My New System

[Drarkan]

Ok, so I got a job now (aside from running my store) so I gather I'll have about 1200-1800$ or so to go towards an upgrade. Its not much for what I really want, as per my last 4k+ post last time, but I gather I'll see what I can get, so I can run my 5 wows, and do some streaming on JTV.

I see AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 6 Core Processor 3.3GHZ Socket AM3 Retail Box for 199.99$ CDN

Are AMD processors alright for running wow? I gather that being 3.3GHZ plus being 6 core, I should be alright running at 1080 or higher on all accounts, with relatively smoothe performance. I'll post other things I plan on upgrading with later on.

Edit: Ok so I agree with Xartin, Tim, and Ualaa on the processor. I will go all out on the

Intel Core i7 2600K Quad Core Unlocked Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Sandy Bridge 8MB

$323.69 CDN

Its worth it hands down. Near top rank for WOW and running 5 wows will be smooth as melted butter. Hmm, I want toast.

[Drarkan]

The Mobo
Gigabyte X58A-UD7 ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA6GB USB3.0 2GLAN 3-WAY CrossFireX SLI Motherboard

$363.98 ($298.98 after rebates)

I like that its got 6 slots for memory, and I can expand the video slots if need be, but I'll stick to what I have at the moment. For wow I don't need too much more than what I have.

The alternative would be
Gigabyte X58A-UD5 ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 2GLAN 3-WAY CrossFireX SLI Motherboard

$299.99 ($267.99 after rebates) But only if its the alternative in stock. Might still hold out for the other board. Or if I miss the rebate I'll go for this one cause its cheaper.

[Drarkan]

Now for the Memory, Power Supply, SSD Drive, and Cooling system.

Memory:
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte PC3-12800 12GB 3X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Triple Channel Memory
$130.33 CDN

Not sure whats so special about this, the 9-9-9-24 MS response times seem fine enough, tripple channel, ok, and 12 gigs. Might get two sets of these if I really want to go nuts, but its more than enough for wow at 12gig so I'll see how it performs with streaming and might upgrade accordingly.

Power Supply:
Gonna spend no more than 180$ the one I saw and want is going to go back to regular price in two days, so when i'm closer to buying I'll post the one I get. I may even keep the one I have, but I think as it is the power supply is 500mhz I don't remember, so I need more than that.

SSD Drive:
OCZ Vertex 2 Extended Sandforce 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD
$204.17

So far its fine for what I need. I'll drop an instance of wow onto it and go to town. I probably won't be doing two drives for two wow's. Too much money right now. I may get a 64gig one for windows, be nice to have it boot in 4 seconds. Then I'll probably buy 2 or 3 2TB drives in the future and do a file system management and clean up old downloads double downloads, and such. I'll keep the other drives but move things to the others. Might do a raid 0 on them to make one mega drive. Now, will that make the data faster? Whats the deal with raid 0 anyway?

Cooling System:
Will probably do as an upgrade after the big one. This might put me over budget, and the Mobo comes with its own cooling system according to the video.

[xartin]

AMD should be fine but for the price sandy bridge would still smoke one hands down

NCIX.com - Buy Intel Core i7 2600K Quad Core Unlocked Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Sandy Bridge 8MB - Intel - BX80623I72600K - in Canada

Noted the above has the hyperthreading... if you wanted you could get the non hyperthreaded edition for 100.00 less but the differences are rather impressive.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The Hyperthreaded 2600k gets a score of 9,613

The non hyperthreaded 2600k scores at 8,885

The AMD Phenom II X6 is 6,280

Price difference of around $150.00 CDN between the AMD and the hyperthreaded 2600k for massive difference in performance.


I'd also recommend the following motherboards if you do pick the 2600k

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=61067&...cture=Gigabyte

or

http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...1155/Intel_Z68

one of the above if your after an asus board

[Ualaa]

I would seriously look at an Intel based system over an AMD system if your primary goal with the system is Warcraft.

There was a recent thread where a major site tested a variety of systems for a bunch of games.
In the tests, Intel based systems far outperformed AMD based systems in Warcraft.
Even Intel systems that were much less expensive or a fair bit older were stronger for Wow.
The two-core i3 based systems, did a lot better than the top AMD six core system.

I'll try to find the link and edit it into this post.


*Edit* http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ance,2793.html
Check out pages 9 and 10.


*Double Edit*
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...2100-tested/20

[Drarkan]

Ok check the updated info, think I figured out my core purchases. It'll run for $958.18 before tax. Which we have a 12% tax which brings it to 1073.16. I may add to it since thats lower than what I budgeted for. Or do it in two upgrades, get the extra ram to 24gig the second run, another SSD drive , Video perhaps, and for sure a power supply. Might need the power supply from the get go though.

[xartin]

i only have one large concern about the Mushkin memory kit... the spec sheet and the manufacturer's spec's dont really offer a lot of details about the memory such as the brand of chips used, if this memory supports XMP spd profiles ect... trust me you really want XMP or Extreme Memory Profile supported by your memory.

Having that feature alone supported by memory will allow you to select XMP as the memory profile in your bios which will correctly set the overclocked memory timings and appropriate voltage settings according to the manufacter's supported specifications. no guess work needed.

Before I built my system I had the experience of testing Patriot memory on a slightly older QX9650 system that came into my pc repair shop for some diagnostic work. during the research when I was trying to find any related information on the cause of the problems ( i don't immediately recall the specific details ) people with issues with a similar motherboard were claiming that Patriot memory was the answer to a large problem with memory incompatibility concerns with gigabyte motherboards.

Choice of memory for my own system was significantly based on that experience and the results have not been at all disapointing. I haven't had one single BSOD that was not caused my my own meddling in over a year or since my gaming rig was built...

I'd highly recommend you take a serious look at Patriot's Viper Xtreme Series, Division 2 which is a newer edition than what i chose for my rig...

Patriot Memory

Selecting memory that from a reputable manufacturer that confirms support for XMP will significantly increase your system's reliability.

If the patriot kit's aren't available Corsair would be a definite second choice... just be absolutely certain your getting XMP ready memory.

Here's a good 12GB corsair kit.. This memory will also allow you to fully populate a motherboard with 24GB of memory. tech spec sheet's do a lot to ensuring your getting quality compatible components.

http://www.corsair.com/memory/intel-...m3a1600c9.html

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=57080&...acture=Corsair

$138.00 and it will work properly


also since your new system will fully support SATA3 you might consider a sata 3 SSD instead of the vertex 2. the performance differences will be nothing short of mind blowing but the 120GB vertex3 is about $99.00 more.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59354&...Z%20Technology

also if your after the best performing mechanical sata3 disk atm you'll have a hard time finding anything better than the 3TB seagate barracuda XT

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59433&...acture=Seagate

for power supplies if you dont want to skimp on quality and wattage corsair's 1200AX is likely the best you'll find. a 500 watt psu is a little under rated for any intel i7. the closer you can get to 850 watts or more the more reliably your system will run and your psu will be a LOT more efficient which will save you money.

Power supplies have an efficiency and stability curve that can be negatively affected under high loads. as well the capacitors in power supplies degrade in they;re capabilities over a year and every consequtive year which can over time cause a 850 watt psu to eventually only have a maximum capacity of 650 watts due to capacitor aging.



it's a wee bit more expensive but buying a gold certified psu will pay for itself with the amount of money you'll save on hydro bills.

Second choice would be the enermax revolution 85 or MODU87+ psu's
third choice just for third choices..? Any of the smaller wattage Corsair Professional Series Gold psu's

[Ualaa]

I've had Patriot ram and a Patriot SSD, and have had really good experiences with the company.
Very happy with the ram, and had a little bit of an issue with SSD's initially but their support was phenomenal.

[Drarkan]

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760W SLI Certified ATX Power Supply 80 Plus Silver *7 Yr Warranty*
$130.99 CDN

Will this do the trick? 760W is more, but I know the more wattage to handle the higher end products is better.

[xartin]

Originally Posted by Drarkan

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760W SLI Certified ATX Power Supply 80 Plus Silver *7 Yr Warranty*
$130.99 CDN

Will this do the trick? 760W is more, but I know the more wattage to handle the higher end products is better.

I'm often extremely hesitant to trust a fly by night brand for a power supply so I'll raise you a quality 750 watt corsair for $1 less

Just for kicks here's hardocp forums comments on that pc power psu unit... three people in the forum claim to have had those unit's die on them.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1597324

NCIX.com - Buy Corsair Professional HX750W 750W ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan - Corsair - CMPSU-750HX - in Canada

if you want modular and quality the AX750 is only $179.00. finding a high efficiency silver or better rated psu is a difficult proposition. I likely haven't spent less than $250.00 on a power supply in years. keep it mind high rated efficiency certification pays for itself over time.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=53717&...acture=Corsair