Small comp upgrade , everything check out?

[maleek34k]

hello all, first post so ill get right to it

Basically im upgrading my ancient 939 POS system to something a bit more modern until the core i7s drop a bit in price and to play the latest games. Ill still keep my old case (Antec P180) drives and PS (750W Ultra X-finity)but buy new mobo,CPU, etc. as follows:

CPU: Core 2 E8400 $165 (was gonna get a E7200 then overclock but with cooler would be same price so...)

Mobo: Asus P5Q SE Plus $100

Memory: 4GB G. Skill DDR2 1066 $50

Graphics: BFG 8800 GT $100

HDD: Seagate 1TB drive $100
total initial cost is $515 will probably add on a Zalman 9700A cooler next year for overclocking(would be first attempt) and probably grab a GTX 260 or 280 in the summer( srry for edit )

My question is how well do you think this set up will hold for at least 1.5 years as I have to pay for classes for one semester after losing scholarship (note to all future students an A- is NOT an "A" in the school boards eyes lol) any comments would be greatly appreciated

 

[Proximon]

It's a bit out of whack.

get a P43 board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128347

Better memory and you'll get a nice rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

4850:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

WD 640GB HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

That should be about the same amount, get you some nice rebates in a few months when you are feeling poor, and get you a good bit more performance.

 

[maleek34k]

lol its funny that you should post the gigabyte board as that was my initial choice until a friend showed me the Asus board. the memory wouldn't be a problem as its about the same price though i would like to ask why you picked 800 over 1066 memory(voltage?). also my previous hard drive was a 320 GB and i can say that ill use more than 640 so i decided on the 1TB a while back. The real issue i came to is the vid card. my budget is at 520 which the previous build i mentioned undercut that by 5 dollars. if I take your mobo and mem changes into account with the 1TB drive i need that leaves me at 399 which leaves me with $121. painfully close to the $155 needed to get the 4850 but i dont have the cash to spare to do so........Though i wonder. I have an old set of the (very old) but still somewhat popular (on ebay that is) 2GB Corsair 2048 TwinX3500LL memory sitting in a box. Would you think that could fetch at least $30 on ebay? i'm not sure its still be sold but i see old mem selling for at least $50 all the time. Also i did plan on overclocking later so I would like to know if the whole "8 phase" power thing would really make that much of a difference in terms of stability vs. the board you mentioned. Thank you for replying however and i hope to hear from you again.

 

[Zorg]

Better memory and you'll get a nice rebate:
I]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

I just ordered that RAM. It's a good deal and runs at 800 with 1.8V and good timings, not that the timings really matter.

Thanks for the tip on the deal.

 

[Proximon]

The video card is your most important upgrade, as it will make the biggest difference.

if needed, you would see more gain from running an e7200 at stock and getting the 4850.

 

[chuccck]

From what I have read (and not from experience) Proximon is right, go with the bigger gfx card and get a lower cpu. Possibly oc it later on.

But if you are going to spend ~$250 on mobo + processor, check out new eggs combo deal on the Asus P5Q and E8400:
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.138376

Thats $244.37 after $15 rebate. I think i am picking that one up myself (as I just wrote in a thread I started a minute ago), just trying to share the deal!

Or this one on the E7200:
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.141752

That one is $236.37 shipped after Rebates. As I understand it, its a pretty good Gigabyte board.

 

[ragsters]

"Though i wonder. I have an old set of the (very old) but still somewhat popular (on ebay that is) 2GB Corsair 2048 TwinX3500LL memory sitting in a box. Would you think that could fetch at least $30 on ebay? i'm not sure its still be sold but i see old mem selling for at least $50 all the time."

Maleek34k,

Your crazy. I use to have those same sticks of ram and this year was able to sell them for well over $200 on ebay. That ram is considered the best DDR ram ever made.

 

[maleek34k]

lmao crazy though i may be i never said i was much of a computer wiz Ragsters. I bought that memory a while back simply because of the timings and the fact that they were touted to work so well with the Asus A8n-sli premium(my board) and deluxe boards. Though after hearing your account i may just go ahead and post them on ebay very soon. Also i did happen to find an old trigonometry and astronomy book in my apartment that the bookstore let me know was worth at least $50 together. So not counting the memory that i will now sell(wow i feel stupid for sitting on it now) my new outlook(*thanks to you all) is at least $570 and looks more like this:


Thank you chuccck for the link Asus PQ5 Pro + E8400 $250
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.138376

Mem: Mushkin 2GB DDR2 800 $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731

HDD: decided to save 50 bucks here and get a 500 GB for now will get a 1TB later prolly or nother 500..$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

There is a problem however when it comes to selecting the GPU. with over 200 still available both the GTX260 and HD4870 become options and at varying resolutions each beats the other. However My current monitor happens to also be my HDTV. its maximum game resolution is 1920 x 1080. Since im not in the know on resolutions i have no idea whether to look more closely at the 1920 x 1200 res benchmarks or the 1680 x 1050 because im in no way sure which is closer to the one my monitor supports. Common sense says 1920 x 1200 but when it comes to resolutions thats not always the case. Anyhow depending on the answer the choice of graphics card can change. the BTX260 in most cases wins at 1680 x 1050 but when the res is bumped up to 1920 x 1200 the difference is often negligible.


PS. i though i would like to say that all of the old components (sans corsair mem will sell) are going to be given to a friend to have his own net desktop (should suffice for now since he cant afford another comp at all) and hopefully i dont sound like a retard in my graphics card musings lol.

 

[Proximon]

The choice is 4870, because you are getting a crossfire board and so will have that option open in the future. Otherwise there is not much difference between a 4870 and "GTX 260+" as we like to call them.

If you want a really good one though, my 4870 overclocks to 820/1200 and stays under 60C at load:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102796
It's just scary.

 

[maleek34k]

hmmmm well ill just have to do a bit more research to see which i want though i hadn't planned on it i may go the crossfire rout but the 260( if you can't tell by now i'm a bit partial to Nvidia but as far as bang/buck i'll buy whatever) may be strong enough as is for me. Whatever the case may be i will wait until next week to see if any more deals creep up and then buy the necessary parts. Though i do believe that GTA 4 is coming to PC on Dec. 2(dont have x360 or PS3). So will be interesting to see which card, if either, the game prefers when it arrives. Thanks for your help! any other comments are welcome!