New multipurpose rig

[Sp12]

Well, I have a gaming rig as per my sig, and it's holding up beautifully in games, but it's starting to show it's age in encoding, editing, and the like.

I'm looking to either build a new system that will handle encoding/editing/general use well, and is able to game on a single 1920, or upgrade my platform (CPU/RAM/Mobo).

If I upgrade the platform, that's all I'll need. It would be gaming at 5040*1050.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

New build: <1000$ preferred, 1100 hard limit.

Upgrade: <500$ hard limit

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

N/A

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Nope.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Looking for a mild, probably voltless overclock.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Depending on the price it takes to get the performance I want, either very soon or Q1 2011 (SSD/ATI/AMD/Intel refreshes by that time).

I'm still not convinced that I'll be getting a whole lot more performance over what I have, so I can definitely be talked out of it if it makes sense. I'm planning on grabbing a gen3 SSD once that refresh hits.

 

[mfenn]

I'm a little confused by what you want in a new system. Are you getting rid of your old one? Why else would you want gaming performance on the new system? That'll really eat into the budget.

 

[lsv]

I'm a little confused by what you want in a new system. Are you getting rid of your old one? Why else would you want gaming performance on the new system? That'll really eat into the budget.

Same here, but I'll still comment.

Wouldn't you be able to sell your Q6600+mobo+ddr2 and swap over to i7+mobo+DDR3 for under $500? Heck even get a cheap SSD in there.

 

[Sp12]

Same here, but I'll still comment.

Wouldn't you be able to sell your Q6600+mobo+ddr2 and swap over to i7+mobo+DDR3 for under $500? Heck even get a cheap SSD in there.

That sounds like a decent plan actually. Would an AMD x6 make sense?

And I'm looking for better performance out of games primarily.

 

[mfenn]

That sounds like a decent plan actually. Would an AMD x6 make sense?

And I'm looking for better performance out of games primarily.

You'll likely get somewhat of a performance increase in game from moving to an i5/i7, but I don't think it would be worth $500. A Phenom II X6 will likely give equivalent performance to your Q6600 when gaming.

Now, for other workloads, yeah an i5/i7 especially or a Phenom II X6 (for rendering and encoding) would see a nice jump.

 

[DSF]

Well, I have a gaming rig as per my sig, and it's holding up beautifully in games, but it's starting to show it's age in encoding, editing, and the like.

And I'm looking for better performance out of games primarily.

I'm still really confused about what you're after.

 

[Sp12]

I'm still really confused about what you're after.

>< badly Englished. Better performance outside of games.

1055t
870 mobo
Ripjaws

Sound good?

 

[mfenn]

>< badly Englished. Better performance outside of games.

1055t
870 mobo
Ripjaws

Sound good?

That's fine as long as you're willing to OC the 1055T a bit. A Q6600 @ 3.2 is no slouch.

 

[lsv]

That's fine as long as you're willing to OC the 1055T a bit. A Q6600 @ 3.2 is no slouch.

That's why I'd go i7 myself, a Q6600 is still a beast of a CPU.

Do you have any ways of offloading your encoding to a beefy GFX card?

 

[Sp12]

That's why I'd go i7 myself, a Q6600 is still a beast of a CPU.

Do you have any ways of offloading your encoding to a beefy GFX card?

I've tried researching that but never done it as I've had AMD GPUs for a while.

Actually, that doesn't sound bad as I have a spare 8800GTX lying around that I could probably use for that. My Q6600 could also go higher if I added volts as well.

Any suggestions on GPU offloading?

 

[mfenn]

I've tried researching that but never done it as I've had AMD GPUs for a while.

Actually, that doesn't sound bad as I have a spare 8800GTX lying around that I could probably use for that. My Q6600 could also go higher if I added volts as well.

Any suggestions on GPU offloading?

Unless your specific apps support it, you're SOL.

 

[Sp12]

So I've decided to upgrade my PSU, drop in the 8800GTX, and wait it out for something better. Thanks for the help!

What wattage should I be aiming for for an OC'd 5850+8800GTX+3HDs?

 

[mfenn]

Will CUDA even work when ATI drivers are present?

Anyway, I would probably say a 750W since you've got your Q6600 OC'ed as well.

 

[Sp12]

With the right hax XD

Any suggestions? Modular is a must, silver/gold efficiency a plus.

 

[mfenn]

Seasonic X750 Gold