Need help with parts upgrade

R

rich121

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Dec 13, 2009
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I am finally ready to purchase parts from my "delayed" rebuild of my computer..but, it is a good thing, as I will be able to get even better parts now.

Here is my information:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

"I will be doing alot of 1080/60p:MPEG-4 AVC/H,264 video editing, gaming, web surfing"

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

"I would like to stay around $1,200.00, but, I can go as high as $1,500.00 total"

3) Where do you live?

"I live in Washington State"

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

"I need: CPU, Motherboard, Memorey, Power Supply, Hard Drive, Video Card, and Blue-Ray burner".

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 re-using my Lian Li PC-70 "Big Tower" case only"
.
6) Will you be overclocking?

"Medium overclocking"

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

"24" monitor"

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

"ASAP"

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

"For now, I'm just going to use the SSD for OS and programs, adding more drives for misc. files/programs"

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

"Now I'm using Windows XP Home Edition, but, will upgrade to Windows 7 64bit"




Priced parts I am considering at newegg, but would like to know equal/better parts for same/less $$:

CPU: i7 930 $289.99

Motherboard: Asus P6X58D Premium $299.99

6 GB Memory: GSkill SDRA DDR3 1600 F3-12800 CL8TU-6GBPI $184.99

Hard Drive: Kingston SSDNow V series SNV425-S2/64GB SATA II $139.99

Video Card: Leadtek MPEG-2/H.264 Transcoding Card $279.99

Blue-Ray Burner: Pioneer BDR-205 BKS (OEM) $184.99

Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W $169.99

I would like the best build for the money spent. This will be something that will have to last a few years.

I'm not sure if the Video Card is exactly what I need. I don't know how well it will process 1080/60p MPEG-4 type files from my Panasonic TM700 camcorder, as I don't see that file format listed in the "input" section of the cards specs:

.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5122016&cm_re=Blue-ray-_-15-122-016-_-Product

Any and all help is much appreciated..thanks!


Rick
 
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Go with this combination instead:

$455 - Intel Core i7 930 and G.Skill 3x2GB DDR3 1600 combo deal (free shipping on both)
$210 - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3
$40 - Cogage TRUE Spirit (free shipping)

There's no need to go for a $300 motherboard for "medium overclocking." Hell, you might as well throw in a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium while you're at it.

I really don't know much about transcoding "video" cards, but I do know that you don't need that much power for one. You could get away with using a good 500 watt PSU, like the Antec EA-500D, but you could also get something like the Antec TruePower New 650W PSU without spending (too much) money.
 
tiraides said:
Go with this combination instead:

$455 - Intel Core i7 930 and G.Skill 3x2GB DDR3 1600 combo deal (free shipping on both)
$210 - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3
$40 - Cogage TRUE Spirit (free shipping)

There's no need to go for a $300 motherboard for "medium overclocking." Hell, you might as well throw in a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium while you're at it.

I really don't know much about transcoding "video" cards, but I do know that you don't need that much power for one. You could get away with using a good 500 watt PSU, like the Antec EA-500D, but you could also get something like the Antec TruePower New 650W PSU without spending (too much) money.
Click to expand...
I am trying to save $$, but most importantly, I am building a computer that will last, and be of high quality.

Actually, the memory I listed I got at a discount with a combo deal with the Asus motherboard...for $169 and better timings.

I will save my $$ for now, and get the cooling fan for the CPU later, but thanks for the suggestion.

Part of why I chose the motherboard is because of the 5 egg rating (79% 293 total reviews) VS the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3 4 egg (57% 155 total reviews) I may need the extras the Asus provides at a later time, and it is good for the 6 core CPU's.

As for the Video Card, yes, I don't know alot about them, but I do know enough about the Panasonic TM700's "1080 / 60p : MPEG-4 AVC/H.264" files loading up the CPU and Video Cards..even the i7 920 has been known to stutter with these files. There is a chance that this card may not even be able to handle these files as good as another choice in the same cost arena, that is why I'm hoping someone familiar in this area will post.

I would rather not skimp on a power supply, especially a 500 watt one, I would rather have too much power than not enough. Depending on what I end up getting for a Video Card, who knows, I may want to run SLI or Crossfire in the future. Who knows what power needs I may have. Remember, this computer will have to last me for awhile, so I am building it for the future also. :)

Rick
 
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No board is 100% perfect, but the Gigabyte board is just as reliable and as effective for your immediate needs as the Asus. Both boards will accept a six-core processor with a BIOS update (assuming that the BIOS hasn't been already updated), and the Gigabyte board has some decent overclocking settings. (BTW, NewEgg isn't the best place to go for hardware reviews. Search here for starters.... ;) )

You won't notice any performance benefits from using CL7 RAM compared to CL9 RAM. Furthermore, RAM timings are meaningless when you're overclocking, as oftentimes they won't run at their "rated" levels unless you manually set them there.

The only time that you'll need a power supply with over 600 watts of power is when you're planning a multi-GPU setup (i.e., using a dual-GPU video card, like the HD5970, or going with a two-card CrossFire or SLI setup, which requires a bit more work on your end) or to compensate for the fact that the PSU in question is pretty weak (e.g., it has less than 40A combined on all of its 12V rails). Even if you believe that the EA-500D is cutting it close, power-wise, the TP-650 is more than enough for your needs.

But since you're talking about future usage, what do you anticipate using in the future?
 
rich121 said:
Part of why I chose the motherboard is because of the 5 egg rating (79% 293 total reviews) VS the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3 4 egg (57% 155 total reviews) I may need the extras the Asus provides at a later time, and it is good for the 6 core CPU's.

As for the Video Card, yes, I don't know alot about them, but I do know enough about the Panasonic TM700's "1080 / 60p : MPEG-4 AVC/H.264" files loading up the CPU and Video Cards..even the i7 920 has been known to stutter with these files. There is a chance that this card may not even be able to handle these files as good as another choice in the same cost arena, that is why I'm hoping someone familiar in this area will post.
Click to expand...

The X58A-UD3 would be good for 6 core CPUs as well. And are you sure you're gonna need the extra that the Asus mobo provides? Exactly what are those extras?

Not familar with transcoding "video" cards either.

Ditch the Kingston SSD. It's based on the JMicron controllers which has been shown to be significantly slower than Intel's controllers and even the Indilinx controllers. As such I recommend this SSD:
$125 - Intel SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SSD
$220 - Intel SSDSA2M080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SSD

For gaming, you're gonna need the HD 5850 as minimum.
 
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