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LF advice for <$1000 Business/Gaming Machine

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - LF advice for <$1000 Business/Gaming Machine

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Greetings hardware gurus!

LF advise to build business/gaming system that can run:
- Business: Simultaneous video, photo, and flash editing using Adobe CS4 software.
- Gaming: Full-rez WoW and reasonable performance on latest games.

Specifics
- Required components: MB, CPU, RAM, Dual-DVI Video Card, Case, PS, Fans, 1 TB+ Hard Drive, DVD, gaming mouse.
- Adequate power for multiple drives later on and enough cooling to keep system from overheating under the desk.
- Not concerned about how it looks, just that it responds fast when switching between video, sound, and graphics editing applications. Oh, and responsive enough to game stomp noobs.

Questions
- What components are most important for running multiple instances of graphics-intensive applications?
- Can this system be built for under $1000? (Adobe CS4 is frigging expensive!)

Thanks, hardware gurus. You're awesome!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: June 2009
BUDGET RANGE: < $1000
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Video/graphics applications, gaming.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, monitors, speakers, OS
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com
PARTS PREFERENCES: Most compatible and cost-effective.
OVERCLOCKING: No.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, Dual-DVI

Add a reply

of the top of my head i'd say:

AMD Phenom II x4 945- $225
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT - $140
Corsair Dominator 3x2gb kit. - $170
Sapphire 4770 - $100
cooler master centurion 5 - $50
corsair 650tx - $100
caviar black 1tb - $100
lite-on IHAS 422 - $30
logitech mx518 - $40

total - $955

The case is all personal taste really...I'd recommend you looking at some yourself. This computer will kick the *** out of Video and graphics editing and it is also powerful enough to play most games at med/high settings.

Message edited by claym99 on 05-17-2009 at 09:24:05 AM

Reply to claym99

^-1

claym99, you don't use a triple channel kit with AMD processors, they only use dual channel

use his setup, except switch the memory to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231193

also, this will save you about $100
so you could upgrade to the Phenom II 955 and get a decent cpu cooler

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by mindless728 on 05-17-2009 at 06:35:38 PM

Reply to mindless728

He said he wasn't OCing. But honestly, with modern CPUs, the risk is minimal and the rewards large. The Phenom II 955 is warrented up to 1.5V, with a decent cooler, that could net you 3.8-4.2gHz.

------------------------------ Phenom II X2 unlocked to four cores @ 3.8gHz,1.45V. 4GB DDR3-1600 Gigabyte 785g ATi Radeon HD4870 1GB
Run Folding@Home! Support Toms Hardware Guide, Team 40051!
CPU Buyer's Guide
Reply to smithereen

:bounce:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/g [...] ,7463.html <--- Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2266.html <---vid card benchmarks gtx 285, 275, 4890, 260, 4870, etc..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042 $58.95 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341022 $74.99 ($49.99 after $25.00 Mail-In Rebates)
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.192479 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $376.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127430 $174.99 ($154.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136284 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151171 $24.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

Total: $990.88 | $910.88 w/mail in rebates

Message edited by Why_Me on 05-17-2009 at 07:38:57 PM

Reply to Why_Me

mindless728 wrote :

^-1

claym99, you don't use a triple channel kit with AMD processors, they only use dual channel

use his setup, except switch the memory to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231193

also, this will save you about $100
so you could upgrade to the Phenom II 955 and get a decent cpu cooler

Yah, someone just pointed this out to me in another thread...Weird that I never heard about it before. It would be interesting to see a performance comparison between dual and triple channel.

Edit: found some comparisons...seems the general consensus is that triple channel doesn't provide much of a benefit (if one at all)

Message edited by claym99 on 05-18-2009 at 10:32:22 AM

Reply to claym99

It provides a huge *theoretical* benefit... but since virtually nothing saturates dual-channel DDR3 anyways, it's not much help.

Great advice guys. Thanks! Now, the inevitable. Change.

A couple thoughts ...
- Intel versus AMD. It seems that for business applications (video editing/graphics), Intel owns the show. I've been AMD for years, but looks like Intel would be the better choice.
- OS: 32-bit versus 64-bit. Seems my 32-bit XP caps at 4GB RAM, so what use would 6GB be? However, I get the feeling that with triple-channel memory, 3 sticks are required. So, which is better option: buying 64-bit Vista and DDR3, going with 32-bit XP and DDR3 then waiting for Windows 7, or just DDR2 with 32-bit XP? At least if I use XP, I can put the money saved into hardware.
- CPU: Dual-core versus Quad-core. Benchmarks only show a decent improvement on video editing. All other apps improve only slightly with quad-core. Would it be better to save money on a 3Ghz dual-core instead of 2.7Ghz quad?
- Price: Since it's cheaper to ship stuff to Mars than Alaska, I have to reduce my PC costs and open parts options to Amazon.com (free shipping to Alaska). So, here's the shtick.

Purpose: Video and graphics editing (Adobe CS4) and Gaming (WoW).
Required: MB, CPU, CPU cooler, RAM, Dual-DVI Video Card, Case, PS, Fans, 1 TB+ HD, DVD.
Price: $500

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: End June 2009
BUDGET RANGE: < $500
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Video/graphics applications, gaming.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, monitors, speakers, OS
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Amazon.com (free shipping to Alaska), Newegg.com
PARTS PREFERENCES:
- CPU: Intel. Dual-core okay.
OVERCLOCKING: No.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, Dual-DVI

Peace hardware guys.
InviteStory

Message edited by invitestory on 05-23-2009 at 05:54:52 AM

Reply to invitestory

Your in Alaska ? I live in Big Lake

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us [...] ID=mscomsc <---Save yourself some money on an o/s and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

Reply to Why_Me

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