Time to upgrade home build and build a work computer-requestn feedback

scottamc

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Jul 4, 2008
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Hello all,

Well I have a need to build an office computer and I think its about time to upgrade my home machine. So I'm planning to strip some of the exsisting parts from my home machine and put those on my work machine. Would like some thoughts on how I should go about doing this..

If you look in my sig you can see what I have currently running my home machine. This is what I was thinking to do.

New Work Machine

I would use these existing parts;

~Asus Motherboard
~Amd x2 4200+ (possibly upgrade if I can find a better cheap cpu)
~Zalman cooler
~Benq cd/dvd writer
~2 gb Corsair ram
~7900GTX card - (Sending it in for RMA -- possibly getting free upgrade to better card from BFG--its a wait and see still)
~I have brand new in box wireless logitech keyboard / mouse combo
~Operating system is XP PRO

Things I would need;

~Monitor -- (either 22' or 24' -- i just saw a sale for 24' dell for $369 on slickdeals, so that maybe a thought)
~Harddrive --(get best sale price at the moment I can find-- frys has 79.99 500 GB HD sale this weekend)
~Case/PSU --(I saw at frys there is a Antec Sonata 3 case with Antec Earthwatts 500 w psu in it for $50 AR -- seems like solid case, decent psu and good price)
~CD/DVD writer --( best deal at the time type thing)

New Upgraded Home Machine

I would use these existing parts;

~74 gb Rapter HD
~500 GB backup HD
~Misc Backup HD's
~P180 Antec Case
~Enermax 600w PSU
~Creative X-Fi Fatality Sound Card
~Wireless Logitech Keyboard and Mouse
~Card Reader
~Dell 24' Monitor
~Klipsch thx 2.1 speakers

Things I would need;

Motherboard -- ?
CPU-- ?
CPU Cooler --?
Video Card--?
RAM--?
Operating System -- xp or vista?

Now I use the home computer for alot of gaming, as well as for common work related stuff like photoshop editing, basic email, word, excel, etc. I also do a fair share of downloading (encoding movies..etc..). So essence I am very impatient and I like things to operate very quickly. I wouldn't mind things to have a certain kind of eye candy to them (I think Vista is known to be more eyecandy than anything).

Lastly, my budget is somewhere in the $500-$1000 price range to complete out both machines. What are your recommendations from my above information?
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Asus A8N-Sli Premium | AMD X2 4200+ | Zalman CNP9500 | Corsair XMS twinmx2048-3200c2pt | X-Fi Fatal1ty | BFG 7900GTX OC | 74gb Raptor | Seagate 500gb Sata II 16mb cache | BenQ DW1655 | Mitsumi FA404M 7-1 floppy/media | 2405fpw | Klipsch 2.1 THX | Fatal1ty 1101 Mouse |
 

scottamc

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Jul 4, 2008
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I saw frys having a sale on these two processors this weekend as well;

$250 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 + ECS GF7050VT-M Motherboard (Frys #5647491)
$170 - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 + ECS G31T-M Motherboard (Frys #582070)

I know the mobos are probley crap, but I could aways ebay them for like 20 bucks maybe. The lowest I see elsewhere for the q9450 is $325. Should I be leaning towards that processer than a dual core like the e8400?