Build Questions and such....

[Lo/Rez]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I will mainly be gaming but photoshop and video editing will be done as well.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
My budget is $200-300 monthly spread out over three months. so $600-900 in a three month period.

3) Where do you live?
I live in Reno,NV. I keep the computer in a cool room.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I require a CPU AMD Phenom II X6 (or close to it), a videocard which is under 10.4 inches including the connectors, 8gb ram, power supply, two fans? or more, and a liquid coolant system for the cpu.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I will be reusing the motherboard: ASUS m4a78lt-m le, Case:Thermaltake V3 Black Edition (VL8000 series),500gb hd

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I own a LG E2360V-PN 23" LED. Sad fact: It cost half of what the computer cost.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
When I get a final product list.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
N/A
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

I bought a system from CyberPower and while I am happy with it, the video card is lacking. I'm not sure of the specs of the fans that are in the system as I can't find much on the system beyond a basic list of user friendly hardware. It is not completely necessary to replace the two fans but I do require that the system be kept cool. I also noticed two fans can go at the top of the case. That would be nice. The liquid coolant system I currently have on the AMD Athlon II X4 635 keeps it idling around 36-42c. Ideally, I would like a "better" liquid coolant put on the Phenom as I have read that CyberPower has rather cheap parts. I personally will not be building this as I suck at such things. I will be paying a local business hourly (and hopefully at my house) to put the parts in.

I can provide pictures/video of the inside of the case if I'm not clear enough about the fans or other things. My knowledge of hardware is extremely limited so bare with me please.


The specs on the current computer if you care to know:
Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition (VL8000 series) 18.60" x 7.50" x 16.90"
Motherboard: ASUS m4a78lt-m le
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 635
Ram: DDR3 4gb (no idea of the brand)
Graphic Card: ATI Radeon HD 5400 w/ 1gb (no idea of brand)
Fans of some sort. 0.o
Some kind of liquid cooler for the CPU.
some brand 500gb hd

 

[Dangman]

You can definitely reuse the DDR3 RAM if it's two sticks of RAM. So that saves you some money.

You're better off saving all that money and spending it in one go. Outside of extremely awesome deals, spreading your purchases over a few months is a wasteful way of buying parts. During that three month period, prices may change or newer parts will be released in that same price range.

Find out what liquid cooling system you have with the Cyberpower PC. In addition, are you looking for medium or max settings at 1920x1080?

 

[cn06]

You should use this as a learning opportunity and install the parts yourself. It'll save you loads of money in the long run.

 

[Lo/Rez]

You can definitely reuse the DDR3 RAM if it's two sticks of RAM. So that saves you some money.

You're better off saving all that money and spending it in one go. Outside of extremely awesome deals, spreading your purchases over a few months is a wasteful way of buying parts. During that three month period, prices may change or newer parts will be released in that same price range.

Find out what liquid cooling system you have with the Cyberpower PC. In addition, are you looking for medium or max settings at 1920x1080?

I would like to get max settings with 1920x1080. I am willing to settle for a mix between the two though. I do plan on saving the money up and buying it at once. CyberPower won't answer any of my questions on their forums, especially about the hardware. I guess I could call them.

I could reuse the two sticks but I only have two ram slots and I need 8gb of ram.

@cn06
I don't want to ruin my computer by using it as a learning tool. Maybe a cheaper computer from a junk store.

 

[Dangman]

I would like to get max settings with 1920x1080. I am willing to settle for a mix between the two though. I do plan on saving the money up and buying it at once. CyberPower won't answer any of my questions on their forums, especially about the hardware. I guess I could call them.

Well here's the deal: The parts we recommend today are more than likely not gonna be the same parts we recommend in 2-3 months from now. 2-3 months from now, Intel is releasing their new CPUs which may cause price drops from AMD (maybe not) and AMD is releasing their new HD 6xxx GPUs which may cause price drop of current Nvidia or AMD GPUs. Simply put, we don't know what parts will be a good buy in 2-3 months from now. What we do know is that there are gonna be better deals for parts 2-3 months from now.

Right now a new CPU + 8GB of RAM + new PSU + new GPU is gonna cost you roughly $700 right now. I'm willing to bet that you'll be able to get a better and faster setup in 3 months from now at equal or lower costs.

So in other words, whenever you've saved up $700, ask again here on the forums for build list help. It'll be a better way to help you.

You may have noticied that's $700 without the cooling system. We need to know which liquid cooling system you have right now. More than likely you have one of those all-in-one types. And the best priced and easy to install would be the Corsair H50. If you already have the Corsair H50, no need to get another system. Hence why we need to know what liquid cooling system you have right now installed in the PC.

 

[Lo/Rez]

Well here's the deal: The parts we recommend today are more than likely not gonna be the same parts we recommend in 2-3 months from now. 2-3 months from now, Intel is releasing their new CPUs which may cause price drops from AMD (maybe not) and AMD is releasing their new HD 6xxx GPUs which may cause price drop of current Nvidia or AMD GPUs. Simply put, we don't know what parts will be a good buy in 2-3 months from now. What we do know is that there are gonna be better deals for parts 2-3 months from now.

Right now a new CPU + 8GB of RAM + new PSU + new GPU is gonna cost you roughly $700 right now. I'm willing to bet that you'll be able to get a better and faster setup in 3 months from now at equal or lower costs.

So in other words, whenever you've saved up $700, ask again here on the forums for build list help. It'll be a better way to help you.

You may have noticied that's $700 without the cooling system. We need to know which liquid cooling system you have right now. More than likely you have one of those all-in-one types. And the best priced and easy to install would be the Corsair H50. If you already have the Corsair H50, no need to get another system. Hence why we need to know what liquid cooling system you have right now installed in the PC.

Noted. I'll try to figure out the liquid cooling system I have currently. I'll give them a ring tomorrow. On a side note, can my current specs run Star Craft 2? Custom maps such as TD, etc?

 

[Dangman]

Noted. I'll try to figure out the liquid cooling system I have currently. I'll give them a ring tomorrow. On a side note, can my current specs run Star Craft 2? Custom maps such as TD, etc?

The GPU is pretty much gonna limit you man. Even though SC2 is relatively light in terms of hardware requirements, the HD 5450 is simply a crap card for gaming. At best you're looking at extremely low settings at a low resolution.

 

[Lo/Rez]

Well let's forgo all the other stuff and just focus on getting a videocard and powersupply then. What should I get?

htxp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161330 HIS H585FN1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity $269


hxtp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121367 ASUS EAH5830 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity $209

These any good?

Open to suggestions on powersupply. I currently have a 400watt.

 

[Dangman]

Well let's forgo all the other stuff and just focus on getting a videocard and powersupply then. What should I get?

Depends on when you're planning on buying those parts. And how much of a budget you have for those two parts.

With that said, wait until Late October to Early November for the GPU and PSU. AMD is releasing new GPUs in that period.

 

[cn06]

I wonder what PSU came with the build. It'd be convenient if it was one that could at least handle a 4850.

 

[Dangman]

I wonder what PSU came with the build. It'd be convenient if it was one that could at least handle a 4850.

It's a Cyberpower PC. So it more than likely is some cheap generic PSU barely capable of powering that current setup let alone a HD 4850 add-on. Cyberpower is well-known for packaging shitty PSUs in their systems.

 

[Lo/Rez]

I'll wait until when you said Danny Bui. It's a 400 watt psu but I'm not sure of the brand.

 

[Dangman]

I'll wait until when you said Danny Bui. It's a 400 watt psu but I'm not sure of the brand.

It's came as part of a Cyberpower PC. Just safe to assume that it's crap.

If you were buying today, the Corsair 650TX 650W PSU and the GTX 460 1GB would be my recommendations for a PSU and GPU respectively..