Sam's AMD gamer

[savage1987]

Thought I might pop this up, my main system I built a couple of years ago. Always up for feedback / ideas for improvement.

Specs as follows

CPU: Phenom II x4 955BE
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: Crosshair IV Formula
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1600
Graphics: 2x MSI HD6870
PSU: Corsair AX1200
HDD1: 1TB WD Caviar Black
HDD2: 2TB WD Green
Zalman fan controller
ASUS DVD-RW
Lian Li PC-P50R case




Down to business 🙂












Unfortunately I suck balls with a camera so the outside photos are all poo, but here's a couple anyway









Let me know what you think 🙂
Sam

[savage1987]

Since then some things have changed. I had a lot of trouble with Crossfire which turned out to be a dud 6870. I got it replaced and still had problems so gave up for a long time. Turned out the card they sent back was also faulty so I got it changed again. This time they sent a 6950 back, which of course won't crossfire with the working 6870 because of the different cores.

Currently running a single 6950 instead of the 6870s.

I had a play around tonight with RBE and unlocked the shaders of the stock BIOS, worked beautifully and without a hitch.

3dmark11
Score
5047 --> 5194


Have yet to overclock the 6950.

[savage1987]

Bit of a copy/paste update, a few posts that I neglected to put up here accidentally..






Well I had a good win today, picked up a fairly new system from a guy moving overseas and I think I got quite a good deal.

8350
Crosshair V Formula Z
Corsair 500R black case
12GB Corsair Dominator GT, 2000MHz, 9-10-9-27, 1.65V
HX-1050
HIS 5770-ish (1GB)

all for $800.

Now to decide which parts make their way into which case. The 500R is a beautiful case but I think I like my Lian Li better with its sexy AMD dragon up the side.

I'm thinking 8350, CH V F Z, Dominator GTs into the Lian Li PC-P50R, then make a system out of the rest and sell it off. I have some intent to sleeve the finished product (the one I'm keeping) and pop an ELC240 in it, perhaps even a full custom loop although I have serious reservations about chopping the case up.





Well I am in love with Windows 7 all over again.

I put the CPU/mobo/RAM into my own system this afternoon, and as soon as I turned it on Windows loaded everything just fine. A couple of drivers off the motherboard CD and it's all running 100%.

Not that it's much of a benchmark but my Windows Experience Index went up from 7.4 / 7.5 on CPU / RAM to 7.8 / 7.8, with all the other scores maxed at 7.9.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of overclock I can achieve on this setup with the NH-D14 before I move to water.

I took a couple of photos today, hopefully some came out nicely - I'll put them in here later.





So after I changed the CPU for the 8350, and added an SSD as the OS drive:

Score
5194 ---> 5412
Graphics
5192 ---> 5176 (??)
Physics
5357 ---> 7535
Combined
4986 ---> 5014

New score is 5412.. Honestly I had expected more, however I haven't even touched an overclock yet. I think my graphics card may be starting to really hold the system back, it may be time to consider an upgrade there.





OK time for another photo update (once again, sorry for my camera skills)

After breaking the 500R machine down into its components, the best bits were laid out to be moved over into my own system. Here's the new CPU:






A couple of comparison shots of new/old hardware, I think I have made a pretty decent upgrade 🙂











And a couple of pics of it all installed in the Lian Li case:












This little red illuminated strip was a nice surprise when I powered it up for the first time:






I haven't tried overclocking the 8350 yet (I have been busy lately with this Intel build) but I'm looking forward to it. One of the huge advantages (in my eyes) of owning a Crosshair board is the sheer amount of guides / support there is for overclocking the bigger processors on them. You will never be left in the dark. 🙂

[CharFlo88]

savage1987 wrote:
Bit of a copy/paste update, a few posts that I neglected to put up here accidentally..






Well I had a good win today, picked up a fairly new system from a guy moving overseas and I think I got quite a good deal.

8350
Crosshair V Formula Z
Corsair 500R black case
12GB Corsair Dominator GT, 2000MHz, 9-10-9-27, 1.65V
HX-1050
HIS 5770-ish (1GB)

all for $800.

Now to decide which parts make their way into which case. The 500R is a beautiful case but I think I like my Lian Li better with its sexy AMD dragon up the side.

I'm thinking 8350, CH V F Z, Dominator GTs into the Lian Li PC-P50R, then make a system out of the rest and sell it off. I have some intent to sleeve the finished product (the one I'm keeping) and pop an ELC240 in it, perhaps even a full custom loop although I have serious reservations about chopping the case up.





Well I am in love with Windows 7 all over again.

I put the CPU/mobo/RAM into my own system this afternoon, and as soon as I turned it on Windows loaded everything just fine. A couple of drivers off the motherboard CD and it's all running 100%.

Not that it's much of a benchmark but my Windows Experience Index went up from 7.4 / 7.5 on CPU / RAM to 7.8 / 7.8, with all the other scores maxed at 7.9.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of overclock I can achieve on this setup with the NH-D14 before I move to water.

I took a couple of photos today, hopefully some came out nicely - I'll put them in here later.





So after I changed the CPU for the 8350, and added an SSD as the OS drive:

Score
5194 ---> 5412
Graphics
5192 ---> 5176 (??)
Physics
5357 ---> 7535
Combined
4986 ---> 5014

New score is 5412.. Honestly I had expected more, however I haven't even touched an overclock yet. I think my graphics card may be starting to really hold the system back, it may be time to consider an upgrade there.





OK time for another photo update (once again, sorry for my camera skills)

After breaking the 500R machine down into its components, the best bits were laid out to be moved over into my own system. Here's the new CPU:






A couple of comparison shots of new/old hardware, I think I have made a pretty decent upgrade 🙂











And a couple of pics of it all installed in the Lian Li case:












This little red illuminated strip was a nice surprise when I powered it up for the first time:






I haven't tried overclocking the 8350 yet (I have been busy lately with this Intel build) but I'm looking forward to it. One of the huge advantages (in my eyes) of owning a Crosshair board is the sheer amount of guides / support there is for overclocking the bigger processors on them. You will never be left in the dark. 🙂

Cool upgrade man! I have the Crosshair Formula Z as well with an FX-8350 oc'd to 4.8. Here is mine! Welcome to the 8350 club 😛

[jmoorez2001]

good build hope u got a good 8350 for sur eand it overcloks good for u mine only can go to 4.8 at max oh well it happends but over all a nice lil build starting here and yes i would go full water cooling on it

[savage1987]

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to playing around with an overclock and seeing how it goes. Now I have delivered this other PC I've been working on I am free to get back into this one!

[jmoorez2001]

the thing is not to get in a hurry with the overclocking take it one step at a time if it doesnt work fall back one step and try something else in the bios

[CharFlo88]

jmoorez2001 wrote:
the thing is not to get in a hurry with the overclocking take it one step at a time if it doesnt work fall back one step and try something else in the bios

Truth is truth...

[savage1987]

Yeah that's pretty much the plan