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Plz just tell me what to build, thx

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs - Plz just tell me what to build, thx

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5 years ago this January, i built my current gaming machine (it might actually be 6 yrs??). At the time, AMD ruled and an AGP 8X card with 512ram was impressive. And 2GB of ram was overkill and XP was very new.

Everything's changed like 3 times on me. ... ePCI (x16??), Dual and Quad cores, "green" low volt chipsets, SLI or Xrossover, etc etc. Everytime i thingk of buying new, I question whether the purchase is enough of a value vs. relearning what it would take to build a new rig. I've built several so I'm comfortable with the assembly but i havent touched modern components in forever and the more i read the more I question what i think i want.

Please save me from myself and just tell me ... what would you do? Here's $600.00.

No need for a case as I have a oversized Li-Lian that will accommodate anything thrown at it. But ... I need everything else. Cant use my old ATA drives. Cant use my old PSU. replace replace replace. I want to play current games reasonably well. I would like some ability to explore video editing of digital camcorder footage. I would like to be future proof for the next 18 months (and will likely keep 2+ yrs).

Thanks for sticking with reading this post thus far. Time to wrap it up. I have a two 24in DELL LCDs (1 in use, 1 new in box) ... I'd like to run dual monitors. Will $600.00 be enough? Don't really want to spend more. Anything coming down that pike I should wait for? Any reason to wait for Black Friday?

Like i said ... please save me from myself! THANK YOU up front for your time and any suggestions, advise and any build configurations shared!

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gtx260 or ati 4870 ~255

e7200~120

p35 motherboard~85

corsair or antec 600watt PSU ~ 90

2GB ddr2-800 ~ 35
---------------------------------
all at newegg
$585 doesn't include shipping but these prices are conserative. There will be rebates.
Hard dries are about $35 on ebay or free from a friend. so there you go.

You can trade the 260/4870 for a 4850/9800 Gtx. This will give you enough cash for a nice Q6600 quad core cpu. This will sacrifice a little gamng power though.
Good luck! people will have fun with this one.

Message edited by customisbetter on 09-28-2008 at 07:22:35 PM

------------------------------ e4400 2.75Ghz MSI G33 4x1GB DDR2-667@826 Palit 4870 3DMark 12112
Reply to customisbetter

buy a magazine.

Reply to buzznut

If you go amd, you can get a 5600 with board at Fry's for $90, or the 8450 tri core for $105 with board. If you don't have a fry's, get the 5000 and an 8200gf ecs motherboard for around $120 at newegg. It has hdmi support and 4 memory slots. That will leave you with extra for 4 gigs of pc6400 memory and whatever video card you desire. Yesterday, newegg had an 9600gs video card for only $35 after email code and rebate. An awsome deal.

Reply to o1die

The 9600GSO when overclocked is as fast as a stock 8800gt btw.

------------------------------ e4400 2.75Ghz MSI G33 4x1GB DDR2-667@826 Palit 4870 3DMark 12112
Reply to customisbetter

Stay away from ECS boards. Absolute junk.

Reply to BadTrip

Agreed^

------------------------------ e4400 2.75Ghz MSI G33 4x1GB DDR2-667@826 Palit 4870 3DMark 12112
Reply to customisbetter

i used www.computerlx.com. i found them through www.pricewatch.com and they have sterling recommendations there. most of the vendors at pricewatch have online configurators that you can play with. the problem with computerlx though is that they don't carry radeon cards. also, i think you'll save yourself a ton of hassle if you let a vendor install some of it for you.

Right now, here are my value picks:
q6600 (whatever motherboard that has the features you want) (~200)
2X1 gig 800 mhz pc2-6400 memory ($20)
Radeon hd 4850 ($170)
600w+ PSU (i don't know much in this area, so i can't recommend a brand) ($40)
sunbeam core contact freezer ($35)
500 gb SATA 7200 rpm hd ($50)
~$515

But, one bit of advice i can give you: i was in the same situation as you, and after reading and doing research, it actually didn't take that long to get caught up again, and it was actually fun.

Message edited by Superhal on 09-29-2008 at 12:14:26 PM

------------------------------

http://valid.x86-secret.com/cache/banner/420180.png

9750 X4 // 8600 GT // PC-6400 DDR2 800 mhz 1gig X 2 // WD 500 GB SATA HD // 580w PSU // Core Contact Freezer w/ IC Diamond 7 // DVD-RW // Win XP 32 bit // CPU-Z Validation #420180
Reply to Superhal

Many thanks to you all for the direction and advise. I'm letting this thread run for a few more days, then will start making my purchases.

I really appreciate all the help (and humor: "get a magazine" ) lol

Reply to Avanade

I would choose the components that Superhal picked except that I would would choose 2X 2 Gigabyte sticks of DDR2-800 (PC-2-4000) RAM and a quality reliable 600 watt power supply for around $100.It might cost a little more money but it's worth it.

Reply to jj463rd

Superhal's picks are very good.

Power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371011

Reply to BadTrip

7200
corsair vx550
hd4850
2-4gb 800 Mhz DDR2 (corsiar or OCZ)
640gb WD cavier (blue, 2 320 platters)
p45 (great chipset in my opinion, especially Gigabyte and Asus)

i hope thats in budget.

Reply to dobby

Ultimately, This is what you need to get:

Motherboard: GigaByte GA-EP45-DS3L -$99 - These boards are absolutely solid and i mean SOLID including the caps its very stable and efficient i know cause i have the DS3R Version, it's the same but it comes with an extra pci-ex 16 slot, but this board at $99 dollars is just perfect

CPU: The Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz -$85 - This Cpu is a freakin steal at the performance this CAN offer with a cool 45nm process (an Artic Freezer 7 Will Do @ $25) Then Take to about 3.0Ghz and you're set!

RAM: Kingston Hyper X 4x 1GB @ 1066Mhz - $80- Another steal you get 4gb of Ram @ 1066 wich you can take to 1200mhz or even 1333mhz less than $100 beat that! keep in mind that 4gb is starting to become "enough"

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 512MB - $80- this card offers possibly the power of a 3870 @ $80 this definently the best card under $100 if you're not crazy about eye-candy this for you, if you are than go for the .......you guessed it...the ATI 4850, the cheapest one you'll find right now is about $160-$190 $200 For 1gB Ram (good for Dual Monitors) but they are worth it (i have 2)

Power:RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W - $45- this power is good whether you go with the 4670 or 4850 @ $45 for 530 watts with up to 80% eff. it's good to go.

Optical: Samsung DVD Burner - $30- get the ones with up to 20X dvd+r and with lightscribe just in case.

And finally.... the Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s - $80- when i recommend people hd's with big capacity i tell them to partition about 15GB f0r the XP (20 For Vista) and the rest for all of your games and or files, this way, in case something happens to your OS just reinstall it to that small partition and your games will stay intact in the other bigger partition capice?

With the 4670 All of this is just around $500!

with the performance to leave even Windows Vista begging for mercy!

ALL of these prices are from Newegg.com, this the only place to go Period.

Reply to xantech22

Witha 24 inch monitor, that res is probably 1920 x 1200. A 4670 will NOT cut it if you want to play any games as native resolution.

Get either a 4870 or 4850, PERIOD.

Good luck!

------------------------------ e4400 2.75Ghz MSI G33 4x1GB DDR2-667@826 Palit 4870 3DMark 12112
Reply to customisbetter

Combo Deal: BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI: $160 - $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] =10&page=1

I would tend toward the low end $160 with the X2 5800+ Brisbane 3.0GHz. You should be able to reuse your HSF and most likely clock to 3.2GHz (which will bring DDR2 800 to spec speed) BUT ...

If you feel like you may purchase a Phenom in the future for your video work you may want to initially purchase DDR2 1066 and downclock it with the X2 5800+.

If you desire you can run dual monitors with the Biostar 790gx IGP while you part out your current rig to make a few bucks (or wait for rebates to come in). The issue, as noted, is your gameplay. It's hard to qualify what you may feel is 'reasonable' game play but because you have a 24-inch at 19x12 you need some pretty serious jam. A Radeon HD 4850 might be what you are looking for but I feel I could get 'reasonable' gameplay at 19x12 for $110 with ...

Palit AE+38500+HD02 Radeon HD 3850 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814261019

Here's a nice 4850 ...
ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB: $180 ($150 AR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121253

Your power supply depends on where you may want to go in the future with your video and system. The Biostar 790gx will do CrossFire. If you purchase a Radeon HD 4850 with an eye toward a CrossFire you will want a 700w PSU like the ...

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W: $110 ($80 AR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341002

Hard drives are relatively inexpensive these days. You can snag a 500Gb for around $60.

Reply to wisecracker

xantech - That's a great cpu and I actually have it, but you can't pair it with such an expensive board, you might as well get the e7200. And for 3.0 ghz? With a board of that price you should at least be trying to get 3.5 ghz minimal with that cpu.

And if your gonna get 4 gigs of RAM which he will need for video editing for sure, get 2x2 gigs. You want to use as little slots as you can because using the rest of the slots makes it run slower.

For two years... I'd say +1 for the e7200 and be sure and oc the hell out of it. This should be able to hit 4 ghz and stable if done correctly. I have a e5200 that I'm about to take close to 4 ghz when I get my new board in, but as other people put it, it's a hit and miss. I think I got lucky. But if you think you can get lucky too, then I'd say get it.

cpu - e7200 $120

Mobo - I'd reccomend getting an Asus board that is ~ $85, choose whatever you want, you can't really mess this up in this price range. Just make sure it has a p35 or better chipset and has raid 0.

Hdd - I'd say go with a raid 0 setup with the 640 gig hdd that xantech mentioned, good size and performance for the price. Raid 0 will help transfer times for encoding and handling large videos - $120

RAM - 2x2 gigs 1066 mhz This what you want, just stay away from generic brands ~$90

Graphics - Something along the lines of 4850 ~ 170

cooling - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" ~ $35

Power supply - I'm not too sure on the brands, be sure to get dual rails and no less then ~70% efficiency. I'm going to say at least 550 as a minimum. - ~$50-80

total - ~$670-700

If you want, i7 will maybe bring price drops. This is an OC rig meaning, take advantage of it. With the Intel setup you can't really get much less of a price. Although the 3850 wise mentioned looks okay, but I wouldn't skimp out on this with those nice LCD's if you know I mean. And forget about the i7 setup if this your budget, it looks like it's going to cost a lot.

If you don't want to learn or want to stay away from oc...

Switch out the mobo for a AMD Phenom 9600 Agena quad core and a mobo to match. You can ditch the cooler too. Cpu $120 and a motherboard to match ~$85? (just find one with raid and quad core support). This cheap quad core will fit the bill nicely for your needs if you don't want to oc.

Reply to habitat87

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