It's all so... confusing.

[jmichaelstone]

My home computer's a couple years old now (most of it, anyway), and the time has come to upgrade. I'm not completely useless at putting them together, but I haven't been keeping up with the technology, so I have no idea what components to pick. I'll list out my current system, and you can tell me if any of it is worth keeping for the new one.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939
GeForce 8800GTX
2GB G.SKILL DDR 400
WD Raptor 74GB 10000rpm (this is going on 4 years old - yikes)
WD Caviar SE 320GB 7200rpm
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
SilverStone ST75F 750W power supply (like the modular cables a lot)
And a 30" Dell monitor, which I'm keeping.

So, if any of the rest of that can be reused, great. If not, that's fine too.

My budget is up to $3,000. I refuse to go one cent higher. Hooray for self-control.


I'm pretty sure that I want to go back to Intel. I've had no problems with AMD, but as far as I can tell, Intel's very much got the edge right now.

I want at least 500GB of storage (whether it's one drive or more, I don't care -- as long as it's reasonably quick). I want at least 4GB of memory.

My uses are varied, but I'm a web designer by trade, so obviously the Adobe CS3 collection will get a LOT of use. I do some gaming (generally WoW), but I also played Bioshock and loved it. This system needs to be able to push 2560x1600 resolution, though, so I can't scrimp on graphics processing power.

Oh... and if possible, I'd like it to be pretty freaking quiet. Does that necessarily mean water-cooling? And if so, does that make the cost astronomical?

So... yeah. I'm all ears, guys. Tell me what I want, what I really really want.

(I did NOT just paraphrase the Spice Girls, did I?)

 

[kypron7]

You certainly don't need 3000 bucks to do something with that system. Since I don't know what country you're ordering parts from, I can't link to anything. But in my opinion....

Keep your Geforce 8800 GTX, 30" monitor, powersupply, sound card, and hard drives.

Get either: 1. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 or Intel Core 2 Quad 6600
2. A decent Intel P35 motherboard, Asus P5kC, or Asus P5K-E
3. 4 gigs of DDR-2 800, ( 2x 2gb) whatever is cheapest and compatible with
your motherboard
4. Antec P180 with fans on low or medium for ultimate quietness.

Shouldn't cost you more than about 600 U.S. dollars.

 

[JackMDS]

As a first step just get an IP 35 motherboard and Intel CPU, and DDR-2 memory.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...7031&Tpk=ABIT%2bIP35-E

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...7031&Tpk=ABIT%2bIP35-E

That would cost $300 to $500 depending on the CPU that you choose.
If it works OK you do not need a "Jazzy? PSU and other money squeezing gadgets if everything works OK.

If any of the components after initial upgrade shows to be inadequate, you can buy replacements.

After this the rest of the money you can keep in a saving account, coz the additional $2500 would buy you much more computing.

 

[jmichaelstone]

Thanks, guys. That's a little disappointing, because I kind of wanted something new that would offer a markedly improved computing experience, rather than just a bit of an upgrade. Blast it. Had dinner with friends last night who just about have me convinced to jump ship and get one of the 8 core Mac Pros, instead.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Oh god.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Apples make great pies...enough said.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: jmichaelstone
Thanks, guys. That's a little disappointing, because I kind of wanted something new that would offer a markedly improved computing experience, rather than just a bit of an upgrade. Blast it. Had dinner with friends last night who just about have me convinced to jump ship and get one of the 8 core Mac Pros, instead.

Well, in case it is a Good advice.

It would be very nice if you explain in thechnical terms why.

I.e what is the functional power that you get and for how much you get it?

Otherwise this thread looks more like an "Apple pitch" rather than a person looking for advice.