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yes, again, its been years though

N

nobody_here

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
8,877
i only do this every 5 years or so guys, keep that in mind...but also consider what i have is working, its just getting old, mobo chipset fan is starting to go, one of the caps on the mobo is busting....you know...i got the goody out of it ;)


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
most taxing use would be gaming Crysis 1440x900 resolution or encoding video type stuff

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500 +/-

3) Where do you live?
USA

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.
Mobo, CPU, Memory, Vid Card (Vid card can wait if necessary)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Antec Earthwatts 500 EA-500D, only about a year old

6) Will you be overclocking?
most likely yes i plan on it but i have no clue what goes into Core i overclocking these days

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19" native 1440x900 res

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
next month or so

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
SATA, USB 2.0, PCI-E 16x not much, stability...ATX form factor i reckon

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
x64 Ult Win 7 (from the launch party!!! yaya!)


so here's what i have spec'd out right now with limited research

BIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $135

ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ... $200

Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540 $125

G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO $80

please consider that as of right now i am heavily into the MWLL total mod for Crysis and soon to be Wars mod, it is more demanding than Crysis is for sure, but at Medium settings even with my current rig i am playing and enjoying it, so perhaps my idea of acceptable is less than many? im an overclocker from old, been into H2o and voltmodding and all sorts of pc enthusiast stuff for years, but the new architecture of the Core i CPU's is very different and things have changed since socket 939 AMD ruled with PC3200 memory.....

so what say you?
 
Two things that make that setup less than ideal for your use:

1. The i3 CPU. At $125 it is overpriced for only a dual-core CPU.

2. The 1GB GTS 460 is a bit overkill for your monitor's low 1440x900 resolution. It is better suited for 1920x1080 at near-max settings.
 
Yeah the Core i3 540 is not a good choice for a gaming PC considering that a quad-core AMD CPU is not that much more:

$145 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU
$99 - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 ATX Motherboard
$60 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
---
Total: $305 plus tax and shipping

Since you still have room in the budget, I say go for the GTX 460 1GB anyway even if it is bit a overkill for that resolution. With that said, if you need to save money, cutting the GTX 460 1GB down to the HD 5770 1GB won't hurt you that badly. Well maybe the HD 5830 actually since its prices have dropped.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah the Core i3 540 is not a good choice for a gaming PC considering that a quad-core AMD CPU is not that much more:

$145 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU
$99 - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 ATX Motherboard
$60 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
---
Total: $305 plus tax and shipping

Since you still have room in the budget, I say go for the GTX 460 1GB anyway even if it is bit a overkill for that resolution. With that said, if you need to save money, cutting the GTX 460 1GB down to the HD 5770 1GB won't hurt you that badly. Well maybe the HD 5830 actually since its prices have dropped.
Click to expand...

Actually, that quad-core AMD setup you suggested costs less overall than the OP's original choice of a pricey P55 motherboard and an i3-540 CPU. Another reason why the i3 is only recommended for business systems where compatibility is favored over performance.
 
E4g1e said:
Actually, that quad-core AMD setup you suggested costs less overall than the OP's original choice of a pricey P55 motherboard and an i3-540 CPU. Another reason why the i3 is only recommended for business systems where compatibility is favored over performance.
Click to expand...

Yeah I meant to only say that the Phenom II 955 is only $20 more and therefore the better buy but then I just went and did a whole build :)
 
so the amd phenoms are as good from a performance perspective at that price point? all i hear is that the new Core i's are the bees knees

as far as the video card goes, i was thinking i may just upgrade the platform mobo, cpu, and mem, and see where performance is then...perhaps the 9600 GSO i have has still got some headroom?
 
nobody_here said:
so the amd phenoms are as good from a performance perspective at that price point? all i hear is that the new Core i's are the bees knees
Click to expand...

Actually, the "new Core i's" that you heard are "the bee's knees" are the forthcoming LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge CPUs coming out next month. The new CPUs will be completely incompatible with current motherboards - both physically and electrically. The existing "Core i" LGA 1156 line is now over a year old. And among the current "Core i" CPUs the only ones that are worth their current street prices are the quad-core i5-750 and i5-760.
 
here's what i have picked so far:



AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

MSI 870S-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard

MSI N460GTX Hawk Talon Attack GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL


i'd be in it for about $530

the motherboard is a choice made simply because all the reviews tend to show that may of the AMD boards do not support the C3 AMD 125W CPU's out of the box, so even though there were some nice MSI and Asus boards available for a similar price, they all got bad reviews for not supporting the 965 processors
 
Oh yeah, I wanted to support the site and click through on one of the ads here at hardocp. is there a wrong way to do that?
 
nobody_here said:
Oh yeah, I wanted to support the site and click through on one of the ads here at hardocp. is there a wrong way to do that?
Click to expand...

Not really AFAIK.

That GTX 460 is overpriced at $215 considering that the faster HD 6870 is only $32 more. The highest you should pay for a GTX 460 is $200 shipped. Any high and you're better off just spending the extra cash for the HD 6870.
 
Well, the talon msi 460 was 216 but I think it was worth it. Overiall im happy I think. Ended up with a different micro atx evo board and the 955 black cpu with some better blue ripjaw memory for under 600 shipped, another hdd, some AS5, etc...
 
nobody_here said:
Well, the talon msi 460 was 216 but I think it was worth it. Overiall im happy I think. Ended up with a different micro atx evo board and the 955 black cpu with some better blue ripjaw memory for under 600 shipped, another hdd, some AS5, etc...
Click to expand...

Oh you already bought the parts?
 
yeah man..

Item List:
1 x ($9.99) CPU THERMPASTE|AS5-3.5G % - OEM $9.99 -- needed it, been years since i bought thermal paste


1 x ($214.99) VGA MSI|N460GTX Hawk Talon Attack R $214.99 -- just bad ass


1 x ($69.99) MEM 2Gx2|GSKILL F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM $69.99 -- looks like good DDR3 memory for some overclocking


1 x ($144.99) CPU AMD|PH II X4 955 3.2G AM3 RT $144.99 -- again, looks like i can have some fun overclocking this one and quad core makes it nice for the price


1 x ($47.99) HD 320G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD3200AAKS - OEM $47.99 -- i already own one i bought recently, now i can finally RAID a pair maybe....


1 x ($79.99) MB ASUS|M4A785TD-M EVO 785G RT $79.99 -- there are so many AM3 boards, and so many with bad reviews for not working with some processors, i finally just got this one.....


1 x ($0.00) Newegg Promotional Gift Card(The total amount of Gift Cards: $10.00)




Payment Summary:
Payment Term: PaypalExtended Warranty: $0.00Subtotal: $567.94Tax: $0.00Shipping and Handling: $0.00Rush Order: $2.99Total Amount: $570.93
 
well, that 10usd gift card *almost* pushed the GTX460 under 200usd :p
nice build, you have a case for it all?
 
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