Revamping my computer

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Rob36

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
196
Hey, my computer is pretty badly in need of some upgrades, so I'll first answer the 'build your own computer questions'

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly gaming, I mess around in photoshop every now and then

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
i dont really have a budget per say, however I feel like I can find a processor for under 200 (maybe closer to 100 or 150), a motherboard for 150 or 100, and ram for under 100, meaning I would guess I could do these upgrades for 500 or less, possibly even 300 or 400. I REALLY would not like to be spending over 600 for the 3 parts if possible, please list more expensive options and budget options too if possible tho.
shipping and tax included? preferably, although doesn't completely matter

3) Where do you live?
I go to school at Purdue (West Lafayette, Indiana), although I live in michigan near detroit. The parts will most likely be shipped to indiana.

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

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:
CORSAIR 620HX 620w power supply
antec 900 case
74 gb sata rapter drive
500 gb sata seagate drive
120 gb caviar IDE drive
and my 8800 GT 512mb video card (also possibly my audigy 4 pci sound card
my wifi pci card
and my Samsung 22" monitor
razer copperhead mouse
ATH700 headphones
dell keyboard

6) Will you be overclocking?
most likely not

7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
22" Widescreen

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
hopefully very soon, I would like to now although I could wait a little

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I dont need crossfire or sli AT ALL (as in i'd rather not pay more JUST for that). I would like the motherboard to have multiple sata ports, as mine only has 2 currently. If the motherboard could have at least 4-6, then that would provide me ample room for HD expansion.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
yes


Well thats that... I currently have 2 gig of DDR RAM, a 2.2 GHZ 3700+ single core processor, and I use an ASROCK mobo. My gaming is bottlenecked by my processor, not my video card I feel, and regardless, I feel its time for an overhaul of the computer. If theres any good deals around, let me know. I dont particularly care whether its AMD or Intel Mobo//Processor, however if the motherboard supports future upgrading (from dual core to quad for example), than that's always a plus. At this time, I feel like all I need is a dual core, although i'd love a motherboard with quad core capabilities as well. I don't need the best of the best, as my computer can still run every game i've thrown at it (getting a little laggy with mass effect now tho...) but regardless, I think for not too much money, I could see a huge jump in performance, since I still only have a single core and DDR, etc
 
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ~ $80
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail ~ $84
2 x G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory - Retail ~ $80

Little overclock on the CPU to 3 GHz and you are set.
 
lt_shiro's build is a great starting point and will definitely blow your current system out of the water. However, if you feel like spending money, up the CPU to the E8400.
 
All 32bit OSes can only address 4GB of RAM minus the RAM reserved for other devices like video card(s), PCI and PCI-E slots, onboard sound, etc. So with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, at most a 32bit OS will only allow you to use 3.5GB of RAM. 64bit OSes will allow you to 4GB of RAM and more.

- XP Pro 64bit can support up to 128GB of RAM
- Vista Home Premium 64bit can support up to 16GB
- Vista Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise can support up to 128GB of RAM.

And yes that's the correct E8400.
 
Rob36 said:
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, not sure if i'm going to go for the better processor or not, but if I do, would it be worth an extra like 20 or w/e and just get quad core?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115055
Click to expand...

I say yes if you tend to keep your PCs (and by that I mean the CPU) for longer than two years. More and more games nowadays are now taking advantage of quad-core CPUs. Left 4 Dead will and does utilizes the extra two cores on quad-core CPU. IIRC, the same CPU updates for L4D was or will be provided to TF2 as well. Far Cry 2, Assassin's Creed, Supreme Commander, Bioshock, and Mass Effect takes advantage of quad-core CPUs as well. So yeah, the Q6600 is a good choice. I wouldn't go with the Q8200 since its performance is roughly the same as the Q6600 but it is harder to overclock with.
 
No. The G.Skill set would perform just as well, and it runs at a lower voltage, which aids in overclocking. We generally recommend that you choose parts that you would have purchased even without the rebate, because MIRs aren't 100% guaranteed (no matter what your track record with them are) and they don't translate into instant savings at checkout.
 
If I go with the cheapest of the cpu's listed, the
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
will my cpu still be the bottleneck do you think, or would it be my 8800 gt?
 
lt_shiro said:
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ~ $80
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail ~ $84
2 x G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory - Retail ~ $80

Little overclock on the CPU to 3 GHz and you are set.
Click to expand...
That CPU seems a bit thrifty given a) it's less than half his budget b) he's not overclocking and c) he'll likely want to replace his GPU before his new CPU

I'd say go with either an E8400 or a Q6600.
 
Rob36 said:
If I go with the cheapest of the cpu's listed, the
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
will my cpu still be the bottleneck do you think, or would it be my 8800 gt?
Click to expand...
They're probably pretty evenly matched, but if you ever want to step up to a newer video card that CPU is going to hold it back. I'd go with a better CPU now and upgrade your video card down the road.
 
e5200 does very well in games and overclock easy also... 3.3 GHz is mild overclock for this cpu.
 
Rob36 said:
If I go with the cheapest of the cpu's listed, the
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
will my cpu still be the bottleneck do you think, or would it be my 8800 gt?
Click to expand...

As already mentioned, it will only be the bottleneck if you don't OC. Again, as already mentioned, OC'ing to 3Ghz is easy and would eliminate such a bottleneck. One of the best ways to save money is to OC. ;)
 
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