Upgrade system- need some advice.

[in4some]

I need some recomendation and advice for upgrading my 5 year old computer.
this will be my second build but it's been a while. so this is new ball game to me.
please help me.

1. What is this PC going to be built for?
for work most of time. it will run some Java applications, other realtime streaming programs, playing music, and several taps on explorer at the same time.

2. What is YOUR budget?
$800

3. If YOU have any unreasonable brand preferences?
No

4. Have YOU performed any research yet?
Some yes.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts?
Yes. (will reuse case, keyboard, mouse, CD-RW, monitors, and windows. if possible, PSU and HDD)

6. If YOU plan on overclocking?
maybe light oc.

7. When do you plan to build it?
within a month.

8. Do you have a fry's or microcenter nearby?
will have soon. moving to Hendson, NV in a month.


I got these two parts from ebay with 25% cashback.
Intel Q6600 - $142.50
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P $105

Graphics : Can you recommend good basic one? I need to run 8 monitors. so it should have either 2 DVIs or 1 DVI and 1 VGA input. I am still using Radeon 9200s without a problem. so don't need fancy one since don't play any game at all.

HDD : my current hdd is 80G SATA western digital one. sill has 60G space available. if this does not draw back new system, I like to keep it. I have 1TB external drive for my extra storage capacity.
WD800JD-22JNA0 80 GB SATA Hard Drive 8MB cache

PSU : can I reuse my current PSU? it's Cooler Giant 480W. I don't know whether it's sufficient or not. if not, I am planning to get this. or any recommendation?
OCZ OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - $105 - $35 rebate = $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6817341018

Ram : Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 - $55 - $10 promo code - $25 rebate = $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6820220293

Case : will reuse current Antec Super Lanboy ATX Mini Tower

Windows : current XP 32bit, debating to buy Vista 64bit or wait for Windows 7.

 

[Denithor]

Erm...5 year old PSU & HDD - no. Don't do that to yourself. Seriously.

Corsair 650TX $100 - $25MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $46
WD6401AALS Caviar Black $80
ATi 4350 $40 - $10MIR
Xigmatek S1283 $37 - $10MIR

$303 - $45MIR = $258 shipped (all items have free shipping)

Honestly the Q6600 you bought is serious overkill for your apps but you certainly won't get slowed down by anything. Strap on that cooler and you should easily hit 3GHz, probably 3.2GHz or even higher if you push for it. Use the guide at the top of the CPU & Overclocking forum for guidance in overclocking your processor.

 

[in4some]

thanks Denithor. I think it's overkill for me but I couldn't pass the deal.
also I like to keep this build for at least 3 years.

btw is OCZ psu that I linked not good? or Corsair one is better?
if it's same quality, then I will go with OCZ because it comes with DVD-RW.

 

[imported_wired247]

so you are splitting 1VGA+ 1DVI port amongst 8 monitors? is the quality awful or what? I have not heard of someone splitting 2 signals to 8 monitors before. (Was not even aware that that would work without serious loss)

I might consider telling you to get a basic dual video card setup, possibly 2 of these (and crossfire them). this was the cheapest dual link DVI video card with crossfire supported that I could find... and I would highly recommend using only DVI signal since VGA gets very lossy once you start pushing the limits of resolution.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102726


which is fine since your GA-EP45-UD3P can handle 2 video cards easily



Upgrading the HDD is definitely a good idea... current generation 7200rpm HDD's are quite good performers and much faster than last generation HDDs



The OCZ PSU will work fine, although it is overkill. Corsair is known for high quality, but that doesn't mean the OCZ one will fail. You should be fine.

 

[in4some]

thanks wired247.

I should have more clearly mentioned that I need to run 4 video cards for 8 monitors.