I just bought the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 810 AM3
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX ATX
8GBs of Mushkin DDR3 1600 (PC3-12800)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular

I already have 3 74GB Raptor drives, 1 WD 1TB Black series, a full tower Antec case, internal flash media reader, SATA DVD-RW, SATA Blu-ray/DVD-RW, and a Samsung 24" T series DHCP LCD.

I haven't built an all new system since my 1.2GHz T-Bird system back in 1999/2000. I remember paying $1,015 just for the AMD processor! It was the first ever x86 processor over 1GHz. Stuff is just so wicked inexpensive now! I've just been getting by on a part here, a part there, for years.

I'm so excited and I can't wait to get it all running! I have my pre-order of Windows 7 shipping on Oct. 22nd too!

Anyway, I don't know what to do with 3 Raptors and a 1TB drive. I'm thinking RAID 0 two of the Raptors and use the 1TB for storage and just sell the 3rd Raptor for like $25, maybe put it in my kids computer.

I also made it a point to buy an AM3 proc and an AM3 board so a few years down the road I can buy the most top-of-the-line AM3 proc AMD ended up making without having to upgrade my board and memory.

I must say though I am very disappointed from a memory standpoint. The AM3 boards only have 4 dual channel DIMM slots and since there are no 4GB DDR3 DIMMs, the 4 2GB sticks I ordered are the most I can pack Kinda sucks lol.

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AMD Phenom II X4 955BE AM3 (Multi x18.5@3712.5MHz) - 965BE On order!
Thermalright IFX-14 Lapped with AS5 (Not installed)
3 Scythe SY1425SL12H / Silverstone FP33-B (Not installed)
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX HDMI ATX
8GB Mushkin 996625 DDR3 1600 (7-7-6-18-24 - DRAM 1.86v)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular
3 74GB WD Raptors in RAID 0 / 1TB WD Black
Pioneer SATA Blu-Ray / Plextor SATA DVD-RW

Q. How would you (lets say) use 12GB of ram?

Can't answer that now lol!

I thought that same thing when I had 768MB or RAM back in 1999. Sure I only *needed* 256MB or 384MB, but today I notice a huge difference just in going form 3GB to 4GB running Vista.

Who's to say I won't need 10, 12, or 16GB's in another 10 years from now.

The fact is that we could speculate that in another 4 years 8GBs will be considered standard as 4GBs is today, and things are only growing exponentially.

Anyway, this has got to be an age old argument lol.

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AMD Phenom II X4 955BE AM3 (Multi x18.5@3712.5MHz) - 965BE On order!
Thermalright IFX-14 Lapped with AS5 (Not installed)
3 Scythe SY1425SL12H / Silverstone FP33-B (Not installed)
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX HDMI ATX
8GB Mushkin 996625 DDR3 1600 (7-7-6-18-24 - DRAM 1.86v)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular
3 74GB WD Raptors in RAID 0 / 1TB WD Black
Pioneer SATA Blu-Ray / Plextor SATA DVD-RW

Actually what is your rig mainly used for? I am figuring you are sticking to the integrated video on that mobo?

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My El Cheapo move to better PC Audio!
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=13&threadid=153336&enterthread=y

Yeah I'm just going with the integrated video for now. I don't play PC games so I have no need for a better graphics card, at least not for another year or 2.

I use it for web design, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, video transcoding, surfing, it's plugged into my LCD TV using the HDMI and I watch all of my Blu-Ray movies on it, etc. Normal stuff I guess that doesn't include gaming.

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE AM3 (Multi x18.5@3712.5MHz) - 965BE On order!
Thermalright IFX-14 Lapped with AS5 (Not installed)
3 Scythe SY1425SL12H / Silverstone FP33-B (Not installed)
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX HDMI ATX
8GB Mushkin 996625 DDR3 1600 (7-7-6-18-24 - DRAM 1.86v)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular
3 74GB WD Raptors in RAID 0 / 1TB WD Black
Pioneer SATA Blu-Ray / Plextor SATA DVD-RW

think you missed one key point.

HTPC class GPU,s have features like pure video that enhance over all quality of video playback considerably more then integrated.

Low cost like a $32.00 8200 GS nvidia PCI-E would have pure video. Can tell you first hand that its better video playback quality then integrated.

No Idea what ATI offers for better video playback.

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AMD phenom II 1090T @ 4.23 Ghz custom water cooled
Asrock 890 FX deluxe 3 mother board
4 GB DDR 3 1600 @ 1688 Mhz 7 7 7 24 T1 2688 Mhz NB
2x 1 TB WD Sata III 64 mb cache HDD,s raid 0
2x 5870 HD @ 1015/1300 Asus reference
Dual OS win 7 x64 ultimate & win 7 x32 Ultimate (bench os)

Thanks for the feedback! That's exactly the kind of recommendations I'm looking for by posting this!

I'll do some research into HTPC class GPUs and see where that gets me! Thanks!

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE AM3 (Multi x18.5@3712.5MHz) - 965BE On order!
Thermalright IFX-14 Lapped with AS5 (Not installed)
3 Scythe SY1425SL12H / Silverstone FP33-B (Not installed)
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX HDMI ATX
8GB Mushkin 996625 DDR3 1600 (7-7-6-18-24 - DRAM 1.86v)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular
3 74GB WD Raptors in RAID 0 / 1TB WD Black
Pioneer SATA Blu-Ray / Plextor SATA DVD-RW

I recommend

8200 GS

9200 GS

9400 GT

9500 GT for HTPC or work class PC's like your own.

I my self put a 8200 GS 512 MB into my HTPC.

Thing just rocks and with its Nvidia pure video just rocks for video playback and is 100% HDCP compliant. So blueray will work flawless on it no problem.

they cost around $32.00 to $38.00 and produce next to no heat and are rated for only 18 amps on 12+ rail and uses around 98 watts.

Cost/performance you cant go wrong.

-------------------------
AMD phenom II 1090T @ 4.23 Ghz custom water cooled
Asrock 890 FX deluxe 3 mother board
4 GB DDR 3 1600 @ 1688 Mhz 7 7 7 24 T1 2688 Mhz NB
2x 1 TB WD Sata III 64 mb cache HDD,s raid 0
2x 5870 HD @ 1015/1300 Asus reference
Dual OS win 7 x64 ultimate & win 7 x32 Ultimate (bench os)

Thank you very much!

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE AM3 (Multi x18.5@3712.5MHz) - 965BE On order!
Thermalright IFX-14 Lapped with AS5 (Not installed)
3 Scythe SY1425SL12H / Silverstone FP33-B (Not installed)
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 790GX HDMI ATX
8GB Mushkin 996625 DDR3 1600 (7-7-6-18-24 - DRAM 1.86v)
Corsair CMPSU-750HX ATX12V 2.3 Modular
3 74GB WD Raptors in RAID 0 / 1TB WD Black
Pioneer SATA Blu-Ray / Plextor SATA DVD-RW

Actually for Blue Ray ATI edges it with its UVD (Unified Video Decoder) and the HDMI set up and connectivity from my HTPC DIYing shows 780G chipsets to be good to go but ya Nvidia chipsets generally have better audio (7.1)


There is sufficient hardware acceleration on 780G IGP already for it to function as HTPC hehe Drop down to AVS forums (lots of great HTPC info!) and soak up what tweaks/software/etc peeps get into for HTPC on integrated HD3200/3300

O/T

i shall move up to the AM3/DDR3 785G chipset later this year with HD4200 IGP, UVD 2.0, etc so can't wait


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My El Cheapo move to better PC Audio!
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=13&threadid=153336&enterthread=y

Edited: 07/12/2009 at 12:52 AM by batuchka

IMO If you plan on using onbord GFX for constant video playback i would invest in a top notch Northbrige heatsink if you plan on 1080p on a 30"+ LCD and the longer the HDMI cable the more strain on the onboard GFX as well.
and for a ATI GFX card 4650, 3850 or any 48xx cards. The 4650 and 3850 are pretty quiet cards like the ones GURU posted.