Advice on building a new System

[smokeyjoe]

Hello all,

Been awhile since I built a system.. I am still running an Opteron OC'd to 2.4 on an ASUS A8N Premium 939 with 2 GB RAM. I am looking to upgrade on a budget of ~$500 to a decent to great gaming system. The types of games I play are Oblivion, Fallout3, COD series, and just started playing Aion.

I have this case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 - so please let me know if this will work for what I am trying to do or if I should think about ditching it.

I have this vid card - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3. I think it is still more than capable.

I have this PSU - FSP Group FX600-GLN 600W V2.2/EPS12V

And I have plenty of HD's laying around. I am thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 since I can get it with a student discount, but I will probably do more research on that. I don't know how some games will run on it nor do I know if I want to go 32 or 64 bit. Any suggestions?

So, I just need suggestions on a CPU, Motherboard and RAM. Thanks for reading my post and to any suggestions!

edit: also need a new sound card, I'm surprised the one I have still works.. I got it with a Gateway CPU like 8 years ago..

 

[Malak]

With your budget, I'd get an AMD Phenom II X2 550BE and a gigabyte mobo to support it, then spend the rest on a new video card. Your 8800 is not more than capable.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: Malak
With your budget, I'd get an AMD Phenom II X2 550BE and a gigabyte mobo to support it, then spend the rest on a new video card. Your 8800 is not more than capable.

An 8800GTS 320mb is right between a 9600GT and an 8800GT. I think that's capable enough.

 

[smokeyjoe]

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx

Originally posted by: Malak
With your budget, I'd get an AMD Phenom II X2 550BE and a gigabyte mobo to support it, then spend the rest on a new video card. Your 8800 is not more than capable.

An 8800GTS 320mb is right between a 9600GT and an 8800GT. I think that's capable enough.

Yea, I thought my vid card was still fine for what I'm using it for.

I like the idea of AMD as I have always bought their chips. That Phenom II X2 550BE looks decent.. I see there is the whole thing about unlocking extra cores. What do you guys think about dual over quad core? Is quad core really necessary?

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: smokeyjoe
What do you guys think about dual over quad core? Is quad core really necessary?

Sort of yes and sort of no. Games don't seem to use multiple cores effectively even when all of the cores are used. The loading will be maybe 50% on core 0, 50% on core 1, maybe 30% on core 2, then 25% on core 3. If you added those percentages up and divided it across 2 cores, you would get an average of 77.5% on each core of a dual core. Theoretically the dual core should run exactly the same speed since it's not completely loaded, right? Not quite. What we see in multithreaded games is that quad cores are slightly faster than tricores which are slightly faster than dual cores even though none of the cores will actually reach 100% loading.

PC Games Hardware
For the graph that is lower on the page you'll see at the top it says Anno 1404, Far Cry 2, GTA IV, Race Driver: Grid. Click on those and the graph will change.
Notice how a Phenom 920 quad is slightly faster than a 720 tri. This is true across the board for every gaming benchmark.

You can probably see this kind of thing happening on your own system. Load up a game you think is slow then look at the CPU demand. Is any CPU core hitting 100%? My system is a dual core and it lags a bit in Fallout 3 even though the CPU usage is about 60% and it's spread fairly equal between the cores. Higher CPU loading = the program is running slower, even when it's not hitting 100%.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You can get a nice 775lga quad setup for ~ 350$ or go 1366lga and get an i7 920 setup for a hair over 500$ if you have a MicroCenter near by. My 'new platform' in my sig was slightly over 500$

 

[heyheybooboo]

Phenom 720BE / Gigabyte 770T AM3: $170'ish

Enzotech Copper MOSFET Cooler: $15

Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333: $73

Patriot 128Gb Gen2 Indilinx SSD: $349

Oh, dang. The SSD blew up your budget (but I bet the price will drop like a rock on Black Friday). Or ...

When you are ready to move on from the 8800GTS the HD5850 should be right in your price range (after it drops $50).

 

[Schmide]

heyheybooboo - is that a joke with the SSD? Doesn't seem like a good price/performance buy.

8880gts 640/320 = 9600gt

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Schmide
heyheybooboo - is that a joke with the SSD? Doesn't seem like a good price/performance buy.

8880gts 640/320 = 9600gt

Me? Make a joke? Nevah!

But SSDs will hopefully drop in price 20-25% through the end of the year and will provide a sweet boost for the OP (assuming he is a Vista/Win7 kinda guy). And that's actually not such a bad current price for a 128Gb Indilinx SSD (for early adopters).

Depending upon the OPs gaming resolution and settings he might be quite comfy with the 8800gts ....

 

[larslake]

MALAK - is right imho. You should easily upgrade within your budget with a amd mobo and cpu. If you have everything else, why not go with a better Nvidia gtx card? If you're running a 32 bit OS go with 4 gig of ram. All this should be well within your budget of $500.

 

[betasub]

Why no mention of gaming resolution/detail: as booboo says, if OP is at 1280x1024 or somesuch low res, the old 8800GTS-640 should still be enough.

 

[smokeyjoe]

Originally posted by: betasub
Why no mention of gaming resolution/detail: as booboo says, if OP is at 1280x1024 or somesuch low res, the old 8800GTS-640 should still be enough.

I was just going to type this when I saw the link to the vid card comparison.. I usually play in WS - 1680x1050 or 1440x900.

I am tempted to try a Phenom II as Malak suggested and a mobo that can try to unlock the extra cores. If it fails, it should still be a nice improvement from my Opteron, right?

edit: and i will be running a 32 bit OS.. I don't think 64 bit is worth the trouble, but I am rather ignorant on the subject. Just ordered Windows 7 with student discount. Would a 64 bit system make a difference in the hardware I need?

 

[Kenmitch]

Your case looks fine....I'd suggest getting a quiet high flow fan and mount it between the air tube and the side panel tho. My coolermaster matx case used a 80mm bolt pattern for the tube.

Looks like you current power supply should do fine unless your gonna go hard core on video cards.

I'd think you should get some more life out of the video card unless you wanted to play some of the more current games which can be pretty demanding.

As far a quad vs dual core you'll have to make that choice based on your current plan for the system and any future plans for it. Doesn't hurt to have a couple xtra cores in waiting.

Sound card? Not sure if you'd even need one these days as alot of the onboard sound cards are more than capable these days.

Back in the day I used to be a AMD guy but with the current lineup of intel chips I dont see much need for it....Not to smash on AMD we need them to keep te pressure on intel

Not to smash on intel....But I think that plenty of life is left in socket 775 unless your a very hard core gamer or into synthetic benchmarks.

I think something like a Q9550 a Gigabyte UD3R and 4gb of quality ram would hold you over for sometime to come. At least untill AMD can put more hurt on intel

 

[smokeyjoe]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just want to add that I do plan on overclocking too, so if there is a nice cheap processor that can OC real well.. I'd be into that. That's why I bought the opterion a few years ago.

Off to work!

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: smokeyjoe
I was just going to type this when I saw the link to the vid card comparison.. I usually play in WS - 1680x1050 or 1440x900.

OK - nothing too hi-res, so although the GTS-640 may struggle at times, a graphics upgrade isn't your top priority.

I am tempted to try a Phenom II as Malak suggested and a mobo that can try to unlock the extra cores. If it fails, it should still be a nice improvement from my Opteron, right?

True. It's a reasonable budget choice, but most recommendations for new builds are based around quad (or tri) cores.

edit: and i will be running a 32 bit OS.. I don't think 64 bit is worth the trouble, but I am rather ignorant on the subject. Just ordered Windows 7 with student discount. Would a 64 bit system make a difference in the hardware I need?

The only reason to stick with a 32bit OS is if you are tied into some legacy item (hardware+driver/software) that isn't still supported now that there is the move to 64bit. 64bit is the way to go to get proper memory allocation: OS with access to >4GB, apps with access to >2GB - all useful for modern computing (multi-tasking, virtualisation etc).

 

[smokeyjoe]

The only reason to stick with a 32bit OS is if you are tied into some legacy item (hardware+driver/software) that isn't still supported now that there is the move to 64bit. 64bit is the way to go to get proper memory allocation: OS with access to >4GB, apps with access to >2GB - all useful for modern computing (multi-tasking, virtualisation etc).

Sounds reasonable.. and I guess I will be going 64 bit as I just checked my order for Windows 7 and I placed it for the 64 bit version.. it was late at night when I ordered, so not sure what I was thinking.

I won't be setting the new system until I have the OS, but keep the suggestions coming.. I'm learning a lot here

 

[Jovec]

I suggest not getting a video card now. When the GT300 series arrives, we will hopefully see prices drop on the 5xxx/GT3xx, which in turn should drop 4xxx/GT2xxx prices. I know you can "always wait" for price drops or new hardware, but this time of year there's no reason to upgrade if you are happy with your current video performance as you'll be paying top dollar.

The only issue I've ever had with 64-bit Vista is 3rd party codecs in Vista Media Center. This will hopefully be fixed in Win7 as MS is providing better native support for various formats. Note that most media players are still 32-bit in Vista64 (including WMP), so this is only really an issue in Media Center. If you are pushing for maximum overclock on AMD though, you'll hit the 4Ghz 64-bit wall.

As to the general platform, unless you are going to go i5/i7, I would probably go with AMD. The Core2 line is still very competitive but 775 is largely dead, and AM3 should provide more longevity. PII can't match i5/i7, but it does surprising well in gaming applications and you won't get a better value if you can unlock a 720 or 550. One thing to consider though is that the Phenom II seems mostly tapped out at the high end (compared to Intel who can probably release faster i5s at will), but if you looking for value it has that in spades.

Sound - I would use onboard unless you have very, very good speakers. In fact, you'll probably get better sound by using on-board and buying new speakers/headphones than by getting a new soundcard and using your existing ones (assuming they are low-mid quality). I haven't seen any compelling evidence for a dedicated card in a long time.

 

[smokeyjoe]

So I ended up ordering a Phenom II X2 550BE and Gigabyte GA MA770T. I'll be waiting for my free copy of Win7 to get here before I set it up.

Any suggestions on good, cheap RAM? And a CPU heat sink?

 

[Rezist]

770T is good board, I believe it's still the cheapest way to get the SB710, but the only gripe I have with it is that I imagine you have to get DDR3 ram now? Not much performance gain for the coat gain but hey atleast your more future proof.

 

[smokeyjoe]

Anyone using this GSKILL RAM with the Gigabyte GA MA770T mobo?

I am thinking about ordering it.

Also looking for suggestions on a CPU heat sink to use as I plan on OC'ing.. I have been eyeing this Arctic Cooling Freezer.. mainly because it was the cheapest, best-rated AM3 heatsink I saw, any advice or suggestions? It looks rather large on another site

Thanks