Trigger has been pulled. New build on its way.

My new PC is on its way here in pieces.  There have been a few changes from my original build specifications.  Here is what I got:

Corsair Graphite 600TM
Asus Sabertooth 990FX
Gigabyte 770GTX w/4GB VRAM
Corsair HX850 PS
AMD FX-8350 CPU
Samsung 500GB SSD
GSkill 1866 RAM, 16GB (4GB x 4)
Seagate 1 TB HD x 2
Corsair H60 CPU Cooler
Cougar 120MM Case Fan x 2
Windows 8 Pro

The changes from the original build are the graphics card, the power supply (newer version of same PS), a single SSD instead of 2 in RAID, and I threw in one more fan.

I was also going to reuse my current Windows 8 DVD but... decided since I am passing my current computer down to my son it would be easier to simply create an account for him on this box, and reinstall all of my stuff fresh.

The most important change was probably the graphics card... the NVidia 770 is ... well, it's a souped up version of the 680, but much cheaper than the 680 and most other cards in its class.  It is quite the bargain.  Apparently Nvidia has decided to become a little more aggressive in their pricing and are pressing ATI not only with excellent performance but excellent value.

So the parts are on their way!  I should (theoretically) have all the pieces by Friday, and can begin putting them together over the weekend.  Very exciting!

My Next Build

When Bulldozer was in the works I thought my next build would be an AMD machine.  Then the early reviews came out and Bulldozer was a bust.  I ended up with a machine centered around the i7 2600K CPU from Intel.  It was the right choice and I do not regret it.  It's a solid machine with good performance all around.

Time has come for my next upgrade.  AMD has been working toward a better Bulldozer.  Late last year AMD came out with Piledriver, which improved overall performance by 12% - 15% from Bulldozer.  Much of the improvement centered around bumping up the clock speed.  Late THIS year Steamroller arrives.  With Steamroller AMD focused on making more substantial changes focused on improving single core execution.  Most people and tech websites recommend that people go with Intel, that AMD is not even competitive but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE

...that is not so.  Certainly Intel is superior in single core execution but not overwhelmingly so.  AMD focused on multi-threading and less on single core execution, as they felt that was the future (and it is).

Anyway, so my plan is to build a machine around AMDs AM3+ socket, which would include the FX-8350 as my CPU of choice, which will be replaced by a Steamroller CPU when they arrive for desktops in early 2014.

Here is what I have spec'd out for my build:

CPU:  AMD FX-8350
RAM:  Quad channel kit of 16GB, PC14900 (1866gHz) (CL8, 8.9.9.24 @ 1.525v)
STORAGE:  C drive will be 2 240 GB SSDs in RAID 0
                     U drive (data) will be 2 1 TB drives in RAID 0
MOBO:  ASUS Sabertooth 990FX
PS:  Corsair AX850 (Gold)
GRAPHICS:  Vapor-X Radeon 7970 GHz edition
COOLING:  Corsair H60, Extra Cougar Vortex fan
CASE:  Corsair Graphite 600T

I was going to go for 32 GB of RAM but I figured I couldn't use that much (unless I create a RAM drive but I don't think I will need that) and if I really feel like I have to have it, I can always upgrade the RAM easily.

I might not RAID the 2 hard drives and purchase an additional SSD for storage but...  they are still very costly.  So I probably WON'T do that.

So that's it.  That is what my next build is shaping up to be.