# Extreme gaming pc? Or junk?



## xxmorpheus

Hey guys, new to the board here. I just recently built my first pc. I wanted to get some opinions on the specs. This pc will be connected to a 46 inch stereoscopic 3d led monitor. (240hz refresh rate)

Here we go:



System Configuration :
AMD 64 CPU AM3 : 	AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0GHz (Six Core) 45nm, AM3 6MB Cache

AMD 64 CPU Fans : 	AMD Black Edition Copper HeatPipe EXTRA QUIET fan

AMD 64 AM3 Motherboards : 	ASUS M4A89GTD PRO,890GX,onboard video,HDMI,Cross Fire, SATA3, USB 3.0, iEEE

DDR3 Dual Channel memory : 	16GB (4x4GB) PC10600 DDR3 1333 Dual Channel

PCI-Express Video cards : 	ATI CrossFire Radeon HD 6850 1GB x2 Quad head, DVI, HDMI (2 cards)

Hard Drives : 	1000.0GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA2, UDMA 300 32m cache

Hard Drive Fans : 	Hard Drive Cooling Fan Aluminum Internal

DVD Recorders : 	LG Blu-ray Reader, 16x LightScribe DVD Recorder SATA combo drive

Sound Cards : 	Realtek HD digital audio (onboard)

Network Cards : 	Wireless 802.11 N 300MBs Network Card PCI

Cases : 	Apevia X-Dreamer 3 Black & Blue. front USB, eSATA, LCD temp. 

Case Fans : 	Dual Case Fans 80 mm DC fan (two fans)

Power Supply : 	Thermaltake TR2 750W ultra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready

Operating Systems : 	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD


Thoughts?


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## Shane

I wouldnt say "Extreme" But its a good setup,Six core,Plenty (But major overkill) ram, and decent x-fired cards. 

Should have just stuck with 4 (Or 8 max) or 1600 or 2000Mhz ram,And invested in a SSD for your Operating system,as that 7200Rpm will always be slowing your system down.

Not sure on that case you choose though,Looks cheap and poor airflow.


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## xxmorpheus

What can I expect when running games like crysis? would i need an ssd to get the most out of my setup?


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## salvage-this

I would not look to Crysis to see what your computer can handle unless you actually plan on playing it.  

Here is a review of a 6850 CF setup.  

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/2.html

The only thing that you would get out of an SSD is better boot times for your OS and less loading for the games that you have installed to it.  It will not increase your FPS.


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## xxmorpheus

I plan on playing it. a lot.


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## xxmorpheus

Also, ssd drives arent exactly cheap. Apevia cases are pretty good.. How can you determine the air flow?


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## xxmorpheus

Thanks for the review. The cards seem to work well with crysis.


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## Luigio97

What'd you spend on that?  It seems...expensive.
And as said before, sounds like overkill.


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## spynoodle

Nice rig! :good: You shouldn't have any trouble playing games, I would think that most all games will work fine with that rig. I would keep an eye on the hard drive, mainly because I've had a lot of issues with Hitachis around the 5 year mark. If you ever notice problems with your computer, run a sector scan with HDtune:
http://www.hdtune.com/download.html
If it finds one or more bad sectors, or has some bad reports in the S.M.A.R.T. health section, then you should run a chkdsk /f command in command prompt, reboot, and clone your current hard drive over to a new one using my guide:
http://www.computerforum.com/189534-how-clone-hard-drive.html
Your RAM is also a bit overkill, but that's not a problem, is it?


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## xxmorpheus

Thanks spy noodle!  The pc will cost about 1675.00 USD. Normally, pre built computer companies sell a similar setup for 3500+. Do you think I can run crysis at 2560x1600? Any additional feedback is greatly appreciated!


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## xxmorpheus

Dont exactly know what you would define as overkill... Arent gaming computers supposed to have breathing room to perform tasks?


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## Drenlin

xxmorpheus said:


> Apevia cases are pretty good..



Actually, most apevia cases are pretty bad...they usually have little to no cable management, fairly poor airflow, and gaudy plastic bits all over them. Their average build quality is pretty low. The one in quesitons actually wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't completely lacking a front fan, though it'd still be overpriced. The side fan on it will also likely interfere with large CPU coolers....keep that in mind.

 For a cheap case, the best ones usually come from NZXT, with some decent ones from a few other companies mixed in...mostly based on the same chassis as the NZXT ones. In particular, the NZXT Gamma and Beta EVO are exceptional cases for their price. The M59 is also close in price, and is basically a fancy Gamma with a side window. Rosewill also has very good cases for the price, but you can only get them from Newegg.



The one major issue I see with this build is the power supply. The only Thermaltake power supplies really worth buying are the "Toughpower" line...the rest of them are mostly junk, including the TR-2's. What other options are available to you?

The hard drive could also be better. For a high performance rig like this, spend a little extra and get either a Samsung Spinpoint F3 or a Western Digital Caviar Black.


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## xxmorpheus

Im a bit concerned now with the case... Am I in trouble of overheating?


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## xxmorpheus

Ok, so I requested to switch the case to a Thermaltake v9 black edition with 230mm side fan, changed the power supply to 750w corsair ATX, and the hard drive to a 1TB western digital black 7200rpm. Thoughts? This is a big investment and i want to get it right the first time. Thanks for the feedback!


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## salvage-this

The case is definitely better but I am a bit nervous that the 230mm side fan will intrude into the space that a better tower cooler would use.

EDIT:

Do you like any of these?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

You HDD and PSU choices look good to me.


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## dave1701

I would say that's mighty extreme.  I just upgrade my computer to my sig.  6 cores?  I'm still baffled by 2.


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## xxmorpheus

dave1701 said:


> I would say that's mighty extreme.  I just upgrade my computer to my sig.  6 cores?  I'm still baffled by 2.



This easily the most powerful computer I have ever owned. Im stilll trying to figure out what kind of performance I can expect with games like crysis. Thoughts? Ill post pics once it is assembled. Do you guys think ill be good with a 46 inch 3d tv by samsung? It has 240 hz refresh rate.


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## xxmorpheus

Nice antec cases! My builder advised me that the thermaltake case is fine tho. The apevia was too cheap for my liking.


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## spynoodle

Which 1tb Caviar Black did you choose? The one with 64 megs of cache, the WD1002FAEX, is much faster than the WD1001FALS. This is not because of the minor increase in cache. It's because the FAEX uses 500gb platters, and the FALS uses 250gb platters (or maybe 320gb? I can't remember which). Either way, the FAEX performs far faster. If you want to save some $$$ but still want performance comparable to the FAEX, get the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb that I have in my sig:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...185&cm_re=Spinpoint_F3-_-22-152-185-_-Product


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## Okedokey

Yeah look great computer mate.

I would like to see less RAM and a nice quality ssd hard drive back up by a 1TB F3 by samsung.  Just MO.

Less heat, noise and much much faster.


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## xxmorpheus

I got the hard drive with the 64 megs.


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## Drenlin

Looks good to me. 

As for playing Crysis in particular, you should be able to max it out. The CPU will probably be the bottleneck since it's an older game. Best I can tell, it was originally coded for dual cores, and limited quad core support was coded in somewhere during development. It won't use all 6 cores, sadly. However, quite a few newer games will indeed use all of your CPU power.


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## xxmorpheus

Ah, crap. So your telling me that game is limited to 4 cores?


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## xxmorpheus

Hey guys, do you think crysis 2 will use 6 cores?


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## dave1701

It probably, but I really don't think it matters.  I think you will be good with max settings on both of those games.


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## spynoodle

Nice choice with the WD1002FAEX. It's one of the fastest 7200rpm drives. If you haven't already bought your CPU, you might want to consider going with the Intel Core i5 2500k, but if you have, it's not too big of a deal.


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## xxmorpheus

Thanks spynoodle. Yeah the FALS model has a 32m cache. I made sure I got the 64m model. Do you guys think I will be ok at 2560x1600 on a 3d tv?


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## xxmorpheus

Since my motherboard is sata 3 ready, and the hard drive is also sata 3 with 64 megs cache, I think that should be pretty fast. Thoughts?


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> Since my motherboard is sata 3 ready, and the hard drive is also sata 3 with 64 megs cache, I think that should be pretty fast. Thoughts?


When it comes to program load speed, you'll be blazing fast.  Sata 3 is really only taken advantage of with SSDs, so it doesn't matter much, even with the FAEX. It will still be ridiculously fast, though. 

About Crysis, here's a link that will give you an idea of how fast it should run:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/phenom-ii-x6-1055t-1090t-review/16
VERY fast.


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## linkin

If you want the best setup it's always better to order the parts you want and build it yourself. Doesn't hurt the wallet as much either.


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## xxmorpheus

Thanks guys. Lets talk about fps, for a demanding game such as crysis, I wanna have the fps at 40+? Those processor tests are pretty impressive for the x6. Can someone link me to some crysis pics that can gimme an idea of what graphics cards can do? Thanks! Im running 2 1gb 6850 radeon x fire


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## salvage-this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fPIeZ78pKQ&feature=relmfu


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## xxmorpheus

Thats breathtaking.... And thats a 3 year old game... So basically I can expect photorealistic enviroments and clean polygons. Basically this blows away a gaming console. The draw distance is what is extremely impressive. Do you guys recommend any cpu or gpu overclocking?


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## Drenlin

xxmorpheus said:


> Thats breathtaking.... And thats a 3 year old game... So basically I can expect photorealistic enviroments and clean polygons. Basically this blows away a gaming console. The draw distance is what is extremely impressive.


Welcome to PC gaming. 

I dunno about "photorealistic", but a lot of games get pretty darned close. Check the previews for "Batman: Arkham City".



> Do you guys recommend any cpu or gpu overclocking?


Only if you find a game that you can't run as fast as you'd like, which I doubt. Although, if you just want bragging rights, that's ok too.


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## xxmorpheus

Ok great. This should be an ok setup then for the next year or so before upgrade?


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## salvage-this

I would think that you would be good for more than a year with that setup.  most games are quite a bit easier to run than Crysis.


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## xxmorpheus

Any other recommendations for any other eye candy filled games for this rig?


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## salvage-this

Bioshock.  Amazing story and the game has great graphics.  Behind FF7 it is my favorite game.

Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgmpf3ZGORw

I have not played it but Far Cry 2 seems good as well.


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## Drenlin

xxmorpheus said:


> Any other recommendations for any other eye candy filled games for this rig?


Most anything that run DirectX 11 and can use Tessellation will look amazing with it enabled. Be warned, though; some of them can bring even the mightiest system to its knees. Go look up some videos of Metro 2033 to see what I mean.


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## xxmorpheus

Whats tessallation


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## xxmorpheus

Whats dx11?


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> Whats dx11?


Dx11 stands for DirectX 11. It's a sort of software API that games run on. It's made by Microsoft, and there's been a new version of it in the past few versions of Windows. XP has DX9, Vista has DX10, and 7 has DX11. With each version, games look more realistic with cards that support it. The Radeon 5000 series and the Radeon 6000 series support DX11. The Geforce GTX 400 series and the Geforce GTX 500 series also support DX11. OpenGL is the open-source alternative to DirectX.


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## xxmorpheus

Thanks Spy Noodle. So DX 11 support has the tessellation? Im not sure how it works. I looked at some youtube videos, but I couldnt really see what tessellation does.


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## salvage-this

I am fairly certain that Tessellation allows for more triangles to be used while making an object.  All that really does is give you a better quality image.  The developers can put a lot more detail into their environments.

A little over half way down there are pictures comparing images with and without tessellation.  That should give you a better idea of how it changes the image.  

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/11/06/unigine_heaven_benchmark_dx11_tessellation

If you want to see a video of it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkKtY2G3FbU

Hope that explains it a bit better.


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## Drenlin

spynoodle said:


> Dx11 stands for DirectX 11. It's a sort of software API that games run on. It's made by Microsoft, and there's been a new version of it in the past few versions of Windows. XP has DX9, *Vista has DX10*, and 7 has DX11. With each version, games look more realistic with cards that support it. The Radeon 5000 series and the Radeon 6000 series support DX11. The Geforce GTX 400 series and the Geforce GTX 500 series also support DX11. OpenGL is the open-source alternative to DirectX.



Vista has DirectX 11 as well.



salvage-this said:


> I am fairly certain that Tessellation allows for more triangles to be used while making an object.  All that really does is give you a better quality image.  The developers can put a lot more detail into their environments.



Yep, but it's a little more than that. Tessellation, in this case, is a technology that can take an existing wireframe model and add detail to it (more triangles) without the artist doing anything. The artist doesn't actually draw all of those triangles.


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## xxmorpheus

Oh, so it works under textures.


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## xxmorpheus

Here is my final build before purchase. (i know that is a budget keyboard and mouse, lol I just ordered a razer gaming mouse, backlit keyboard and mouse pad    Is that a decent PSU? Someone told me corsair PSU are cheap.... @.@ Ill look up some reviews... 

System Configuration :
AMD 64 CPU AM3 : 	AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0GHz (Six Core) 45nm, AM3 6MB Cache

AMD 64 CPU Fans : 	AMD Black Edition Copper HeatPipe EXTRA QUIET fan

AMD 64 AM3 Motherboards : 	ASUS M4A89GTD PRO,890GX,onboard video,HDMI,Cross Fire, SATA3, USB 3.0, iEEE

DDR3 Dual Channel memory : 	16GB (4x4GB) PC10600 DDR3 1333 Dual Channel

PCI-Express Video cards : 	ATI CrossFire Radeon HD 6850 1GB x2 Quad head, DVI, HDMI (2 cards)

Hard Drives : 	1000.0GB Western Digital Black 7200RPM SATA 3 6.0Gb/s 64m cache

Hard Drive Fans : 	Hard Drive Cooling Fan Aluminum Internal

DVD Recorders : 	LG Blu-ray Reader, 16x LightScribe DVD Recorder SATA combo drive

Sound Cards : 	Realtek HD digital audio (onboard)

Network Cards : 	Wireless 802.11 N 300MBs Network Card PCI

Cases : 	Thermaltake V9 Black Edition , 230mm side fan, fron USB

Case Fans : 	Dual Case Fans 80 mm DC fan (two fans)

Power Supply : 	Corsair 750W ultra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready

Keyboards : 	Logitech Wireless Desctop MK300 Keyboard & Optical mouse combo black

Operating Systems : 	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD


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## xxmorpheus

I kinda find it hard to believe thats a cheap PSU when newegg reviews are smashing!


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> I kinda find it hard to believe thats a cheap PSU when newegg reviews are smashing!


OMG, who told you that Corsair PSUs are cheap???? They're some of the best! They have no idea what they're talking about.


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## salvage-this

16gb!?  What are you going to do that requires that much?  Take it down to 8gb at least.  If this is just a gaming computer you only really need 4gb.

+1 for Corsair having great power supplies.


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## xxmorpheus

salvage-this said:


> 16gb!?  What are you going to do that requires that much?  Take it down to 8gb at least.  If this is just a gaming computer you only really need 4gb.
> 
> +1 for Corsair having great power supplies.




Its Rendition micron memory. Is that cheap ram?


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## xxmorpheus

is there any overclocking guides that you guys know of for this processor and gpu? Keep in mind im a n00b though. >.>


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> Its Rendition micron memory. Is that cheap ram?


It depends how you define "cheap." Some people like to buy really fast RAM (eg. ddr3 2100MHz) for when they overclock, but in terms of quality, Micron makes good RAM. I've been using some Micron memory (see sig) for quite a while now, actually. If you don't plan to overclock your CPU, then 1333MHz is as fast as your ram can go anyway (someone correct me if I'm wrong.) If you do overclock your CPU, then you'll benefit more from 8gb of 1600MHz RAM than 16gb 1333MHz.


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## xxmorpheus

Cheap as in low quality. Does anyone know the requirements for max settings on crysis?


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> Cheap as in low quality. Does anyone know the requirements for max settings on crysis?


Check this link:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/19
I don't know much about games, but supposedly that version runs smoother than the old one, so I'm not sure how well the original will run. Also check this link about running Crysis with crossfire:
http://www.incrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=22423
It might be outdated, but it'll be useful if you can't get crossfire to work.


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## Drenlin

spynoodle said:


> If you don't plan to overclock your CPU, then 1333MHz is as fast as your ram can go anyway (someone correct me if I'm wrong.) If you do overclock your CPU, then you'll benefit more from 8gb of 1600MHz RAM than 16gb 1333MHz.



Actually, on current AMD and Intel setups, there's an integrated memory controller on the CPU with its own multiplier, while the base clock is the same as the CPU's. You can run nearly any RAM at its rated speed without overclocking the CPU.


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## xxmorpheus

Will the card drivers need weekly updating?


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## xxmorpheus

Bump, gonna post pics for new pc tomorrow.


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## Drenlin

^ Awesome

And no, there's no need to update your GPU drivers every week. AMD releases drivers every month or so, but there's no need to update them unless the update either fixes a problem you're having or provides a huge perfrmance boost. If it 'aint broke, don't fix it.


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## spynoodle

Drenlin said:


> Actually, on current AMD and Intel setups, there's an integrated memory controller on the CPU with its own multiplier, while the base clock is the same as the CPU's. You can run nearly any RAM at its rated speed without overclocking the CPU.


So _that's_ what DMI is all about.  Thanks for the correction, I've still got a C2Q.
@OP: Good luck with the build! Make sure to add some glowing blue fans!


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## xxmorpheus

Hey guys, Im having a serious problem with the crossfire setup. gpu z indicates that the cards are linked as does catalyst controller. pretty much all settings are maxed on catalyst controller. ati overdrive is disabled. heres a pic of what i mean.


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## xxmorpheus

why is the MHZ so low? isnt it supposed to be 1000 and 775?


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## xxmorpheus

Oh, I would like to add that i have catalyst 11.2, and that 3d mark 11 said that it was not compatible with my driver.... the driver package is Driver Packaging Version	8.821-110126a-112962C-ATI	, and it mentioned that it wasnt compatible with my driver, which 3d mark 11's website said it was 8.821.0.0


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## xxmorpheus

Also the really really weird thing is I can run metro 2033 with everything absolutely maxed out.... I must be reading something wrong.


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## StrangleHold

The cards drivers will power down the memory and GPU clocks when its not under load.

3DMark 11 has problems like that.


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## xxmorpheus

Its running oblivion very choppy at 1920x1080 with ultra high settings and HDR enabled...... but metro 2033 runs fine at 1920x1080 16x AF with advanced depth of field and tessellation. were talking easily 65+ FPS, even in intense lighting situations. Crysis runs also at around 60+ fps with everything on ultra high, at 1920x1080.... ive also heard that oblivion makes even the mightiest of computers chug along....


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## Drenlin

^ Metro and Crysis both use more resources than Oblivion. My single 5770 can max oblivion, easily. Something's wrong there. Maybe it doesn't like the crossfire setup?

Try disabling crossfire in Oblivion and see what it does. The extra card isn't adding any noticeable performance anyway.


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## xxmorpheus

Thing is though, crysis runs choppy at 1920x1080 at max settings as well. I find it hard to believe that 2gb of ram is not enough on these cards..... the tech is gonna call me to fine tune the cards tomorrow. if all else fails im going to dual 2gb cards.


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## xxmorpheus

I didnt like really what I read about those 6850 cards when it comes to crossfire, so I swapped out those two cards for two xfx radeon 2gb 6950's, are these cards a significant improvement?


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## xxmorpheus

Any feedback?


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## xxmorpheus

anyone know of any auto tune programs out there?


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## Drenlin

You...changed them out for the same card? 

You know that most all of those are reference boards, right? There's very little difference between them, if any at all.

MSI Afterburner is a good program to overclock with. It's pretty simple to do...just keep inching the frequencies up a bit and playing something like Crysis or Metro to see if it's stable. Once you start seeing artifacts or other errors, then back off a bit. you can also use MSI Kombustor, which comes with afterburner, but it's basically the same as Furmark and creates unrealistically high loads on your GPU. If you have voltage control, you can inch that up as well to get a bit more out of it, but be careful with that..._especially_ if you've unlocked it to a 6970.

Frame buffer size isn't your problem here, btw...2GB is plenty.


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## xxmorpheus

no, i had 2x 1gb cards, and im swapping them for 2x 2gb cards.. Is there a dummies guide to unlocking a 6950 to a 6970?????


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## Drenlin

Ah, missed that bit.

There's probably a guide somewhere...I imagine OCN or [H] will have one somewhere. There may even be one here, but I haven't found it.


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## xxmorpheus

is the 6950 a good card?


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## xxmorpheus

Guys, Im having a problem where I have 6950's in crossfire mode, and only one card is getting hot. One card gets up to 65C the other stays at 30. GPU-z and ati catalyst say crossfire is on.... Please helpppppp


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## xxmorpheus

bump


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## xxmorpheus

no one out there knows what this problem is?


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## xxmorpheus

Guys, Im having a problem where I have 6950's in crossfire mode, and only one card is getting hot. One card gets up to 65C the other stays at 30. GPU-z and ati catalyst say crossfire is on....


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## spynoodle

xxmorpheus said:


> Guys, Im having a problem where I have 6950's in crossfire mode, and only one card is getting hot. One card gets up to 65C the other stays at 30. GPU-z and ati catalyst say crossfire is on....


Hmmm.... have you tried each card separate?


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## jd132

Should definately work great!!!...Nice build!


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