Advice for an Upgrade (Sticky filled out!)

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Swede88

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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (along with the usual stuff – web browsing, MS Office)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600 + shipping; there’s room if the cost/performance ratio of a part is too good to pass up. I hate rebates and want to avoid them.

3) Where do you live?
Fort Worth, TX. Have access to Microcenter and Fryes.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU
MOBO
GPU
RAM

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Keeping:
Case – Antec P180
Optical Drive – NEC DVD+/- RW ND-3550A BK RT
Sound Card – SB Audigy 2

Have, but not sure if it's wise to keep:
PSU – Antec TruepowerII TPII-550 550W ATX12V SLI
HDD – 250GB WD 7200 SATA2 16MB WD2500KS (space is not an issue, but not sure about performance)

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Monitor – Acer X223W - I don’t mind the 1680x1050 resolution or the 22” size, but I want to make sure it can keep up with the new hardware. Thoughts?

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before Jan 4th

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No specific needs that I’m aware of.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, Win 7 Pro 64 bit.
 
you can go i5 + p55 with those nice combo deals they have at Frys and Microcenter, I believe there was a combo where you could get the i5 + mobo for $250 or so? I remember it being posted somewhere, it was an in-store thing, I'd look into that

if you can snag that, then you could squeeze in a 5850 into your budget, but you'd have to spend a few bucks more for your RAM

that's about as far as I'd go. Your PSU should be able to power all that

that's what I'd suggest

look for what deals they are offering at Fry's and Microcenter and then get back to us

you can look online and shit, i don't feel like doing it for you atm lol

One more thing,

if you're the patient sort, you could go i7 920 from microcenter and get a decent mobo of your choice, P6T is still a good choice if you don't need all the bells and whistles, and it's a good overclocker. You could also pick up the RAM, and you'd be just under or over $600

the reason i'm saying if you're patient, then you could buy a 5850 in the next few months depending on your financial situation. it isn't all that bad to get the best processor/mobo/RAM if you know you can afford a GPU in the next month or 2, you'll live, what GPU do you have now? I noticed you didn't list one.
 
I really dig this deal at Newegg right now.

165.00 AMD Phenom II X4 955
119.99 ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 Motherboard
93.99 4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3-1600

SUB 378.98
COMBO 343.98

That leaves you $250 for a good GPU, which is admittedly a pretty barren price-point at the moment. You could drop down to an HD 4890 (for around $200), or jump up $50 to an HD 5850 (for around $300). Well, at least it's a start. Good luck!
 
Add money for a new PSU -- it's not worth keeping your TruePower 2.0 PSU.

Corsair and Antec (Earthwatts or TruePower New) are good choices.

If you can up your budget by at least an additional $100, I also recommend a new HDD. Pick up the Samsung F3 500GB or the Western Digital (Blue or Black) 640GB HDD.
 
Aren't you guys overlooking that he lives near a Microcenter AND Frys?

he can get good discounts on i7 920 and motherboards

i'd want him to see what deals he could get on those first before I suggest he buy things online

i7 920 for $200 at Microcenter

I couldn't in good conscience recommend that this gentleman buy an AMD processor given that he can buy one that's so much better for $30 more
 
Fail said:
Aren't you guys overlooking that he lives near a Microcenter AND Frys?

he can get good discounts on i7 920 and motherboards

i'd want him to see what deals he could get on those first before I suggest he buy things online

i7 920 for $200 at Microcenter

I couldn't in good conscience recommend that this gentleman buy an AMD processor given that he can buy one that's so much better for $30 more
Click to expand...

Within the budget he posted. x4 955 or i5 750 would be best bang for the buck upgrade for him. i7 920 would be wasting money as it would need $175-$200 board, still have get a good powersupply, memory and video card after that.
 
Fail said:
Aren't you guys overlooking that he lives near a Microcenter AND Frys? . . . I couldn't in good conscience recommend that this gentleman buy an AMD processor given that he can buy one that's so much better for $30 more.
Click to expand...
Sure, $30 more for the processor. $40 more for 6GB of RAM. $50 more for a 1366 motherboard. That's $100+ that could be put toward a better graphics card and make a much bigger difference for gaming.
 
Fail said:
look for what deals they are offering at Fry's and Microcenter and then get back to us

What GPU do you have now?
Click to expand...

I'm taking your suggestion and will browse their "in-store" ads this evening.

GPU I have right now is a GeForce 7800 GTX 256mb

TheQuestian said:
I really dig this deal at Newegg right now.

165.00 AMD Phenom II X4 955
119.99 ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 Motherboard
93.99 4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3-1600

SUB 378.98
COMBO 343.98

That leaves you $250 for a good GPU, which is admittedly a pretty barren price-point at the moment. You could drop down to an HD 4890 (for around $200), or jump up $50 to an HD 5850 (for around $300). Well, at least it's a start. Good luck!
Click to expand...

That is a good start, thanks for the suggestion.

tiraides said:
Add money for a new PSU -- it's not worth keeping your TruePower 2.0 PSU.

Corsair and Antec (Earthwatts or TruePower New) are good choices.

If you can up your budget by at least an additional $100, I also recommend a new HDD. Pick up the Samsung F3 500GB or the Western Digital (Blue or Black) 640GB HDD.
Click to expand...

I think I might look into a new PSU. As far as the HDD suggestion, are you recommending that based on improved loading times in games, etc...? Just curious, because I really don't need 500GB of space.

Let me throw around a couple of builds based on the suggestions here and then I can let y'all know what "wiggle room" I have in my budget.

Thanks again!
 
might? no, just do it. The TP2.0 series were notorious for failures -- don't feel like typing much right now, so just get a new PSU, lol.

Yes, the 500GB drive is FAST. It's single platter, so higher density, making it faster than your 250GB AAKS. I sold my 250KS drives a while ago 'cuz they were too slow compared to the F1/F3 and newer CavBlack/Blue 640GB/1TB (which use 333GB/platters).
 
Ok, for SNG's, let's say I have the room to purchase the following setup:

CPU i5-750 (from Microcenter)
MOBO GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55
RAM 4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3-1600
GPU SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850
PSU Antec EarthWatts EA650
HDD SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB

Setup 1 $801

How would that compare performance wise to the setup suggested by TheQuestian?

Will my monitor be able to take full advantage of what an HD5850 has to offer? (In other words, is it going to be worth the purchase)
 
In terms of CPU power in gaming, probably no more than 5% increase or so. As for the video card, the HD 5850 is bit overkill for that size monitor. For the HD 5850 to be worth the purchase IMO, you'd need at least a 1920x1080 res. With that said, if you have the cash to burn, go for it.
 
you would have to upgrade your monitor to get full use out of that 5850, but yes, that's the best you can do for your money

i'd still recommend holding off on the 5850 and getting i7 920 + mobo from microcenter

you'd sacrifice the graphics card for time being in favor of having the i7-920 at such a good price

granted you don't NEED it, but since this is a forum and we all have opinions, it's what I'd do if i were in your shoes, but of course it depends on what your future financial situation is

if you could afford a new monitor in say, Feb/March of next year

then yes, doing it my way is worth it, if not, then no, probably not worth it
 
The HD4890 or HD5770 is more appropriate for your 1680x1050 resolution than the HD5850. Additionally, each card is about $100 less than the HD5850.

The Core i5 750 outperforms the Phenom X4 955 in running system-intensive programs like Adobe Photoshop and Sony Vegas. However, as Danny Bui mentioned earlier, they're virtually indistinguishable performance-wise in gaming.

That said, save for the video card, the rest of your current build list looks fine.
 
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