time to upgrade

[bamaland101]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming(CSS/BF3/Planetside2,etc), Photoshop(light graphics/web designing)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? $300, yes

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, Picayune,MS
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,ram,mobo,case,dvdrw.gpu
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Raidmax 630 psu, 320gb western digital hdd
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1360x768, 32" LG HDTV
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
3-4 days
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
SLI or Crossfire support for future references
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
yes, Windows 7 ultimate 64-bit

generally looking at buying all used parts. i know my budget is low but my current setup is getting old and games are getting newer lol.

i dont mind playing games on med/high settings just as long as theres no lags during gameplay im fine.

current setup is
asus m2a-vm, athlon II 5000+be, 4gb ram, 8800gts(g92)

 

[pstang]

hmm, if you are going to go the used route, you may want to post in the FS/FT forum or look around and see what people have for sale

but here is what i came up with (all new parts) some of these are deal that end soon too so keep that in mind
AMD system:
ram (limited deal ends 9/11/12) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ction-_-N82E16820148544-_-na-_-na&PID=3891137 40.99 - 4.00 with promo code "HARDOCPX9X5A" 36.99
mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157278 74.99+6.98 ship
dvdrw (limited time deal ends today) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...OCPFORM&cm_mmc_o=-KeCjCZ-qKR2VCjCqRmCjCdByAFF 17.99
cpu (A8-3870k) http://www.amazon.com/AMD-A8-3870K-...8&qid=1347055894&sr=8-1&keywords=AMD+A8-3870K 98.99
case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 54.99
total $294.93 (290.94) with the promo code

Intel system
dvdrw (limited time deal ends today) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...OCPFORM&cm_mmc_o=-KeCjCZ-qKR2VCjCqRmCjCdByAFF 17.99
cpu (pentium G2120) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116777&Tpk=g2120 99.99
vid http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127611 54.99+6.98 ship - 10.00 MIR
mobo (free 8 gigs of ram for a limited time) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128554 99.99
case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147073 24.99
total $304.99 ($294.93) after MIR on the video card

 

[bamaland101]

thanks, I wish i could post in FS/T for a WTB thread but im limited because i dont really post that much just do alot of reading most of the time so i dont meet the 50 posts rule..

with the amd setup you dont think a gpu would be needed?

 

[pstang]

that amd cpu is part of their apu line up that has graphics built in, the intel chip does too, but the gpu side of the amd chip comes out on top by a decent amount and is able to game where the built in intel gpu wouldnt get you very far in that regard... thats why the intel build has a video card listed and the amd one does not

on the flip side the processing part of the intel best the amd by a good margin

 

[bamaland101]

okay so ive made a deal on a Asrock A75M-ITX with an AMD A6-3650 for $110, leaving me with $190ish for some ram, a gpu and a case
now as far as a case goes i just need something that will let me have a full internal w/c loop in the future without having to doing any modding.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

A fellow Mississippian... I'm in Ocean Springs/Biloxi.

I don't think anyone is really going to offer you good advice. With that kind of budget it's nearly impossible to build a rig that will play the games you want to play, especially since you're gonna need a new PSU in that budget because the PSU you're reusing sucks ass. The good thing is you're only gaming at 720P, which makes it possible. Just gotta find the deals.

With that being said, it seems Newegg's motherboard/cpu combo deals have not posted this month yet. If you haven't bought that CPU/Motherboard, don't. It's not that great of a chip and any of the Intel processors, even dual core, will play games better than it would. Plus that motherboard is made by AsRock, we don't recommend buying from them on account of their inconsistent quality and lack of good warranty. So hold off on it.

 

[Dangman]

Yeha the second you add a dedicated GPU to that APU setup, you just wasted money as you have effectively negated the whole advantage of the AMD APUs: fast onboard GPU. If you're gonna add a seperate GPU, you're better off going with a cheap Phenom II X4 or Pentium G620/630 since those will provide significantly higher performance in games.

I also agree with Skillz completely.

 

[bamaland101]

A fellow Mississippian... I'm in Ocean Springs/Biloxi.

I don't think anyone is really going to offer you good advice. With that kind of budget it's nearly impossible to build a rig that will play the games you want to play, especially since you're gonna need a new PSU in that budget because the PSU you're reusing sucks ass. The good thing is you're only gaming at 720P, which makes it possible. Just gotta find the deals.

With that being said, it seems Newegg's motherboard/cpu combo deals have not posted this month yet. If you haven't bought that CPU/Motherboard, don't. It's not that great of a chip and any of the Intel processors, even dual core, will play games better than it would. Plus that motherboard is made by AsRock, we don't recommend buying from them on account of their inconsistent quality and lack of good warranty. So hold off on it.

well i never thought i'd see someone from the same state on here lol.

is the mobo/cpu really that bad? ive always been a amd fan even if theyre not holding ranks like they used to.. i mean i currently play all the above games with my current setup, im just looking for a bit more processing power and a bit of eye candy.

i know the psu i have is considered a joke/laugh but honestly its held up well and i figured with newer low power hardware it would be even safer to keep using?

what would you suggest skillz? i know my budget is low but the $300 is just what i expect to pull from my ebay auctions, and when those end i have to have everything ready to order as i wont have a rig to use until the new hardware gets here. ill just be using a cheap tablet to web surf for the time being..

 

[Deleted member 88227]

We really need to wait for Newegg to post their combo deals for this month, I'm not seeing any right now.

Still not a fan of that PSU but I'm pretty sure we can fit a good one in your budget.

You don't have an SATA dvd drive?

 

[bamaland101]

no, i ordered one a while back and it never showed i have a slim lg external dvdrw that i picked up from newegg to use with my tablet and sisters netbook so ive just been using it for everything seems to do the job so far

 

[pstang]

okay so ive made a deal on a Asrock A75M-ITX with an AMD A6-3650 for $110, leaving me with $190ish for some ram, a gpu and a case
now as far as a case goes i just need something that will let me have a full internal w/c loop in the future without having to doing any modding.

well if youre not going to be overclocking there isnt much, if any, need to use water-cooling, i mean if its your preference go for it, but there is no need to do so imo

 

[Deleted member 88227]

no, i ordered one a while back and it never showed i have a slim lg external dvdrw that i picked up from newegg to use with my tablet and sisters netbook so ive just been using it for everything seems to do the job so far

Well if you can do without a dvd drive it'll give you like ~$20 to put towards something else. Personally I don't use my drive for anything anymore. I had to use it to install Windows/Drives and that was about it.

If you could use that slim drive just to get Windows/Drivers installed then buy the drive later, like I said... $20 to go towards something else.

 

[bamaland101]

yea i dont technically need a internal dvdrw, the lg burner works just fine for booting windows on the hdd.

i used to overclock but it seems since s939 everything has changed options wise and its a bit more complicated imo but im sure if i actually tried i could figure it out.

i basically want to go water later on as my house gets very hot during the day(90-95) (no central air )and nothings insulated in this house i hate it i miss my big brick home

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Well we will omit that then.

Overclocking is a lot easier than those days, especially with the right hardware. Getting a "K" series Intel processor is as easy as changing one setting and 4.0+Ghz overclocks. They have their multiplier overclocked, so no need to worry about bus speed, ram speed, etc... Just bump the multiplier to like x45 and you're almost guaranteed to have 4.5Ghz. It's just not going to happen with your budget as a "K" series processor is like $200 or more.

Water isn't really recommended, even in your situation. It's costly. Getting a good tower cooler is the way to go, so set aside $30 later and buy yourself a Coolermaster 212+ CPU cooler. I ran that cooler in my garage (no ac at all) during our summers and it works just fine.

 

[Dangman]

i basically want to go water later on as my house gets very hot during the day(90-95) (no central air )and nothings insulated in this house i hate it i miss my big brick home

Considering that you can barely afford the $300 for the PC itself, you probably won't be able to afford the $300 or more for an actual water cooling setup. Also, water cooling won't help that much if the ambient temperature is still high. So in other words, if you truly want to lower PC temperatures, cool the house first.

 

[bamaland101]

i can do a w/c loop right now for $75 with a swiftec 220 rad w/ mcp pump and res all in one. and i already have a cpu block for amd.

either way ive got roughly 36-48 hours to figure out what i have to get..

what ever happened to that nzxt rogue they put out years back? i cant find one anywhere now..

if i end up not finding a case i like i'll probably just setup a bench and leave it open air like that til i can find one. i've been wanting to put together a custom desk that suits all my rooms need but havent been able to get all the materials just yet

 

[pstang]

yea i dont technically need a internal dvdrw, the lg burner works just fine for booting windows on the hdd.

i used to overclock but it seems since s939 everything has changed options wise and its a bit more complicated imo but im sure if i actually tried i could figure it out.

i basically want to go water later on as my house gets very hot during the day(90-95) (no central air )and nothings insulated in this house i hate it i miss my big brick home

yeah things have changed a little since then... basically for intel there is no overclocking unless you have both a board AND cpu that is capable of doing it... there are no "budget" chips in intels lineup that overclock

 

[bamaland101]

danny its not that i can barely afford the $300 its just my extra cash i plan to have from ebay sales. cash ive got just rather spend it on the car and women lol

 

[pstang]

give this a try

antec 300 case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite 54.99 - 5.00 instant with the promocode " EMCNANF28" - 10 MIR 39.99

gigabyte mobo with 8 gigs of ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128554 99.99

intel g630 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Pentium...1347076517&sr=8-1&keywords=Intel+Pentium+G630 61.99

refurb xfx amd hd6770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150629 84.99

total 296.96 (286.96) MIR

 

[Dangman]

i can do a w/c loop right now for $75 with a swiftec 220 rad w/ mcp pump and res all in one. and i already have a cpu block for amd.

Still a waste of money considering your high ambient temps and the fact the cash can go towards faster PC parts.

what ever happened to that nzxt rogue they put out years back? i cant find one anywhere now..

Was phased out a few years ago for poor sales IIRC.

if i end up not finding a case i like i'll probably just setup a bench and leave it open air like that til i can find one. i've been wanting to put together a custom desk that suits all my rooms need but havent been able to get all the materials just yet

Forget the case: just open-air it. That'll free up $40 to $50 right there for a faster CPU or GPU.

danny its not that i can barely afford the $300 its just my extra cash i plan to have from ebay sales. cash ive got just rather spend it on the car and women lol

Uh huh. Either way, $300 is a bit too low even if buying used for a gaming PC that'll provide a noticeable performance improvement over your current setup and includes a new PSU.

But we'll see whats up when the Newegg deals hit. Either way, don't go the APU route unless you're absolutely sure that you'll never upgrade the GPU or you got the A6-3650 + mobo for $90 or less. Any higher and you're basically better off with Intel.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

yeah things have changed a little since then... basically for intel there is no overclocking unless you have both a board AND cpu that is capable of doing it... there are no "budget" chips in intels lineup that overclock

That's not entirely true.

 

[pstang]

That's not entirely true.

please elaborate... how do you oc (to any noticable difference) with a non "K" intel chip

 

[bamaland101]

im totally fine with open-air as i can easily screw it all down to the top of the desk, like i said for now air is fine but i want water down the line, (and i mean 4-6mo from now so its not a hurry to me)

the APU route was just my intial way to go itx and have more space on my desk. i wont actually be using the gpu side of the APU just getting a 7750 or something to pair with it.. but i mean at this point intel doesnt have me on their side yet.. so basically is am3+ the same as fm1 just without the gpu in the cpu?

 

[Dangman]

but i mean at this point intel doesnt have me on their side yet..

Here's a comparison of the Pentium G620 VS the A6-3650:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/403?vs=406

Lower power usage, lower heat generation, and outperforms the A6-3650 in most games by a decent margin. Hence why I say the A6-3650 + mobo is really only worth it if you can get it for $90 since you can get a Pentium G620 + Intel mobo for $120.

so basically is am3+ the same as fm1 just without the gpu in the cpu?

Not really. Different CPU architectures. With that said the FM1 CPUs tend to perform slower than their Phenom II or even FX counterparts.

 

[bamaland101]

i see.. i just hate to have this cpu block continue to collect dust i wanted to get some use out of it..
well i'll continue to shop around [h], ebay and wait on newegg's deals(if they release before my 48hrs are up)

 

[Dangman]

Actually even without the combo deals, you can still do well with an Intel setup:
$68 - Intel Pentium G630 CPU
$55 - Biostar H61MGC Intel H61 mATX Intel Motherboard
$19 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$120 - HIS iCooler H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$33 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
-----
Total: $295 shipped.

BTW that PSU is on sale right now so I'd recommend buying that PSU the second you read this post. You're saving $20 from its normal price. And that's not even factoring the promo code.

 

[pstang]

Here's a comparison of the Pentium G620 VS the A6-3650:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/403?vs=406

Lower power usage, lower heat generation, and outperforms the A6-3650 in most games by a decent margin. Hence why I say the A6-3650 + mobo is really only worth it if you can get it for $90 since you can get a Pentium G620 + Intel mobo for $120.

yeah intel IS the way to go, as much as i want to stay amd for my next upgrade there is no denying the fact intel has performance at all levels right now (excluding the igp market) , and there is no need to spend hard earned money on lower performance

 

[bamaland101]

i refuse to spend money on antec, last psu i bought just fried a nice system i had and even though my psu still had 8 days left on warranty they refused to RMA it, so antec loses me as a customer.. its the reason why i have this raidmax

 

[Dangman]

i refuse to spend money on antec, last psu i bought just fried a nice system i had and even though my psu still had 8 days left on warranty they refused to RMA it, so antec loses me as a customer.. its the reason why i have this raidmax

Odd miss for their CS department. Well then to fit a Corsair PSU, gonna have to slightly change the PC a tad and increase your budget by $3:
$64 - Intel Pentium G630 CPU
$55 - Biostar H61MGC Intel H61 mATX Intel Motherboard
$19 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$120 - HIS iCooler H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$45 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU
-----
Total: $303 shipped.

And if you're wondering what's an equivalent AMD CPU, you're looking at the AMD Phenom II X4 9xx series CPUs at a minimum.

 

[pstang]

Odd miss for their CS department. Well then to fit a Corsair PSU, gonna have to slightly change the PC a tad and increase your budget by $3:
$64 - Intel Pentium G630 CPU
$55 - Biostar H61MGC Intel H61 mATX Intel Motherboard
$19 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$120 - HIS iCooler H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$45 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU
-----
Total: $303 shipped.

And if you're wondering what's an equivalent AMD CPU, you're looking at the AMD Phenom II X4 9xx series CPUs at a minimum.

get the g630 from amazon instead of the g620 from newegg and you get it right on budget http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Pentium...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347081106&sr=8-1&keywords=g630

 

[bamaland101]

well thanks danny, skillz, and pstang for ya'lls time i'll just have to let time run its course til i can figure out exactly which setups ill go with

 

[Deleted member 88227]

please elaborate... how do you oc (to any noticable difference) with a non "K" intel chip

Almost the same way you overclock the "K" series processors. The only difference is the multiplier on the "K" series processors can go much higher than a non K. You can get up to ~3.9Ghz on most non "K" series processors. Anything above 4Ghz you'll need one of the "K" processors.

 

[pstang]

Almost the same way you overclock the "K" series processors. The only difference is the multiplier on the "K" series processors can go much higher than a non K. You can get up to ~3.9Ghz on most non "K" series processors. Anything above 4Ghz you'll need one of the "K" processors.

ah, didnt know... i mean i dont have any good experience with current intel systems, i do have a laptop with an i5 which doesnt count imo lol, but i thought all non "k" were limited to manipulating bclk which was limited to only a few MHz increase... but isnt what you are talking about just limited to cpu's with turbo boost which would rule out the pentiums being able to do that?

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Correct, the most you can overclock a Pentium is like ~100Mhz which probably isn't worth the trouble. As such, low end AMD CPUs don't overclock that well either.

 

[bamaland101]

well this is what ive ended up with so far..

Gigabyte 970A-D3 AM3+
AMD 1045T 6-Core
2x4GB G.Skill DDR3 total $185

Silverstone Strider 750W $45
Sapphire HD 4890 1gb Vapor-X $50

i plan to get another 4890 to crossfire, still waiting on ebay items to see if i get any hdd's or a ssd..

still no case guess for now im stuck with open-air layout on the desk

edit: now i have a 500gb wd green $31 and a ocz 30gb ssd $25

so thats $336 total so far, and im picking up a antec kular 620 for $25 so $361 total..