Is there a bootle neck in my ring???

[Srourg]

Just bought the below items: (Micro center)

1- Phenom II X4 940 (189.99$)
2- Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H AMD 79 (139.9$)
3- Diamond HD4870 1Gb (219.9$)
4- PNY Memory XLR8 performance edition DDR2 1066 MHz 5-5-5-15 2.1 V 4Gb (94.99$)
5- OCZtech 750W Quad ATX PSU BLK (139.99$)
6- Seagate 1TB 3.5" Sata 7200 RPM H (99.99$)
7- Acer 21.5" Wide LCD Max Resol. 1920x1080 (189.99$)
8- Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Audio P (54.99$)
9- Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 SPE (79.99$)
10- Coolmast CM 590 ATX Case (69.99$)

Planning to put it together on Saturday, do you think that I have a bottle necking item ( I still can replace it)

My second question is what is the cheapest fan cooler to OC the above to 3.7-3.8?

(just knew that Ram is 25$ less on newegg and Creative card is not really a X-FI this is bullshit from creative...)

Tanks for your input folks...

 

[jaggerwild]

Not familiar with that system so i can not comment, but I found an ATI 4890 witch is the latest greatest GPU for less than the one you posted.

HIS ATI 4890 @ $199.00 after mail in rebate.

 

[Cogman]

There is no cooler guaranteed to get you an overclock anywhere. It could be that the stock cooler is good enough, it could be that nothing short of a phase change system is good enough.

For a good cooler, I find that most thermal right products are top of the line. For a slightly cheaper brand, I have heard that arctic cooling is pretty good.

You might consider a different PSU. Corsiar makes some of the best, and for the same price you could have one.

I would say that you are spending way too much on ram. For the same price you could easily get 8 gb of DDR2 800 ram. Unless you are doing something that you know needs extreme memory bandwidth, 800 FSB ram is almost certainly fast enough. (you'll see a bigger benefit from having 8gb of memory vs 4 gb of faster memory)

Make sure you get a 64bit OS. (as you don't have an OS listed)

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Your "bottleneck" could be from different components, depending on the application.

Examples:
For some games, your CPU or videocard could be a bottleneck.
For photo editing, 4 GB of RAM could be a bottleneck
For 3D rendering, your CPU could be a bottleneck

The word "bottleneck" gets thrown around too often. You have a very nice system, a good all-around performer. Be happy with it. The advice given by jaggerwild and Cogman is apt.

 

[Munky]

If anything, the monitor seems too small, and would be a "bottleneck" for my eyes.

 

[LoneNinja]

Personally the motherboard is a bottleneck for me, I'm not buying another Gigabyte motherboard until I know for sure they are working with Cool n Quiet while overclocked.

Performance wise depending on what your doing, as already mentioned the "bottleneck" could change, however I would label the hard drive as the primary bottleneck.

 

[betasub]

LOL at thread title.

OP's rig looks pretty balanced, but it all depends on what apps/games are run. Usage profile determines bottleneck.

 

[daw123]

'...Bootleneck in my ring'. [*** Insert joke here ***] Far too easy.

 

[Srourg]

Thanks for all of you guys really apreciate it.
In fact I may consider changing the Ram. when I bought them I had in my mind the OCing and these are among the best overclockable ones, that's why I spent the money on them.

Will mainly play games, surf on the net and do some picture editing, will I really need slower but 8 Gb instead of faster but 4 GB?

 

[taltamir]

creative is the PLAGUE, they make cool hardware but their drivers are ATROCIOUS... avoid!

750 watt? your rig needs a 400 watt PSU at most.. i'd get a 500 watt one just to make sure you have enough juice on each individual rail, and have some room to grow and because they are cheap...

Be aware that if your PSU wattage is much higher than the amount you actually draw then EFFICIENCY goes down.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Srourg
Thanks for all of you guys really apreciate it.
In fact I may consider changing the Ram. when I bought them I had in my mind the OCing and these are among the best overclockable ones, that's why I spent the money on them.

Will mainly play games, surf on the net and do some picture editing, will I really need slower but 8 Gb instead of faster but 4 GB?

The RAM speed will make very little difference. 4gb should be fine.

 

[Hacp]

I think the biggest bootynecks you have are the hard drive(no ssd) and the 4gb of ram. Get 8gb and an SSD.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Hacp
I think the biggest bootynecks you have are the hard drive(no ssd) and the 4gb of ram. Get 8gb and an SSD.

SSD isn't quite "there" yet, IMO. It's an extremely poor value proposition.

 

[Srourg]

how can I calculate the exact psu power I would need? as I would definitly prefered to get the 500 W and put my money in something else but noone advised me to do so until you posted it.

 

[SickBeast]

If your ring is too small it will bottleneck your finger.

As for your rig, I fail to understand why you are getting a 4870 and not a 4890.

Don't waste your money on the Creative sound card.

Swap the Acer monitor for a Samsung. The 1080P resolution is very good.

I think that the Phenom processor you're getting is overkill and there are better values out there with other processors. The 920 would be better, or else the tri-core version (or even wait a week or two and get the new Athlon 2).

 

[Srourg]

just checked, the radeon alone would need 500W! + 125 for the CPU we are already at 625...

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Srourg
how can I calculate the exact psu power I would need? as I would definitly prefered to get the 500 W and put my money in something else but noone advised me to do so until you posted it.

500W is borderline too small.

600W would be ideal IMO.

700W would be more future proof.

1000W+ is overkill.

I have an OCZ 700W PSU and it is too loud for my liking, but works well. You should try to find a good PSU that is quiet. There are even fanless ones that are dead silent.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Srourg
just checked, the radeon alone would need 500W! + 125 for the CPU we are already at 625...

No no no...

Go here, it will calculate your PSU needs

 

[Srourg]

the samsung would cost me additional 55$.
In regards to the sound card, I think it wasn't a good deal but would still be better than the 889 realteck with a 5.1 creative speakers I bought what do you think?

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Srourg
the samsung would cost me additional 55$.
In regards to the sound card, I think it wasn't a good deal but would still be better than the 889 realteck with a 5.1 creative speakers I bought what do you think?

The integrated sound is fine.

AFAIK there aren't even drivers for the Creative cards for Vista or Windows 7 (although there might be a workaround).

If the Samsung is $55 more, save your money I guess.

Perhaps you could sell your ring at a pawn shop for some addtional funds.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Srourg
just checked, the radeon alone would need 500W! + 125 for the CPU we are already at 625...

You really need to check out the Power Supplies forum. What you are attempting to do is not how PSU requirements are calculated.

You can just keep the PSU you bought, if you don't want a hassle. It's fine.

 

[Srourg]

Million thanks to you SickBeast your site helped a lot, it gave me the following recommended PSU:

Recommended PSU Wattage: 710W

In regards to the Ram and SOUND CARD, the pic is not clear yet: Shall I keep or return as today is my last chance to do so.(Will leave the States tomorrow)

 

[SickBeast]

You're welcome, Srourg!

Return the sound card! I am 100% certain about this.

The ram is fine.

 

[Kuzi]

Like some people mentioned here, get the ATI 4890 instead, and dump the Creative X-FI audio card, the intergrated Realtek audio should do just fine (plus more stable drivers).

For the LCD, check the 22" LG Flatron L227WTG-PF, it's great for gaming, but costs about $220.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: Srourg
Million thanks to you SickBeast your site helped a lot, it gave me the following recommended PSU:

Recommended PSU Wattage: 710W

apparently you did something wrong then. There is no way the rig outlined in your original post would need even close to 710W.

BTW people, the "OCZtech" 750W Quad, is actually the PC Power and Cooling 750W Silencer...$140 is overpriced for it though.