can't get it working it's not a big deal.

Also I tried fan in CPU_FAN and again it would not work properly but this time kinda worked, but the fan control speed does not work, I'm guessing because CPU_FAN has speed control and PWR_FAN does not is why it works since I control the speed with the part that came with the fan.

So maybe every thing is working as well as it can be 
Don't see why my case power LED would not support this motherboard though, it was the case that came with an AMD 5000+ Dual core


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Just plug the fan directly into the CPU fan header do not use the controller wiring, or plug the controller directly to a 4 pin molex off the PSU.

On the 3 pins for the power light what are they labeled?


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Hmmm So if I want RPM reading and system managed fan speed I put it in CPU without controller wiring?
I kinda like being able to set it my self with the controller but not need to adjust it until I feel the need to start over clocking it.

Here is all the LED info I have


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

You have 2 choices to hook that light up to, if you hook it to the MSG+ & - pins will blink when in sleep state and also blink out any boot messages, if you hook it to the PWR + & - it will be on steady. The PWR pin on the inside 3rd pin in from the right is + the 1st pin is -.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

I tried both and neither seemed to work I think the LED may be damaged or something.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

Bought the Samsung today very nice monitor for that price, quality and resolution is nice and the 2ms response time is good for gaming.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Make sure the polarity is correct, if the wires are switched the led won't work.

Samsung makes a very nice monitor.


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## richie01 (Mar 3, 2008)

So weird, I left the LED cables plugged in and it just worked after using the PC for a couple of days.


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