Making a new pc (need help)

[aeschylus]

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
is my current rig, my motherboard is a GA-MA69GM-S2H gigabyte
my video card is 9500GT
my PSU is 550W

atm i'm thinkin a new processor/PSU/video card


# Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition CPU processor
BFG Tech GeForce GTX 280 OCX GTX280 Nvidia 1GB or around that.
and going to 700W or higher for supporting these new upgrades.

i use windows XP (not a fan of vista)

and the games i play are fallout 3/nwn2 and i'm probably going to buy the new diablo/other releases in the future.

So i'm lookin at the next few years to handle the coming games.

i'm aussie so alot of state of the art sorta gear isn't out here yet, and most of the purchases will be in aussie dollars (ill be buying online or throu ebay)

any ideas guise? and will the upgrades i'm suggesting work on the gigabyte motherboard or will i need to upgrade that also?

thanks for your time.

 

[Keysplayr]

What is your budget in Aussie dollars? If we knew that, it would be much easier to help configure a new system for you. And you don't need a 700W PSU to run the system you are suggesting, unless you wish to go multi graphics cards in SLI or Crossfire.

So, budget?

Keys

 

[aeschylus]

lets say a grand max

saying 700W cos that card needs 650 to run i believe (says 600 on site) yet a mate says otherwise.

 

[Markfw]

Well, since I burned out a 600 using 2 9800 GT's, I don't think the 700 is overkill, but it must be a good 700. As for compatability, Gigabyte says no, but I think thats just because its 125 watt, since it will take a 925. Whats odd, is it will also take a 9750, and its 125 watt. WTF ??

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Well, since I burned out a 600 using 2 9800 GT's, I don't think the 700 is overkill, but it must be a good 700. As for compatability, Gigabyte says no, but I think thats just because its 125 watt, since it will take a 925. Whats odd, is it will also take a 9750, and its 125 watt. WTF ??

Heh, Mark, you are also running overclocked and as many instances of F@H as you can on a single box with CPU and GPU Clients running the system at full bore 24/7. I ran a C2D system, e6420 o/c'd to 3GHz and a GTX280 on an Enermax 465W PSU for a long while. That was cutting things a bit close if you go by 80% efficiency ratings. The OP would do fine with say a 550W good quality PSU if he plans on the rig he listed above.

 

[Denithor]

And I ran a G92 8800GTS with an 8800GS on an e6400 @ 3GHz with an Earthwatts 500W PSU crunching with F@H (2xGPU) for over three months with zero problems.

I think you may have had a bum PSU there Mark.

Aeschylus - here is the cpu support list for your motherboard. Looks like if you update to BIOS "F6" you will be able to use the new PhII X4 925 (I know you aren't going to buy from that site - just for illustration).

That will allow you to reuse the rest of your components and not even have to reactivate Windows. Make sure to flash the BIOS before swapping the chip or things may not work properly.

Regarding the video card - grab a GTX 275 or a 4890, whichever is cheaper over there. Massive, unbelievable upgrade from a 9500GT and should meet your needs for several years.

All told you should be out for well under a grand.

 

[aigomorla]

i would grab 2 HD4890's and Xfire them.

However more things are becoming PHYSX compatiable...

If anything i would at least SLI, but AMD platforms dont offer the flexibility of both SLI and Xfire, or do they? Sorry i havent touched an AMD board for a while now.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Keysplayr

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Well, since I burned out a 600 using 2 9800 GT's, I don't think the 700 is overkill, but it must be a good 700. As for compatability, Gigabyte says no, but I think thats just because its 125 watt, since it will take a 925. Whats odd, is it will also take a 9750, and its 125 watt. WTF ??

Heh, Mark, you are also running overclocked and as many instances of F@H as you can on a single box with CPU and GPU Clients running the system at full bore 24/7. I ran a C2D system, e6420 o/c'd to 3GHz and a GTX280 on an Enermax 465W PSU for a long while. That was cutting things a bit close if you go by 80% efficiency ratings. The OP would do fine with say a 550W good quality PSU if he plans on the rig he listed above.

It was a 600 watt OCZ that Duvie sold me, and was fine for quite a while. Yes, I put them under load, but maybe they will so the same. I also have a Q8200 on an Antec 550. Running one instance of F@H CPU, and 2 8800 GT's running GPU.s I can;t overclock much, or use 2 sticks of memory, or run 2 dvd's at the same time. Adding any of the above gives BSODs, so I know that is the minimum PSU.

Thats why I say 700 watt PSU is NOT overkill. 550 might be fine, if at stock with one video card, I just think its kind of marginal.

my 2 cents.....

 

[theAnimal]

Originally posted by: aeschylus
my PSU is 550W

and going to 700W or higher for supporting these new upgrades.

What make and model is your current PSU? How old is it? A good quality 550W is plenty for that system.

BFG Tech GeForce GTX 280 OCX GTX280 Nvidia 1GB or around that.

Why not GTX275 instead? Less power and heat for the same performance.

 

[aeschylus]

well my current psu is a antec truetec 550w (or something)

as for the 280/285 was purely going them cos there were 2 on ebay going pretty cheap

so i should search for a 275GTX instead?

 

[TemjinGold]

How cheap are they going for? I believe the 275 is same/slight better performance than the 280. If you can find a 280 for quite a bit under $200, go for it.

 

[aeschylus]

sounds good, will the 280/275 run on my motherboard and 550w PSU?

and with that processor will it work on the current motherboard? simply pull out old one (after i save bios) and put in new one?

should i replace heatsink also?

 

[theAnimal]

Which Truepower is it? There are 4 different models @550W.

 

[TemjinGold]

Should run fine. My only concern is how much your current rig might be bottlenecking such a card.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Go for the 285 less power req than 280 and better performance. Get the best power supply you can get. At least 800w will do ya good. I have a 850w antec in mine with 5 hard drives, evga gtx 280, sound card, tv tuner card, overclocked i7 cpu, 6gb ram, 3x230mm fans, 2x120mm fans, a scythe kraze fan 120mm, and I have enough juice to spare. Im hardcore about my rig! Screw the budget, build yourself a beast!

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Now that I think about it I didnt even give it a second thought moving from my 775 socket to my i7 set up. I just knew my power supply was up to the task. I think my next power supply will be 1000w and I won't give power req a second thought.

 

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by: OILFIELDTRASH
Go for the 285 less power req than 280 and better performance. Get the best power supply you can get. At least 800w will do ya good. I have a 850w antec in mine with 5 hard drives, evga gtx 280, sound card, tv tuner card, overclocked i7 cpu, 6gb ram, 3x230mm fans, 2x120mm fans, a scythe kraze fan 120mm, and I have enough juice to spare. Im hardcore about my rig! Screw the budget, build yourself a beast!

You actually have so much juice to spare you can power his rig too!

 

[aeschylus]

ye to be honest i'd rather make a new PC, but i'm a sucker for wasting :| so i'd rather upgrade, that and the fact i'm still self teaching myself about all this and don't like when i stuff up (yes i'm teaching myself by asking people there ideas then putting them into practice)

lemmi list some video cards i'm bidding on
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 GTX280 Nvidia 1GB NEW SEALED
BFG MAXCORE GTX 260 OC GTX260 Nvidia 896M 216 core TOP
BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285 OC2 GTX285 Nvidia 1GB TOP

which one should i get?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

285

 

[dflynchimp]

a 955 and 280GTX only needs a quality 500W psu, the key being QUALITY. Some manufacturers (cough: Ultra :cough) falsely advertise/label their psu's with higher ratings than is really displayed, in the anticipation that most users will buy a "550W" psu but really only need 250W; then a few power users try pushing past 400-500W (the psu's real limit) and surprise! The psu fails.

an OCz modstream/gamestream or PC Power&Cooling 500W psu is more than enough (600W if you really want to be on the safe side)

here's the original thread I was refering to:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...t_key=y&keyword1=ultra

 

[TemjinGold]

Depends on the prices. That 285 is most likely way too expensive for it's worth. If the MAXCORE is around the same price or lower than the 280, I would go for said MAXCORE.

 

[aeschylus]

so would a PhII X4 925 be good enough? or should i just go for a new motherboard?

a AMD PHENOM X4 Quad Core 9650 CPU is going cheap off ebay is that worth it or stick with the phIIx4 925?

 

[aeschylus]

so if i can get the maxcore260 for cheaper then the 280 go the 260? ok.

looks like i got the video card down pat, bidding ends in 4 days. now jsut gotta decide on the CPU/motherboard issue :|

also it says my current computer is 2.31ghz

so how high would this raise if i was to buy the CPU/vid card.

 

[TemjinGold]

The 925 sounds fine. The reason I recommend the MAXCORE is because that is actually generation 3 of the 260, which I believe will edge out the 280 in performance while using less power, making less heat, and costing less.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: aeschylus
so would a PhII X4 925 be good enough? or should i just go for a new motherboard?

a AMD PHENOM X4 Quad Core 9650 CPU is going cheap off ebay is that worth it or stick with the phIIx4 925?

Avoid those old Phenom I chips like you would a communicable disease. Just don't get one. The PhII 925 will be much much faster.

And for video card - grab a cheap GTX 260/216 or a GTX 275. The 275 runs as fast as the previous generation 280 but uses less power doing it, the 260 is a bit slower but uses even less power and is still an absolutely massive upgrade from your current 9500GT.