Upgrade my PC

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Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
296
Hey folks, haven't been keeping to up-to-date on good cost:benefit hardware, and was hoping to get some help.

I've got my tax returns coming and was hoping to drop about $500 to upgrade my aging rig. Nothing fancy, just looking to get a new CPU, Mobo, and RAM.

If you're gonna ask us to build/list a PC for you or seek advice about a build, please answer all of the following questions:

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

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500 Not looking to spend more than that

3) Where do you live?
Wisconsin

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

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Full Tower Case, TT Toughpower 1200W PSU, HD, DVD/RW Drive, 22" Widescreen Monitor

6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, or very little.

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

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
At least 4 banks for RAM, minimum 4 USB ports

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Win 7 64bit Pro

Current rig is an e6600, 4 GB DDR2 1066, 8800GTX. Certainly not a slouch, but it's starting to show it's age in games and I'd like to refresh the core components.

Compatibility is a big thing for me, as I always seem to be the one guy who's components like to disagree with.

Thanks for you help folks.
 
$500

VIDEO CARD/CPU - XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB + AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2Ghz both for $304.98

MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-770T-USB3 AM3 AMD 770 USB 3.0 for $89.99

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 for $104.99

Total: $499.96 + $7.87(shipping)
 
Are the new phenom's pretty good?

I'm so out of touch these days it's sad :(
 
Yah, the new Phenom II Deneb Quad cpus are pretty good. It's faster than the first Phenom Agena Quad cpus. But, actually your E6600 o/c at 3.16ghz isn't that shabby dude. You may just need a GPU upgrade.
 
Ah, my sig is outta date :D, I got a DFI Lan Party board now and I can't get a solid OC out of it. So my e6600 is sitting at it's lovely stock of 2.6 :(

Another reason for total refresh is if I gotta take apart my water loop again I'm just going to switch back to air cooling, don't want to go through all the hassle of re-doing the water loop sans a thing, or getting a new water block on vid card or CPU and potentially redoing my loop again. To much hassle for me these days, hence, just the request for a nice core components upgrade.
 
Yea I sold it to a buddy who wanted to get a 775 board for a CPU he found for cheap on craigslist. Still running great for him :D

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136053

This was on sale, and I generally heard good things about DFI so I grabbed it. Really picky with my RAM (some OCZ gold garbage I grabbed at microcenter) and it's hit or miss with OC stability. Running everything stock right now because I'm just tired of fiddling with it lol.

Would this mobo and cpu be comparable to the AMD build?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130246
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115222

Or is 1156 not a big enough jump from 775?
 
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ph2 performs similar to core2, so a ph2 setup wouldn't be much of an upgrade. yes, an lga1156 build would definitely be a step up. you'd need some ddr3, though. sell your old parts to help offset the slightly higher cost of lga1156 (am3).
 
dont get a 770 board get at least a 785 or a 790. if you want 6 core support at sometime with AMD go with the 890 based gigabyte board as it has USB 3.0 and sata 3.0 slots
 
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