So does anyone make "build me a pc" threads nowadays?

ShinRa

ShinRa

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If not, sorry for being an old dog that doesn't learn new tricks. I bought a LG 23" lcd HD monitor (or my girlfriend did for xmas), and it made me realize my computer is insanely out of date.

Current comp:

AMD FX-57 2.8ghz
ATI x1900 512mb
1gb xms corsair ddr2 :x


Sooo I'm looking to upgrade! I'm sorta on a budget, but not really. I can spend a grand or two if necessary. I'm looking to get the best rig I can for the money, and I want to be able to play games like crysis (is that even the latest gpu-intensive game anymore?) at high settings. Other than that, I don't do anything hardware-intensive. Just listen to music, surf the web, and my 160gb collection of pictures throughout the years :p

Back in the day, Asus would recommend me an entire rig, if things are different now, I totally understand and you can just delete this thread. If there's any help out there though, I'd appreciate it.:E
 
Dude you have the same video card as me :D

A grand or two will get you a completely kick-ass system. I'm way too lazy/preoccupied right now to find you links, but RAM is really cheap, video cards are coming down, and it's easy to find an inexpensive-but-really-fast CPU. You're set, and I'm jealous.
 
oh cool, thanks stig! made me feel better :)

now ill sit tight and wait for help because ive become computer-illiterate over the years.
 
Get a Core i5 processor w/mobo and a Radeon 5850. 4GB of DDR2 Ram and a new HDD if you need one. A new system with those specs will cost less than a grand.(but not by much)
That will blow your current system away, which you can then mail to me as it's twice as powerful as mine. :)
 
will it play the latest games on high settings? mind you if your answers "yes" then prepare to get a new computer
 
Yeah, that looks like it will play the latest and greatest without a problem.

Hell, my C2D with an 8800GT and 4 gig of ram is just FINALLY starting to show it's age. Granted, I play on a combo of medium/high settings with it still, so it wouldn't take much to get it back up to spec.
 
Quixoticism said:
DDR2 Ram
Click to expand...
Why.
spacer.gif
 
Is there a real performance gain from DDR2 to DDR3? I ask partially to help, and other-partially because my current mobo is AM2+ DDR2, and I am thinking of going AM3 DDR3.
 
If you're spending 2 grand and want to play crisis, instead of the i5-750, maybe you should spend an extra $80 for the i7-860 (which has a slightly higher clock speed across the 4 cores, and it has hyperthreading - [8 threads])

http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBYQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

Though if you look at the benchmarks, keep in mind, hyperthreading is sometimes a detriment, thus the i5-750 is a great value. However, where the hyperthreading is beneficial, it is significantly so.
 
Stigmata said:
Is there a real performance gain from DDR2 to DDR3? I ask partially to help, and other-partially because my current mobo is AM2+ DDR2, and I am thinking of going AM3 DDR3.
Click to expand...
On the order of 5-10%. Also, future proofing.
 
This intrigues me. Would it be worth it to return my (working, acceptable, DDR2, AM2+) motherboard and get DDR3 AM3, new RAM, and an AthlonII 250? Or would getting an AthlonII 250 be fine with the RAM I've got? Keep in mind I have XP so I can't make use of 4GB memory kits.
 
My mistake on the memory, I was messed up in my thinking. I'd go with DDR3.

I was just recommending parts that would give him the best performance for this money. Aka, aiming for around $1k.

DDR3 can be faster in some cases that DDR2 but most of the time it won't be the limiting factor to your performance.
 
I played around with all of your advice, and came up with this. Totals to 2400 though :\

Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5970
6GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory
640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD
24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Killer Xeno™ Pro

That's alienware, but if I buy those parts separately I'm sure they'll be cheaper. Are these good parts to go with though?
 
Not sure if this kinda system "future proofs" me well, but if it puts me on top currently then I'm perfectly fine with that.
 
ShinRa said:
I played around with all of your advice, and came up with this. Totals to 2400 though :\

Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5970
6GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory
640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD
24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Killer Xeno™ Pro

That's alienware, but if I buy those parts separately I'm sure they'll be cheaper. Are these good parts to go with though?
Click to expand...

Definitely don't go Alienware. While they do make good PC's, you can build your own for a lot cheaper. I'll take a gander and say that it would be around $1500-$1800 if you build it yourself.

ShinRa said:
Not sure if this kinda system "future proofs" me well, but if it puts me on top currently then I'm perfectly fine with that.
Click to expand...

It will definitely future proof you. Quad Cores aren't going to be phased out anytime soon, and the 5970 is the best GPU you can get right now. Later on, you can add another for crossfire.
 
1. Should i even bother with windows 7? if i can id prefer to save the 200.

2. How much wattage should I be looking to stick in this system? 750 watts? 1000 watts?
 
You will probably want Vista or Win7 for DX11 games and your DX11 GPU. Could get the Win7 upgrade instead of full. Either install it and then reinstall over the top (thinks it is upgrading from the first) or edit the registry. Pretty easy to do.
 
havent picked one yet.......they all look the same and theyre all priced around the same, the i7 mobos are around 190 for the "quality" ones..
 
im sorry, 290! the motherboards of quality cost more than the i7 920 itself......2.66ghz doesnt sound like a lot either....but then again, im a noob at this stuff. let me try and clear out the rest of my questions so I can let you all get back to your lives.

1. How much wattage should I be looking for in a PSU?
2. Should I be looking at fan cooling or liquid cooling?
3. I don't need a blu-ray player, but do standard dvd drives for $30 suffice?
4. Do I need to overclock in order to get what I want from this computer?
5. Why have motherboards become so goddamn complicated?
 
Any particular reason you going with the LGA1366 Bloomfield instead of Lynnfield?

Here's the reasons why you go with LGA1366:

- For running more than one of the most powerful video cards ever made.
- For upgrading to more than 4 cores. (Gulftown)
- Big overclocking on components.

Gulftown is the codename of a future six-core hyperthreaded Intel processor able to run up to 12 threads in parallel and using the Intel Nehalem ...
Click to expand...

In other words, future proof. (You are definitely planning to keep the motherboard in your next upgrade.)

Or, you can save a lot of money for the same performance with Lynnfield.

If you are buying this build now, it doesn't really make sense to upgrade any time soon. I'd go with Lynnfield. Also, 6 cores CPUs will debut at over $1,000.

I'm recommending the i7-860 or the i5-750, depending on what it will be used for and your budget.

I picked my i5-750 up on sale - $360 for CPU, RAM, Motherboard. I already had the rest of the stuff.
 
ShinRa said:
I played around with all of your advice, and came up with this. Totals to 2400 though :\

Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5970
6GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory
640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD
24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Killer Xeno™ Pro

That's alienware, but if I buy those parts separately I'm sure they'll be cheaper. Are these good parts to go with though?
Click to expand...

Get Windows 7 Home Premium as I personally don't find Premium / Ultimate to offer anything really of value (unless you're joining domains or hosting remote desktop sessions and using bitlocker). That should save you a few bucks.

upgrade your HDD! You can get 1TB for like $80 or $90, and could even get 2TB for roughly double. Maybe get 1TB HDD + 80GB SSD for OS and some programs. That will make using the OS lightning fast (boot times will be next to nothing) and the apps installed on there will be very fast too. SSD's are too expensive to be used for high capacity storage though for storing all of your games on and such.

If you can hold off for a few months, I would recommend waiting to see what Nvidia has up their sleeve with Fermi. If Nvidia's card sucks, then go with ATI, which may have their next card out anyways. Their second-gen DX11 cards will prob have a lot better perf in DX11 apps! First-gen implementations usually aren't that great. So don't get the 5x00 thinking that you will be able to run all DX11 games.
 
VirusType2 said:
Any particular reason you going with the LGA1366 Bloomfield instead of Lynnfield?

Here's the reasons why you go with LGA1366:

- For running more than one of the most powerful video cards ever made.
- For upgrading to more than 4 cores. (Gulftown)
- Big overclocking on components.



In other words, future proof. (You are definitely planning to keep the motherboard in your next upgrade.)

Or, you can save a lot of money for the same performance with Lynnfield.

If you are buying this build now, it doesn't really make sense to upgrade any time soon. I'd go with Lynnfield. Also, 6 cores CPUs will debut at over $1,000.

I'm recommending the i7-860 or the i5-750, depending on what it will be used for and your budget.

I picked my i5-750 up on sale - $360 for CPU, RAM, Motherboard. I already had the rest of the stuff.
Click to expand...
Some other things:
The difference between the i7-860 and i5-750 is that the 860 has slightly higher clock speed and hyperthreading. (the 920 also has hyperthreading)

If you are going to be doing your own overclocking, you will be disabling HyperThreading and TurboBoost anyway. And you will need an aftermarket CPU cooler. Without HyperThreading enabled, the 750 is going to be faster than the 920 in most every instance. So if you do want HyperThreading, go with the 860. The memory latency is much better on the 1156 socket (the memory controller is built in)

And, if you are going to install two massive video cards, you are going to be limited (bottlenecked) by the 920 anyway (just like you would with the 750 and 860).

So in short, unless you are going to do all of your own overclocks, the 750 and 860 are faster overall, and a much cheaper option.

AMD has better price/performance options than the 920.


I don't think you'll be doing your own overclocks so go with the 860 over the 920. The TurboBoost is much better implemented in the 860 (a newer chip). Look at the benchmarks.
Yes, go for the 860, it beats the 920 in gaming purposes (because it has a higher clockspeed) for a similar price. Also has better Turbo and Hyperthreading to boot, but only dual-channel memory which is fine for desktop use.
Click to expand...
The difference between dual and triple channel is very very small. (but probably mostly because the 750 and 860 have a built in memory controller which give it an big boost) Not at all worth the price premium.
If you looking at performance than yeah go for the 860.
Click to expand...

And if you just want a very fast system for very cheap, then get the 750. (about 25% cheaper for this CPU over the 860)
 
So here's what I got from you guys now:

Don't get the ATI 5970 because it will potentially suck with future dx11 games, and just stick with an ATI 5850 for now.

Don't get the 920, get the 860, as it's better for gaming, but this will not future-proof my system.

Here's whats in my newegg cart at the moment (no case yet, my cooling question remains unclear):

i7 850 Lynnfield 2.8ghz
MSI P55 LGA1156 Motherboard
ATI HD5850
WD 500GB 32mb Cache
Rosewill Bronze Series 1000w PSU
Corsair Dominator 6gb (3 x 2gb) DDR3 SDRAM PC1600 (PC3 12800)

Totals out to 1200 bucks. Sounds decent to me. All products have 5 star ratings on newegg. My only concern is how future-proof my system is. I can live with this system not surviving me the next 3-5 years, but I'm hoping to make it at least 2 years on this thing.
 
So in short, unless you are going to do all of your own overclocks, the 750 and 860 are faster overall, and a much cheaper option.
Click to expand...
I just noticed I said this. I'm not sure - this might be true without HyperThreading on the 920 enabled. (but you probably wouldn't want to disable it). Though HT does seem to hurt performance very slightly in the vast majority of games, it is a big help in other things. The 750 is the only one without HT.

It varies a great deal depending on the task. You're going to want an authority, like a benchmark comparison.

It's your call. The 750 is the cheapest and seems to be the best value for games.

http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/corei5/worldinconflict.jpg

You mentioned Crysis:
http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/corei5/crysis.jpg

But these 2 benchmarks do not in any means tell the whole story.

If you're using your system for many things, you may want something that's close in the gaming department, but much faster for rendering video or whatever it is you do, so you might pay extra for the 860 or 920.

Please read some benchmarks to be sure you make the right decision. Here's one with 150+ benchmarks: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/core_i5?page=0,4

I'm just saying, you can probably get a 750 + motherboard and RAM for half the price of the 920, and in some cases it will perform better.

Or not: (lower is better)

http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/corei5/winrar.jpg

and in some cases the 860 performs better:
http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/corei5/valveparticletest.jpg

So basically, overall they are all pretty close. Each one is better at certain things. However, you're paying about twice as much for the 920 over the 750. About +$80 for the chip + $80 for the motherboard + $80 for the RAM over the 750.

If your looking at the 860 vs 920, you're paying about $160 more overall for the 920.

No matter which one you choose, believe me, you can feel safe knowing that these processors are overkill for most anything. They are very fast and capable. With a new Windows already here and no new technologies like Super HD or someshit on the horizon, it will stay useful for a long time.
 
ShinRa said:
So here's what I got from you guys now:

Don't get the ATI 5970 because it will potentially suck with future dx11 games, and just stick with an ATI 5850 for now.

Don't get the 920, get the 860, as it's better for gaming, but this will not future-proof my system.

Here's whats in my newegg cart at the moment (no case yet, my cooling question remains unclear):

i7 850 Lynnfield 2.8ghz
MSI P55 LGA1156 Motherboard
ATI HD5850
WD 500GB 32mb Cache
Rosewill Bronze Series 1000w PSU
Corsair Dominator 6gb (3 x 2gb) DDR3 SDRAM PC1600 (PC3 12800)

Totals out to 1200 bucks. Sounds decent to me. All products have 5 star ratings on newegg. My only concern is how future-proof my system is. I can live with this system not surviving me the next 3-5 years, but I'm hoping to make it at least 2 years on this thing.
Click to expand...

That really is a pretty kick-ass system. Although, you don't need a 1000w power supply unless you plan on doing 2x/3x/4x crossfire and multiple hard drives, amperage is more important than the wattage (to some extent.) You will be good enough with a 750w psu. If in a year (which you wont) find your single 5850 isn't doing the job, they should be pretty cheap and you can always add another.

But in two years, you might still find yourself having to tone down a few in game settings for the latest and greatest games. Its hard to anticipate what graphics will do in two years time.
 
I agree with Escape.

I've got 6 hard drives, a burner, an X1900XT, lots of lighted fans and several PCI devices running my i5 on a 500w power supply. (I think it's about 18amps).

The 750 and 860 are extremely power efficient. You can save a lot of energy and money by NOT getting a 1000w supply. That's an insane amount of power and not necessary for a single GPU setup. (or even a double GPU)
 
ShinRa said:
Here's whats in my newegg cart at the moment (no case yet, my cooling question remains unclear):

i7 850 Lynnfield 2.8ghz
MSI P55 LGA1156 Motherboard
ATI HD5850
WD 500GB 32mb Cache
Rosewill Bronze Series 1000w PSU
Corsair Dominator 6gb (3 x 2gb) DDR3 SDRAM PC1600 (PC3 12800)

Totals out to 1200 bucks. Sounds decent to me. All products have 5 star ratings on newegg. My only concern is how future-proof my system is. I can live with this system not surviving me the next 3-5 years, but I'm hoping to make it at least 2 years on this thing.
Click to expand...

The CPU comes with a fan/heatsink and thermal compound already applied (don't touch the goo)

You mean i7-860, right? I'm pretty sure that one uses dual channel RAM (But look it up) - this means you need pairs of RAM, so you probably want to use either 4GB (2x2GB) or 8GB (4x2GB). (or you could get four 1GB sticks but there will no room for any more RAM). 4GB should be plenty, but if it's on sale, then get all of it now.

The hard drive is a waste. Get the 1TB Caviar Black instead.

I'd get a corsair PSU. Also 1000w will be way too much. You might not pay the power bill, but still, you can get a more reliable and stable and easy to use one, and it will probably be cooler and not melt or set fire to a UPS battery backup if you ever get one. (does happen, oops)

Also invest $3.50 in an anti-static wrist strap. I got the yellow rosewill one and it does the job. Not that I would recommend it, but I can take off my fleece sweatshirt while I'm strapped and I don't even generate static like normal. If you don't know fleece is an electronics killer.

If it's the MSi P55 CD-53, I think that board comes with only 2 sata cables. So if you need more, get some. (That's the Motherboard I have)

Take your time, show us what you're getting before you press the buy button.
 
Thank you guys SO much for taking time to help me out, your insight is much appreciated. The i7 870 seems to outperform the 860 in those benchmarks. Is it worth the purchase over the 860?

And oneeee more question.

This ones been bugging me since the VERY beginning.

Im spacing this out because you might all look at me with two heads.

Are you ready?

Here it is:

What the hell is the point of crossfire and SLI? I mean, your card has 1gb, gddr5, 735mhz core clock (assuming the 5850). What the HELL do you need TWO of them for? And if you need more speed, why wouldnt you buy a new card? If you need new features (example: DX12, gddr6) crossfire or SLI won't help you with that. So what the hell do you need TWO cards for?!
 
Oh it's dual channel. So I shouldn't purchase the 3 x 2gb of corsair? That last stick will be useless?
 
ShinRa said:
The i7 870 seems to outperform the 860 in those benchmarks. Is it worth the purchase over the 860?
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that CPU. I don't even know what socket it uses. But don't let that deter you. Investigate!
ShinRa said:
What the hell is the point of crossfire and SLI? I mean, your card has 1gb, gddr5, 735mhz core clock (assuming the 5850). What the HELL do you need TWO of them for? And if you need more speed, why wouldnt you buy a new card? If you need new features (example: DX12, gddr6) crossfire or SLI won't help you with that. So what the hell do you need TWO cards for?!
Click to expand...
Good for people playing Crysis or using multiple monitors. Mostly these are overclockers who find joy in squeezing every last bit of performance out of the least amount of money.

But it is nice if you can upgrade an aging system by adding a $90 2nd card - a card that used to cost $800. But yeah, if you wait another 6 months, you might find a card that kills both of them for a decent price.

I'm not sure but I wonder if you could have 2 completely different cards - one card for work (with good number crunching) and one for gaming (specialized for 3D and textures). Not at the same time, of course.

Oh it's dual channel. So I shouldn't purchase the 3 x 2gb of corsair? That last stick will be useless?
Click to expand...
if it requires dual channel, then I think you need matching sticks to use it at all.

If you look at the CPU specifications it should tell you the RAM requirements.

If the CPU specs don't tell you, then the motherboard with that socket will list the compatible RAM types in its specs. (dual/triple)
 
So in case, it's useless! Thanks Virus.

I also looked into new ram, and came across 4gb (2x2gb) of G.Skill DDR3 ram. Is Gskill a decent company? The ratings are apparently through the roof. And its only 95 bucks, as opposed to that corsair ram which is 235, so something seems off....
 
I have G.Skill DDR3 RAM. It's been flawless so far. If it's not on sale, I wouldn't get more than the 4GB for now. For example, I got mine on black friday for $69, and now if I want more, I have to pay $95 or whatever.

Also check some of my edits. I always think of things after the fact.


BTW, maybe you should just build the system that Dinnesh built (i7-860), so it takes the guess work out of compatibility and everything. I'm sure he selected the better components. It's in his signature...
 
Ohhh pretty! Should I get PC2000 or PC 1600? I found G.SKill RAM for 135 and realized it was PC2000. Is that overkill?
 
Probably. I think the stock speed is like 1333. (which is what I got) This isn't a good overclocker build. The RAM controller is built into the CPU so you don't want to get crazy.

Also, that motherboard isn't a good overclocker board. None of the inexpensive P55 boards are.
 
Thanks for the heads up. Saves me money too. Is there a big performance gain Ill be missing out on though?
 
I don't think so. They managed to get a few percentage out of it at one benchmark I looked at. 3% or so.

I don't know much about overclocking, sorry.
 
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