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How would you change this new build?

N

nombrecinq

Senior member
Here's what I've been thinking about building:

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $270
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail $279
6GB RAM $80
ATI HD4890 $250
2x WD 7200RPM 1TB hard drives $200

Any thoughts on the chip/mobo combo, heatsink to keep it cool, RAM, power supply and case?

Current machine is an Athlon XP 3200+ @ 2GHz, ATI x800xl, Antec P180 case, Seasonic PSU that makes way more noise than it should, etc... so I think it's time for an upgrade I'll be recycling the DVD burner (I have never burned a DVD in my life), a 250GB hard drive for OS stuff and a Wifi card. Monitors will be a couple of Dell 24" 2408WFP.

Main purpose is working a lot with graphics programs, music programs, and lots of programming. I also would like to be able to play games nicely on it. I don't plan on overclocking because I just don't have the time to fiddle with it. If Intel's 2.66GHz is fast and cool I'm happy.

I don't have any real brand preferences, and I don't have any real monetary restrictions except that I like to get a good deal and not overspend unnecessarily.

 
If you dable a little bit in overclocking, from what I've heard Micro Center is selling D0 i7 920's at 199$ Might want to do some research on what lot/batch number the D0's are and then call a local Micro Center before you go and have them pick one out for you. I did when I bought my now sold 3841 batch i7 920
 
Call me old-fashioned but I remember the days when $150 was expensive for a motherboard. Now somehow people think it's ok to pay $270 for a motherboard. No, thanks.

Let's see, you're paying $550 for motherboard+cpu. You could easily get a quad+mobo(LGA775) for $300-350, and get 90+% of the performance.

I'm only telling you this because you said you didn't want to overspend unnecessarily. Anyway, if you could get the MC deal that makes it reasonable.

Edit: These motherboard prices remind me of the video card prices a few years back, when ATI/Nvidia somehow managed to convince people it was normal to pay $500-600 for a high-end video card. These are sucker prices if you ask me.
 
Originally posted by: M0RPH
Call me old-fashioned but I remember the days when $150 was expensive for a motherboard. Now somehow people think it's ok to pay $270 for a motherboard. No, thanks.

Edit: These motherboard prices remind me of the video card prices a few years back, when ATI/Nvidia somehow managed to convince people it was normal to pay $500-600 for a high-end video card. These are sucker prices if you ask me.
Click to expand...

I second that!

 
Are there any less expensive mobo options? I like that the price of everything else has come down to Earth, but I agree the mobo prices are ridiculous.
 
1) I hope you are not using an old 250Gb IDE hard drive

2) Things being relative you may build a $600 rig that 4x faster than your current system.

THAT being said it's hard to say you have demonstrated a need for a quad core cpu. The i7 kicks arse at encoding but that doesn't appear on your radar - you've never even burned a DVD. An e8400 (or even PhII 720BE) looks like the deal for you. If you HAVE to go with a quad either the q8400 or PhII 940BE would be a monster from where you are coming.

And as great as an hd4890 is the 4870s, especially the 512Mb, are getting really cheap. Give one a spin and if you some how feel deprived buy another one and still come out to the good in the big scheme of things.

You're coming from a Radeon X800 XL - a single 4870 has 5-6 times the jam 😀
 
Before you ditch your old Socket 939 rig how about using it to learn to do some overclocking?

Your AMD 3200+ should easily be good for above 250mHz, maybe above 260mHz, on air cooling (mine was), or in other words >= 25% faster than where you're running it at 200 mHz.

If I were you I'd economize on components for your new build.
Like others above said, cut where you can, especially on mobo.

I wish you fun building your new computer!
Might be helpful to you.
 
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