Need suggestions on a $500-600 budget

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spledang

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I'm a film student at CSUN and my senior thesis I will be working on is next semester (around January) and I want to upgrade specifically for editing this project, but I also do gaming (not really too graphics demanding though). I play League Of Legends, occasional SC2, and FPS games (haven't tried BF4 yet). So EDITING (AVID, Pro Tools, and Adobe Premiere Pro CS6) first and game second. Now based on that, I need some suggestions (preferably from people who own the products I'm looking in to or have knowledge of what's best for my scenario).

MY SPECS ARE...

Phenom II X4 945 Processor 3.00 GHZ CPU
PATRIOT 1333 6GB RAM
OCZ FATALITY 550Watt PSU
Nvidia GTX 260 GPU (Also own 4890 but dying)
148 and 69gb HD
RAIDMAX ARES CASE
ASUS M4A785T-M MOBO

Any suggestions on what is most needed to be updated? (I obviously can update all of it because there all old as hell lol, but I don't really have a budget to do all of it now)

1. IMO, I need a CASE first. Which to get? A, B, C, or D?

ANTEC 900 vs HAF 922 vs Corsair Carbide Series 500R (based on specs the HAF seems to be most roomy and have better wire management than the antec 900. Antec has a possibility to be good cooling. The Corsair I haven't looked into yet).

A. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 (ANTEC 900)
B. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 (HAF 922)
C. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009 (Corsair 550r)
D. Other suggestion

2. PROCESSOR is the next choice I think. A, B, or C?

INTEL i5 4570 vs AMD FX 8350 (Hopefully I don't get answers based on biased fanboys. I've always chosen AMD because the prices have been lower, but these are similar. With editing my first priority, I've read that the 8 Cores will be the better choice in the long run. Although an NVIDIA card is what helps rendering/processing footage in Adobe Premiere Pro. As for the Intel CPU, I've read that it is just a better processor in every way possible besides the rendering in editing. So... can anyone vouch for this?)

A. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116896 (INTEL i5 4570)
B. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113284 (AMD FX 8350)
C. other

3. Having to improve my processor requires me to get a MOTHERBOARD. Unfortunately, I really don't know too much on this subject besides the fact I need whats compatible. So i'll probably need help here most. I DONT OVERCLOCK or plan to, but I may want to upgrade in the future - I think that this will maybe help someone give me a suggestion. I chose 2 mobos per intel/amd CPU that are compatible but not sure if they are any good.

A. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 (GIGABYTE GA 990FXA)
B. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519 (GIGABYTE GA-970-UD3)
C. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131981 (ASUS Z87-A)
D. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130693 (MSI Z87-G45)
E. Other

4. I have a small amount of HD space, but I also have 3 externals that I edit with a lot of the time which explains why I haven't upgraded. Is there anything I should be looking at when I buy an internal hard drive besides the RPM speed, compatibility, and space? I usually go for Western Digital drives.

A. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792 (WD 2TB)
B. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844 (Seagate 3TB)
C. Other

Updating these 4 would put in the 400-500 range I believe. I'm not sure if I really need to update my card or ram so much. I haven't ran in to any problems with only 6gb or this old card of a gtx 260. Lastly, one of my friend suggested that I just buy a built comp with similar specs above. Anyways, any suggestions would be helpful and thanks in advance.
 
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cin19

cin19

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1) All are good, you have to pick one by yourself.
2) CPU, in that budget range, I will recommend to get the fx8350.
3) MB, if you get the FX8 Series, you need get the 990 chipset mb for OCing, so get the 990fxaUD3 or ASUS M5A97 R2.0 from amazon for a little bit less because you don't oc. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008V9959O/?tag=pcpapi-20
4) I don't recommend to get over 2TB HDD.
5) If you have only 6GB, and you want to play "call of duty ghosts", then you may need to upgrade to 8GB RAM.
 
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JOOK-D

JOOK-D

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2) Might as well go with the FX 8320 and overclock it, save yourself some $. It's the same chip basically, just clocked lower at stock.
3) cin19 has you covered.
4) was about to say the same as cin19 :lol:


Honestly, rather than all of that. Get a new graphics card, IMO. That processor is still OK. If you get a new graphics card I think you'll see more of a performance boost than getting a new CPU+Mobo. I would assume it would be better for the video editing, and especially for gaming.
 
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spledang

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I'm not sure if it doesnt exist... but I want to get the FX-8350 and am realizing the motherboards that are AM3+ compatible don't have PCIe 3.0 x16 for the new video cards. Like for example above there was a suggestion on this mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872, but it has no PCIe 3.0 for the new GPUs. If that is the case with am3+ mobos, I might just lean towards going to Intel since they have mobos compatible at a cheap price compatible with new GPUs. Thanks for everyones opinions. As of now I'm thinking to getting the following....

MOBO (MSI Z87-G41) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130695
CPU (i5 4570) -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116896
GPU (GTX 660) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660
CASE (HAF 922) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
HD (1TB BLUE) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YU4026

Probably going to have to buy a PSU TOO.. my 550w is fairly new, but I don't know if thats enough power.

Its around 640 no tax included... over my budget, but I think I can sell some of the parts I own to make up for it. Once again thanks to all recommendations!
 
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spledang

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Oh wow... so technically I don't have to upgrade my mobo and pc? I mean I probably should because my shits old as hell lol, but that opens up some ideas of how I want to upgrade. I didn't know new cards are backwards compatible on 2.0 mobos. O_O Thanks!
 
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spledang

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So I get that you can put a 3.0 card on a 2.0 mobo, but how about a 2.0 card on a 3.0 mobo? Still works right? Just taking a guess. If all this backwards compatibility is true, then I have a couple ideas.

1. I was thinking of getting an i7 4770 + new mobo along with a new case and hard drive which added up to $593.10 (keeping my current card in though may bottleneck?) If I chose to do this then I would be putting a PCIe 3.0 card on a 2.0 slot possibly (assuming its backwards compatible once again).

2. Keep my mobo/cpu and put a new video card (gtx 660) along with a HD and case adding up to $386.01 (I might bottleneck my cpu though?)

3. Or everything in #2 with a new mobo (keeping my cpu only) would equal to $478.65.

Not sure if I should be going all out and spending around $700 or just updating a few and go with the above 3 ideas (which will probly have one or a few parts bottlenecking).

Oh and a quick question about RAM SLOTS. I was looking at some motherboards and noticed some specs had O.C. at the end of the memory clocks. For ex., it would say "1600(O.C.)/1333 (O.C.)" What does this mean exactly? Does that mean I can have the capability of buying ram at those speeds and MUST or CAN overclock them? (I don't even know if that's what O.C. stands for, but thats my guess lol).

I'll be going to check out my local Frys in a few hours to see if theres any deals, but if I don't see anything special should I be going for any items like the i7 on newegg listed at 289.99 now? or should I wait for "Cyber Monday?" I just don't want to jump the gun and regret buying something too soon.
 
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JOOK-D

JOOK-D

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It's all up to what you need and how much you want to spend. The i7 4770 would destroy any task you threw at it however you would be limited by your video card. Your current CPU is good enough and the new video card would provide a decent boost.

I don't understand which cards you're talking about in #1. Could you specify which cards?

For #2 your CPU may bottleneck the video card but that could be easily lessened with an overclock.

If you could link me to the motherboards with OC i could try and help. I assume it means it can support the speeds they list.

Again, waiting for potential deals is up to you.
 
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spledang

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#1 The GPU I'm thinking to buying is this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660

Its on sale at FRYs right now for 120, but not sure if they will be in stock. I'm going in a bit. I don't think I'm going to struggle too much in games if I grab only a GPU or CPU because I don't play anything too intense at the moment.

I'm leaning towards a new mobo+CPU because my card is old but will be fine and I can give the CPU/MOBO to my brother so he can upgrade since he has like.. a duocore and mobo that allows him to have only ddr2 lol. Anyways, wish me luck I appreciate all the help and omw to FRYs. If I find nothing to big of a deal in prices compared to Newegg I will order on there tonight or wait Cyber Monday. JOOK-D if you play any tf2 go and add me =D name on steam is omgitzalbert.
 
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