I've been meaning to upgrade my desktop for sometime now. It's about 5-6 years old, it's served me quite well, but it's time for us to part. Any doubts I had about this were more or less done away with when I came home from a long weekend out of town and found that my harddrive decided to die on me.
I've done a decent amount of reading here and I've pieced together what I think is a good start, but there are a few things I'm just not 100% sure of. That's where I'm hoping the friendly folks here will be able to help out.
Here's what I'm thinking about getting:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500.
I've seen a number of people suggest the E8400, but it looks like it's only about $15 difference in price, so I figured a little more power never hurts.
Memory: Corsair 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 800 (TWIN2x4096-6400C5)
I've read enough to realize that DDR3 isn't worth the extra cost.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512mb
I thought about the 4870, but it seems that the performance upgrade doesn't really justify the price upgrade that comes with it. Also, while I do not currently plan on Crossfiring, I figure if I need more power down the road that I'll either get a second 4850 cheap or I'll just go for whatever card happens to be nice and new at the time.
HD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200rpm SATA (ST3500320AS)
I'm debating about whether to get two of these to do a RAID (I can never remember the number system, the one that mirrors the data on the second drive) or if I'd be better off getting an external backup system. I like the idea of having the RAID in case something goes bad (e.g. the harddrive sitting next to me), but I also like the idea of the external backup so that if something gets erased, corrupted, etc. that there's a day-old backup to rely upon.
PSU: Antex TPQ-850W ATX12V/EPS12V, SLI/Crossfire ready
I'm not planning on crossfiring, but I also don't want to limit myself down the road if that ends up being my better option. So, as is the powersupply might be a tad on the overkill side, but I'd rather end up not using everything it can put out than end up needing more power down the road.
Stuff that's obviously missing
MB: I am totally lost on what MB to pick up. I've looked at a lot and, frankly, it's been so long since I kept up on this stuff that most of it makes my head spin. I've read that P45 isn't really worth it in some threads, but then I see other threads suggesting P45 boards. Other than knowing that I need an Intel compatible MB and one that has the potential for crossfire I have no clue what to go for. This is where I'm really hoping to get some help.
Case: If I need a new case, that's fine. But I'd love to just reuse what I've got. What I've got is a 5-year-old Dell XPS tower. Looks like there's plenty of room to work inside there, but I don't know if its ATX compatible or if they used some goofy Dell only setup back then.
Cooling: I've read that it's easy and won't blow things up, but I know my luck, thus I have no plans of overclocking. I'm told that the stock fans should do just fine if I don't OC things.
OS: I've been using XP for a long time. I've used Vista at my parents and found that it's not exactly something I enjoy, but if it'll prove the best option for what I'm going for I'll make the shift. I am aware that XP cannot use the full 4gb I'm looking at dropping in this, but the price for the 2x2gb was good enough that this isn't a huge concern. Stability is my primary concern.
My primary use for this PC will be for gaming. I'm not into FPS games much, I typically end up picking an MMO and spending a good amount of time with it. Still, things like Spore also sound very interesting. That being said, every now and then something comes along that ends up really grabbing me for a while (e.g. Half Life 2.) Other than gaming, my wife will likely use it for photoshopping photos and it'll get the usual general use.
Thank you all in advance, you've been a great help in getting me this far
I've done a decent amount of reading here and I've pieced together what I think is a good start, but there are a few things I'm just not 100% sure of. That's where I'm hoping the friendly folks here will be able to help out.
Here's what I'm thinking about getting:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500.
I've seen a number of people suggest the E8400, but it looks like it's only about $15 difference in price, so I figured a little more power never hurts.
Memory: Corsair 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 800 (TWIN2x4096-6400C5)
I've read enough to realize that DDR3 isn't worth the extra cost.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512mb
I thought about the 4870, but it seems that the performance upgrade doesn't really justify the price upgrade that comes with it. Also, while I do not currently plan on Crossfiring, I figure if I need more power down the road that I'll either get a second 4850 cheap or I'll just go for whatever card happens to be nice and new at the time.
HD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200rpm SATA (ST3500320AS)
I'm debating about whether to get two of these to do a RAID (I can never remember the number system, the one that mirrors the data on the second drive) or if I'd be better off getting an external backup system. I like the idea of having the RAID in case something goes bad (e.g. the harddrive sitting next to me), but I also like the idea of the external backup so that if something gets erased, corrupted, etc. that there's a day-old backup to rely upon.
PSU: Antex TPQ-850W ATX12V/EPS12V, SLI/Crossfire ready
I'm not planning on crossfiring, but I also don't want to limit myself down the road if that ends up being my better option. So, as is the powersupply might be a tad on the overkill side, but I'd rather end up not using everything it can put out than end up needing more power down the road.
Stuff that's obviously missing
MB: I am totally lost on what MB to pick up. I've looked at a lot and, frankly, it's been so long since I kept up on this stuff that most of it makes my head spin. I've read that P45 isn't really worth it in some threads, but then I see other threads suggesting P45 boards. Other than knowing that I need an Intel compatible MB and one that has the potential for crossfire I have no clue what to go for. This is where I'm really hoping to get some help.
Case: If I need a new case, that's fine. But I'd love to just reuse what I've got. What I've got is a 5-year-old Dell XPS tower. Looks like there's plenty of room to work inside there, but I don't know if its ATX compatible or if they used some goofy Dell only setup back then.
Cooling: I've read that it's easy and won't blow things up, but I know my luck, thus I have no plans of overclocking. I'm told that the stock fans should do just fine if I don't OC things.
OS: I've been using XP for a long time. I've used Vista at my parents and found that it's not exactly something I enjoy, but if it'll prove the best option for what I'm going for I'll make the shift. I am aware that XP cannot use the full 4gb I'm looking at dropping in this, but the price for the 2x2gb was good enough that this isn't a huge concern. Stability is my primary concern.
My primary use for this PC will be for gaming. I'm not into FPS games much, I typically end up picking an MMO and spending a good amount of time with it. Still, things like Spore also sound very interesting. That being said, every now and then something comes along that ends up really grabbing me for a while (e.g. Half Life 2.) Other than gaming, my wife will likely use it for photoshopping photos and it'll get the usual general use.
Thank you all in advance, you've been a great help in getting me this far
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