I plan to upgrade my system this summer, reusing my 15in monitor, speakers, and other basic peripherals, including my HDDs. Here's my current system:
Pentium 4 3 GHz
GeForce 8400 GS
1 GB RAM
The graphics card is still alright for whatever I do, but the processor is a real bottleneck, and if upgrading the CPU means buying a new mobo, might as well buy a new rig.
This will be my first custom-build rig, so please tell me if there's any compatibility issue I should note with the parts I selected. The budget should be around USD $1000 or less. Prices are taken from Newegg but please don't suggest specific items since they may not be available where I live.
Motherboard: X58 LGA 1366 Intel $240
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz $300
Memory: G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 $100
Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT 512MB $120
Casing + PSU: 550W $120
Total: $880
Even E8400 would have given me a drastic boost in performance, and Core i7 may be an overkill, besides the fact that not many applications are optimized for multi-processors. However, I decided on the Core i7 since the price doesn't differ too much and that it's much more future proof. What do you guys think?
The rig is meant to be an all-purpose machine, though it's mainly for games and multimedia editing. It's also meant to last for at least another 3 years. I don't plan to overclock, so stock coolers may suffice.
A couple of things I'm still not sure of:
1) How much power do I need for this build? I heard the CPU is a power hog, not sure about the graphics card.
2) Is 3x 1GB RAM a good setup or am I better off with 2x 2GB? I'm a 32-bit user and triple channel is supported.
That's all I wanted to know. Since summer is still some months later, hopefully prices would have gone lower by then. What do you guys think of my build? Anything you guys want to suggest or recommend to make it cheaper or more efficient? Thanks a lot in advance.
Pentium 4 3 GHz
GeForce 8400 GS
1 GB RAM
The graphics card is still alright for whatever I do, but the processor is a real bottleneck, and if upgrading the CPU means buying a new mobo, might as well buy a new rig.
This will be my first custom-build rig, so please tell me if there's any compatibility issue I should note with the parts I selected. The budget should be around USD $1000 or less. Prices are taken from Newegg but please don't suggest specific items since they may not be available where I live.
Motherboard: X58 LGA 1366 Intel $240
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz $300
Memory: G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 $100
Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT 512MB $120
Casing + PSU: 550W $120
Total: $880
Even E8400 would have given me a drastic boost in performance, and Core i7 may be an overkill, besides the fact that not many applications are optimized for multi-processors. However, I decided on the Core i7 since the price doesn't differ too much and that it's much more future proof. What do you guys think?
The rig is meant to be an all-purpose machine, though it's mainly for games and multimedia editing. It's also meant to last for at least another 3 years. I don't plan to overclock, so stock coolers may suffice.
A couple of things I'm still not sure of:
1) How much power do I need for this build? I heard the CPU is a power hog, not sure about the graphics card.
2) Is 3x 1GB RAM a good setup or am I better off with 2x 2GB? I'm a 32-bit user and triple channel is supported.
That's all I wanted to know. Since summer is still some months later, hopefully prices would have gone lower by then. What do you guys think of my build? Anything you guys want to suggest or recommend to make it cheaper or more efficient? Thanks a lot in advance.