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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
i want to build a gaming pc, it will also be used for general things like web browsing, movies, music, and schoolwork for the next 5 years or so with some upgrades.
this will be my second custom built pc last one being built in june 2005, it included an
amd a64 3500+ 2.2 ghz single core cpu
gigabyte ga-k8n ultra9 nforce4 motherboard
generic 420 watt psu
geforce 6800gt gpu
2x 512mb ddr1 value ram
120gb SATA 1.5 seagate barracuda 7200rpm
one of the main reasons i built that pc with the help of a dear bud was to be able to play the up and coming Battlefield 2 maxed out, i was almost kinda able to.
that build including a case, mouse, keyboard, and windows xp home edition was about $1200.
Im hoping this new build will be able to max out Battlefield 3 when released with only a ram and maybe video upgrade!!!
Im pretty sure BF3 was announced with a beta coming within a year. Also for school work.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
my original budget was $700 but ive decided on $900 USD, not including tax or shipping.
3) Where do you live?
im from southwestern CT in the United States
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.
im looking for a mid sized tower pc, i started with this amd build on newegg
i read that the gtx465 is a faliure so im willing to downgrade to a 460 or upgrade to a 470, i need a video card that will stand up through time and i really want mafia 2 for free!!
i was also looking for the highest clocked 4 core amd (amd for value) cpu i could find which was the x4 970 at 3.5ghz, but ive decided on the x6 1090t 3.2 ghz,
future proof?!
intel?!
hoping i can cover all of that with my new $900 budget + or - $50 to $100.
ive got 4 gigs or ram in that build, was thinking of goin 8 but im sticking to 4, i can always add more later when BF3 is out.
i decided on that pair of 2gb ddr3 sticks because it was one of the few compatible sticks listed on the motherboard manufacturers page being sold at newegg, they seem like good sticks.
im sure i can manage with that samgsung 500gb hard drive, i was using a 120gb hd on my last pc before it crapped out on me not to long ago and i never really had space issues.
The psu also looks like a good piece, its 650 watts and sli/crossfire ready it seems, should be able to power everything and then some for a couple of years at the least.
i also plan on buying a copy of windows 7 home premium for $100
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Might throw in my old 120gb SATA 1.5 drive for the extra space its an older drive, but will it impact the performance of the rest of my system? it would be used as a storage drive.
6) Will you be overclocking?
potentially a year or 2 later.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
ive got my good ol trusty sony trinitron 19" crt at 1280x1024
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within a month, still doing research and saving up the cash.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
sli/crossfire would be nice for the future, usb 3.0 would be nice, sata 6.0 would be nice but is it worth it?
im planning on purchasing a sata 3 drive for now, it dosent seem that the sata 6 drives in the same price range offer any advantage.
it seems to be beneficial only when using raid, will that change in the future with new drives?
raid would also be a cool feature to have keeping the future in mind.
the AM3 platform seems like a good choice, is amd coming out with next gen chips using the AM3?
does chipset choice matter much?
does a board with 2 pcie16x slots 1 running at 16x and the other at 4x make much difference versus another board with one pcie16x slot at 16x and the other at 8x or even one with both slots at full 16x for sli/corssfire?
will my old sata 1.5 drive be compatible with a sata 3 or 6 slot?
does being able to run stock ddr3 at 1600 make a noticeable difference from 1333 since both are about the same price, and most mobos handle both?
or even OC speeds of 1866 and 2000+?
i remember running ram in dual channel being an issue back in 2005 on my amd board if i put in more than just 2 512 sticks in, think if i put 2 1gb sticks it would still run in dual but at slower speeds, and if i populated all 4 slots the ram would not run in dual and would also slow down.
is any of that still an issue? i will probably be upgrading from 2x 2gb ddr3 sticks to 4x 2gb sticks in the future.
will i have to upgrade to 2 4gb sticks instead to remain running in dual mode or will 4x 2gb sticks work in dual mode full speed?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No, but i plan on buying a copy of windows 7 home premium, was thinking of getting the 64 bit version, is that cool? and will i need anything more than home premium for gaming and general computing?
a few final questions,
would a switch to intel be worth it in the long run for my price range, considering what i will be able to afford now and any potential future upgrades 2+ years down the road?
does the 6 core amd cpu stand up to intel cpus in the same or higher price range?
i know it will loose to intel's 6 core but that 3-4x the price!
is a sata 6.0 drive in the same price range worth it or should i stick to the sata3 samsung spinpoint?
is a small SSD (30-60gb) worth it for my budget as an os/primary drive along with a big sata drive for extra storage? should i just stick to mechanical drives?
is the jump from the phenom2 x4 to x6 worth it? $100 extra, similar clock clock speeds, 3.4-3.5ghz vs 3.2ghz for the best x6
is nvidia the way to go for a gpu? they seem to be on top at the moment with the gtx400 line(faster tesselation? dx11), a 470 seems real sweet!
is the 650 watt psu i selected good enough to run all of this including the gtx470 potentially in sli sometime in the future or am i better off with something else?
and the motherboard i selected comes with a good amount of features for the price, my last mobo was a gigabyte and it served me well, good choice?
that seems to be it,
sorry for the long read hope you guys can guide me in the right direction!
i want to build a gaming pc, it will also be used for general things like web browsing, movies, music, and schoolwork for the next 5 years or so with some upgrades.
this will be my second custom built pc last one being built in june 2005, it included an
amd a64 3500+ 2.2 ghz single core cpu
gigabyte ga-k8n ultra9 nforce4 motherboard
generic 420 watt psu
geforce 6800gt gpu
2x 512mb ddr1 value ram
120gb SATA 1.5 seagate barracuda 7200rpm
one of the main reasons i built that pc with the help of a dear bud was to be able to play the up and coming Battlefield 2 maxed out, i was almost kinda able to.
that build including a case, mouse, keyboard, and windows xp home edition was about $1200.
Im hoping this new build will be able to max out Battlefield 3 when released with only a ram and maybe video upgrade!!!
Im pretty sure BF3 was announced with a beta coming within a year. Also for school work.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
my original budget was $700 but ive decided on $900 USD, not including tax or shipping.
3) Where do you live?
im from southwestern CT in the United States
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.
im looking for a mid sized tower pc, i started with this amd build on newegg
i read that the gtx465 is a faliure so im willing to downgrade to a 460 or upgrade to a 470, i need a video card that will stand up through time and i really want mafia 2 for free!!
i was also looking for the highest clocked 4 core amd (amd for value) cpu i could find which was the x4 970 at 3.5ghz, but ive decided on the x6 1090t 3.2 ghz,
future proof?!
intel?!
hoping i can cover all of that with my new $900 budget + or - $50 to $100.
ive got 4 gigs or ram in that build, was thinking of goin 8 but im sticking to 4, i can always add more later when BF3 is out.
i decided on that pair of 2gb ddr3 sticks because it was one of the few compatible sticks listed on the motherboard manufacturers page being sold at newegg, they seem like good sticks.
im sure i can manage with that samgsung 500gb hard drive, i was using a 120gb hd on my last pc before it crapped out on me not to long ago and i never really had space issues.
The psu also looks like a good piece, its 650 watts and sli/crossfire ready it seems, should be able to power everything and then some for a couple of years at the least.
i also plan on buying a copy of windows 7 home premium for $100
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Might throw in my old 120gb SATA 1.5 drive for the extra space its an older drive, but will it impact the performance of the rest of my system? it would be used as a storage drive.
6) Will you be overclocking?
potentially a year or 2 later.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
ive got my good ol trusty sony trinitron 19" crt at 1280x1024
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within a month, still doing research and saving up the cash.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
sli/crossfire would be nice for the future, usb 3.0 would be nice, sata 6.0 would be nice but is it worth it?
im planning on purchasing a sata 3 drive for now, it dosent seem that the sata 6 drives in the same price range offer any advantage.
it seems to be beneficial only when using raid, will that change in the future with new drives?
raid would also be a cool feature to have keeping the future in mind.
the AM3 platform seems like a good choice, is amd coming out with next gen chips using the AM3?
does chipset choice matter much?
does a board with 2 pcie16x slots 1 running at 16x and the other at 4x make much difference versus another board with one pcie16x slot at 16x and the other at 8x or even one with both slots at full 16x for sli/corssfire?
will my old sata 1.5 drive be compatible with a sata 3 or 6 slot?
does being able to run stock ddr3 at 1600 make a noticeable difference from 1333 since both are about the same price, and most mobos handle both?
or even OC speeds of 1866 and 2000+?
i remember running ram in dual channel being an issue back in 2005 on my amd board if i put in more than just 2 512 sticks in, think if i put 2 1gb sticks it would still run in dual but at slower speeds, and if i populated all 4 slots the ram would not run in dual and would also slow down.
is any of that still an issue? i will probably be upgrading from 2x 2gb ddr3 sticks to 4x 2gb sticks in the future.
will i have to upgrade to 2 4gb sticks instead to remain running in dual mode or will 4x 2gb sticks work in dual mode full speed?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No, but i plan on buying a copy of windows 7 home premium, was thinking of getting the 64 bit version, is that cool? and will i need anything more than home premium for gaming and general computing?
a few final questions,
would a switch to intel be worth it in the long run for my price range, considering what i will be able to afford now and any potential future upgrades 2+ years down the road?
does the 6 core amd cpu stand up to intel cpus in the same or higher price range?
i know it will loose to intel's 6 core but that 3-4x the price!
is a sata 6.0 drive in the same price range worth it or should i stick to the sata3 samsung spinpoint?
is a small SSD (30-60gb) worth it for my budget as an os/primary drive along with a big sata drive for extra storage? should i just stick to mechanical drives?
is the jump from the phenom2 x4 to x6 worth it? $100 extra, similar clock clock speeds, 3.4-3.5ghz vs 3.2ghz for the best x6
is nvidia the way to go for a gpu? they seem to be on top at the moment with the gtx400 line(faster tesselation? dx11), a 470 seems real sweet!
is the 650 watt psu i selected good enough to run all of this including the gtx470 potentially in sli sometime in the future or am i better off with something else?
and the motherboard i selected comes with a good amount of features for the price, my last mobo was a gigabyte and it served me well, good choice?
that seems to be it,
sorry for the long read hope you guys can guide me in the right direction!
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