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New build help

T

tailes151

Senior member
My friend has decided it's time for a new rig, but I haven't really kept up with all the latest technologies. He's looking for something upper-mid/lower-high end range. Something that won't need to get upgraded for years to come.

I don't have much of an idea about what he'd like, but I'd think probably one of the i7's (920/930?) as a processor. In terms of graphics he said one card is fine for now, but he'd like the option to go sli/crossfire down the road. I was thinking I should suggest a 5850?

I have no clue about what to look for in today's motherboards, nor how powerful of a PSU I would need in order to support crossfire 5850's down the road. I also have no idea about what type of ram I should suggest, but I know that he would want 4 gigs at a minimum.

He doesn't need a new case, or any HDD's, so basically just a new CPU, GPU, PSU, MB, and RAM.

Any ideas/comments?
 
"Going Crossfire/SLI down the road" is a silly trap that a ton of people fall into. Crossfire/SLI capability is a terrible way to try to "future proof" your rig. You will spend way more than you need up front and if (big if) you finally decide to go for it, you will get performance on par with a single new GPU but the power, heat, and noise of 2 old ones. It makes more sense to save the money that you would have spent on that fancy Crossfire/SLI mobo (and in Intel's case, more expensive CPU) and that oversized PSU (getting crap efficiency with 1 GPU). Put the money towards a faster GPU in 1-2 years.

The only legitimate reason to go Crossfire/SLI is to get maximum performance right now.

Also, budget?
 
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Ah, that makes good sense. He told me he doesn't really have a budget, but he's not looking for the best of everything. Just what a typical gamer would pick up in that range nowadays. If I had to guess I would say maybe $1500.
 
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