New PC

[Rifter]

Hi guys, i will start by saying i have been out of the loop for a while, i used to be a computer tech but got out of it about 6 months after the time the Intel P4's came out My computer died a few years ago and i bought a PS3 instead of a new computer because it was $500 and would play all the newest games and a video card alone at that time would cost me at least that for the newest one plus the rest of the computer. And my g/f had a computer i used for e-mail and surfing, old games etc. Now the g/f's computer finally died(miracle it lasted this long it was a emachine, lasted 6 years) and i need a new comp as i need something to play old games on and surf the net. Talking to a friend thats still in the comp tech business i came up with the following, whats your opinion:

Antec NSK6580
Asus M3A78-EM
AMD X3 8650
Corsair XMS2 4GB DDR2 1066
Seagate 7200.11 1TB

Will be running 64bit vista home, also will be re -using the burner from old computer, its a 8X Samsung IDE drive.

Also this will not be a gaming machine at all, ill leave that to the PS3. Will be used for web surfing, e-mail, Photoshop, office apps, minor video rendering/encoding(this is why i went triple core on the advice of my buddy)

That will cost me $550- 600 canadian tax in with a discount through my buddy. Opinions please

 

[jackschmittusa]

For about $40 more, you could get a Phenom II X3 720, which would be a significant boost for rendering/encoding. If your PS files are large, it would help there as well. If that is out of your budget, stick with your original choice.

You will need a new PSU as well. A quality 400-500w unit will be OK. Been lots of deals lately on them.

 

[Rifter]

Thanks for the reply, the cpu i wanted is out of stock so i am looking at the X3 720, might go with a X4 9650 as well, ill see whats in stock. The case comes with a EarthWatts 430.

 

[jackschmittusa]

EarthWatts 430 should be fine.

 

[heyheybooboo]

There is only $6 difference on New Egg-Canada between the X3 8650 and the Phenom 9600BE. The Phenom II 720 is a great chip but you will have to decide if the extra $65 works in your budget.

The 1Tb storage is great but for your PS and video multiple hard drives is the way to go. 2 80 Gb hard drives (1st for OS/Apps - 2nd for capture/scratch) would cost less than $90CAN. You could then snag a 500Gb/750Gb hard drive for output/storage.

There is a 35% online discount on Sony Vegas stuff through 3/20 (http://www.sonycreativesoftwar...omo.asp?keycode=64191). That puts the Vegas Movie Studio 9 download at less than $40US and it will take all the cores you can throw at it using MainConcept encoders.

 

[Rifter]

I will take the multiple drives into consideration, i was trying to keep it to one for heat reasons, im trying to make this thing as close to silent as possible, it is going to be on 24/7 and its going to be in a room with my PS3 which i spend alot of time on, i want to keep the computer at least as quiet as the PS3, basically the opposite of my old computer which sounded like a F-14 at full power.