Source
r/buildapc•
paith

First time builder, thoughts on the specs?

This subreddit convinced me to try building my own PC (thanks guys!) but before buying the components I'd like to ask what you think about them. The specs are:

CPU: Phenom II X4 3.5Ghz

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6950

Motherboard: MSI 870A-G54

Power Supply: Antec Truepower New 650W

The specs are a bit too pricey to be honest, so cheaper alternatives are welcome. I have no idea which brand of RAM I should go for, any recommendations?

The main purpose of this PC is to play games like Battlefield 3 and Dragon Age 2. What do you think about modding AMD 6950 to AMD 6970? Has anyone actually tried this, and how safe do you think this is?

Posted Feb 23, 2011, 2:16 AM UTC

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gpunotpsu•

If you're looking for cheaper but still quality options then check out my $436 build from yesterday. It'll give you some good ideas on where you can save.

2
nubbinator•

You CPU is the Phenom II X4 970, correct? You can easily cut your budget a 955 or 965. I have yet to see a 970 significantly outperform a 955 or 965, especially when overclocked. Most 955s and 965s should overclock to around 3.8-4GHz on air while the max OC I've seen for the 970 is 4.1GHz.

I have no clue where you're buying from, so I can't really say what cheaper alternatives to check out. The ASRock 870 Extreme3 may be cheaper than the board you're looking at and is a great mobo.

For your RAM, I prefer Mushkin, G.Skill, Corsair, and Patriot. Wintec AMPX (1.65v or lower) and Kingston aren't bad RAM either if you can find them cheaper.

What do you think about modding AMD 6950 to AMD 6970?

It's a great thing to try, just make a backup of your BIOS before flashing. You can back up your BIOS easily in GPU-Z. Just open it up, go to the line that says BIOS version, look at the end where there's something that looks like a chip with a green arrow, click on it and save to file and you're set.

Has anyone actually tried this, and how safe do you think this is?

I haven't, but others in here have and no one has mentioned having issues yet. You just have to make sure you have the 2GB version and follow these directions. The risk is incredibly low, especially with AMD's backup BIOS on the GPU.

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paithOP•

Sorry about the noobish queries, but I'd like the option to add another GPU in the future. This review says that MSI 870A-G54 will probably suffer a performance hit when using Crossfire:

http://www.techspot.com/review/295-amd-socket-am3-motherboard-comparison/page7.html

What about the ASRock 870 Extreme3 you recommended then? If that doesn't support Crossfire either, I could spend more on a better mobo. It beats having to replace it again when the newer games come out.

Also, I think I will go for the 965 and mess around with the overclocking so thanks for tip!

EDIT: I haven't actually decided where to buy yet, although I'm from the UK so american websites like newegg are out.

1
nubbinator•

This review says that MSI 870A-G54 will probably suffer a performance hit when using Crossfire:

A 6970 will face a small performance hit if you're running multiple monitors and maybe a tiny one on a single high res monitor, but it's nothing to worry about (HardOCP PCI-E x16/x16 vs. x4/x4 article).

What about the ASRock 870 Extreme3 you recommended then? If that doesn't support Crossfire either, I could spend more on a better mobo.

It supports x8/x8 Crossfire. If you're willing to spend more on a better mobo, it might be worth checking out the MSI 890FXA-GD65 since it supposedly will support AM3+ CPUs when they come out.

2
paithOP•

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. I'm tempted to wait until they fix Sandy Bridge, just in case the current specs aren't good enough. Then again, Battlefield 3 system requirements are not out yet so it's hard to judge. What do you think, is it worth waiting for the fix?

1
nubbinator•

If you're going to wait for Sandy Bridge, you may as well wait till April for AMD's Bulldozer. Sand Bridge is good, but expect to pay more for the mobo and CPU than you're looking at now.

1
dudenell•

I've always liked kingston for ram personally. Looks good so far. As far as flashing you are taking the risk of totally destroying your card. With that said do it sooner then later as you will have less time to return it if the flash goes bad.

1
nubbinator•

As far as flashing you are taking the risk of totally destroying your card.

There's no risk on the new cards. They have a dual BIOS, so if something goes wrong you just have to boot with the second BIOS and reflash the first.

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