• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Advice on new build please

S

savager1

n00b
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
36
Hello,

I haven't upgraded for ages and thought it might be a good time to upgrade now. My current PC is 3 years old. Not sure whether I should be going AMD/Nvidia.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Browsing, Gaming, Virtualisation
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$3500AUD
*Tax/Shipping included
3) Where do you live?
Sydney, Australia
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Taken from PC Case Gear: (www.pccasegear.com.au)
1x CoolerMaster HAF 932 Case $159.00, 1x Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard Rev2 $229.00, 1x Corsair HX-750 Power Supply $195.00, 1x Intel Core i7 960 $325.00, 1x Corsair CMX12GX3M3A2000C9 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 $309.00, 1x Corsair Force Series 120GB SSD $289.00, 1x EVGA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB $579.00, 1x Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Keyboard $149.00, 1x Razer Lachesis V2 Gaming Mouse Blue $85.00, 1x Pioneer DVR-219L DVDRW OEM $59.00, 1x Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset $139.00, 2x Samsung BX2450 24inch Widescreen LED Monitor $325.00 x2 $650.00
Total $3,167.00 (plus $108 shipping)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
N/A
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
currently Samsung 22", planning on 2x 24" Samsungs
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within the next month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
nothing in particular. I believe my choice of motherboard would suit my needs.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit


Thanks
 
In this case, I'd recommend skipping the LGA 1366 parts for this particular build: They are either pretty obsolete or have an extremely poor performance-to-price ratio. The RAM is especially overpriced: It cost more than double the price of many of the other 12GB kits on the market (unless memory prices are astronomically expensive for even Value memory in your country).
 
Last edited:
luluthemonk,

If the OP is doing much virtualization software like he stated he's doing, then the K-series Sandy Bridge CPUs are not the best choice. And the OP has stated that he will not be overclocking at all. If I were you I would have recommended the plain (non-K) i5-2500 or i7-2600 and an H67 motherboard.
 
I guess I just read it listed in order of importance and totally missed the not overclocking. If virtualization is important, then I would totally agree. Just saw the 580 in there, so assumed gaming was the highest priority. I fail.
 
Hello,

Thanks for all the feedback.

Just one last question, I don't want to start a debate or anything but could someone suggest whether I go with Nvidia or AMD for video card?

I don't really mind either way, as long as I get better performance than my current 8800GT (which I'm sure isn't hard to achieve). Can I just take either of the cards at the step below the top price and expect good results? or should I get 2x lower end cards and sli/crossfire them?

Thanks
 
RAM wise, stick with 4GB sticks of RAM rated at DDR3 1333 speeds and 1.5V.

Video card wise, go for the HD 6950 2GB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top