$750 Work/Game Rig

[Jackhammer]

Hey Guys,
I am looking to build a new system for about 750 Canadian.

Here is what i do and will need the computer to deal with.

I usually have the following open at once.
1. Photoshop
2. Flash Pro
3. Dreamweaver
4. Some form of music (Winamp or such)
5. 7 or so IE and FF panes
6. Filezilla
7. In the background antivirus software, and some sort of malware shield.

That is my usual workspace but when i upgraded to Flash Pro it refuses to run properly usually hangs when I try to open a bigger project. This is forcing the upgrade.

At the same time I'd like to play a sweet game in the evenings when i'm done work.(Which i can't now)

Would 750 suffice for such a build and what components should I buy?
I have the peripherals (mouse,keyboard, screen)

 

[Proximon]

You won't get a whole lot for that price.

Antec case + EA380 PSU
AMD 9950 Quad core CPU
ASUS 780G MB
G.Skill RAM 4GB
Gigabyte 4670
WD 320 GB
DVD burner

That probably puts you pretty close already, but there's no OS included. The PSU is a good one, but won't take too much more load beyond this.

 

[Jackhammer]

Hmmm, that sux, so how much more should i save up in your opinion?

 

[aevm]

+1 for Proximon's build.

Try to reuse the case, HDD, DVD you already have, and put the savings toward a more powerful PSU (450VX, 550VX, etc.) and a HD 4850.

Shop around at other Canadian sites, e.g. www.newegg.ca, www.memoryexpress.com.

 

[Proximon]

Well, you clearly need a quad core. I got you the best one I could for the price, and the motherboard would support a Phenom II for an upgrade....

Another $250 about.

That would get you a PII CPU, a little more PSU, a 4830, and the OS, shipped probably right around 1K Canadian $.

Replace the case + PSU with this one:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&vpn=SONATA%20III%20500&manufacture=Antec

And throw in the OS:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=22438&vpn=66I-01939&manufacture=Microsoft

And see where that puts you. The CPU and video card you can upgrade later. The 500W PSU will allow you to get at least a 4850 or so later, and you can grab a PII 940 as well.

You can even start the build without a video card, as the board has built-in video.

 

[Proximon]

Yes and as aevm says, shop around more. He's better at the Canadian stuff than I am.

 

[Why_Me]

This build is about $100 over your budget, but it's just what your looking for according to your uses.


http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119159 $112.49
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKRB-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 460W Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150070 $6.49
MASSCOOL FD12025S1L3/4 120mm Case Fan - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115207 $237.49
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372 $123.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 $57.49
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $99.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161259 $174.99 (Before $10.00 USD Mail-In Rebate)
HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106287 $27.49
LITE-ON Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26895&vpn=MX-2T&manufacture=Arctic%20Cooling $9.99
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound Paste NON-ELECTRICAL Conductive 4 Gram

Total: $850.41 CAD (before shipping and mail in rebates

 

[Proximon]

That's pretty nice, except for the cheap CM PSU. I'm not sure how the AMD 9950 stacks up to the Q8300, but they are in the same performance range.

 

[Why_Me]

That's pretty nice, except for the cheap CM PSU. I'm not sure how the AMD 9950 stacks up to the Q8300, but they are in the same performance range.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/core_2_quad_q8300_review/ <---Test results of the Q8300 vs AMD X49550

Q8300 ftw.

 

[Proximon]

Yep thanks for the linkage. About what I expected, but I had seen a better bench for the 9950 elsewhere... didn't really believe it.

 

[Jackhammer]

Sweet ,
I finally have a jumpoff point, I'm not that tech savvy so this is a gold mine. Now I have to hustle for that extra 2 bills.

 

[Proximon]

Let us know when you have that final list that you are ready to pull the trigger on.