Component selection

These days the FX-8000 embodies the flagship CPU series from AMD, which is why we used a FX-8370E an 8-core processor, with a base clock of 3.3GHz and a turbo boost clock of 4.3GHz. Unlike other models in the same series, FX-8370E has a lower thermal design power (TDP) of 95 watts, instead of 125 Watt, which the AMD FX-8370 (the non-E model) features. Like other FX series processors, this particular CPU also comes with an unlocked multiplier and therefore it's very easy to overclock this CPU.
Using a FX-8370E also meant finding a suitable board with support for socket AM3+ processors. AMD hasn’t updated its chipsets since quite a while but that doesn't mean there are no vendors with good boards in their portfolio. The Fatal1ty 970 Perfomance is based on the AMD 970 chipset and it supports AM3+ CPUs with up to 220W TDP. Apart from that there is a dedicated onboard audio, which goes by the name 7.1 Purity Sound 2, USB 3.0, an M.2 slot and a complete software suite. At its 100 Euro price tag, this is definitely a great choice.



With an unlocked FX CPU and a motherboard suitable for overclocking, an aftermarket CPU cooler makes perfect sense to keep the system cool and quiet. Since the color scheme of the motherboard is black and red there plenty of space available in our build, we used a big tower cooler from Phanteks. To be precise, we're using Phanteks PH-TC12DX, which is available in different colors. Despite the dual 120mm PWM fans, the dimensions are reasonable, since this is a single tower cooler and not a dual tower. This means that you won't run into compatibility issues with memory that features large heatspreaders.



Regarding the storage system and the memory Corsair is offering anything you could possibly ask for. Since our system is equipped with FX-8370E, which is not only suitable for gaming, we used two sticks of DDR3 8GB in order to reach a total of 16GB. This allows for heavy multitasking. The Vengeance Pro 2x8GB 1600 MHz feature a black and red color scheme with a aluminum heatsink. Despite the initial fears, the memory can easly placed next to the cooler.
Since prices SSDs dropping day by day lately, we opted for a RAID0 configuration of Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB drives in order to have a fast OS and reduced loading times in games. The Neutron GTX is the flagship model from Corsair regarding desktops and notebooks solid state disks. Thanks the Link_A_Media controller and MLC NAND flash, they offer a top speeds of over 500 MB/s in sequential read and write.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 4 - Component selection: part 2
Page 2 - Preview	Page 5 - Installation
Page 3 - Component selection: part 1	Page 6 - Conclusion