Need new build suggestions...

[deadken]

My son just turned 17. He wants a pc upgrade for his birthday present. He has a Core2 Duo, 2GB of ram, a Asus P5Q mobo, and a 4830 Video card.

Now, my daughter is 19 and in college. I don't have a ton of money to drop. He plays a bunch of games (not many I remember at the moment) and I know he has Borderlands 2. I figure I could spend around $300. He should be able to add $100 to that if he puts in some money from other relatives. I have a Win 7 upgrade that I'll use to get him off of Win XP. His hard drive is a SATA 320GB, and I'm not going to even think about a SSD right now. I think CPU, Mobo, and Ram is going to eat up most of the budget and I don't want to guess what a video card will run. I can't remember for the life of me what PSU he has. Maybe my old Antec 580W?

We have a MicroCenter close by, so it'd be cool if he can get some 'instant gratification'.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions, Ken

 

[tweakboy]

You already have a good motherboard for your son. What needs depserate upgrade is RAM, get 8GB RAM kit very cheap 30 bucks or 40 maybe.

Then find a Core 2 Quad and replace the c2d. Then if you upgrade the 4830 grab a 460 1GB for 140 dollars. PSU is fine too for new CPU and RAM and video card.

OR let one of the gurus tell you to get a i5 processor and what not.

 

[Ken g6]

What needs depserate upgrade is RAM, get 8GB RAM kit very cheap 30 bucks or 40 maybe. Then find a Core 2 Quad and replace the c2d.

As long as you're replacing CPU and RAM, might as well get the new style. Assuming you can get Windows to install on the new mobo. (Licensing could be complicated if the old XP is OEM licensed.)

Micro Center helps a lot. You could get an i5-3570k at Micro Center for $190 (after $50 off), and bundle it with an ASRock Z77 Pro3 for $45 (after another $50 off). RAM could be as little as $38. But that only leaves space for a $127 video card. You can get a 7770 for that, but a 7850 or higher would be better.

An alternative would be to get a cheap, non-overclocking B75 mobo, $55 + $7 shipping, get whatever i3 is priced at $100 at Micro Center these days, the same RAM, and a $190AR 7850.

Personally, I'd suggest getting the better CPU and mobo, as a "good college computer"; then make him earn enough for a really nice GPU on his own. :twisted:

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I agree 100% on the video card; picking up a card like the GTX 460 would be a fairly solid upgrade for you.

If you tried to move up to a current system you cost can blow up really quick. Here is an example Intel® Core™ i3-2120 ($125), ASRock H77 Pro4-M ($89) , 8GB of DDR 3 1600 ($42), and GTX 650 ($120) and you are looking at almost $400 at Newegg. You might get it for less at Micro Center.

 

[Mopetar]

Yeah, I'd go with the video card upgrade as well. Bumping the RAM up to at least 4 GB will probably help as well. If you really want to get the best possible upgrade, get a smaller SSD to use for the OS and a few commonly used apps. They're a lot cheaper than they used to be and you can get a good 100+ GB model for under $100. It will make the computer feel much faster than anything else you could put in it for the same cost.

Otherwise, if you're going to mess with the CPU, don't bother going up to a quad core. They may be rather inexpensive now, but it will just be meager side-grade for most uses. Of course going with a newer CPU like IB is going to eat up all of the budget and a new GPU would be more useful for gaming.

 

[Ketchup]

A lot of good suggestions in this thread. One thing that I'll add is to keep an eye on the board's CPU power connector. Some of them run on 8 pins instead of 4, but you can buy an adapter for about $5.

 

[nyker96]

this following is what I'd do for myself in your shoes:

----

from newegg, AM3+ motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard: 80 or 70AR

from newegg, Gskill 8GB kit
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - $40

from ebay: a decent used PII x6 cpu:
e.g.: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8 GHz Six Core (HDT55TFBGRBOX) Processor - $100-$125

----

total: $220-$250

this gives you a PII x6 system w/ 8GB ram. you can overclock it to about 3,6ghz should be pretty beefy for most of your sons gaming or daily needs. save the rest cash for a video card upgrade or new HDD.

 

[Yuriman]

Micro Center helps a lot. You could get an i5-3570k at Micro Center for $190 (after $50 off), and bundle it with an ASRock Z77 Pro3 for $45 (after another $50 off). RAM could be as little as $38. But that only leaves space for a $127 video card. You can get a 7770 for that, but a 7850 or higher would be better.

This is my suggestion. If he's going to be in a dorm, an older Q6600 chip will cook him and his roommate out of the room (I would know). The newer AMD and Intel chips draw much less power when idling and it's noticeable in a small space.

Getting a bundle with a lower-end i5 wouldn't be out of the question either, such as a 3450, if they have one. Might let you squeeze a 78xx or a 69xx into your budget, but honestly the 7770 is a good card.

 

[Earthling01]

You already have a good motherboard for your son. What needs depserate upgrade is RAM, get 8GB RAM kit very cheap 30 bucks or 40 maybe.

Then find a Core 2 Quad and replace the c2d. Then if you upgrade the 4830 grab a 460 1GB for 140 dollars. PSU is fine too for new CPU and RAM and video card.

OR let one of the gurus tell you to get a i5 processor and what not.

I have an Asus P5Q motherboard as well. It takes DDR2 RAM so an 8GB kit is more like $100+. I had 2gb RAM too and recently wanted to extend its life a little bit at minimal cost so I got 2gb to add to what was there at 'only' about $30. Couldn't see spending more on dead end DDR2 tech that I won't be able to carry forward to a new motherboard whenever I do a new build(probably first quarter next year).

 

[deadken]

Thanks for the replies. I got the chance to talk to my son for a while tonight. It seems he originally wanted a AMD PhII 965 and a 6850. I explained that while I had a 555 (unlocked to a 955), I couldn't recommend that CPU, things have changed in the 18months or so I've had it. As a bonus. I remembered that I have 2x2GB of DDR 3 left over from when I upgraded to 2x4GB (I can't use 2 memory slots due to my choice of heatsink). So, I suggested that he take my 4GB of ram, and put the $45 or so he would have spent on ram towards the better / faster CPU.

We looked at the previous suggestions and like the look of the 3750 I5 with the Z77 Mobo for $45 ($50 off as a combo). We opened his case and I found he has an Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU (22A on both 12V rails and 24A on the 5V & 3.3V rails). I don't know why the I5 2500K is more money than the 3750 (performance?), but we like the idea of almost 20W less power draw with the 3750.

So, we haven't decided on a video card. The 7770, 6850, 6870, and even the 7850 are considerations (I have no idea what Nvidia similar options are). The games he plays now are League of Legends and Borderlands 2. I know he is looking forward to getting and Dark Souls and Assassins Creed 3. I really should mention that he has a 1920x1200 HP ZR24w (IPS) monitor. I'm a little concerned with the 7770 being able to feed that high of a resolution (128bit bus).

I'm thinking that I could chip in a few more bucks if he lets me take his old Mobo, CPU, and ram and upgrade his sisters S754 rig (though, she never really uses it since she got her I5 laptop for college).

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far, Ken

 

[Rast]

go for 6870 if you get it for cheap.

 

[Mopetar]

League of Legends isn't very GPU intensive. If that's the main game he plays, you don't need to worry about getting anything beefy. Borderlands 2 will run fine at 1920x1200 on any of the cards you mentioned. If you wanted some potential NV alternatives for the GPU I'd suggest a 460 or 560.

 

[Hubb1e]

For sure get the i5 and Z77 board. If you have a microcenter nearby, it is a crime not to go that route. It gives you a base that you can build from for many years to come. There is no reason at all to throw money at a dead socket when microcenter is so close. Then try and push to get the 7850 if you can.

Give the girl the old core 2 duo and call it a day. For office tasks a 2ghz core 2 will work great as long as your video card can offload youtube video.

 

[Denithor]

As a gamer, I know you need a balance of CPU+GPU power. If you come up short in either it will limit the effectiveness of the other. I suggest you reuse that 4GB DDR3 and from there buy these parts:

Intel i5-3450 $180 (after $15 off w/ promo code HARDOCPX926A, ends 10/1)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116506

ASRock H77M mATX for $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157303

HIS IceQ HD 7850 2GB for $175 (after MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161405

Last but not least, I highly recommend an SSD. Here's a really good deal, not the best drive around but plenty fast and large enough to use if you leave in that 320GB as a storage drive.

OCZ Agility 3 120GB for $65 (after MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227726

Assuming he puts up a few of his own dollars and you reuse the case/DDR3/PSU (which, btw, the Earthwatts 500W is a great model, plenty of power for this build) you can set him up with a machine that will play any of today's games fine at 1200p.

 

[Yuriman]

Assuming he puts up a few of his own dollars and you reuse the case/DDR3/PSU (which, btw, the Earthwatts 500W is a great model, plenty of power for this build) you can set him up with a machine that will play any of today's games fine at 1200p.

Perhaps I missed something but the Core2 is probably using DDR2, and he may want to keep that with the mobo and CPU so he can reuse those parts for something else.

 

[Denithor]

Perhaps I missed something but the Core2 is probably using DDR2, and he may want to keep that with the mobo and CPU so he can reuse those parts for something else.

Yep, you did:

As a bonus. I remembered that I have 2x2GB of DDR 3 left over from when I upgraded to 2x4GB (I can't use 2 memory slots due to my choice of heatsink).

 

[deadken]

Thanks again for the suggestions and help.

We got back from MicroCenter a little while ago. Picked up a ASRockZ77 Pro3 with a I5 3570K CPU (for $235 before tax). He will use the 'extra' DDR3 2x2GB that I have laying around for now. Later he can upgrade more as necessary.

I asked what 7850 cards they had in stock (I only saw Diamond cards, and I refuse to buy a Diamond product after the problems that I had with them). They had (2) Gigabyte 7850 Windforce OC cards in stock for $220 each, I told the salesman that if he'd pricematch Neweggs price of $210 each, I'd take both of them. They did (he needed managers approval).

So, now I got a new 2GB 7850 video card for my computer. I was WAY overdue and figured 'hey, why not...'. I told my son that when one of us upgrades a video card, the other can Crossfire with 2 x 7850's.

Add in a new 120mm Antec tricool fan ($20 for me) and a new controller ($10) for my son and it ran $785 after tax. Subtract $270 for my stuff and his upgrade came to $515. So, he's gonna throw in another $100 he got from other relatives. I'll chip in a few more bucks and take his C2D, mobo, and ram for his sisters PC.

Everyone should be happy.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the quick replies and information. It saved me hours I didn't have.

-Ken