1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Kind of open here. If an extra $20-$30 for a vid card is going to bump the system up that much more, then I can spend the extra dough. Don't want to hit the wall of diminishing returns. Don't really want to spend an extra $60ish for a componenent. I'd like to spend around $700.
3) Where do you live?
Calgary, AB. Got a little over $300 in ++++.com gift cards so will be ordering some stuff there. The bigger stuff (Case, PSU) I can probably get in Calgary (Memory Express) to save on shipping. Or I can spend the $300 at ++++ then the rest at Mem Express if they've got better prices.
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.
CPU, MOBO, Ram, HDD, Vid card, Case, PSU. Onboard sound will be fine, as long as it's got an optical out. If it's got on board wireless that would be nice, but I can pickup a wireless card if not.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Just Mouse keyboard, and monitor.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Perhaps, if I gain anything. Got into the OC scene back with the Celeron 300A Easy OC to 450 MHz. If I need to spend big bucks on a cooler to achieve a good OC, I think I'd be happier spending the money on a better processor.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
A 22" LCD, A 42" LCD, and a 1080P Projector.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soonish.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Onboard Sound. Would like SATA 6Gb/s. Perhaps Crossfire or SLI, not sure.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64bit.
Now, my questions. There's no urgent need to upgrade right now. If there is something right around the corner that is worth waiting for, I can wait. It would have to be pretty substantial though. (EG, not waiting 3 months for a similar processor that's just got a higher clock speed.) If 10 core affordable CPU's are around the corner, then that would probably be worth waiting. If a 10% price drop on vid cards is around the corner, not worth waiting for.
I've been reading a lot lately on SSD's and they look quite amazing. The cost seems pretty damn high though. If there's any point in getting one at the $100 price point then I could perhaps swing that for now. (Are any around $100 going to be anywhere near the intel 510?) How much faster would a hundred dollar SSD be then a average 1TB HDD? I have considered getting a regular HDD, and waiting for the higher performing SSD's to drop in price, and upgrade then. My current system will probably be doing the multimedia role, and the new one will be my gaming rig, so I don't need a lot of space.
Very confused on video cards. The entire number scheme where lower is sometimes better has me confused. I'd like to spend somewhere around $150 here. If I bump the budget to $200 would it be worth it to get a single card, or 2 lower performing cards and SLI/Crossfire them? Is it worth it to skimp on the processor, and spend the savings on the video card, or vice versa?
How much RAM does todays system need? 4 6 8? Dual Channel or Triple Channel?
My current system is a Core 2 6420 @2.13. 4 Gig Ram, and a 8800 GTS. Will the proposed $700 budget blow this system out of the water? Could I possibly upgrade this system?
Thank you very much, and sorry for the long post. I can probably manage to price out the build, if I'm pointed in the right direction. I just don't know if it's A) Worth it now. B) Vidcard/CPU priority C) Intel/AMD/Nvidia/ATI (I have no alliance to any, whatever has the best bang for the buck in my price range) D) SLI/Crossfire over a single card?
Gaming.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Kind of open here. If an extra $20-$30 for a vid card is going to bump the system up that much more, then I can spend the extra dough. Don't want to hit the wall of diminishing returns. Don't really want to spend an extra $60ish for a componenent. I'd like to spend around $700.
3) Where do you live?
Calgary, AB. Got a little over $300 in ++++.com gift cards so will be ordering some stuff there. The bigger stuff (Case, PSU) I can probably get in Calgary (Memory Express) to save on shipping. Or I can spend the $300 at ++++ then the rest at Mem Express if they've got better prices.
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.
CPU, MOBO, Ram, HDD, Vid card, Case, PSU. Onboard sound will be fine, as long as it's got an optical out. If it's got on board wireless that would be nice, but I can pickup a wireless card if not.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Just Mouse keyboard, and monitor.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Perhaps, if I gain anything. Got into the OC scene back with the Celeron 300A Easy OC to 450 MHz. If I need to spend big bucks on a cooler to achieve a good OC, I think I'd be happier spending the money on a better processor.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
A 22" LCD, A 42" LCD, and a 1080P Projector.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soonish.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Onboard Sound. Would like SATA 6Gb/s. Perhaps Crossfire or SLI, not sure.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64bit.
Now, my questions. There's no urgent need to upgrade right now. If there is something right around the corner that is worth waiting for, I can wait. It would have to be pretty substantial though. (EG, not waiting 3 months for a similar processor that's just got a higher clock speed.) If 10 core affordable CPU's are around the corner, then that would probably be worth waiting. If a 10% price drop on vid cards is around the corner, not worth waiting for.
I've been reading a lot lately on SSD's and they look quite amazing. The cost seems pretty damn high though. If there's any point in getting one at the $100 price point then I could perhaps swing that for now. (Are any around $100 going to be anywhere near the intel 510?) How much faster would a hundred dollar SSD be then a average 1TB HDD? I have considered getting a regular HDD, and waiting for the higher performing SSD's to drop in price, and upgrade then. My current system will probably be doing the multimedia role, and the new one will be my gaming rig, so I don't need a lot of space.
Very confused on video cards. The entire number scheme where lower is sometimes better has me confused. I'd like to spend somewhere around $150 here. If I bump the budget to $200 would it be worth it to get a single card, or 2 lower performing cards and SLI/Crossfire them? Is it worth it to skimp on the processor, and spend the savings on the video card, or vice versa?
How much RAM does todays system need? 4 6 8? Dual Channel or Triple Channel?
My current system is a Core 2 6420 @2.13. 4 Gig Ram, and a 8800 GTS. Will the proposed $700 budget blow this system out of the water? Could I possibly upgrade this system?
Thank you very much, and sorry for the long post. I can probably manage to price out the build, if I'm pointed in the right direction. I just don't know if it's A) Worth it now. B) Vidcard/CPU priority C) Intel/AMD/Nvidia/ATI (I have no alliance to any, whatever has the best bang for the buck in my price range) D) SLI/Crossfire over a single card?