# Need a Compatibility Check (MUCH LOVE!)



## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Hey again, building my 2nd computer (for hardcore gaming). Just need a quick compatibility check. If anyone could, please make sure that all of the parts are compatible with one-another.

*Case:* Rosewill Blackbone Mid-Tower

*Motherboard:* GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s

*Processor:* AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core

*Memory:* G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

*Power Supply:* CORSAIR Professional Series HX650

*Graphics Card:* GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

*Internal HardDrive: *Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s

*CD Drive: *ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X

Windows 7 64bit, Gigabyte Mouse/Keyboard.

*I greatly appreciate any and all help given!*
*I'm open to pointers/suggestion for better parts, so long as they are about the same price or less! I'm on a tight $950 budget for this computer!*

Just need to be sure all these parts are compatible.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Tooth  Nice to see you here again. You're becoming a good friend here. I've decided to build the computer you posted on a previous post of mine. It's my 2nd build, and I'm loving the building experience. Already blew like 2,500 on computers (since I've joined this website lol).


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Everything looks great. One small note about the motherboard is that when I was building with a 960T, that exact board's CPU support list worried me a little bit.
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM3+ - AMD 970 - GA-970A-D3 (rev. 1.x)

Doesn't officially support the 960T until BIOS version F7. I've seen a few people in message boards post that it shipped out to them with F3, but I haven't been able to find official information on that.

The 960T is essentially just a hex-core Thuban with two cores disabled, and the board officially supports the hex-core Thubans out of the box with F3, so it's unlikely that you won't be able to operate, but still a possibility. I've also seen some posts where the user's board couldn't run the 960T at all without a BIOS update. I couldn't tell you for sure. If your board won't run the CPU out of the box, then you're going to have to find a way to update the BIOS without it. If your first computer has an AMD processor, then you have a way to get the machine booted, download the BIOS update, and swap the 960T back in. It would take a while and you'd need an extra tube of thermal paste, but you'd be fine.

I ended up buying the ASRock 970 Extreme3 for this exact reason.
Newegg.com - ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Check out its CPU support list:
ASRock > Products > 970 Extreme3 > CPU Support List
"All" all the way down the line, *LIKE A BAWSS*.

Everything is working great for me so far. Stable overclock at 4Ghz. Never stalls or locks up unless I try to Youtube while stress testing lol. Way faster than my laptop's i3, and with the Passmark software after the overclock I score 5100.
CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Now despite the fact that *my* experience with this board has been superb so far, I do have let you know that ASRock is an inferior manufacturer to ASUS and GIGABYTE. ASRock is a rising star in the industry, shooting their way up to third place in only a few years, but even if their boards are great their customer service *is* lackluster. ASUS and GIGABYTE both offer great customer service.

For this exact question, I made a post in another forum's 960T owner's club (of which I am a member :grin. If you want to wait for user confirmation, monitor this thread.
AMD Zosma 960T/1600T/1605T CPU Club

I am, of course, toothman.

*EDIT*: no problem bro :grin: just keep in mind that if one of the vets corrects me on something, go with what he says lol I'm just a newb who does too much research before making a decision, so I enjoy giving out some of that excess when I believe it's reliable and helpful.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks for the help. If it comes down to it, I can always just go with the ASrock, but i'll wait for a bit and see if your post gets any responses.

Yea, the processor was my main concern when thinking about compatibility.


*EDIT:*
Also, while there are some people around- Is there any way to cut a little cost on that power supply?
I'm curious... is there any way to find a different power supply that would work... maybe 10-15 dollars cheaper? Any cut in cost at all?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Stay with the Gigabyte or an Asus Mobo for reliable quality/support.
ASRock may be a "rising star" in sales but it has yet to prove it's quality/reliability/support in the real world.
You need to up the PSU to750W for the 560 ti.
Modular is convenient but with that convenience comes the added costs.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

^ this PSU should be fine


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

750W modular for only $10more than the 650W Corsair modular: Newegg.com - XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus Silver 750 Watt Power Supply


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

What would be a good Asus or Gigabyte Mobo, that has Cd/Dvd drive functionality, and can FOR SURE (out of the box) run an AMD FX-4100? I'd suppose both can. I'll do more research. 

WANT TO PULL HAIR OUT! 

*EDIT:*
What about this power supply? Reviews seem to be pretty nice. Even most of the long-term-ownership reviews seem pretty reliable. Keep in mind I will never use more than 1 video card.
Newegg.com - hec Zephyr MX 750 750W Peak Output ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

If you want the FX-4100, then this board will run it fine. Lots of users reporting success out of the box with the Zambezi chips.

Personally, I would prefer the 960T, but the FX-4100 is running great for a lot of people, too. Also very overclockable.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

I've decided to suck it up and go with the almighty Tyree's suggestion. I'm going to bite the bullet, and just buy a true-quality power supply, in hopes of never having to replace it.

I'm getting the XFX Pro 750w Modular.

As far as the CPU goes, I'll stick with the fx4100, since I have no real need to go much higher, or more expensive. I suspect with my current system outline, I'll be able to handle whatever modern games throw at me.

Looking forward to this build...

*CURRENT BUILD:*
_Everything is same as O.P. except these:_
- XFX Pro 750W Modular PSU
- AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz

Items I've thrown in to make life easier:
- Rosewill RTK-045 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit
- Gangsta $5 mouse pad.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

if you want a cool mouse pad, may I direct your attention to the *best* mouse pad I've ever used:

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Shield-Arcane-Dragons-Playmat/dp/B003FNWO62

I used to play a lot of competitive magic the gathering (got to third in my state!) and one day discovered that their playmats are amazing mousepads. the one i linked you above i've been using for over a year now lol so much room. and it looks nice, too.

first playmat I used for a mousepad was actually an original yugioh regional championship mat that i won back in high school, but i decided to stop dragging my mouse across a giant $200 bill lol


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Also, changed the case to the:
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower
As well as another 120mm fan:
COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm

*EDITED*


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

toothman said:


> if you want a cool mouse pad, may I direct your attention to the *best* mouse pad I've ever used:
> 
> Amazon.com: Dragon Shield Arcane Dragons Grey Playmat: Toys & Games
> 
> ...


I'm a Magic:Gathering lover myself.
Special thanks for the heads up on that "mouse pad" lol.. I've already ordered it!


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

dude it's so boss all my friends are using playmats now, too

the dragon shield mat is big enough that i used to put my laptop on it as well lol was great for gaming at other houses


RooSalad said:


> I've decided to suck it up and go with the almighty Tyree's suggestion.


yea he's the man, as impersonal as his writing style is


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

*ANOTHER SMALL ISSUE! NEED HELP!*
_One other slight issue I'm running in to..._

The video card I selected to purchase
(Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card)
(*GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit*)

While looking for the drivers, I've come to this:
A page of 3 different versions of the drivers (all the same model number, different "Rev." versions tho)... Not sure which driver to download/install.
GIGABYTE - Support & Downloads - Downloads


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

download this here:
NVIDIA DRIVERS 285.62 WHQL

Always download video card drivers directly from either Nvidia or AMD. Guaranteed most up-to-date and functional.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

toothman said:


> download this here:
> NVIDIA DRIVERS 285.62 WHQL
> 
> Always download video card drivers directly from either Nvidia or AMD. Guaranteed most up-to-date and functional.


Thanks again for the pointer. Didn't know that about Nvidia/AMD.
Someone once told me to always download from the dev's website (Seeing "GIGABYTE" as the first developer name, I figured that was the place to look).


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Well they'll sometimes write their own utilities designed to work with their preinstalled factory overclocks (if applicable), which can be useful, but they're not the manufacturers of the card. AMD/Nvidia are. Companies like GIGABYTE and SAPPHIRE just test, repackage, and customize. It's the same card, just with different added features.

Both sources are usually fine but the manufacturers are the best bet.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Still have a few bucks to spare...
Minimal upgrade to ram?

I need some VERY compatible ram (don't want to mix and match too much) to go with the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

I'm only looking for 2-4gb more ram, i'm just confused as to exactly what to buy, since I hear a lot of stories about horrible consequences of mix-matching RAM types...

Disregard all of that.
I've decided to invest in 1 more 120mm fan to max out fan usage in this case... now the question is... How to layout the fans (this is my first time ever installing extra fans).

The case is the coolermaster haf 912... Not sure what to make intake/out fans.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

One (or two) 12 or 14 cm exhaust fans at the upper rear. A single 12 or 14 cm intake at the lower front. Add more for spot cooling (intake or exhaust) if necessary.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

instead of buying another case fan, i would recommend you buy an aftermarket heatsink first.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

my stock heatsink let temps rise up to 62°c under load with no overclock. after installing the new heatsink, with a +1Ghz overclock and 100% load for 1 hour, my temps hovered around 41°c and never budged over 42°c.

not that more case fans is a bad thing, but you'll get much more out of a new CPU heatsink and should do that first.

also, whichever case you decide on, make sure it's at least 7.28" wide. that's how wide my Rosewill Blackbone is and the new heatsink fits with less than a centimeter of space between the top of it and my side panel.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

toothman said:


> instead of buying another case fan, i would recommend you buy an aftermarket heatsink first.
> Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
> 
> my stock heatsink let temps rise up to 62°c under load with no overclock. after installing the new heatsink, with a +1Ghz overclock and 100% load for 1 hour, my temps hovered around 41°c and never budged over 42°c.
> ...


Now you're... 100% sure that this is compatible with AM3+ fx4100?


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Also my case dimensions are:
19.50" x 9.10" x 18.90"


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

oh yea, the physical specs of AMD sockets haven't changed in forever. even FM1 uses the same heatsinks.

my board's an AM3+, too, and it fits perfectly 

your case is plenty wide


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

toothman said:


> oh yea, the physical specs of AMD sockets haven't changed in forever. even FM1 uses the same heatsinks.
> 
> my board's an AM3+, too, and it fits perfectly
> 
> your case is plenty wide


Now my only worry is this gigabyte motherboard... I'm wondering if this aftermarket fan will get in the way of the RAM or anything... I've read of this problem with other motherboards, and just eyeballing the MOBO and fan, it looks like it'l be tight.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

For case fans, one 120mm in front and rear is usually sufficient.
If you're not going to OC the OEM heatsink will be fine.
If you want/ned to use a aftermarket Heasink/fan just bench test with the OEM CPU/heatsink to insure all is well.
Then install the aftermarket CPU cooler. 
If it would per chance block the first RAM slot there should be no concerns because it is rarely required to remove RAM.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

*19 Hours until Z**E**R**O **H**OUR.
Just a re-cap, and a finalization of what I'm getting- STILL OPEN TO LAST MINUTE POINTERS!*

This is literally EVERYTHING I'm buying in regards to this (my 2nd build) computer:*

MAIN COMPONENTS:
*CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 
CPU: AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz :uhoh:
PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold Certified 750W (Fully Modular) :grin:
GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
OPTICAL: SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive (OEM)
*
OTHER/EXTRA COMPONENTS:*
KEYBOARD: GIGABYTE Glossy Black USB Wired Standard Professional Multimedia Keyboard
MOUSE: GIGABYTE 1600dpi Noble Black 5+1 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Dual Lens Gaming Mouse
TOOLKIT: Rosewill 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit
OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit (OEM)

*TOTAL AFTER SHIPPING: $979.00*

*I only post all of this, just to be SURE that I'm not missing anything.*
I can't afford to order all of this, only to realize I'm missing something really stupid that won't allow my computer to run.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

*I've already changed the MOBO and CPU out for:*
MOBO: ASUS M5A97 AM3+ With UEFI BIOS
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz

Not sure if I'm indecisive, or just won't settle or the lowest grade cpu...


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Looks good with either Mobo/CPU.
I would skip the Rosewill tool kit. 
A small Phillips head screwdriver is all you need to assemble the PC.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

The ASUS MOBO I selected (above) scared me on the reviews.
There's quite a few DOA reviews, and to hear about a MOBO with not only 1, but MANY DOA reviews... it's unsettling...

Can anyone help me find an AMD MOBO that supports the Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 right out of the box?

I'm not willing to go through the trouble to flash Bios to a newer version, thus my troubles.

I haven't ran into a SINGLE GIGABYTE MOBO that will support that CPU out of the box.

*EDIT:* *ASUS Sabertooth 990FX?* Will this support that cpu out of the box?


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

The ASUS mobo you listed above will run it out of the box just fine. The CPU support list requires 0503 for every other Phenom II so I can't imagine the board would ship out without the ability to run those old Phenoms.

The thing about DOAs is that nearly every single one becomes a 1-egg review. Considering it still has 4 eggs _and_ there's no way to account for how many of those supposed DOAs were people who just killed their board with a static shock, I'd be optimistic about buying it.

What's best is that if, say, this board does have a relatively high chance of being DOA, Newegg's return policy is awesome. So getting a DOA isn't the end of the world. But if you don't get a DOA then you'll probably end up like the vast majority of reviewers who gave 4-5 eggs :grin:

EDIT: I bought the Rosewill toolkit myself. I'm glad I did and I like that I have it, but Tyree is totally right - I never really needed anything except the phillips screwdriver.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Well as completely insane as it may sound, at the VERY MOMENT of ordering all of the parts from NewEgg, something dawned on me.
Call it a paradigm shift.

I decided to toss all of this (except the case, and extra components), and build the $1200 Intel system, as seen on the Tech Support Forum "Builds" thread.

Lol, It was truely radical, however since this is my GAMING computer, I figured I'd spend the extra 197 bucks, and make it a true GAMING computer. My 1st build (my AMD, what I'm using right now), is made for work, and other things...

This will be my first Intel build ever, in my entire life. It will be my first system to use Intel technology. I hope it don't let me down, and I surely hope the i7, and GTX 560 Ti aren't overhyped.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Personally, I feel you have made a wise decision going with the $1200 Intel build.


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

Tyree said:


> Personally, I feel you have made a wise decision going with the $1200 Intel build.


Glad you think so. I just figured it would be silly to build another mediocre AMD build, with an upgraded video card, and psu... when in all reality it won't be much better than what I'm using right now.

I'll probably end up buying a stack of 2TB HDD's, and an FX 8100 CPU for this "work" system, and I'll leave it at that. For work.


If I wanted to make an AMD gaming computer, I could have always just upgraded the GPU in this computer, but it would have been wasted on an AMD cpu.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

my AMD system feels far from mediocre, but i definitely admit the $1200 is a much better machine


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## RooSalad (Jan 23, 2012)

I agree, maybe I should have chosen a different word.
I didn't mean mediocre... It's just the bulldozer series is such a let-down vs. the hype, and the 970t sure does AWESOME, but for $40-70 more you can get something much more awesome, the i5/i7 (not K).


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

the boards are more expensive =/ gotta calculate that as part of the difference

but 6 months down the road from now you'll be happy you have the better machine

i went the budget route for sufficiency since in all honesty the combined $1000 i've spent in the last two months between the computer, monitor, and peripherals should have been used on student loans lol but i wanted skyrim mods and SWTOR


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