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Out of the loop for awhile - advice on new PC needed

N

nawdik

Junior Member
Hi,

I've been out of the pc hardware loop for some time now (since about 2004 or 2005) and my current pc is as follows:

AMD FX-53
DFI NF4 LANParty SLI
Corsair PC3200 ram (512mb..other 512 stick died)
ATI RADEON X850 XT
450w Fortron PSU
Soundblaster Audigy 2
WD 36g 10k RPM HD

I'm looking to get something more modern and up to date and my goals are basically overall performance in apps such as photoshop, browsing the net, sony vegas, etc. and highest frame rate possible in games for my budget (600-700$ max...including a monitor)

As I said before my budget is about 600-700$ including a monitor (currently using a 19 inch CRT) and excluding a case, which I already own.

Heres a screenshot of a newegg cart I put together on my own after some very brief reading around here on the site and some others for reviews: http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5166/cartb.jpg

Any input on this build is more than welcome....anything that I can get cheaper there that is just as good or better is more than welcome too...I encourage it actually, lol. No preference on brands, except maybe Gskill...I like their memory. Just trying to put together the best performing PC possible under this budget.

I also don't mind overclocking whatever CPU I get to a moderate level (ie: stable everyday and no crazy cooling needed). I actually chose that particular processor in that screenshot to OC it based on recommendations. Good idea or no?

Thanks for any help/input. 🙂

ps. I'm located in California.
 
Just wanted to suggest looking at an ASUS monitor. I got a 23" LCD from Microcenter for $140 or so. I'm not big into gaming, so perhaps the refresh rate (or whatever the right term is now) isn't fast enough. But I'd suggest you look at it.

Good luck!
 
9800gtx is overpriced, you can get a 4850 for under a hundred bucks and an OEM cod5 for 20 bucks on ebay.

with the few bucks saved there you can afford an e7400. i have no other suggestions- solid p45 mobo, fsp makes a decent psu, gskill makes good ram. although you could probably get a 22" monitor for the price of that 19" if you look around.
 
I may go a bit over because I include the OS in the build but there are a couple extra rebates that could make up for it. Since sales come and go daily this is good for a short time and requires rebates.

$230 = 250 - 20RB Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor + BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45

$130 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit + HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725050GLA360 (0A35415) 500GB

$120 = 140 - 5 cc UNSTOPPABLE - 15RB Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4870 512MB DDR5 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card, Retail

$30 = 50 - 20RB OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

$40 = 65 -5PC (EMCLTLN46) - 25RB OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W

$26 HP Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW Lightscribe

I advise an after market cooler for overclocking. (not included in this build) I recommend
$22 = 42 - 20 RB = ZEROtherm ZEN FZ120 120mm CPU Cooler - Retail

$139 (109*) = 169 - 10 CC (dad10 ends 6/8) - 20 RB - 30RB* ASUS VH226H 22in Widescreen LCD Monitor 2ms 1000:1 300 cd/m2 Glossy Black

Total $715 (685*) $820 before rebates.

* weird ebillme $30 rebate. I read the terms and it seems legit.
 
Thanks for all the replies thus far...very helpful.

I'm looking over all the options that have been suggested and have a couple of questions.

1) It seems Intel generally gets the nod now from most people I've talked to or read about...has AMD really fallen behind that much? HHBB has been the only one to recommend an AMD to me thus far..why no AMD love, lol? 🙂

2) Another brand vs brand question...it seems ATI gets the thumbs up at this budget level..is there a big difference between NVIDIA and ATI at this level in performance such as frame rate etc.?

3) How big of a performance gap is there between a 4850 and a 4870 in real world situations?

Also thanks for the heads up on the Asus monitors. I'm definitely going to grab one of those instead of the samsung. 🙂
 
Ehh I was just going for the budget you set forth. I don't take a stance either way I'm just getting the most bang for the buck. I picked the q8200 because with the combo it was the cheapest quad core I could find. With that Biostar TP45hp it can easily OC to a bit over 3ghz. Last month AMD combos were good, this month Intel.

When buying a system for the budget conscious builder, it's all about timing.

As for the 4870 vs 4850 vs nVidia, for me it's another budget decision. The 4870 is probably 10-20% greater than a 4850 and about equal to a nvidia 260gtx(216), maybe a sight edge to nvidia here, for $120 AR it's hard to pass up. Seeing a 4850 for $85 AR makes it equally attractive, but it's performance segment is being overrun by the 4770 which is a bit more expensive (95 vs 85 atm) but much less power hungry.
 
Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s: $65
(code EMCLTLN34 valid till 06/08/2009)

Radeon HD 4830: $70 AR
(code EMCLTLR44 valid till 06/08/2009)

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 770: $80


The AMD Phenom II X2 550 or Phenom II X3 720 will work just dandy depending upon how you wish to juggle your budget.

The HD4830 should idle at less than 20w and max at less than 90w (roughly 75% of the 9800gtx).
Click to expand...

I put together a very similar Machine with the X3 720 and have been more than happy with the stability and performance for the price.
 
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - Retail - $109.99 + free shipping
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 AM2+ ATX Motherboard - Retail - $72.99 + free shipping
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit - Retail - $49.99 ($39.99 after $10 rebate) + free shipping
Open Box: POWERCOLOR AX4870 512MD5 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - $129.99
hWestern Digital Caviar Black WD6401FALS 640GB HDD - OEM - $74.99 + free shipping
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 - Retail - $149.99 + free shipping
BFG LS-550 550W PSU with Active PFC - Retail - $79.99 ($59.99 after $20 rebate)

Grand Total = $667.93, not including rebates or shipping.
 
* Do you have an OS already, or do you need to include this in the build??
* If you have a case for this build, what is it?
Realistically a 2 or 3 core CPU is all that you need in this budget. They will generally game better, because of the higher clock speeds (at stock and even OC'd). So I'd probably stick with just a 2 or 3 core CPU. AMD hasn't fallen off the boat, but have been on a upward battle since the C2D's came out about 2 or so years ago (I think it'll be 3 this Oct??). AMD as far as GPU's are concerned have been dominating most of the budget/mid range territory for quite a bit. nVidia has been trying to combat AMD in these areas, so they have been having to drop their prices quite a bit to match/better AMD offerings. I believe AMD has the better price/performance right now, but any good deals can change things overnight, so be ready to get a good deal at any time.
 
for his price range i like the e7400 or that new phenom II x2 chip. if he can swing the x3 720, it'll help a bit in games that use more than two cores (though benchmarks seem to show that a fourth is mostly worthless at the moment).

build everything around your choice carefully and you should at least have enough left for a 4850. the 4870 or a gtx260 would be a decent step up if you can swing it. there's not much else worth looking at from nvidia in the <$150 range, the 4850 tops most of their offerings in the low 100's and is dirt cheap. gtx260 is a serious value contender for its price, though.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
Ehh I was just going for the budget you set forth. I don't take a stance either way I'm just getting the most bang for the buck. I picked the q8200 because with the combo it was the cheapest quad core I could find. With that Biostar TP45hp it can easily OC to a bit over 3ghz. Last month AMD combos were good, this month Intel.

When buying a system for the budget conscious builder, it's all about timing.

As for the 4870 vs 4850 vs nVidia, for me it's another budget decision. The 4870 is probably 10-20% greater than a 4850 and about equal to a nvidia 260gtx(216), maybe a sight edge to nvidia here, for $120 AR it's hard to pass up. Seeing a 4850 for $85 AR makes it equally attractive, but it's performance segment is being overrun by the 4770 which is a bit more expensive (95 vs 85 atm) but much less power hungry.
Click to expand...

Gotcha on the processors. The last time I was up to date on the hardware world AMD was pretty much hands down dominating and it was a clear cut decision back then, I'm glad it's more of a closed gap now and better prices to boot. Thanks for the explanation and also interesting card comparison...all makes sense and cleared it up for me. 🙂


Originally posted by: Lunyone
* Do you have an OS already, or do you need to include this in the build??
* If you have a case for this build, what is it?
Realistically a 2 or 3 core CPU is all that you need in this budget. They will generally game better, because of the higher clock speeds (at stock and even OC'd). So I'd probably stick with just a 2 or 3 core CPU. AMD hasn't fallen off the boat, but have been on a upward battle since the C2D's came out about 2 or so years ago (I think it'll be 3 this Oct??). AMD as far as GPU's are concerned have been dominating most of the budget/mid range territory for quite a bit. nVidia has been trying to combat AMD in these areas, so they have been having to drop their prices quite a bit to match/better AMD offerings. I believe AMD has the better price/performance right now, but any good deals can change things overnight, so be ready to get a good deal at any time.
Click to expand...


I do have an OS. I will either use Vista or XP. I like using XP but Vista seems to be the new thing to do so that will most likely be my OS.

I do have a case, it's a silver Lian Li PC65.

Thank you for the info on the core's and whats gone down in the past few years. Since I made this topic I've been thinking about a dual core myself because of the higher clock speeds but wasn't 100% sure if my logic was correct in thinking dual core + higher clock speed = better frame rates, or more cores = better frame rate (talking about HL2 engine based games mostly...gotta catch up on the gaming side of things too 😉 ). I guess it comes down more to raw speed when dealing with games from that generation or games in general now except for the few multi threaded games?

Originally posted by: brblx
for his price range i like the e7400 or that new phenom II x2 chip. if he can swing the x3 720, it'll help a bit in games that use more than two cores (though benchmarks seem to show that a fourth is mostly worthless at the moment).

build everything around your choice carefully and you should at least have enough left for a 4850. the 4870 or a gtx260 would be a decent step up if you can swing it. there's not much else worth looking at from nvidia in the <$150 range, the 4850 tops most of their offerings in the low 100's and is dirt cheap. gtx260 is a serious value contender for its price, though.
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103680 is this the new phenom chip you are talking about?
 
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