Possible new build, please give feedback...

[BoaConstrictor]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next couple of weeks.

BUDGET RANGE: $900

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, internet.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Don't use Western Digital due to poor past experiences.

OVERCLOCKING: No.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Running 800x600.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Need a PC to last for roughly 4 years, so reliability is a large concern. Use stock cooling, games I play at higher than 800x600, but not at anything crazy (usually 1024x768). Not a fan of graphic hog games like Crysis.

Here is the system I have came up with thus far,

Motherboard : Gigabyte :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

CPU : Phenom II X4 : 955 :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&Tpk=phenom%202%20955

RAM : G.Skill 4GB :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189

GPU : Radeon HD 4890 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830

HD : Samsung 500GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152112

Case : Raidmax...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063

PSU : Corsair 650W :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&ref=dynamitedata.com

Do you guys think the PSU will handle it?

I've been told XP wont recognize 4GB of ram. Will I then not benefit from having 4GB since I dont think I will be able to afford Windows 7 once it comes out?

General opinion of this build? Do all the parts match together (as far as I see, yes, except some people had instances where the board wouldnt recognize the 955 but I hope the newer boards work fine)


Thanks. Much appreciation to anyone who chooses to give me feedbacks...

 

[Helloworld_98]

get a 4850 instead of that 4890 then get a 1920x1200 monitor.

western digital is currently the ONLY reliable HDD maker other than Samsung so you're kind of stuck there since the samsung's in the 500GB area don't offer as much performance.

and use win7 RC1 x64 until march 2010, then go and buy it.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

but...I don't want a new monitor. I like the one I have just fine. It can go higher res, but I PREFER 800x600. Anything bigger hurts my eyes...and for Win7...like I said, I dont think I will have the outrageous amount of money than an OS costs by the time it comes out...

 

[hunter315]

Definitely drop the 4890 in favor of the 4850, and definitely get a new monitor. Hard drives go through good and bad generations you probably got one of the few that had issues

Also save yourself some on the processor and spend that on a new monitor as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

 

[raybob95]

get a 4850 instead of that 4890 then get a 1920x1200 monitor.

western digital is currently the ONLY reliable HDD maker other than Samsung so you're kind of stuck there since the samsung's in the 500GB area don't offer as much performance.

and use win7 RC1 x64 until march 2010, then go and buy it.

Yeah, an Intel/ NVIDIA Build!

And get the WD Black 640GB. Seagate is terrible, Samsung's only good drive is the Spinpoint F1 1TB.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

I guess I will need to go for the Spinpoint 1TB then.

I've had nothing but problems with WD drives. Ugh...

Why does everyone insist on a new monitor? My current one is fine and like I said, high resolutions hurt my eyes. I dont max out my res in games...and besides I hate LCD's...I won't have a place to put my plushies that are currently on my CRT

 

[BoaConstrictor]

And isnt the 4890 better than the 4850?

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ ?

and you can play games with IGPU's at 800x600, and it only strains your eyes at higher resolutions because you have a rubbish graphics card and it gives out lower frame rates.

 

[hunter315]

If you are only going to be playing your games up to 1024x768 by choice(idk why, maybe you are crazy but thats not fixable) then save even more money and just get a 790GX board, the IGP should handle 1024x768 and 800x600 just fine, if you want to do 1280x1024 or better periodically then you will want the 4850

 

[Helloworld_98]

the 4890 is better than the 4850 but as said, any graphics processor released with in the last 12 months can play any game released within the last 12 months at 800x600.

and you really need a new monitor, also strain to the eyes happens quicker with CRT monitors from what I understand.

 

[hunter315]

Alot faster, i used my father's computer that has a CRT and had a headache after about 20 minutes. Get an LCD and be amazed, the lack of flicker will make you so much happier and you will have extra space on your desk so you can just put your plushies infront of it instead of on top

 

[BoaConstrictor]

^ ?

and you can play games with IGPU's at 800x600, and it only strains your eyes at higher resolutions because you have a rubbish graphics card and it gives out lower frame rates.

Wow I didn't know that my Radeon X700 was rubbish, it seems to run the games I play (Call Of Duty 2, Quake Wars) at good framerates for it's age...and I dont think framerates are a problem since it hurts my eyes to even have my desktop at anything higher than 800x600.

I want good performance for future games, thats why I am trying to get a better card, not to run crazy resolutions in games right now. I for one don't see the reason why you need to insult me just because I am not comfortable playing games at super high resolutions that actually hurt my eyes. It's very rude and inappropriate to start throwing out insults for no reason at all!

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Alot faster, i used my father's computer that has a CRT and had a headache after about 20 minutes. Get an LCD and be amazed, the lack of flicker will make you so much happier and you will have extra space on your desk so you can just put your plushies infront of it instead of on top

I dont notice any difference between the LCD monitors I have used in school and the CRT I have at home except the LCD's are thinner. I see that as an unnecessary expense at the moment since my monitor works fine for what I use it for. Like I said, it can go much higher than 1024X768 in games and its also a flat screen CRT...

 

[techwizard08]

Guys--he's not buying a new monitor, lol.

All they're trying to say is that at that low resolution, the GPU does not have to strain very much at all. A 4850 most likely will be very useful to you down the road as well, since it gets good frame rates in much higher resolutions on the current games.

You might as well save your money now, and invest it into hardware again later, when it starts to suffer at 800x600 or the occasional 1024x768.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Guys--he's not buying a new monitor, lol.

All they're trying to say is that at that low resolution, the GPU does not have to strain very much at all. A 4850 most likely will be very useful to you down the road as well, since it gets good frame rates in much higher resolutions on the current games.

You might as well save your money now, and invest it into hardware again later, when it starts to suffer at 800x600 or the occasional 1024x768.

I see, thanks.

But if I can go for it, why not? Wouldn't it be more future proof?

 

[techwizard08]

Absolutely. However the price will only continue to drop as time rolls on. I waited on a new personal system and I've saved ~350 from early spring till now.

That 200$ 4890 may only be 140-160 when you need it.

Future-proofing is really a concept for people who need bleeding-edge performance. Because you are riding the back end of performance as far as GPU goes, you don't need to worry much about it.

Not meaning to sound offensive, just--you aren't giving a current GPU much stress at those resolutions.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Absolutely. However the price will only continue to drop as time rolls on. I waited on a new personal system and I've saved ~350 from early spring till now.

That 200$ 4890 may only be 140-160 when you need it.

Future-proofing is really a concept for people who need bleeding-edge performance. Because you are riding the back end of performance as far as GPU goes, you don't need to worry much about it.

Not meaning to sound offensive, just--you aren't giving a current GPU much stress at those resolutions.

I thought it was the game features themselves that strained the GPU, the quality of the graphics rather than the resolution? I wont be able to buy anything later on though, since I can only order parts in the summer when I am at home to receive them, thats why I want to go all out and get the past I can in my budget.

Let's say, 2 years down the road. Would I still see "no difference" between the 4850 and 4890 or will the 4890 then have an advantage? Or will that advantage just be too small?

Thanks...

 

[hunter315]

Optical Drive-28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

Case-70-20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063

Memory-65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189

Motherboard+IGP-130-15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

PSU-50-20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

CPU-120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

HDD-70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

The HD3300 should be plenty of GPU for you and you wont need a quad core CPU as most games are still only using two cores. It comes out to 533 before MIR and 478 after MIR.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Optical Drive-28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

Case-70-20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063

Memory-65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189

Motherboard+IGP-130-15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

PSU-50-20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

CPU-120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

HDD-70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

The HD3300 should be plenty of GPU for you and you wont need a quad core CPU as most games are still only using two cores. It comes out to 533 before MIR and 478 after MIR.

Thanks, but I am trying to make a system as future proof as possible for the next 4 years. What I have now is an A64 3000 build that I put together 4 years ago and it has served me well. I am glad I didn't pick an older generation of Athlon's when I put it together.


I am iffy on getting onboard video. Not very reliable and I will be reusing my NEC DVD burner (forgot to mention it sorry) since I dont want to upgrade my burner until I need to (hopefully when Blu Ray burners become standard).

Thanks for the suggestion anyway, but I dont understand why this would be a better build than what I already have, considering I want it to last for some time...

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ it's better because it makes the best use of your money, onboard video is very stable and will easily take games for the next two years at your resolution.

also IDE cable's kill airflow so it's best to get a new SATA one.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Oh yeah I meant to get the Sata drive, thanks for noticing.

I think its a bad idea, I just thought about it and what if something were to happen to my CRT? I hope not, but if it does, then I'll be with an underperforming system...so I might as well get the best parts I can get?

 

[hunter315]

If something happens to your CRT, then you can get an appropriately sized graphics card which will be significantly cheaper by then as a new generation of GPU's is due out which will drop the prices on the current ones. And when the time comes you can easily add a discrete GPU to that board but the IGP will serve your needs for now and give you more time for prices to drop while performance/dollar increases

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Problem is I can only order stuff now in the summer.

I cant buy anything during the year unless I am willing to dish out overpriced retail prices, since I can not order anything during the year because I will not be home to be able to recieve it. Thats why I try to order all I need in the summer...