# AMD Build



## MegaMan (Oct 16, 2011)

*Cooler Advice*

*Seeking Advice:*

1. Will the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO fit in my case

2. Will the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO allow me to use all four of my ram slots so I can have 16gb of ram

3. Any other CPU cooler suggestions around 50 dollars or cheaper

Any other suggestions are appropriated.

I am not interested in debating Intel vs Amd.

I already own the case, power supply, ram and the ssd.

*Parts list:*

Case:
Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P50R

Power Supply:
CORSAIR Professional Series HX750

Motherboard:
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX

CPU:
AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz

CPU Cooler:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

Ram: (have two sets of these, 4x4GB, 16gb total)
Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000)

Video Card:
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC

SSD:
Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW160G3K5 2.5" 160GB


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 16, 2011)

I would suggest you not go bulldozer as a BD owner, but if you want to, I say pull the trigger everything looks solid other than the CPU cooler, you won't get far with it BD puts out crazy amounts of heat.


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## MegaMan (Oct 16, 2011)

[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> I would suggest you not go bulldozer as a BD owner, but if you want to, I say pull the trigger everything looks solid other than the CPU cooler, you won't get far with it BD puts out crazy amounts of heat.


For what reasons don't you like your bulldozer processor?


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 17, 2011)

MegaMan said:


> For what reasons don't you like your bulldozer processor?



It runs warm, and draws lots of power on OC, if your not planning to OC, above 4 GHz then it's less of a factor but at 4.5ghz I am pulling nearly 700 watts at load with 1 CPU and a GTX  470. I have solar panels, so I care less about the power draw, but I do care about the heat. Running "warm" is being charitable.


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## jasper1605 (Oct 17, 2011)

What temps are you seeing on your BD right now H?


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## Super XP (Oct 17, 2011)

You have a nice setup. You can always go for a AMD FX 8120 for an extra $40, but it depends on what you use your PC for. 
I assume Gaming. I would also recommend a 1TB or 2TB drive with a 64MB buffer for back up.
Game On...


[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> I would suggest you not go bulldozer as a BD owner, but if you want to, I say pull the trigger everything looks solid other than the CPU cooler, you won't get far with it BD puts out crazy amounts of heat.


Crazy amounts of heat  Are you kidding? Don't know why you would spread miss-information like that. Anything you OC will give you more heat, you only need a good cooler to keep the heat down.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 17, 2011)

jasper1605 said:


> What temps are you seeing on your BD right now H?



stock or oc'd ?

4.5 is my max bootable, and I get random BSOD on load sometimes it's 10 mins sometimes it's 3 hours before BSOD comes.

Temps idle 43c Load topping 60c


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## MegaMan (Oct 17, 2011)

I don't really plan to overclock much if at all, for sure not past 4ghz.
Mostly just wondering about coolers and using the ram slot closet to the CPU.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 17, 2011)

MegaMan said:


> I don't really plan to overclock much if at all, for sure not past 4ghz.
> Mostly just wondering about coolers and using the ram slot closet to the CPU.



I would go with a beefy'er cooler, but other than that I say pull the trigger, or suggest you wait for the 8170.


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## Baam (Oct 17, 2011)

Mine idles around 35c at 4.8Ghz, Temps shoot up fast though under full load.


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## Super XP (Oct 17, 2011)

[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> I would go with a beefy'er cooler, but other than that I say pull the trigger, or suggest you wait for the 8170.



http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015&Tpk=corsair%20hydro


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## MegaMan (Oct 17, 2011)

Super XP said:


> You have a nice setup. You can always go for a AMD FX 8120 for an extra $40, but it depends on what you use your PC for.
> I assume Gaming. I would also recommend a 1TB or 2TB drive with a 64MB buffer for back up.
> Game On...
> 
> Crazy amounts of heat  Are you kidding? Don't know why you would spread miss-information like that. Anything you OC will give you more heat, you only need a good cooler to keep the heat down.



Gaming yes, that and vmware.
Would I get any gaming performance upgrade from fx-6100 to fx-8120?
I already have a few spare hard drives.

I am not really willing to go for water cooling.
Still need help in determining a air cooler that fits in my case and lets me use all 4 ram slots.


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## amd/atifiend (Oct 18, 2011)

i have embraced watercooling but the best air cooler i had in the day was a scythe orochi.....can't guarantee it would fit in your case but id take $40 shipped for it.

yes you would see a boost in performance from 6100 to 8120...if u go bd go 8150, disable some cores and overclock the crap out of it for fun one day


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

The only place I can find the 8120 in stock is microcenter which is a 100 miles away.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 18, 2011)

MegaMan said:


> The only place I can find the 8120 in stock is microcenter which is a 100 miles away.



Ouch going to wait for newegg stock ?


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> Ouch going to wait for newegg stock ?



Yes, and i still don't know what cooler to get.


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## Darkleoco (Oct 18, 2011)

If you could spring for it I would recommend a CoolerMaster V6GT though you would have to try and see if their was enough space for your ram, though admittedly it does run a tad loud it gets the job done extremely well, my 2600K is around 40-45 on load with the standard clocks.


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## [H]@RD5TUFF (Oct 18, 2011)

MegaMan said:


> Yes, and i still don't know what cooler to get.



Grab a Thermalright macho if you can find one, they are the best bang for the buck and one of the best coolers you can buy.


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## theeldest (Oct 18, 2011)

I know this is sort of off topic but maybe it helps. The Noctua NH-D14 fits in an Antec P183 and allows use of all 4 dimm slots.

(again, sorry for not being 100% relevant to your specific example but this cooler seems larger than the 212 and the case seems smaller than that Lian Li)

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 Black Aluminu...


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

As for a beefier CPU cooler i may go that route down the line, for now I will be happy with near stock.

In this video they use the exact motherboard, cooler, but different ram
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9IR1l9nGe4o#t=87s

In the video:
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3...

I have this ram:
Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SD...


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## scooper22 (Oct 18, 2011)

I lately searched for a good CPU air-cooler and settled to the "Thermalright Venomous X" (nickel plated copper, 6 heatpipes), spiritual successor of the TRUE. Avaiable as cooler for Intel socket only or as a complete as a set with fan and Intel/AMD mounts here.

Megahalems would be another option but it's heavier than the V-X.
Noctua's NH-D14 is huge, too and uses two fans, which creates more noise than 1 fan alone.
Hyper 212+ I wouldn't take as it's not powerful enough.



EDIT: 6 not 8 HP, sorry


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## scooper22 (Oct 18, 2011)

Of course it supports AMD sockets.

There are two mounting brackets available, one for Intel and one for AMD.

See the fourth picture on newegg. You can see the mounts and needed backplate for AMD (that scissor-thing with the rectangle plate)





In the "RT"-Edition everything is provided (cooler, fan, shroud, sockets for intel and amd, thermal grease).



EDIT: where's that post I replied to? Okay, so see this one as supplement to mine above


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

8120 is in stock at Tigerdirect
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1239958&sku=A79-8120
Think losing the 15 combo and paying another 10 for the shipping, 25 bucks is worth it?


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

scooper22 said:


> I lately searched for a good CPU air-cooler and settled to the "Thermalright Venomous X" (nickel plated copper, 6 heatpipes), spiritual successor of the TRUE. Avaiable as cooler for Intel socket only or as a complete as a set with fan and Intel/AMD mounts here.
> 
> Megahalems would be another option but it's heavier than the V-X.
> Noctua's NH-D14 is huge, too and uses two fans, which creates more noise than 1 fan alone.
> ...


A bit out of my price range after spending money of the other parts 

Is this one any good?
Scythe SCMG-3000 120mm Heat Pipe CPU Cooler


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

I grabbed the CPU from Tigerdirect
I also ordered everything expect the graphics card the and CPU cooler.


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## happita (Oct 18, 2011)

What games do you play or will be playing in the near future? I would recommend a 6950 to about any medium - hardcore gamer at this moment in time.
And as for the CPU cooler, if you aren't going to be taking it past 4.0GHz, I would say go for the cooler that gives you the best value for your money. And the CM Hyper 212+ is definitely the way to go. Decent price, quiet, and not too big. Just about ANY aftermarket cooler will be much better than stock.


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## _Zod_ (Oct 18, 2011)

I would have saved a couple bucks and went with a Phenom II x6 instead. You would see no difference in performance, lower power consumption, holdover until AMD fixes their power and performance issues with the next revision of BD in a year (hopefully).


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

happita said:


> What games do you play or will be playing in the near future? I would recommend a 6950 to about any medium - hardcore gamer at this moment in time.
> And as for the CPU cooler, if you aren't going to be taking it past 4.0GHz, I would say go for the cooler that gives you the best value for your money. And the CM Hyper 212+ is definitely the way to go. Decent price, quiet, and not too big. Just about ANY aftermarket cooler will be much better than stock.



I would be happy with 3.5ghz really, I may get another 6950 next year when the 7000 series cards come out and do crossfire.


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## eidairaman1 (Oct 18, 2011)

[H]@RD5TUFF said:


> I would suggest you not go bulldozer as a BD owner, but if you want to, I say pull the trigger everything looks solid other than the CPU cooler, you won't get far with it BD puts out crazy amounts of heat.



Id say another stepping or Piledriver would be the next major upgrade. It would appear that Global Foundries is having troubles with their fab plants. To Be honest I think AMD was better off fabricating their own CPUs like they did with K8 and K7.

I would say go with a PH2 X2 555 and unlock it to a B55/955 n overclock it



_Zod_ said:


> I would have saved a couple bucks and went with a Phenom II x6 instead. You would see no difference in performance, lower power consumption, holdover until AMD fixes their power and performance issues with the next revision of BD in a year (hopefully).


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## MegaMan (Oct 18, 2011)

I already bought the CPU and I had a real amd quad core before.
That wouldn't really be an upgrade.
Anyway tomorrow I will most likely be buying the 6950 and the cm evo.


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## Super XP (Oct 21, 2011)

eidairaman1 said:


> Id say another stepping or Piledriver would be the next major upgrade. It would appear that Global Foundries is having troubles with their fab plants. To Be honest I think AMD was better off fabricating their own CPUs like they did with K8 and K7.
> 
> I would say go with a PH2 X2 555 and unlock it to a B55/955 n overclock it



AMD Working on Bulldozer B3 Stepping (It's coming, and I assume it will be Piledriver in Q1 2011)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4997/amd-working-on-bulldozer-b3-stepping


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## xxdozer32 (Oct 21, 2011)

mind me asking what this "bulldozer" is?


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## RevengE (Oct 21, 2011)

xxdozer32 said:


> mind me asking what this "bulldozer" is?



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldozer_(microarchitecture)


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## Volkszorn88 (Oct 21, 2011)

As someone who too was hoping to make the jump onto the bulldozer bandwagon I'm glad I didn't. Across the board, BD doesn't deliver. Don't get me wrong, it's a great CPU. 

Whats bad about Zambezi is that Thuban is out. If it came after the Phenom x4, it would of been amazing, especially for the price. But again, the problem is Thuban. Which is a great CPU for price/performance. Especially if you put it on a 990fx board and OC it.

My PIIX6 1090T@ 4ghz runs cooler and doesn't need as much power and it still beats the 8150 in some benches. You're buying an 8core cpu, if you don't plan on using the 8 cores, don't bother. You won't see gains.

Just buy the 1090T and OC it. People think just because something newer comes out it automatically means the pervious what ever sucks, which is not true. Perfect examples are video cards.

Take the GTX 480 or 5870, yes the 580 and 6970s are out, doesn't mean the 480/5870 won't destroy anything you throw out at them.

So for your AMD build, definitely go 990fx (since they're fairly cheap compared to high end Intel mobos) and the 1090T.


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## Inceptor (Oct 21, 2011)

Super XP said:


> AMD Working on Bulldozer B3 Stepping (It's coming, and I assume it will be Piledriver in Q1 2011)
> http://www.anandtech.com/show/4997/a...er-b3-stepping



I think that that is a bit too much wishful thinking.  If you read the text on the linked page, it gives you some perspective.  A B3 stepping will help a bit, but any architecture improvements will require an updated design.  As I understand it, new steppings are simply additional layer(s) on the chip, not a redesign, just a small tweak(s) to incrementally improve a design feature(s).
The B3 stepping is not Piledriver.

That said, I wish the OP luck with his 8120, if he's not overclocking too much, it should be fine, and he won't notice much (if any) of a single threaded performance difference compared to his x4 970.  But he would have been better off buying an x6 Thuban black edition, which would last until Piledriver goes into its later stepping(s) -- at which point, one would hope they would outperform an overclocked Thuban.


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