Out with the Old, In with the New

[PacificGeek]

It has been many years in the making but I am finally getting out of my Socket 754, AGP, and DDR system to a new LGA775, PCIe, and DDR2 system. (Heck, before my socket 754 system I had a socket 423 with rambus!).

I have been reading articles and forums on Anandtech and Toms Hardware as well as reviews on New Egg so I have a basic grasp on what I want to get.

I mainly use the computer for gaming with the occasional photo and video editing. My budget is around $1000 (after any rebates). I will be getting the WD 640GB AAKS hard drive, G.Skill 4GB (2GB x 2) DDR2 800, case to be determined in the $100 range. I already have a 22" LCD, keyboard, mouse and 5.1 speakers.

So with the $1000 budget and the parts that I will be getting for sure:

WD 640GB AAKS - $90
G.Skill 4GB kit - $80
E8400 - $190
case? - ?
mb? - ?
video? - ?
psu? - ?

That leaves me $640 for the remaining components, of course the saying 'most bang for your buck' always works best for me.

The core components I need help on is the motherboard, video, case and power supply, maybe the processor.

I will also NOT overclock. I have overclocked systems in the past but this time I just want to run everything stock (with the exception of cooling).

The processor is between the E8400 or Q9450. Not sure if the $100+ extra would make a big difference.

My current case is an Antec SOHO case (the old AlienWare, Chieftec, and Chenming ones). Not sure if I should keep it or go with something else. It's a great case but nothing but 80mm fans, no 120mm, possible to mod the side panel and top to add 2 or 3 120mm fans.

The motheboards is between the Asus P5Q boards or a 750i board. I am slightly leaning towards the P45 boards.

Video card is either an 8800GT or HD4850 (I have a 22" LCD and might upgrade to a 24"), SLI or CF is an option since I can acquire a second card to improve performance in a few months and then when the next generation comes out I will sell both cards to my brothers.

Power supply I am clueless on what to get.

So any advice would greatly be appreciated. Help me get out of my 'odd socket' nightmare!

Socket 423 and Socket 754... I always had bad timing building a new PC.

 

[themisfit610]

I can acquire a second card to improve performance in a few months and then when the next generation comes out I will sell both cards to my brothers.

No, SLI / CF is never a good upgrade path, since you have to build in additional costs up front for a stronger PSU, more cooling, and a fully SLI / CF capable motherboard. SLI / CF are only useful up-front at 1920x1200+ with lots of AA. 1680x1050 (your 22") is best served by a single, fast GPU. 8800GT / HD4850 is a great idea.

P45 isn't really worth it IMO, stick with P35.

PSU - A Corsair HX520 is a good bet - but I own one, so I'm not entirely unbiased An Antec Earthwatts 500 would probably be enough, too!

CPU - If you don't encode video or do heavy multitasking (i.e. encoding video WHILE gaming), get a dual. Quads pwn all when it comes to encoding, but are otherwise not really worth it.

Case - Lots of good options out there. Antec has some good cases - P180, Nine Hundred, Sonata, they're all sort of for different markets.

~MiSfit

 

[bigsnyder]

If you are happy with your Antec SOHO case, then by all means use it. They really work well, and airflow is great. Look at www.silentpcreview.com for 80mm fan reviews if noise is a concern.

Just some thoughts:

PSU - Like someone else mentioned, hard to go wrong with the Corsair HX series.
Memory - You might want to give the G.Skill DDR2-1000 and DDR2-1066 a glance.
I have seen some hot deals on these lately. You never know when the extra
headroom might come in handy.
GPU- HD4850
Motherboard - P45 only if PCIe 2.0 matters, otherwise P35

 

[octopus41092]

Case: Antec 900 $100
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Pro $150
Video: HD4870 $300
PSU: Silverstone SST-ST75ZF $120

Theres some rebates on it and after that it's a little under the $650 mark

Now, if you want to save some money.

Case: Use what you have
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Pro $150
Video: HD4850 $200
PSU: Silverstone ST50F $70

Include the rebates that the HD4850's currently have its about $380