57 replies to this topic

[Vegas]

Edit: I think i determined near final specs in post 9. first post waste of time to read now.

Been getting alot of opinions on this build I will finally do now since school is done.
copy pasta

Uses:Casual gaming/light media, not much hardcore video/graphic editing. When I do need to, leaving it to finish overnight is fine.
Price: Under $800 before shipping and taxes. Trying to cut as much costs as possible.
Retailer: Scoped out items from DirectCanada and some from Newegg.ca
Preferences: ATI and Seagate. Both haven't failed me so far.
Parts reusing-LCD, optical drives.
Plan on purchasing anywhere from a week or two to the end of the month.
Current build: Pentium d, XP, 1280x1024

I first had the X4 945 3.0 GHz as the processor and got a range of advice from just getting a 630 2.6GHz quad that doesn't have l3 cache and overclocking it(never done before)or risking and trying to get a trip core and hoping that the 4th core is just unactivated and to try to unlock it. But someone from another forum who seems respected and very helpful said a X2 250 3.0GHz, no l3, might be good enough. I did some research and while it is definitely not top of the line, it could still suit me.

Should I pump out an extra $100 for a 945 quad or will a x2 250 be good enough for my needs. I got a little confused because when I was recommended to look for a dualcore, some of the intel dualcores are at the same price or even more than most of the amd quads. I don't know if that's just an intel pricing consumer flaw or if the output is equal for the price.

Edit: and the new rig is also based on ddr2 memory. Some quick googling pointed me to the fact, dunnno if still stands now, that the biggest difference from ddr2 to ddr3 is something to do with energy use and high end ddr2 sticks didn't show that noticeable performance difference from ddr3 sticks.

rest of build

Spoiler

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz
-$68.19
XFX Radeon HD 5770
-$169.43
Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
-$72.11 w/$10 mail-in rebate
Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA2
-$46.79
G.SKILL PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800
-$57.52
Antec Earthwatts 650W
-$74.94
Apex VORTEX3620 mid case
-$39.27
Antec TriCool 80MM
-$5.49

just $580 after all other expenses added

stuff like hd and additional ram can be simply upgraded when more needed.

and also any recommendations on how to get windows 7 cheap? the $100+ price tag isn't pretty and will probably just resort to sticking with xp for the time being.

[Ambition]

Most things you use won't even able to make the most out of anything with more than two cores.

[Vegas]

Most things you use won't even able to make the most out of anything with more than two cores.

thats what im thinking. but if the quad core is better for in the long run, not planning on upgrading again for atleast 3 years, the extra dough could be well spent?

money's not too tight but also not planning to become a hardcore gamer or anything. during the last year, have probably just put in less than 10hr/month into gaming but will be taking half a semester off from uni so need something to fill the time.

current pc, pentium d 920 2.8, 2 GB ddr2 hasn't given me any problems and am satisfied. only thing is vid card sucks and hard to play most games decently. thought about just getting a new card plus power, all compatible with the board, but some ppl have said a HD 5770 will be super bottlenecked by the old cpu.

i've put out the idea of getting just the card and psu and testing out if it performs decently with the old cpu and some ppl have said it could work. what do you guys think.

[Noitidart]

Wowie Im still single core if you can call it a core

[Ambition]

thats what im thinking. but if the quad core is better for in the long run, not planning on upgrading again for atleast 3 years, the extra dough could be well spent?

money's not too tight but also not planning to become a hardcore gamer or anything. during the last year, have probably just put in less than 10hr/month into gaming but will be taking half a semester off from uni so need something to fill the time.

current pc, pentium d 920 2.8, 2 GB ddr2 hasn't given me any problems and am satisfied. only thing is vid card sucks and hard to play most games decently. thought about just getting a new card plus power, all compatible with the board, but some ppl have said a HD 5770 will be super bottlenecked by the old cpu.

i've put out the idea of getting just the card and psu and testing out if it performs decently with the old cpu and some ppl have said it could work. what do you guys think.

Honestly, you shouldn't ask this forum for advice in building a rig.

Consult slickdeals or one of those hardware forums.

I7s can be found at Micro Center for $200.

or if you live near a Fry's, you can catch one of their CPU + Motherboard sales which help you save a lot when building a rig.

[Vegas]

Honestly, you shouldn't ask this forum for advice in building a rig.

Consult slickdeals or one of those hardware forums.

I7s can be found at Micro Center for $200.

or if you live near a Fry's, you can catch one of their CPU + Motherboard sales which help you save a lot when building a rig.

i remember theres some dudes like Fatal who give good advice. just gotta see if he see's this thread.

i get the perception that having your first post as a question like this won't really generate the top responses. 4 forum ive posted this on, just gotta see the general consensus.

[Ambition]

i remember theres some dudes like Fatal who give good advice. just gotta see if he see's this thread.

i get the perception that having your first post as a question like this won't really generate the top responses. 4 forum ive posted this on, just gotta see the general consensus.

Slickdeals helped me make most of my decisions for my rig. They actually link you to good deals for components.

[Vegas]

With the help of a couple different forums and some research I was finally able to resolute to this final spec I think

AMD Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz
$99.79

XFX Radeon HD 5750 1GB
139.99

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
$66.00

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
$89.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
$44.79

Antec Earthwatts 650W
$65.99

Antec Three Hundred
$53.79

LITE-ON Black iHAS124-04
$27.997

Before taxes and shipping
$596.27

[Mr. Hobo]

Get a rana and unlock to a propus, or get a heka and unlock to deneb.
5770 is the best card out there now for the money, and has been for a while.
Get ddr3 and a ddr3 motherboard
Get a Samsung Spinpoint f3 or a Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive
Get a 450/500 W seasonic or PCP&C PSU. There's a good antec 500W (made by seasonic) which comes with a shitty sonata case that's better than the three hundred.
Case fans aren't that important.

Is what one smart dude said

[Vegas]

Get a rana and unlock to a propus, or get a heka and unlock to deneb.
5770 is the best card out there now for the money, and has been for a while.
Get ddr3 and a ddr3 motherboard
Get a Samsung Spinpoint f3 or a Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive
Get a 450/500 W seasonic or PCP&C PSU. There's a good antec 500W (made by seasonic) which comes with a shitty sonata case that's better than the three hundred.
Case fans aren't that important.

Is what one smart dude said

-been told the unlocking thing but too risky. the core could be physically dead or could bring some stability issues. not risking, already getting at cheap enough price.
-the price difference between the 5750 ->5770 will be around $30 so I gotta stick with the 5750. not that big of a difference in benchmark i see to justify the extra $30.
-would have done ddr3 but the online retailer im buying it from price matches and it will be a near $40 swing from ddr2->ddr3.
-am contemplating on the caviar black.
-the 650w is pretty cheap as is so am fine with money on that.
-botched the additional case fan idea

[iargue]

If your not getting the I7, your getting ripped off.


Period.

[Mr. Hobo]

Pretty sure your ram will bottle neck you. As will your cpu

[Vegas]

If your not getting the I7, your getting ripped off.


Period.

lol i wish i could get it. top of the line system not priority right now atm.

[iargue]

www.newegg.com is the best in the us. Almost always has the lowest prices, and has the best Customer Service over any company.

lol i wish i could get it. top of the line system not priority right now atm.

Think about it like this. Say you spend 600 on a system now. And you could get an i7 system for 800. In 2 years, you system will be outdated, and the i7 will still be top of the line, or close. Your new computer will not cost 200 dollars...

[Mr. Hobo]

In 2 years I really doubt the i7 will still be anything but average

[Vegas]

www.newegg.com is the best in the us. Almost always has the lowest prices, and has the best Customer Service over any company.




Think about it like this. Say you spend 600 on a system now. And you could get an i7 system for 800. In 2 years, you system will be outdated, and the i7 will still be top of the line, or close. Your new computer will not cost 200 dollars...

online retailer is canadian and will only accept price matches from canadian retailers .


i7 will be atleast $300 more cuz of the expensive 1366 boards. cpu is a quadcore which could be oc'ed. if i reconsider getting ddr3 1600, i highly doubt it'll be that much outdated.

current 3+ year old pentium d, 2gb is pretty fine for most things other than gaming.
only reasoning im upgrading anyway is been wanting to play some new games and old rig will bottleneck hard if i just up the vid card on the old cpu/mobo. times i gotta do heavy media heavy processing tasks, im cool with just leaving it overnight.

plus this budget is money made in a month on a parttime. in 2 years, if I really really need to up to latest tech which I highly doubt anyway, im pretty sure I'll be able to shell out the dough.

but thinking about it, the ddr3 might be smarter in the long run if i can get double the speed of the ddr2s. hmmmm

[iargue]

XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811208009
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$15.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$54.98
$39.98

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118030
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$19.99


Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136320
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$69.99


ECS NGT220C-1GQS-F GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card
Item #: N82E16814134090
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
-$4.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
$64.99
$60.99


ePOWER EP-500NE-XV 500W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 Power Supply - OEM
Item #: N82E16817101047
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$29.99


CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9DHX
Item #: N82E16820145198
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$114.99
$94.99


Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813186170
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
$174.99
$144.99


Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
Item #: N82E16819115202
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$9.00 Instant
$288.99
$279.99
Subtotal $740.91


Would be stupid not to get that system instead :|.

Hell, even at this point you could skimp on the video card/power supply/ memory, and just get 2gb dd3. Would be better then you current build, with cheap upgrades in the future.

online retailer is canadian and will only accept price matches from canadian retailers .

Welcome to

http://www.newegg.ca/

Built almost the same system via Newegg.ca

$770.92

[Mr. Hobo]

ECS NGT220C-1GQS-F GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express

DDR2 Nvidia card?

Everyone I've spoken to says ATI is wrecking Nvidia at the moment

Also enjoy gaming at 1024x768 with that card

[iargue]

DDR2 Nvidia card?

Everyone I've spoken to says ATI is wrecking Nvidia at the moment

Also enjoy gaming at 1024x768 with that card

For one. For $20 dollars more she can get SAPPHIRE 100294L. Which is the same shit with a lower clock speed.

For two. The people you talk to know nothing about video cards other then favoritism. Ati might be cheaper. But in Quality. Nvidia kicks ass. Period.

And for three. Max Resolution 2560 x 1600

[Vegas]

i seriously respect the effort but im not really too prioritized on getting a top of the line rig. i will see other's opinions on this though.

with that build you ended up having to sacrifice on

vid card, scores almost 3x less than the 5750 on benchmarks(havent' done any nvidia research so don't burn me if benchmark is misleading)

a non 80+ certified never heard of brand psu....big no-no

mediocre so-so reviews mobo.

to bring the vidcard, psu and mobo to the same par as my specs would definitely inflate the total price by $100-$150 atleast.

i didn't just pick the parts based on price, but also on reviews. im not gonna get burned buying something cheap then having it frizz out and realize the companies non-existant customer support.

[iargue]

i seriously respect the effort but im not really too prioritized on getting a top of the line rig. i will see other's opinions on this though.

with that build you ended up having to sacrifice on

vid card, scores almost 3x less than the 5750 on benchmarks(havent' done any nvidia research so don't burn me if benchmark is misleading)

a non 80+ certified never heard of brand psu....big no-no

mediocre so-so reviews mobo.

to bring the vidcard, psu and mobo to the same par as my specs would definitely inflate the total price by $100-$150.

Mobo is perfect dude.

Vid card and mobo can be moved up for more, but thats when your ready to make it top of the line. At that point, you shell out the 100 dollars and have a good system. Rather then shelling out 800 dollars in the future.

[Mr. Hobo]

For two. The people you talk to know nothing about video cards other then favoritism. Ati might be cheaper. But in Quality. Nvidia kicks ass. Period.

Bench marks and price say otherwise. I've always been a big nvidia/evga fan but ATI is a much better choice currently

And for three. Max Resolution 2560 x 1600

I seriously doubt it'll run any game at that resolution with a double digit frame rate

[Vegas]

resdetermedbymonitor/thread?

[iargue]

Bench marks and price say otherwise. I've always been a big nvidia/evga fan but ATI is a much better choice currently



I seriously doubt it'll run any game at that resolution with a double digit frame rate

It will. I have a GT9800 64bit ddr2 that runs Cysis at that resolution with 26fps.

And. Show me the best ATI video card on the market.


I've researched video cards extensively and Nvidia is definitely -much- better.


Also, morons who follow benchmarks make me laugh. Motherboard, Ram, and CPU play a huge part in the performance of your computer. All the ATI benchmarks I see run on all AMD systems, and then they place the Nvidia computer on different systems. How about they just replace the card and look at the setup?

[Mr. Hobo]

9800gt is not gt220

Also 9800gt is 95$ish and the HD 4850 is 100$ and beats the 9800gt in like 90% of the benchmarks (which of course prove nothing . I'm sure if they ran the cards on the same system you'd be complaining about how the system is biased towards better framerates for the ATI cards). Only downside is it runs hot

5970 is the best ATI card, gtx 480 for nvidia

5970 seems to have the advantage

http://www.overclock...-vs-5870-a.html