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Tax money came in, time to pull the trigger.

C

cnjmorris

Member
I play World of Warcraft, so I'm a gamer, but I'm not into first person shooters at max resolution or anything so I don't need the fastest on the market, my current card actually does pretty well for me. I DO multi task a lot. It isn't rare for me to have browser, word processor, dreamweaver, and WoW all running at the same time (which this system does not handle well). I do not overclock but I'd like to have the option if possible.

Case is standard ATX.

My monitor is 22" widescreen and I run it in 1280 x 1024 almost exclusively (Warcraft in 1680 x 1024 wide).

My computer is old...but I have 2 raptor drives and a nice burner so I only need CPU/GPU/MB/RAM/PSU. My computer has been running fine for me until recently (WoW newest expansion). Here are the current specs:

System Model: K8N-E-Deluxe
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/18/05 18:16:55 Ver: 08.00.09
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.3GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 1716MB used, 2223MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT

Here is what I've been looking at:

Phenom II 940 Deneb 3.0 + GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3HP - $285

SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB - $99

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 - $59.99 - 20MIR

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) - $54.99


The problem is that the total is coming to $511 and I was looking at spending around $400. Is it possible to shave $100 off this with comparable choices or should I bite the bullet and stick with these choices?
 
Originally posted by: cnjmorris
The problem is that the total is coming to $511 and I was looking at spending around $400. Is it possible to shave $100 off this with comparable choices or should I bite the bullet and stick with these choices?
Click to expand...

The only thing you would really save money on would be your cpu/mobo combo. Your RAM/GFX/PSU are already really cheap and it's hard to get even cheaper than those.
 
Originally posted by: cnjmorris
I play World of Warcraft, so I'm a gamer,
Click to expand...

lol. made my night.

Seriously, though If you are looking to shave some $ off your build, grab an Intel dual core and Socket 775 motherboard that fit into your budget. The rest of your choices look solid. Just grab a board that supports Intel Core2 Quads for future upgrades, and I'd say you've got it made.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not really looking for future upgrades, I'm looking to make this last a few years. I'd rather spend $400-$500 every couple years for big performance bumps than save a little now to squeak out some extra cycles next year.

So before I go ahead and hit 'Checkout' here is the main question. I know nothing about overclocking so I have to ask... could I reach the same speeds with say a Phenom II 920 as this 940 (is the 920 more easily overclocked than the 940) or is this a solid upgrade over the 920. No point in paying a bit more for the 940 only to find out the 920 could have been overclocked to the same levels that the 940 could... hopefully I'm saying that clearly.

In the 'good news' department that PSU I had linked dropped $10 over night and is today's shell shocker, $29.99 after MIR. So with some quick feedback on overclocking I'm going to go ahead and buy today.
 
I looked at the combo deal you linked but I don't see much of a difference in price. Its $385 for the MB/GPU/CPU I have listed and $343 for the ones you have listed after rebate but that is with a drop from 940 to 920. How do the graphics card and MB compare in quality?
 
Originally posted by: cnjmorris
Just found this:

MSI R4830-T2D512 OC Radeon HD 4830 512MB $89.99 - 10 MIR = $79.99

Anyone have this card? Looks like it stacks up nice against the Sapphire, and comes OC a bit out of the box. I don't know brands, how is MSI on graphics?
Click to expand...

'OC'ed' out of the box pretty much means they've maxed the card and limited what you can do with it IMO. The video gurus will have to help you with that ...

The 780g is a fine mobo. The downside is the single PCIe x16 slot and sb700 - sb750 will most likely add 200-300MHz to your top OC because it improves system PLL timing. An extra PCIe slot opens the potential for a second HD 4830 which in Crossfire seems to be a bargain high-flyer.

The Biostar 790gx is a decent OC'er but for top clocks you must add mosfet cooling - the Asus 790gx is pretty much bullet proof and adds a third PCIe x16 slot for possible tri-CrossFire or a dedicated physics card ...

No doubt the Phenom II 940 is a smokin' chip. I can't say if the extra $$$ or so for a 940/Asus 790gx/HD 4830 combo is a better deal than a 920/790gx/HD 4830 or a deal with the 780g - you have to be the ultimate judge of that.

To really confuse you take a look at the Gigabyte 790x and think of the possibilities 😀
 
Per your overclocking question. The 920 will likely overclock pretty well, but the main advantage to having the 940, is it has an unlocked multiplier, which makes basic overclocking child's play. It also opens up new combinations of settings to try, which will likey result in higher overall OC's
 
Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
To really confuse you take a look at the Gigabyte 790x and think of the possibilities 😀
Click to expand...


Thanks for your thorough response. A lot of people answer and don't respond to a follow up and I end up with more options but no more answers.

I don't understand what you said about the Gigabyte 790xm what possibilities did you mean?

I didn't look at the differences in the combo originally that you mentioned, I assumed they were similar boards, sounds like the combo you linked has a better board but a slightly weaker CPU?
 
The Gigabyte 790x has sb750, 2 PCIe x16 slots, Realtek ALC889A audio but no onboard graphics.

Yes. The difference was the Phenom II 940 / 920. As phaxmohdem noted the 940 BE gives you more options for OC'ing but I'll bet a nickel that a 940BE/sb700 combination will compare equally to a 920/sb750 combination when you really get down to cranking it up.

Going from 2Gb DDR 400 to 4Gb DDR2 1066 will make a big difference in your multitasking - though remember that 32-bit Windows will only recognize around 3.2Gb or so ...
 
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