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Scythe Mugen 2 REV.B. HeatPipes CPU Heatsink LGA1366 1156 775 AM3 AM2+ AM2 754 939 940 120MM Fan
$36.97

Seasonic S12II 620W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 80+ Bronze 6+8PIN PCI-E W/ 120MM Fan
$83.23

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
$95.99

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc SATA 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty
$53.99

Antec P183 ATX Tower Case Black 11 Drive Bay 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Sound
$149.99

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 6 Core Processor 2.8GHZ Socket AM3 Retail Box
$201.99

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 DDR3 AMD 890GX ATX 2PCI-E16 PCI-E1 PCI-E4 2PCI VGA DVI Motherboard
$149.99

ASUS GeForce GT 240 550MHZ 512MB 3.4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E VGA DVI HDMI Video Card
$92.99 (-$30 MIR)

YOUR TOTAL $865.14 + 12% tax = $968.96 -$30 MIR = $936.96


I'm still trying to get the price down a bit: ideally <800 before tax. The case seems like the easiest place to cut down right now. I'm trying to find a case that's quiet, looks classy, and built well. Of course if you think there are better alternatives to any part at better prices, suggestions are wide open!

Also, I'm concerned that the HSF will block the RAM slots on the mobo. Anyone have experience with AM3 mobos and large tower heatsinks?

Go with a lower priced PSU and use shopbot.ca to price match.

I have a similar build going with the x6 1055t.

I use the antec 300 case ( look into it ) and a coolermaster hyper 212 plus which is arguably the best bang for the buck cpu heatsink.

Processor idles 23c and 29c at full load oc'd to 3.6ghz

Antec 300 case has a 140mm and 120mm x2 exhaust, and 120mm x2 intake fans, plenty of cooling and quiet too.

Find a psu that's on sale, that one you got is pretty expensive.

and like manic! Mentioned, always use shopbot.ca to price match.
Posted via RS Mobile

LOL....do you have your AC on at 16'C?
your processor idle at a cooler temperature than my room :rofl:

are you ocing? if not, do you REALLY need an aftermarket heatsink?

All my stock heatsink from AMD has worked extremely well.....they are very quiet except when gaming or under load (less nosie than a 800rpm 120mm case fan)

Generally idle at 35/40'C and 45-55 under heavy load. (my room is at 26'C+ btw)

newegg.ca

their prices seem to be the cheapest

Shopbot.ca even cheaper

What are you using this for?

yeah what are you using it for? If you are gaming.. that video card sucks..

Recommendations? Reliability and noise are my criteria on evaulating PSUs right now.

The 300, while great value, is missing a lot of the options I'm looking for. The fan placements are in excess, as I plan on having max 2 fans in the case (not going to OC), neither of which will be 140mm. So the open fan grills will just be noise outlets. Also, I'm looking for some cable management as I don't want to fork out for a modular PSU. Do you have pics of how you tidied up your 300? I want to see if it can be managed well.

Which processor do you have? Recently, AMD started shipping AM3 CPUs with a different heatsink, which apparently is louder and less efficient than the previous AM2+ heatsink.

Mostly day-to-day stuff, multimedia less of the time. I'll be running at least 3 of the Adobe Creative Suite programs at a time (PS/DW/IL/FW) + many many windows in my web browser - I have 15 open right now haha. Audio encoding, HD video playback, and light to moderate gaming. I realize the video card isn't the best, but my friends are playing Battlefield: BC2 on worse, so I figure it's all I need, really.


btw: I'm now thinking of getting a Lancool PC-K56 instead of the P183. CPU heatsink is less of an issue. I might just go with the 212+ and buy a quieter fan if I think the fan is too loud.

^ If you want to do some light-moderate gaming, I think you should pick up HD 5750 for $110~ or Hd 5770 for $140~.

That's $50-80 more than the 240 >.< (the GT 240 is ~$90-30 MIR = ~$60)

Your choice I guess, I would spend the money for a better card though.

If your not going to OC use the stock HSF and there is no need for extra fans

PSU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...20Technologies

Might want to spend $20 and get a bigger HD.

Don't go AMD I repeat DON'T Go AMD!!!
Get an I7 processor
Get some good ram OCZ reaper, Corsair dominator or Mushkin or possibly G.skill
If you can don't buy Sata HD since SSD will crush it in read/write times
Get a corsair 800D case. Case is beyond sick and can watercool if u need to OC
Either Corsair hx850 or hx1000 ps modular and reliable plus lifetime warranty
H50 cpu cooler from Corsair and get an EVGA mobo
A little bit more than your budget but in the end you get what you pay for.

Why the hell would you go with a 800 to 1000 watt PS. Thats just a waste and using too big of a PS kills the efficiency.

I also guess you can't read.

From the original post:

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
$95.99


From your post you sound like your still in High school.

i got a sonata 550 case which comes with a modular 550w ps, its enough to run my hd5850 and 95w phenomII
Posted via RS Mobile

A 500w PSU should be enough.

Why not AMD? The hex core is great for what OP is doing.. and AMD cpus are great for budget builds you intel fan boy

Also, I personally can't hear a thing coming out of the Sonata Plus 550 case.

Hmmm... lets see

Intel are more expensive chips
Intel is the leader in CPU's
Intel I7's shit over anything AMD makes
I've used Intel processor and none ever died on me

And I'm not an intel fan boy. I buy whatever is the best that suits my needs.
I would gladly use AMD chips if they were superior to Intel which they aren't.

l2read

Yes I would agree Intel cpus are more expensive. Intel I7 does not shit over anything AMD makes. Did you even look at the benchmarks for the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T? Yeah I would buy Intel if I had the money, but I bought the AMD Athlon X3 440 for $81 because it suited my needs and my budget. Lets see you buy an Intel cpu with the same price that will give the same performance. Also, if you read OP's message, he wants to keep his budget within before 800, and not increase it.

Me too dawg. But this is my thread. So try to recommend something that is based on my needs not yours, yeah?



Re: Case. I appreciate the suggestions since the Antec Sonata Plus (aka Solo) was on my shortlist of cases, but I just found a local seller who is selling a new Fractal Design Define R2 for $85 - aka omg crazy deal I'm jumping on this today!!! - The only downside to the Define is the HDD bay that kinda blocks airflow. Silence-wise, it may not be better than the Solo, but it also has damping material and I'm going to try hard to quiet the components e.g HDD suspension, fan undervolting, passive heatsinks if possible, etc.

Re: PSU - I'm still not 100% on the PSU I've chosen, but the BFG PSU mentioned isn't 80 Plus certified, and that is an important certification for me as higher efficency -> less heat -> slower fan -> quiet.

Re: Heatsink - Stock coolers, in past experience, are far too loud, even if PWM-controlled. If the airflow in my case is good enough, I think I can run the Mugen 2 at extremely low fan speeds (maybe try for 5V hardwired?) for almost 0 noise.

Updated build:

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 DDR3 AMD 890GX ATX 2PCI-E16 PCI-E1 PCI-E4 2PCI VGA DVI Motherboard
$149.99

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 6 Core Processor 2.8GHZ Socket AM3 Retail Box
$201.99

Seasonic M12II 520W EPS12V 20/24PIN ATX PFC 80+ Bronze Modular Connectors 6PIN PCI-W 120MM Fan
$83.13

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
$99.99

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc SATA 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty
$53.99

ASUS GeForce GT 240 550MHZ 512MB 3.4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E VGA DVI HDMI Video Card
$90.95 (before $30 MIR)

Scythe Mugen 2 REV.B. HeatPipes CPU Heatsink LGA1366 1156 775 AM3 AM2+ AM2 754 939 940 120MM Fan
$36.97

SubTotal $717.01+12% = 803.05 - $30 MIR = $773.05

Fractal Design Define R2 Case (secondhand)
$85

Total $773.05 + $85 = $858.0512

Dropped by almost $100 since initial build choices wooot.


This will probably be my final build, but my work hours aren't conducive to going out to pick up parts, so you guys have a couple more days to sway me on PSU/RAM/HSF!

Thanks again for your replies!! Even if I may not have picked your recommendations, they helped very much in either justifying my thoughts at the time or finding new components that I eventually used (yeah I jumped on the modular PSU bandwagon >.<).

EDIT: Anyone know the difference between these two sets of ram?

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...l&promoid=1026
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=30384&...acture=G.Skill

They have the same timings and everything....

I think one is i5-compatible and one is AMD-compatible.

FYI, I ran i5 memories without issues on the M4A89GTD, but it's best to go with Asus' recommended list of memories for that board. Some RAM manufacturers like OCZ actually designates the memory for AMD or i5 even though the RAM has the same model number.

I have another Asus board that is giving me errors for the memories (for i5) I bought for it... and I don't have time to deal with it right now and was only able to run 1 single stick.