New build questions

[Darkpriest667]

So I have some concerns about the October build.

(or late september depending on a lot of variables)

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AB - OEM Item #: N82E16827151233

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior Item #: N82E16811119160

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R HE103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822152238

MSI 970A-G45 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard Item #: N82E16813130608

2 x EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ... Item #: N82E16814130613

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX950 (CMPSU-950TX) 950W ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC ... Item #: N82E16817139013

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD UPS 1500VA / 900W PFC compatible Pure sine wave Item #: N82E16842102134

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9Q-16GBXL Item #: N82E16820231456

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ... Item #: N82E16835103065

Total price before AMD bulldozer is 1548.92 with shipping. Assuming 300 to 350 for the 8150.

Now the concern I have is that the Cooler Master Hyper 212 will block the ram slots on the MSI 970a so that I cannot run 4 x 4 GB.


Do not comment on the video cards. I chose the 570s for a reason. Im currently running the 6850s x 2 in crossfire which is fine but the catalyst drivers still have many many problems and I just dont think its as stable a the nvidia software. Ive already run into several problems playing BFBC2 on these 6850s that did not exist on my previous GT430.


So the question is does anyone forsee a problem with the coolermaster hyper 212 interfering with the ram slots? also similar priced builds that meet these requirements would be accepted.

Also does anyone have a recommendation of a good soundcard that will allow me to have dual inputs simultaneously.. So say I can stream a video live while people hear me talking and hear the video at the same time? Sorry Im not an audiophile and do not know about such things.

16 GB of ram
SLI video cards
AMD 8 core (no I dont want a fragging sandybridge)

[mrmouth]

16gb of ram! And oh mama do I want to comment of the video cards...

I hope you are planning on doing some serious graphics/technical work with that beast, and not just playing BC2..

[Darkpriest667]

3 instances of eve pushes my current system ram to the limits.. 4 pushes the processor to the limits (it actually does multicore threading unlike most CA games) 16 should let me run 5 instances of 3 eve without horrendous lag.

I need to be able to do that run skype run a flash applet that takes 1 GB and 10% of my current processor and do anything else I want to do like videos or whatever. and yes I do compile mp4 to AVI quite a bit. And frankly not impressed with a movie taking an hour to do it. :-p

[Devilmaypoop]

I wouldn't buy an MSI mobo, they are notorious for VRM failures. Not sure if they've fixed that for their AM3+ boards yet.

[Darkpriest667]

I wouldn't buy an MSI mobo, they are notorious for VRM failures. Not sure if they've fixed that for their AM3+ boards yet.

I've owned nothing but MSI boards for the last 6 years I've never experienced any sort of failure with them. Is there some place that I can look and see where this problem is talked about or is this your personal experience?

[Devilmaypoop]

I've owned nothing but MSI boards for the last 6 years I've never experienced any sort of failure with them. Is there some place that I can look and see where this problem is talked about or is this your personal experience?

Yes, it's a widespread issue on the AM3 boards MSI has made.

Look here, this explains it. Some MSI boards will die even at stock settings and undervolted.

And yeah, I've got personal experience too. I've helped multiple members on those forums and as I've been trying to tell them their board is going to catch fire, it catches fire.

[Darkpriest667]

Im also thinking of switching the graphics from GTX 570s to AMD 6950s

[Crazyeyesreaper]

i would take the Asus M5A99X over the Gigabyte board. currently Gigabyte dosent even have UEFI bios, there using the old Award bios and shoe horned some UEFI features in but right now Gigabytes current generation of motherboards are there weakest showing in years. there even cheaping on on Jumpers to clear the cmos.

as for the previous MSI 970 G45 it dosent support SLI,

as for potential replacments
Asrock they have current split from Asus, and now have many of EVGA's and some of Gigabytes Motherboard design teams, if your wondering why EVGA and GIGABYTES quality has dropped its because Asrock has stepped up there game and pilfered some of there Employees.

990FX Extreme 4 $180 990FX board dosent look pretty but is solid
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157266

this $100 Asrock board is 970 chipset but supports SLI and Crossfire in 8x8x format as far as i am aware it is the only 970 chipset board that does SLI and Crossfire, and its the only board sub $140 that offers those features as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157262

[Darkpriest667]

i would take the Asus M5A99X over the Gigabyte board. currently Gigabyte dosent even have UEFI bios, there using the old Award bios and shoe horned some UEFI features in but right now Gigabytes current generation of motherboards are there weakest showing in years. there even cheaping on on Jumpers to clear the cmos.

as for the previous MSI 970 G45 it dosent support SLI,

as for potential replacments
Asrock they have current split from Asus, and now have many of EVGA's and some of Gigabytes Motherboard design teams, if your wondering why EVGA and GIGABYTES quality has dropped its because Asrock has stepped up there game and pilfered some of there Employees.

990FX Extreme 4 $180 990FX board dosent look pretty but is solid
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157266

this $100 Asrock board is 970 chipset but supports SLI and Crossfire in 8x8x format as far as i am aware it is the only 970 chipset board that does SLI and Crossfire, and its the only board sub $140 that offers those features as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157262

The first board is nice the second one is out it doesnt support 1866 Ram natively and OCing the board to support the ram isnt something id be interested in doing.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

well then if you cant overclock ram you better pay for a good board up front otherwise your ed,

only Asus, Asrock, ECS have fully featured UEFI bios,

MSI is almost there,
Gigabyte is way behind

if you want proper SLI proper 1866mhz ram support among other things your gonna need to pay for a high end board,

in which case theres really only 2 choices

Asus, Asrock, take your pick. I know a buddy of mine is grabbing the Asrock Extreme 4 himself, just ordered it last night,

as for the 970 im not entirely sure but i believe there are ram dividers in the Bios to set the ram to 1866mhz, but all you need to do is shoot asrock an email asking if 1866, has a bios divider settings or if it needs to be overclocked VIA the bus.

[Darkpriest667]

well then if you cant overclock ram you better pay for a good board up front otherwise your ed,

only Asus, Asrock, ECS have fully featured UEFI bios,

MSI is almost there,
Gigabyte is way behind

if you want proper SLI proper 1866mhz ram support among other things your gonna need to pay for a high end board,

in which case theres really only 2 choices

Asus, Asrock, take your pick. I know a buddy of mine is grabbing the Asrock Extreme 4 himself, just ordered it last night,

as for the 970 im not entirely sure but i believe there are ram dividers in the Bios to set the ram to 1866mhz, but all you need to do is shoot asrock an email asking if 1866, has a bios divider settings or if it needs to be overclocked VIA the bus.

the board on my original build that I posted supports 1866 natively. So does the first board you recommended... I dont consider anything under 200 dollars to be that high end honestly.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

for AMD it is high end thats what people forget High end on Intel is $280-500 for a board

AMD high end is $180-240

with the typical $180 AMD board offering the same as a $220-230 Intel board.

point is that MSI board dosent support 8x8x crossfire OR Sli now does it you sacrifice ram speed for better PCIE arrangement and multi gpu support, again just send Asrock an email about the board.

many boards ive used said i need to overclock for such and such memory speeds, but i still had a ram divider in the bios set the divider presto ram is at the right speeds i just have to manually set the timings which isnt rocket science.

and high ram speeds MIGHT not be required

case in point Phenom II 955 vs A 3850 APU

the APU has 2000-3000mb/s higher memory bandwidth at the same memory speeds, and its a tweaked Phenom II with abetter IMC, bulldozer was built ground up different if so i would expect the IMC to be in the same vein as Sandybridge in which case even 1333mhz-1600mhz will give you 20,000 mb/s compared to Phenom II at 9000mb/s