upgrades soon! need help choosing

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Rx_cigerette

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 25, 2009
Messages
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so basicly trying to stick to a budget i wanna upgrade my computer a bit but i need help deciding if anything i have chosen is going to be worth the bang for the buck so i was wondering if someone people could look over my list and tell me if there is certain things i should not waste my time with and possible alternatives and what i should spend the money on first the first amount i'm getting is $400 maybe $450 what should i get first with that price range so here's the list and tell me what you think thanks in advance.
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=12560868
 
1x Swiftech H20-220 Compact CPU Water Cooling Kit... $139.99
1x SILVERSTONE ST75F 750W ATX... $144.99
^$15.00 mail in rebate^
1x AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+ Brisbane 3.0GHz Socket AM2... $74.99
1x ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink... $33.99
1x EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB... $129.99
^$10.00 mail in rebate^
1x Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit... $99.99
2x Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800... 105.98
^$25.00 mail in rebate^
thats the list sorry the link doesn't work.
 
why are you getting watercooling (cheap watercooling at that) AND a aftermarket HSF?

vga - go for a 4850 or 4770, they'll be faster and cheaper
ram- can get 4 gigs for a lot cheaper than that
psu- may be a bit of overkill. a corsair hx or pcp&p around the 500-600 watt range will be cheaper
 
Why are you getting a water cooling kit? Do you plan on doing some crazy over clocking to that AMD chip?

Doesn't make sense to be "working on a budget" while trying to get a water cooled rig. Reconsider your entire outlook on an upgraded system...
 
Also, do you need 8GB of RAM? Your shopping cart is overflowing with shit you don't need.
 
This will be a long thread if OP does not answer the questions in the Sticky posted by Danny Bui.
 
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
hardcore gaming like 5+ hours a day photoshop soon hopefully music
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
for right now $400
3) Where do you live?
new york city
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
PSU, New CPU (maybe quad core?) RAM upgrade video card upgrade new cpu heatsink (or watercooling)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe/HDMI AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI HDMI ATX AMD
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes not to much right now im using asus settings to overclock 10% possibly more later on
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22" WS(primary) 15.4" WS(secondary)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
as soon as i get this money (next two months most likely)
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
my motherboard meets all my needs for now
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
getting a brand new unused copy of windows vista home premium

i understand what you guys are saying hopefully you can suggest another cpu but if i upgrade to am2+ i need to upgrade the memory to 1066 and the watercooling and cpu cooler is because im having trouble deciding if you all know of something better then those that will be adequate to cool an overclocked cpu please do tell i look forward to your suggestions.
 
holy crap... I hate being a grammar police, but wow, that single sentence hurts! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Your answers aren't correlating with each other.

You need:
PSU
CPU
RAM
Vidcard
Heatsink

You have:
Mobo

You're missing:
Case
Hard Drive
Optical Drive

Is the $400 only for the listed "needed" parts?
If so, what about the missing parts?
If you need the missing parts, are they included in that $400 budget?
 
sorry i left some things out, i figured those parts where a given seeing as how i was referring to upgrading my computer. Anyway the $400 is for the parts i should purchase before any others on this upgrade i was thinking Ram, Cpu, Cpu heatsink, and Video Card.
(notice the punctuation this time. I apologize for the last time i just hate punctuation.)
so to recap i have
Motherboard
Case
Optical drive
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Cpu
Heat sink
Memory
Video Card

i am keeping
Case
Optical Drive
Hard Drive
Motherboard
the rest of the stuff i am looking to upgrade.
 
Ok so the $400 is for the Ram, Cpu, Cpu heatsink, and Video Card, correct?
So that means you're reusing your PSU then?
If so, what PSU do you have now? EXACT MAKE AND MODEL PLEASE.
If not, that $400 is for the RAM, CPU, HSF, GPU and PSU, correct?

Out of curiosity, what CPU do you have now?
 
 
Poor choices for the money.

I highly highly recommend getting a new PSU FIRST before you do any sort of update. Rosewil's quality is very very low among its sub 750W PSU levels. No CPU or GPU upgrade until that Rosewill PSU is gone and replaced.

In addition, there's little or no real world performance difference between DDR2 1006 RAM and DDR2 800 RAM. So I recommend this RAM instead:
$43 - A-Data ADQVE1B16K 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM

The Phenom 9950 CPU is a poor choice from a price to performance perspective. The Phenom II 720 CPU is faster than the Phenom 9950 and is the same price.

The 9500 HSF is also a poor choice for the money. I highly recommend this significantly better cooling HSF:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233012

This Antec TP-650 650W PSU has the same amount of amperage as the Silverstone but is also modular and has free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021&Tpk=TP-650
 
well the only thing is the power supply. I chose the silverstone 750w becuase it's fully modular and its 750w. Which seems like a safe voltage to be at if i decide to upgrade to sli and put in a watercooling system. It also seems like a worthwhile deal for $5 more then the power supply you showed me.
 
Rx_cigerette said:
well the only thing is the power supply. I chose the silverstone 750w becuase it's fully modular and its 750w. Which seems like a safe voltage to be at if i decide to upgrade to sli and put in a watercooling system. It also seems like a worthwhile deal for $5 more then the power supply you showed me.
Click to expand...

Again, if you read what I wrote, the Silverstone 750W PSU only has 54A on the +12V rail, exactly the same as the Antec Trupower New 650W PSU. A good 750W PSU has 60A on the +12V rail. Meaning that Silverstone ST75F is more of a 650W PSU than a 750W PSU. So it really isn't that good of a deal. I'd still go with the Antec.
 
I agree with Danny Build 2,000%. The choices that you selected are poor because they are older technology. They were good before but, now there are better for the same price. Let's go over those items you listed:

CPU - Phenom 9950 CPU for the price now, is not soo good. The Phenom II 720 Triple Core cpu is faster in gaming which you mentioned earlier you will spend hours on gaming. The Phenom II 720 can O/C very well. You can get this at 3.4ghz - 3.7ghz. Its Thermal power is at 95W compared to the Phenom 9950 with 125W.

Heatsink - The Zalman CNPS9500 cooler was good before. But, it's considered old now and there are better ones now that outperform it. The XIGMATEK HDT-RS1283 that Danny mentioned is 1 that does better. Thermalright and Tuniq Tower also perform better than that Zalman heatsink

RAM - $69 upfront for 4gig of RAM is steep even if there is a mail in rebate. You still pay $69 upfront. The A-Data 4gig that Danny mentioned will do fine for $44 upfront w/free shipping. Or, look at the
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) for $50 ($20 MIR) w/free shipping.

PSU - You can go with either the Silverstone ST75F or the Antec TP-650 power supply. The Antec 650 has free shipping included which makes it a better option to go with as oppose to the Silverstone. Plus, as Danny just mentioned, they both are modular and put out 54A on the +12V rail. Both also come with a 3 year warranty.
 
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I'm not going to repeat everything that Danny Bui has said, but before you do anything else, check to see whether your motherboard can support one of the newer processors (with a BIOS update). Not having to swap out the motherboard can really stretch out your $400 budget.

When again are you planning on buying these parts? If it's not for a while, keep in mind that the prices to most of these parts aren't static -- some items may be cheaper and others may be more expensive. In fact, if you're not going to build this system for a while, use the extra time to come up with some more money for this build. Some of the parts I'd normally recommend for people in your situation would wreak havoc on your budget. $500 is a better budget to work with, and the more money you can acquire, the better your upgrades can be. (No, I'm not going to recommend that you spend every red cent, but some of the better deals are often negated by shipping and taxes.)
 
It sure will. Hehe, his Asus M3N-HT Deluxe mobo should support the Phenom II 720 cpu if, he has the Bios version 1901 at least.
 
Sounds like they got you covered. I completely agree with Danny, tiraides, and HG.

FYI, most of the power your system will be consuming will be from the +12V rail, hence Danny's explanation. No, the Antec is FULLY modular like the Silverstone, but why do you need fully modular anyhow when EVERY system will need the main ATX cable???
 
would this do any better?
ZALMAN ZM750-HP 750W Continuous @ 45°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 850W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular LED Heatpipe-Cooled SLI Power Supply
it has 4 +12v rails running 20a on each rail for basicly the same price as the silverstone one which is only running 18a on each rail.
and i whent with the reaper memory and the phenom II x3 720.
i also looked more into it first purchases will be PSU, CPU, Ram and CPU Heatsink. The video card will have to come later my 9600 gso should hold me down for now.

EDIT:
sorry i forgot will that xigmatek have any clearance issues with my asus m3n-ht deluxe motherboard? Because right now i have a scythe ninja money and i cant get to my first ram slot without removing the heatsink. Which isnt to bad but with the reaper memory there is no way that will work.
 
Rx_cigerette said:
would this do any better?
ZALMAN ZM750-HP 750W Continuous @ 45°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 850W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular LED Heatpipe-Cooled SLI Power Supply
it has 4 +12v rails running 20a on each rail for basicly the same price as the silverstone one which is only running 18a on each rail..
Click to expand...

Ok, good PSU choice but for the wrong reason: It does not matter how many rails a PSU has:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

Still a good PSU.
 
Yup, good PSU.

If you're keeping your ninja, ditch the Reapers. Those heatpipes don't help much and get in the way more than anything else. If you're using the Xigmatek, then you should have proper clearance, since it does not have a square footprint. In any case, I'd go for some lower voltage sticks unless you're sure your board can boot fine with the higher voltage sticks.
 
im not going to keep the ninja im giving it to a friend who is in dire need of a cooler. But i also looked into what you said about the memory according to h enthusiast i can have a maximum of 2.5v and should run safely with 2.1v

EDIT: just noticed this the phenom II x3 720 is a socket am3 My mobo is socket am2/am2+. doesn't this mean this CPU is not compatible with my motherboard?
 
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It'll work fine. HG checked for you. So, just make sure you flash your board with the BIOS he listed if its not already loaded. Get it from the Asus website.

Yes, you can have a max of 2.5v, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. JEDEC spec states 1.8v, which is the industry standard. Yes, 2.1v is safe for DDR2, but can your board boot with it? There were a lot of problems with earlier AM2 boards and OCZ DDR2; it seems OCZ didn't include the JEDEC spec in the SPD tables, so many boards couldn't boot with higher voltage RAM. I'm pretty sure your board is newer and the OCZ RAM has the proper SPD tables, but I'm just saying you should double check. The safe bet is to get lower voltage RAM, since it most likely performs the same as the higher voltage RAM (performance difference between CL4 and CL5 is negligible; in gaming, only a few fps difference, <5), so I don't understand why someone would actually want the higher voltage RAM.
 
couldn't i lower the voltage to make it boot safely? Or can someone recomend some performance ram that runs at a lower voltage i want something that can run newer games with ease and multi task well
 
Rx_cigerette said:
couldn't i lower the voltage to make it boot safely? ...
Click to expand...
Lower the voltage? what? you need to RAISE the voltage on the mobo if the RAM runs at a higher voltage; the problem is, many boards will only boot at 1.8v vDIMM (default), and if that RAM does NOT have the 1.8v SPD table, you MAY have trouble booting up.
Rx_cigerette said:
... can someone recomend some performance ram that runs at a lower voltage i want something that can run newer games with ease and multi task well
Click to expand...
Thats my point... you don't need higher voltage/lower CL RAM to run games with ease and multi-task. CL4 will give you no noticeable performance improvement over the recommended CL5 sticks. :rolleyes:
 
do you have a link to any type of literature on this stuff? I wanna read up on it so i can actually know what i should look for, and just a more in depth understanding of the overall subject.
 
Once upon a time, I had links to backup my posts, but I'm too lazy to find them now, lol. Checkout anandtech.com -- I know a few of my links were from their memory section. Lets see what I can find real quick...

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2878&p=5

Again, pay attention to the data... performance difference between the CL4 and CL5 sticks is less than 5fps.

You can search for more... I definitely found more articles 2yrs ago, but I've since lost those links.
 
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