1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
My main reason for upgrading is for the new star wars MMO and also to finally get out of windows XP, lol. I do a lot of web browsing, may get into some light photo/video editing. Haven't done much yet, but it sounds like fun. Mostly general use kind of stuff. Lets just say I have been running an Athlon X2 3200+ with 2GB of ram for quite a while now, an it has done what I asked it to, albeit probably slower then what it needs to be. I usually stick to console games, but when a good game comes out thats pc only, I'd like to be able to play it and have it look acceptable. I don't need maxed graphics or 300 frames per second. As long as it plays good and looks ok, I'm happy.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
I'm sure I will get shot for this, but I haven't really set a budget. I would say I would like to do what I want as cheaply as possible, but then again who doesn't. I'm thinking less then $1000.00, but I may be able to bump that, depending on the best route to take, which is the reason I am posting here. Will explain later.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
The USA, most likely from microcenter or newegg.
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.
I don't really have brand preference. I prefer to find the sweet spot. The best price for the performance.
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I don't think I will be carrying over any of my currents with the exception of possibly a hard drive until prices come back down on them. Oh the monitor, keyboard and mouse as well will be reused with this new build.
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have been browsing the general hardware, cpu/motherboard forums for a few days now. And I have looked at other peoples build threads.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I am not against overclocking or unlocking extra cores as the case may be. But it is not something I need to do
8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
As I said above as long as the games look good, thats fine by me. But I have a 23 inch samsung monitor(2343bwx) which uses a dual link dvi cable and has a rather strange native resolution. I believe it is 2048 x 1152. So I would prefer to run at that resolution to maintain good quality visuals. But if running a game at that res will require a crap load of money, I will have to sacrifice and bump the res down or play in window'd mode.
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Soon, potentially today, if I get the answers I am looking for.
I haven't put together a full build yet, but I have a couple of questions about parts I am considering.
Video cards I haven't really looked into. From what little I know, it seems as though ATI has come back in the last few years and are putting otu cards comparable to or better then nvidia(maybe I am wrong, please correct me if I am). But they also have so many models that are named so closely alike, I have no idea which to choose. But I admit, i haven't researched video cards much yet. So I may be able to figure this one out on my own in a few minutes.
Newegg currently has some G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB(2x4GB) DDR3 1600 for $29.99. To get into 8GB of DDR3 at microcenter, I am looking at some Kingston HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1333 for $35.00 bucks, or HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1600 for $39.99. I am a bit impatient, so I would hate to get everything I need at microcenter today, then have to wait on the memory to ship from newegg to get it working. So is the memory from microcenter a good replacement for the G.Skill? I am willing to pay an extra 10 bucks to not have to wait for it to ship from newegg if its good enough. Or should I possibly find a cheap 2GB of ram to get a running unit this weekend and then order the g.skill from newegg? Or is there an even better ram deal out there that I am not aware of?
Lastly and probably most importantly is the processor and motherboard. As I said earlier microcenter is running some tempting bundle deals right now on both sides. Their current offers are:
AMD
Purchase a Phenom II X4 970 Black edition(139.99), Phenom II X2 560 Black edition($87.99), Phenom II X6 1055T($119.99), Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition($159.99) and Phenom II X6 1100T black edition($179.99) and you get a Gigabyte GA-78MLT-S2P, Biostar A780L3G or MSI NF725GM-P43 motherboard for free, or $30.00 bucks off any other motherboard. I know there is the possibility to unlock the extra cores on the Phenom II X2 560 black edition($87.99), and I also hear the X6 1055T($119.99) is a good deal.
Intel
$50.00 off anyZ68 or P67 motherboard with purchase of Core i5 2500K($179.99)
Even with the cheapest intel motherboard, I am looking at almost $300.00 to get into the core i5 setup(correction, I was only looking at the motherboards int he ad, they do have some cheaper ones which would get me into a core i5 for closer to $250, which stills puts me above the price of the higher end AMD deals), which I am sure will probably be a better perform then the potential AMD setups. But I have the possibility of getting a Phenom II X2 560 black edition, which has the possibility of unlocking an addition 2 cores for $87.99, or jump to one of the Phenom II X6 models, like the X6 1055T for $119.99, and both of those deals include a free motherboard. So I would definitely be able to get into AMD way cheaper, but how long would an AMD system last me compared to the 2500k intel system? As you can tell by my current rig, I tend to milk my systems for several years past their prime.
Also, I am so out of the loop on these AMD processors. Especially when you add in the fact that I can possibly take the X2 560 up to 4 cores. I have been trying to read some reviews and look at benchmarks. But there are so many variants on both intel and amd's sides, I am having a hard time figure out which option is best for me. I understand fewer faster cores like the core i5 will likely be better for gaming, where as the more, slower cores of some of the amd processors will exceed at more multi threaded applications. I do multi task a lot, and often have way more tabs open in firefox then most users.
I guess I would say I am leaning towards AMD(not sure which one though)because it will be so much cheaper to get into. But I don't want to regret it in 2 years when the system feels sluggish where as the core i5 may still feel blazing fast.
I know I said lastly about 5 paragraphs ago, but one final question, I promise. Is there any reason I should consider a prebuilt machine as opposed to building my own? I am capable of building my own, that is not the problem. But I do need to upgrade to windows 7, which i will have to buy. I am just wondering if there are any good deals out there on a prebuilt that will make it worth not building my own.
Thanks a bunch and happy holidays to everyone.
My main reason for upgrading is for the new star wars MMO and also to finally get out of windows XP, lol. I do a lot of web browsing, may get into some light photo/video editing. Haven't done much yet, but it sounds like fun. Mostly general use kind of stuff. Lets just say I have been running an Athlon X2 3200+ with 2GB of ram for quite a while now, an it has done what I asked it to, albeit probably slower then what it needs to be. I usually stick to console games, but when a good game comes out thats pc only, I'd like to be able to play it and have it look acceptable. I don't need maxed graphics or 300 frames per second. As long as it plays good and looks ok, I'm happy.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
I'm sure I will get shot for this, but I haven't really set a budget. I would say I would like to do what I want as cheaply as possible, but then again who doesn't. I'm thinking less then $1000.00, but I may be able to bump that, depending on the best route to take, which is the reason I am posting here. Will explain later.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
The USA, most likely from microcenter or newegg.
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.
I don't really have brand preference. I prefer to find the sweet spot. The best price for the performance.
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I don't think I will be carrying over any of my currents with the exception of possibly a hard drive until prices come back down on them. Oh the monitor, keyboard and mouse as well will be reused with this new build.
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
I have been browsing the general hardware, cpu/motherboard forums for a few days now. And I have looked at other peoples build threads.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I am not against overclocking or unlocking extra cores as the case may be. But it is not something I need to do
8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
As I said above as long as the games look good, thats fine by me. But I have a 23 inch samsung monitor(2343bwx) which uses a dual link dvi cable and has a rather strange native resolution. I believe it is 2048 x 1152. So I would prefer to run at that resolution to maintain good quality visuals. But if running a game at that res will require a crap load of money, I will have to sacrifice and bump the res down or play in window'd mode.
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Soon, potentially today, if I get the answers I am looking for.
I haven't put together a full build yet, but I have a couple of questions about parts I am considering.
Video cards I haven't really looked into. From what little I know, it seems as though ATI has come back in the last few years and are putting otu cards comparable to or better then nvidia(maybe I am wrong, please correct me if I am). But they also have so many models that are named so closely alike, I have no idea which to choose. But I admit, i haven't researched video cards much yet. So I may be able to figure this one out on my own in a few minutes.
Newegg currently has some G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB(2x4GB) DDR3 1600 for $29.99. To get into 8GB of DDR3 at microcenter, I am looking at some Kingston HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1333 for $35.00 bucks, or HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1600 for $39.99. I am a bit impatient, so I would hate to get everything I need at microcenter today, then have to wait on the memory to ship from newegg to get it working. So is the memory from microcenter a good replacement for the G.Skill? I am willing to pay an extra 10 bucks to not have to wait for it to ship from newegg if its good enough. Or should I possibly find a cheap 2GB of ram to get a running unit this weekend and then order the g.skill from newegg? Or is there an even better ram deal out there that I am not aware of?
Lastly and probably most importantly is the processor and motherboard. As I said earlier microcenter is running some tempting bundle deals right now on both sides. Their current offers are:
AMD
Purchase a Phenom II X4 970 Black edition(139.99), Phenom II X2 560 Black edition($87.99), Phenom II X6 1055T($119.99), Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition($159.99) and Phenom II X6 1100T black edition($179.99) and you get a Gigabyte GA-78MLT-S2P, Biostar A780L3G or MSI NF725GM-P43 motherboard for free, or $30.00 bucks off any other motherboard. I know there is the possibility to unlock the extra cores on the Phenom II X2 560 black edition($87.99), and I also hear the X6 1055T($119.99) is a good deal.
Intel
$50.00 off anyZ68 or P67 motherboard with purchase of Core i5 2500K($179.99)
Even with the cheapest intel motherboard, I am looking at almost $300.00 to get into the core i5 setup(correction, I was only looking at the motherboards int he ad, they do have some cheaper ones which would get me into a core i5 for closer to $250, which stills puts me above the price of the higher end AMD deals), which I am sure will probably be a better perform then the potential AMD setups. But I have the possibility of getting a Phenom II X2 560 black edition, which has the possibility of unlocking an addition 2 cores for $87.99, or jump to one of the Phenom II X6 models, like the X6 1055T for $119.99, and both of those deals include a free motherboard. So I would definitely be able to get into AMD way cheaper, but how long would an AMD system last me compared to the 2500k intel system? As you can tell by my current rig, I tend to milk my systems for several years past their prime.
Also, I am so out of the loop on these AMD processors. Especially when you add in the fact that I can possibly take the X2 560 up to 4 cores. I have been trying to read some reviews and look at benchmarks. But there are so many variants on both intel and amd's sides, I am having a hard time figure out which option is best for me. I understand fewer faster cores like the core i5 will likely be better for gaming, where as the more, slower cores of some of the amd processors will exceed at more multi threaded applications. I do multi task a lot, and often have way more tabs open in firefox then most users.
I guess I would say I am leaning towards AMD(not sure which one though)because it will be so much cheaper to get into. But I don't want to regret it in 2 years when the system feels sluggish where as the core i5 may still feel blazing fast.
I know I said lastly about 5 paragraphs ago, but one final question, I promise. Is there any reason I should consider a prebuilt machine as opposed to building my own? I am capable of building my own, that is not the problem. But I do need to upgrade to windows 7, which i will have to buy. I am just wondering if there are any good deals out there on a prebuilt that will make it worth not building my own.
Thanks a bunch and happy holidays to everyone.
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