iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig - Page 2

Psyrus · 2012-01-23, 11:21

What baffles me is why people post these threads after they've already purchased the hardware...

Wouldn't it have made infinitely more sense to make almost an identical post just a few days before ordering so you can get any feedback about it before you've parted with your money, rather than come on after you've already spent your money and open oneself up to potential buyer's remorse?

All in all though, it looks like a reasonably solid build, however a price-equivalent intel setup probably would've outperformed it in the vast majority of situations.

mangeface · 2012-02-04, 06:19

So...big update. Due to address issues, iBUYPOWER doesn't recognize the address that I provided to them. And I just got back from my 10 1/2 month deployment 17 hours ago, so now I'm probably going to have the time to build my own PC since I'm getting out of the Marine Corps (US type) in 2 months. So I feel I owe it to myself to take the time to build my own and have more respect and the feeling of knowing that I did it myself. So any suggestions are open. I'm still set on getting an 8 core AMD and 2 6950 graphics cards. I'm just worried about the little things, like cooling and PSU since I've never built a computer by myself. Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

LITOralis.nMd · 2012-02-04, 17:43

Good on ya. Count it as a blessing, you'll save a pretty penny on this one. If you're fixing Marine Corps air assets building a PC is monkey work.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....d1=639&card2=#
here is some info on the hd 6950 cards, including important bits of info suchs as
1. max tdp (Thermal design power) = 200W times 2, = 400W Max for just your video cards.
Thermal design power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Note that compenent manufacturers and psu manufacturers use various testing and marketing tricks to make it difficult to compare products, so keep that in mind.
2. the list of the 40+ retail designs of the hd 6950

depending on how many other peripherals you need a 650w to 750w power supply to be safe.
here is a PSU requirement calculator:
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
Note this is also just a guide....
note, PSU capacitors degrade over time lowering the PSU efficiency, that's why you buy more than you need today, for longevity, don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Definitely Get 80+ gold efficiency, ... optionally get modular cabling.

Cooling has gotten easier to talk about, go buy a corsair H100 liquid cooling kit. It's a closed kit, takes about 4 screws and 5 minutes extra work compared to adding a air cooling fan.
Make sure you buy a case that can fit the liquid cooling radiator comfortably, it's the only thing that takes pre planning.
simply google corsair h100 + your case make and model and find some reviews/pics/youtube vids of people who have done it already. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Get interior case air circulation, your 2 hd 6950s will produce lots of heat when stressed during gaming sessions. A couple of high quality case fans is all you need, cost about $15 a piece max.

That's about it.

Another option is to go to some PC enthusiast forums, find someone with a AMD 8 core system, and just copy his design :P

PS: IN before the Buy one 7970 instead of two 6950 comments.

rushn · 2012-02-04, 18:49

building computers is very easy

dont worry about cooling the stock heatsink will take care of that

and as long as the computer has some sort of holes in it \

only worry about cooling if you are going to overclock stuff

mangeface · 2012-02-04, 20:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by [R-COM]LITOralis.nMd

Good on ya. Count it as a blessing, you'll save a pretty penny on this one. If you're fixing Marine Corps air assets building a PC is monkey work.

Yes, yes everything seems to be so. I just got my truck and my cousin tells me it won't start. The first thing I did was put the key in, turn it, then look at her and put on the Carl Sanders voice (Slingblade) and say "It ain't got no gas it in." Gotta look at the simple things first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [R-COM]LITOralis.nMd

don't be penny wise and pound foolish

I've got a $2,000 budget I've given myself, so I'm not too worried on being stingy on it (for tower, screen, and all other equipment)

So far, this is the list of things I have in my cart on Newegg.

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition RC-932-KKN3-GP ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior

2x XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8150FRGUBOX

KINGWIN LZP-1000 1000W ATX 12V v2.2, EPS 12V v2.91, and SSI EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified

CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller

SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA

I'm having trouble finding a motherboard that would be able to support this. Also, I want to install an SSD, preferably 120GB and have the HDD as a data. But...I'm not finding any on Newegg that are 3.5". Any suggestions would be awesome. Earlier on everyone was saying to stay away from Creative sound cards, so what are some good ones that are reasonable.

This is basically the stuff I have general knowledge of needing. After this, I have no clue on what I need to build a desktop.

LITOralis.nMd · 2012-02-04, 22:43

Parts list is fine.

I'm busy prepping for Superbowl, (Go Giants!), but I'll post some youtube videos I have bookmarked, they give you a full 1 or 2 hour walkthrough of the process.

mangeface · 2012-02-05, 00:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by [R-COM]LITOralis.nMd

Parts list is fine.

I'm busy prepping for Superbowl, (Go Giants!), but I'll post some youtube videos I have bookmarked, they give you a full 1 or 2 hour walkthrough of the process.

Thanks man. And I don't care for the Super Bowl. The last I heard of the Super Bowl was from the Captain of the ship I was on saying "It's a shame we won't be home for Christmas, BUT WE'LL BE BACK FOR THE SUPER BOWL!" Idiot.

But here is the motherboard I'm looking at getting. Any compatibility issues?

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

I also dumped the Thermaltake case in favor of a Cooler Master. A lot of people stated issues with mounting more recent GPUs and the mounting tabs broke for them a lot.

I asked earlier about sound cards and I was searching and found this one. It has a lot of great reviews. Any opinions?

ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

rushn · 2012-02-05, 05:56

I wouldnt spend that much on a case

that case is designed for some serious cooling and exotic builds

also for the video cards I would suggest going with one of these instead

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, Radeon HD 7000 series, 2048 Stream Processing Units

why is your harddrive only 500GB ? I would really go for 1TB 1TB is aout the same
maybe a little bit more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121089
and are you interested in suing solid state?
you can put your operating system on SSD to speed up the booting process
SSD drives are fairly expensive though

your PSU is a bit overkill

I would sugest 950W you are using around 850W

but if you want to keep 1000W I would go for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121089

also why do you need so much RAM do you do encoding? or video editing?
and are you planing on overclocking I see you have liquid cooling

samogon100500 · 2012-02-05, 06:04

My ideal about hi-end computer is Intel Core i7 CPU.
AMD is a cheap idea for those,who want good computer,but also don't have money for it.(Like me with my AMD Phenom X4 925).You should think about it.top 8-core processor = middle i5 series.My one - something like a bit better that i3.
I also like AMD videocards,have HD6950 2 GB,very nice videocard.Also better idea - buy 6990,that make crossfire,because they got some problems,that stand-alone card.7970 - maybe it still not have good drivers,but 6990 better how.
PSU is too rich,800-850w will be enough for cool'n'qulet work.

rushn · 2012-02-05, 06:18

800W wont be enough with that set up 850W at least

2012-01-23, 11:21	#11
Psyrus Retired PR Developer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,835 Japan Location: Tokyo	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig What baffles me is why people post these threads after they've already purchased the hardware... Wouldn't it have made infinitely more sense to make almost an identical post just a few days before ordering so you can get any feedback about it before you've parted with your money, rather than come on after you've already spent your money and open oneself up to potential buyer's remorse? All in all though, it looks like a reasonably solid build, however a price-equivalent intel setup probably would've outperformed it in the vast majority of situations.

2012-02-04, 06:19	#12
mangeface Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,099 United States of America Location: Oklahoma	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig So...big update. Due to address issues, iBUYPOWER doesn't recognize the address that I provided to them. And I just got back from my 10 1/2 month deployment 17 hours ago, so now I'm probably going to have the time to build my own PC since I'm getting out of the Marine Corps (US type) in 2 months. So I feel I owe it to myself to take the time to build my own and have more respect and the feeling of knowing that I did it myself. So any suggestions are open. I'm still set on getting an 8 core AMD and 2 6950 graphics cards. I'm just worried about the little things, like cooling and PSU since I've never built a computer by myself. Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

2012-02-04, 17:43	#13
LITOralis.nMd Retired PR Developer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 5,648 United States of America	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig Good on ya. Count it as a blessing, you'll save a pretty penny on this one. If you're fixing Marine Corps air assets building a PC is monkey work. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....d1=639&card2=# here is some info on the hd 6950 cards, including important bits of info suchs as 1. max tdp (Thermal design power) = 200W times 2, = 400W Max for just your video cards. Thermal design power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Note that compenent manufacturers and psu manufacturers use various testing and marketing tricks to make it difficult to compare products, so keep that in mind. 2. the list of the 40+ retail designs of the hd 6950 depending on how many other peripherals you need a 650w to 750w power supply to be safe. here is a PSU requirement calculator: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Note this is also just a guide.... note, PSU capacitors degrade over time lowering the PSU efficiency, that's why you buy more than you need today, for longevity, don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Definitely Get 80+ gold efficiency, ... optionally get modular cabling. Cooling has gotten easier to talk about, go buy a corsair H100 liquid cooling kit. It's a closed kit, takes about 4 screws and 5 minutes extra work compared to adding a air cooling fan. Make sure you buy a case that can fit the liquid cooling radiator comfortably, it's the only thing that takes pre planning. simply google corsair h100 + your case make and model and find some reviews/pics/youtube vids of people who have done it already. Don't reinvent the wheel. Get interior case air circulation, your 2 hd 6950s will produce lots of heat when stressed during gaming sessions. A couple of high quality case fans is all you need, cost about $15 a piece max. That's about it. Another option is to go to some PC enthusiast forums, find someone with a AMD 8 core system, and just copy his design :P PS: IN before the Buy one 7970 instead of two 6950 comments.

2012-02-04, 18:49	#14
rushn Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,415 United States of America	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig building computers is very easy dont worry about cooling the stock heatsink will take care of that and as long as the computer has some sort of holes in it \ only worry about cooling if you are going to overclock stuff

2012-02-04, 22:43	#16
LITOralis.nMd Retired PR Developer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 5,648 United States of America	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig Parts list is fine. I'm busy prepping for Superbowl, (Go Giants!), but I'll post some youtube videos I have bookmarked, they give you a full 1 or 2 hour walkthrough of the process.

2012-02-05, 05:56	#18
rushn Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,415 United States of America	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig I wouldnt spend that much on a case that case is designed for some serious cooling and exotic builds also for the video cards I would suggest going with one of these instead Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics / Video Cards, Radeon HD 7000 series, 2048 Stream Processing Units why is your harddrive only 500GB ? I would really go for 1TB 1TB is aout the same maybe a little bit more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121089 and are you interested in suing solid state? you can put your operating system on SSD to speed up the booting process SSD drives are fairly expensive though your PSU is a bit overkill I would sugest 950W you are using around 850W but if you want to keep 1000W I would go for this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121089 also why do you need so much RAM do you do encoding? or video editing? and are you planing on overclocking I see you have liquid cooling

	Last edited by [R-COM]rushn; 2012-02-05 at 06:17..

2012-02-05, 06:04	#19
samogon100500 Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,111 Russian Federation Location: *****	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig My ideal about hi-end computer is Intel Core i7 CPU. AMD is a cheap idea for those,who want good computer,but also don't have money for it.(Like me with my AMD Phenom X4 925).You should think about it.top 8-core processor = middle i5 series.My one - something like a bit better that i3. I also like AMD videocards,have HD6950 2 GB,very nice videocard.Also better idea - buy 6990,that make crossfire,because they got some problems,that stand-alone card.7970 - maybe it still not have good drivers,but 6990 better how. PSU is too rich,800-850w will be enough for cool'n'qulet work.

2012-02-05, 06:18	#20
rushn Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,415 United States of America	Re: iBUYPOWER AMD 8-Core Rig 800W wont be enough with that set up 850W at least