# first AMD system



## haxereth (Aug 17, 2010)

Ok so I'm "kinda" new to building computer and in the past i've just used intel and now I would like to try out the Phenom II X6 1055T from amd. I think for the case I'd like the HAF 932 but as for everything else I'm not really sure... I'd like to be able to overclock it to 3.8-4 on air.

Also I got about a $750-850 budget and I'd like to keep low as possible.
Oh and I don't really need too good of a graphics card.


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## Dent1 (Aug 17, 2010)

haxereth said:


> Ok so I'm "kinda" new to building computer and in the past i've just used intel and now I would like to try out the Phenom II X6 1055T from amd. I think for the case I'd like the HAF 932 but as for everything else I'm not really sure... I'd like to be able to overclock it to 3.8-4 on air.
> 
> Also I got about a $750-850 budget and I'd like to keep low as possible.
> Oh and I don't really need too good of a graphics card.



What is the computer going to be used for?

I think its best if you list the components whcih you are planning on buying and we'll tell you to what to remove or swap it for.


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## haxereth (Aug 17, 2010)

I kind of did... the processor and the case... and everything I am not really sure of and would rather just ask here than spend hours more researching...  And for the motherboard it would be whatever would allow me to overclock it to 3.8 at least, 3.9-4 when/if I need better cooling.. and since the RAM and stuff depends on the  motherboard I need to figure out what motherboard to get. And as for power supply basically the same... Whatever would give me enough power and wouldn't fail easily... I'm guessing 650-750 watts since I'm only gonna be using 1 graphics card for now. And as for the graphics card... I'm really unsure. 

And I'll be using it mainly for multiprocessing stuff and some After Effects and Photoshop.


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## haxereth (Aug 17, 2010)

ok so here is some stuff I found

Proccessor
Phenom II X6 1055T 
$200

Case

HAF 932
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&sku=C283-1187

Mobo

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX A...

maybe?
BIOSTAR TA890GXB HD AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ...

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

Power Supply
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362115&CatId=2533

still dont know on the graphics card


edit: sorry for double posting


edit2:

and.......

FORGOT THE HD....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...m_re=Homepage-_-Spot 08-_-CatId_8_TSD-500AAKS


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## Dent1 (Aug 17, 2010)

The build overall looks good, I can not fault the performance. I would make a few changes though. I would get a 890GX motherboard chipset, they tend to have more USB ports, slightly better integrated video card and updated southbridge. The case looks good but its pretty expensive do not feel affraid to spend $30-40 on a case if it means that you can put more money towards performance enhancing components. Also 500 GB HD is small by today's standards, look for a HD in the 1TB-2TB range.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 R...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...


You said earlier that you didnt care about a video card, what is this rig going to be used for? You didnt put a aftermarket heatsink in the basket, a necessary essential if you're overclocking.


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## wiak (Aug 17, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> The build overall looks good, I can not fault the performance. I would make a few changes though. I would get a 890GX motherboard chipset, they tend to have more USB ports, slightly better integrated video card and updated southbridge. The case looks good but its pretty expensive do not feel affraid to spend $30-40 on a case if it means that you can put more money towards performance enhancing components. Also 500 GB HD is small by today's standards, look for a HD in the 1TB-2TB range.
> 
> Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 R...
> SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
> ...



you can also get 880G boards to thats cheaper than 890GX boards and also have SB850 with 6x SATA 6gbps and some of them even got USB 3.0 but you will lose proper x8 or x16 CrossfireX support

Antec Three Hundred is a nice cheap gaming case, Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is a excellent harddrive for a gaming system


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## Techtu (Aug 17, 2010)

Even the 870 chipset has the SB850  (see my specs for my specific board model)

Suitable for the X6's and got my 1055T to 4Ghz on air cooling with my xiggy, but I'm happy at 3.5Ghz.

And seem's like these guy's have got you covered for everything else, just thought I'd throw in my thought's.


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## wiak (Aug 17, 2010)

Tech2 said:


> Even the 870 chipset has the SB850  (see my specs for my specific board model)
> 
> Suitable for the X6's and got my 1055T to 4Ghz on air cooling with my xiggy, but I'm happy at 3.5Ghz.
> 
> And seem's like these guy's have got you covered for everything else, just thought I'd throw in my thought's.


best get 8+2 phases on motherboard if anyone wanna overclock, trust me


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## AlienIsGOD (Aug 17, 2010)

For a GFX card go for sumthin in the HD5K series like a 5700 series card.


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## haxereth (Aug 18, 2010)

I think I might get a used ASUS Crosshair III mobo.

and the reason why I had chose that 500gb hardrive was due to the fact that it was $60 off a $100 HD


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## Reventon (Aug 18, 2010)

AlienIsGOD said:


> For a GFX card go for sumthin in the HD5K series like a 5700 series card.



He said he doesn't need a good graphics card.


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## haxereth (Aug 18, 2010)

hey so on newegg the HAF 932 is on sale for $130 with free shipping and I noticed the Storm Sniper  on sale for $99 with free shipping, both normally the same price. I don't really care about looks so which one do you think would be better?

oh and as for graphics card I /may/ have solved it... 
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

would that power supply be able to power everything with overclocked to 4ghz?


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## Techtu (Aug 18, 2010)

The layout of both the cases look pretty much he same so I doubt one is better than the other, and if it is probably only by a small margin. I think it all comes down to the person who is buying as each case has it's very different look's from the other.

Ask yourself this... Blue or red?

EDIT: It does seem like the HAF932 would be better for watercooling, but if your not going down that path then that's nothing to consider anyway's.


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## CJCerny (Aug 18, 2010)

You don't need a 700 watt power supply for that kind of build. Even 500 would really be overkill for what you are talking about, unless you plan on upgrading it a lot in the future.


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## haxereth (Aug 18, 2010)

Tech2 said:


> The layout of both the cases look pretty much he same so I doubt one is better than the other, and if it is probably only by a small margin. I think it all comes down to the person who is buying as each case has it's very different look's from the other.
> 
> Ask yourself this... Blue or red?
> 
> EDIT: It does seem like the HAF932 would be better for watercooling, but if your not going down that path then that's nothing to consider anyway's.


well I _might_ get watercooling but if I could get to 3.8-3.9 on air I'd stay with air.


CJCerny said:


> You don't need a 700 watt power supply for that kind of build. Even 500 would really be overkill for what you are talking about, unless you plan on upgrading it a lot in the future.



ok thanks I guess I'll get that combo then.


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## Techtu (Aug 18, 2010)

You should get to that fairly easy on air with a decent cooler, I have my 1055T @3.5 and never goes above 48 degrees, I've also had it clocked @4Ghz and went just over 50 after an hour or so of testing - as long as your case provides a good airflow you shouldn't need to move to water cooling just to get that little bit more out of your overclock.


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## haxereth (Aug 18, 2010)

ok bought it.
$665 after $70s in rebates.

items

CPU
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 ...

Case
COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black ...

Graphics card
XFX GS250XYDFU GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3...

PSU
XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 S...

Ram
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600...

HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...

Mobo (bought used)
ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD M...




edit:

in the next few weeks I'll get an SSD and 4 gb more of ram.


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## Dent1 (Aug 18, 2010)

Overall the computer looks good.

A few queries. The 790FX chipset is old, newer chipsets like the 890G/GX, 880G/870G or 785G would have been more appropriate due to better support through bios updates, also the 790FX is a crossfire board and hence you need a ATI card if you want to use multiple cards however you've got a Nvidia card in the basket (GTS 250). The GTS 250 512MB is a little bit overpriced you can get the GTS 250 *1GB* version for $114. At the price you paid the ATI 5750 would of been a better buy performance wise.

Also its a bit worrying when the case costs more than most of your components which actually enhance performance lol.

BTW you never explained what this rig was going to be used for, unless you are doing specific tasks SSD will not help much.


SPARKLE SXS2501024D3L-NM GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-b...
PowerColor AX5750 512MD5-H Radeon HD 5750 512MB 12...


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## BarbaricSoul (Aug 18, 2010)

> also the 790FX is a crossfire board and hence you need a ATI card if you want to use multiple cards however you've got a Nvidia card in the basket (GTS 250). The GTS 250 512MB is a little bit overpriced you can get the GTS 250 1GB version for $114. At the price you paid the ATI 5750 would of been a better buy performance wise.



He hasn't said anything about doing any kind of gaming on this computer. In reality, IGP would be plenty for what he is gonna use this comp for. Also, he got the GTS250 in a combo deal with the PSU he got. $170 isn't that bad for a GTS250 and a 650 watt/52 amp single 12v rail modular PSU.



> BTW you never explained what this rig was going to be used for, unless you are doing specific tasks SSD will not help much.



Yes he did-


> And I'll be using it mainly for multiprocessing stuff and some After Effects and Photoshop.


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## Reventon (Aug 18, 2010)

CJCerny said:


> You don't need a 700 watt power supply for that kind of build. Even 500 would really be overkill for what you are talking about, unless you plan on upgrading it a lot in the future.



Agreed. My 400W Corsair powers my rig fine and there is more to it than this build.


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## fritoking (Aug 18, 2010)

i think you will enjoy the rig. i built one for a friend using the 880 g board, she uses it for photoshop and video and LOVES it. didnt overclock it , but was really surprised  how fast it was stock.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

omg........ so today I FINALLY got my processor and built it. only problem was when I turned it on the monitor would go on and I've googled and researched and either the mobo is out, or I dont know what because I've used the PSU for the last week with my old computer and I've changed everything else out but the mobo and processor since they are AMD and my old computer is Intel... sooooo I thought I'd just post back here...Spent 8 hours trying to fix it and I loosing my mind here. Paypal screwed up on me and I lost money so I can't really afford to get a new motherboard... I mean I could but.... I'd be really pissed and be out a lot of cash.


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

What exactly is the problem with the pc? Post details


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

first off I've been using the new case and PSU for the past week, second, since I didn't want to set up a new hard drive today I just left my old one. So from there.... put my mobo in and cpu in and graphics card in and RAM in and connected everything. EXCEPT I didn't know the graphics card had it's own plug since my old one didnt so it ran for about 10-20 seconds before I realized that and shut everything off and made sure for a second time everything was plugged in. Then I turned it on, monitor says no signal, and i've been trying everything from replugging everything to resetting the bios to fix it.


edit:

monitor is not new, same one i've been using worked earlier today.


and I'm worried I won't be able to get a replacement mobo since I bought it used....


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

Check all your connections (sata, power, 4/8pin, 24pin, all the molex plugs). And check if the 6pin power cable is plugged in the 250gts.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> Check all your connections (sata, power, 4/8pin, 24pin, all the molex plugs). And check if the 6pin power cable is plugged in the 250gts.



did that and replugged each of them in...


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

remove the 250gts, try booting without it and use onboard video (if it has onboard)


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> remove the 250gts, try booting without it and use onboard video (if it has onboard)



has none and tried it anyway..


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

hmm... try booting with one stick of ram, the HDD, and minimum amount of stuff. Or, try other 6pin connectors (if your PSU has more than one) and try the molex to 6pin that comes with the card.


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## Baam (Aug 28, 2010)

Is your motherboard bios up to date to support the 1055T?


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> hmm... try booting with one stick of ram, the HDD, and minimum amount of stuff. Or, try other 6pin connectors (if your PSU has more than one) and try the molex to 6pin that comes with the card.


did that all 


Baam said:


> Is your motherboard bios up to date to support the 1055T?



it wont even show on the monitor....


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

hmm. the board should support it from bios ver 1602. if you have an older (am2/am2+) cpu to test the board with, get one just to update the bios.

edit: since you said it was open box/used, maybe the bios wasn't updated.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> hmm. the board should support it from bios ver 1602. if you have an older (am2/am2+) cpu to test the board with, get one just to update the bios.
> 
> edit: since you said it was open box/used, maybe the bios wasn't updated.



so i have to buy an older amd chip...?


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

not exactly older, but just go for something like an sempron you can get cheap (am2 or am2+). see if you can borrow one, or get one on the cheap. you need it just to update the bios.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> not exactly older, but just go for something like an sempron you can get cheap (am2 or am2+). see if you can borrow one, or get one on the cheap. you need it just to update the bios.



I still can't believe something like a  bios update would keep the monitor from getting a signal. I mean wouldn't there at least be an error message?


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

hmm so i saw this thread
http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherboards/335438-will-motherboard-post-without-cpu.html

if someone could find out if the croshair iii formula motherboard will post or not without cpu i will be happy when I wake up tomorrow.... spent 10 hours trying to fix this time to crash.... its 3am.


edit: because if it will post without CPU then that means my motherboard would probably be broken right?


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

a bios update means the board won't recognize the cpu = won't boot properly, if at all. but if it still won't run after update bios, either it's probably a hardware problem.

edit: posting without a cpu is probably a feature on some boards, but no POST without a cpu should be normal.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

oh by the way I just tested keyboard and the lights dont turn on... guess the mobo is just burnt out or what? and since I didn't originally buy it can I still do the RMA stuff?


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## Baam (Aug 28, 2010)

Saw this thread in the Asus forums.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...=Crosshair+III+Formula&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

I would just the cheapest amd cpu you can find to try it.

Sempron for 35 bucks on newegg.

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket ...


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

either that, or borrow a low end sempron from anyone you know and update bios with that.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

saved. thanks a lot. I was freaking out about having to buy a new motherboard the last 6 hours lol.... decided to google ONE more page and found this

http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherboards/641362-asus-crosshair-iii-formula-compatibility-help.html

guess i'll buy the $35 AMD and then return it? should I get  $30 back from it or so?



BUTTTTTTTTT

that still doesn't explain why the keyboard doesn't light up... I tried pressing the caps lock num lock and scroll lock and it didnt light up...


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## GENTLEMEN (Aug 28, 2010)

it normally lights up during POST. probably the board can't detect your cpu = no post = no kb light. but maybe i would keep that sempron if i were you. you never know if you might need to update bios again. and $30-35 is pretty cheap.


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

just a thought... If you do a "dry run" (boot without CPU) with your motherboard and see if you get any light or BIOS beep's from the board itself. This will show you if any power is getting to the board and the BIOS beep's are always very useful... you do have a speaker connected to the onboard jumper don't you?


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## JATownes (Aug 28, 2010)

Do the fans spin up?  Does the video card have a red LED lit?  Are you getting any beeps (long/short/constant and how many) when you power it on?

Got beat by Tech2 with the Ninja Edit...


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

JATownes said:


> Do the fans spin up?  Does the video card have a red LED lit?  Are you getting any beeps (long/short/constant and how many) when you power it on?
> 
> Got beat by Tech2 with the Ninja Edit...



Maybe I beat your ass of the mark however you was actually more precisest on asking him for the beeping info


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

well I already bought the processor from newegg.

But I ddid get lights and the power and reset buttons on the motherboard worked.

and I dont think I had any sound stuff plugged in...


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## JATownes (Aug 28, 2010)

Plug a speaker into the mb header, it should be located with the power/reset headers.  This will allow you to hear the "beeps" that can be used to diagnose issues.


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Yes... JA is very much on the ball here, if you could by any chance plug a speaker into the header and report back with how many beeps and if they are long or short. I'm not saying Gentleman is wrong by what he has suggested, but this method will give you a very accurate message of what is wrong, and obviously will let you know for sure if you have done the right thing buying a sempron to update the bios.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

uh... sorry to sound like a total noob but how do I do that.. I dont seem to have anything that would plug in there..


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Usually look something like this...






or maybe you have one fitted in/with your case and you would only really be able to see the jumper end of the connection, but I'm sue if you have a quick look to see if you have something like that inside your case that you'll be able to spot it easy enough (mainly going on the 4pin jumper header)


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

lol... http://www.cmstorm.com/forum/showthread.php?t=739


guessing I can't?


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Meh... if that's the same case you have.. which I'm pretty sure it is otherwise you wouldn't of linked me to a thread of that content   then no, it doesn't look like you'll have one... however if you happen to have any old cases around you'll probably find one in that which you could use, generally it's the more OEM built systems where you will most likely find one.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

Tech2 said:


> Meh... if that's the same case you have.. which I'm pretty sure it is otherwise you wouldn't of linked me to a thread of that content   then no, it doesn't look like you'll have one... however if you happen to have any old cases around you'll probably find one in that which you could use, generally it's the more OEM built systems where you will most likely find one.



well I would but I would have to take apart the computer I am using now and I kinda need to use it...


as a sidenote.

funny how that guy has mobo issues almost like mine (and then someone else commented with same issues too) and we all got asus boards....


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Meh... don't get me started on Asus... 2 motherboards from them and when I use more than 2Gb of RAM in either board it somehow disable's my PCI port's  it really really annoy's me! as I hate using a USB Wlan dongle instead of a internal PCI card type


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

my current board is a asus and it works fine >_> besides the fact that when I bought my set up I didn't know my the board they put in it was junky and wouldn't let me change vcore lol... Also didn't know about overclocking back then 

darn this is why I should have bought a new mobo.... well I learned my lesson.


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Errrr... don't mean to make you worry about this anymore but I've just been looking on the Asus website for the supported CPU's of the crosshair formula III, the Sempron 140 is only supported by BIOS version "0601" (and up) which isn't the first BIOS for that board, so let's hope the first user at least did one update of the BIOS and more so to that version at the least!


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

Tech2 said:


> Errrr... don't mean to make you worry about this anymore but I've just been looking on the Asus website for the supported CPU's of the crosshair formula III, the Sempron is only support by BIOS version "0601" which isn't the first BIOS for that board, so let's hope the first user at least did one update of the BIOS and more so to that version at the least!



what if I reset the bios :O


yesterday while I was trying to fix it I did take out the cmos battery thing for a while....... ughhhhh now I just wasted $35..


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

haxereth said:


> what if I reset the bios :O



Errr that will do very little, it'll just reset the setting's in the BIOS to the factory presets.

If I was you right now I'd be emailing the guy you brought it off and ask him if he happen's to know what BIOS he was running the board with and/or possibly what CPU he was running - we could narrow it down ourself's to which BIOS it *could* be 

EDIT: I wouldn't say just yet that it's a waste of $35 ... it may possibly have the BIOS you need  and if not I'm sure someone would buy the CPU from you for the price you brought it for or very close to. But let's not worry about that just yet until we know the fact's for sure.


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

well I'm pretty sure he did update it because I doubt anyone would buy a $250 mobo and use a real old processor... so if it worked for his processor it should work for the sempron right? seeing as how it's 602 and unless he had an old processor it wouldnt be lower...


edit:


damn.... well I found his processor...

Phenom IIX4 955 (HDZ955FBK4DGI),3.2GHz,125W,rev.C2,SocketAM3,Quad-Core   
bios is 0302 freaking 302.... 


now I'm just waiting to hear back from him. hopefully he did update bios.



Edit again:


found a pic of his stuff shows it at 1105 under bios version. yeah


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## surfingerman (Aug 28, 2010)

and this is why we don't spend more on a new case than a used motherboard.. lesson learned


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## Techtu (Aug 28, 2010)

Wow... certainly was a close call!! 

Glad to hear it though 

You shouldn't have any problem's from now on in 

Let us know how it goes when the Sempron come's!


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## haxereth (Aug 28, 2010)

surfingerman said:


> and this is why we don't spend more on a new case than a used motherboard.. lesson learned



actually the case was 99.99 and the motherboard was 100 the case was $60 off normally 160. 


also it probably is a part of my newbie-ness and thinking everything will go smooth as out of my 3-4 computers i've had i've never had ANYTHING fail on me besides a PSU i got with my last computer burned out when I plugged it in lol..


and while I'm reminded of it better mail in my PSU rebate.


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