[corbek]

My computer's motherboard recently fried and am interested in starting anew. I took a class on building computers a while back so I am confident I can do it myself, and if I can't I know someone who can. Although I know someone who could help me, I would like to find the information for myself. I was wondering if you guys could help me out and see if my setup is good, or if I should change some stuff. none of this is final and I did as much research as time permitted me to tonight.

current wish list

Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula/Thunderbolt

Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce GTS 450, not sure if I should get a better one or not.

Power supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin .

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB.

Disk drive: LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature, not sure if I need this, but wouldn't it make sense that games will be coming out on Blu-ray, not to mention I could watch blu ray movies on the sucker. Plus wouldn't it be faster than a regular dvd/cd drive?

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Edited by corbek, 13 September 2011 - 02:39 PM.

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Also, is there anything im missing? I have a case, and it will be running on Windows 7 Home premium, although I heard home premium only allows the max of 4 gb of ram to be used, should I get professional, or another one?

I will answer this part for you.
What you need to look at is if the Home Premium is a 32 or 64 bit OS you are getting or installing. A 32 bit OS is limited to 4 gigs of which 3.5 to 3.7 gigs is actually usable. A 64 bit OS is capable of handling much more memory and if I'm not mistaken 128 gigs total. Of course that limitation is also affected by the memory limitations of your motherboard at the same time.

As you can see HERE Home Premium does come in a 64 bit version so I would recommend you go with it if you want to use more then 4 gigs of memory now or in the future.

[rshaffer61]

Also, is there anything im missing? I have a case, and it will be running on Windows 7 Home premium, although I heard home premium only allows the max of 4 gb of ram to be used, should I get professional, or another one?

I will answer this part for you.
What you need to look at is if the Home Premium is a 32 or 64 bit OS you are getting or installing. A 32 bit OS is limited to 4 gigs of which 3.5 to 3.7 gigs is actually usable. A 64 bit OS is capable of handling much more memory and if I'm not mistaken 128 gigs total. Of course that limitation is also affected by the memory limitations of your motherboard at the same time.

As you can see HERE Home Premium does come in a 64 bit version so I would recommend you go with it if you want to use more then 4 gigs of memory now or in the future.

[corbek]

Ah, that totally clears that up for me. I read around a bit and it kept saying the limitation was that home premium could only handle 4 gigs, and that pro could handle more. I guess I was right in thinking the difference wasn't in the version, but in the difference between 32 and 64.

thanks man.

[rshaffer61]

Also check out this tutorial on building your own system HERE written by one of our own Tech Staff members. One of the best I have seen in the last 10 years.
Also as far as your memory what is the main use of the system as I agree 16 gigs is a little overkill unless you are doing some type of Cad work or video editing and creating. I have 8 gigs in my system running XP, Win7 both in the 64 bit versions and have no problems playing any game or watching any videos.

[rshaffer61]

You could also save money by dropping the soundcard since the motherboard you are looking at has built on 8.1 sound anyway.
You could also save almost 100 dollars by simply switching your motherboard and cpu to these:
Motherboard
CPU

That would open you up for a much better Video card then.
Which PSU are you looking at because a cheap 500 watt PSU is like putting a time bomb in your system. The question is not if it will work but when will it fail. This is the one area you should reconsider spending a little more and get a name brand 80 plus certified PSU.

[corbek]

I really had no clue about the PSU, I don't really know anything about them, or how to pick one out even. That is one of the areas I need help in. I'm going to look at the board and cpu right now. Thanks. What about the Graphics card though? Should I spend the extra money on a better one?

[corbek]

Why would I choose an AMD over Intel, isn't the i7 one of the best processors out there right now?
I think I will go with the AMD though simply because of the price. The processing power isn't even that much less too.

Edited by corbek, 13 September 2011 - 10:31 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Best processor is really who you talk to. To me with the speed being so close I would choose the AMD simply based on the price.
Honestly I have used AMD for years and even my present system that I built a little over a year ago has the same CPU and the motherboard is the generation just before the one I linked to. Personally I think AMD has always been the better gaming cpu and I just can't justify the price difference between the two cpu's especially when they both were brand new.
The video card itself with 1 gig of DDR5 memory should be plenty of power to run almost any game you want to play.
Not knowing which PSU you are looking at I would suggest something like this HERE
Now I am more a Corsair person but finding one similar to this would run you about $110.

[corbek]

I have had a lot of issues with power supplies in previous computers, I would really not like that to happen now. So you recommend a corsair PSU? I will take your advice on the CPU, I never actually looked at any AMD cpu's because I wanted the i7, but now I know there really isn't that much of a difference in speed.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, if I were to upgrade my graphics card what would you recommend? The upcoming game I am looking at to play has a forum, and on there it says that the gts 450 can only run the game at about medium-high settings. I was hoping for max, but if it's out of my budget I would be fine with what I have down.

Your help has been invaluable, thank you.

[corbek]

what about this processor here?

Also, how do I know if the motherboard is compatible with AMD processors, most intel compatible motherboards say they are compatible with the i7, i5, etc.

I think the one that you linked to above is compatible simply because it is the best one I could find on Newegg, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that it is compatible.

[rshaffer61]

If you go with this bundle HERE you get the same motherboard and the processor you like and it is actually $20.00 cheaper then what I suggested earlier.

Can you get me a link to the system requirements for the game that shows minimum, suggested and if they have the best suggestion I can look for a video card somewhere between the best and suggested.

[corbek]

here is the link SKYRIM, which is going to be the best game ever. Also, it isn't a definite system requirements, just here say from what information they have on the game so far.

[rshaffer61]

Let me ask based on the PSU, Motherboard and CPU we changed along with the other parts what would your ending budget be for the video card?
Also make sure you are including the $100 for the OS I mentioned in your total.
I found all kinds of cards but they are up at the 230 dollar range for the higher end cards.

[corbek]

should I drop the Blu-ray, for a regular dvd/cd burner/reader to save some money, or would the blu-ray be worth the extra 60ish bucks?

Money isn't too big of an issue, I mean if I can save some I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't mind spending it either, I just got a new job and it pays a lot better than my old one.

Edited by corbek, 13 September 2011 - 02:40 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Blu Ray is nice but in order to answer your question I will ask you a question. Are you really going to watch Blu Ray movies on your computer to take advantage of the Blu Ray drive?

As far as the video Card try the below links for a list of cards that according to your site will work on high settings that are AMD compatible cards.

TigerDirect
NewEgg

Prices are about the same. Brand name is a personal preference but if it were me buying I would look at the XFX brand.