$650 gaming PC

[jballer10]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next couple weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $500-$800

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies, programming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, case, 500GB HD, 3 fans, sound card? (will my old Creative SB Audigy LS card do the job?)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: No real preference of brand

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: It's been a really long time since I've even bothered to look at this stuff (like 5+ years), but after reading the "Guide to Choosing Parts" thread and digging around NewEgg and the internet for reviews I don't feel totally clueless. My current box is back from the days when everyone was upgrading to play Doom 3 (I know, I know. ).

Current specs:
-Intel P4 2.8GHZ
-512MB SDRAM
-ATI Radeon 9600

*cringe*

But that's the past, this is the future! I'd appreciate the help in finding my way back to the light!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - $215

MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - $90

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - $150

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBPI - $66

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V - $100

Total: $620

I'd like to hold out on my XP 32-bit OS until Windows 7 64-bit rolls out a little later this year. By that logic, should I just wait until Windows 7 comes out to upgrade?

Am I missing something?

Appreciate the help! Thanks!

 

[skora]

A few questions will help with some better suggestions:
Case? Recycling the old one?
OS? Do you need one?

As for what you have there, that ram kit is triple channel. You only need dual channel like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200

As for the mobo and CPU, try buying them in a combo like the ones listed here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1
Granted, they will change by the time you're ready to buy, but you can do better than the MSI 790GX. If you're going to CF, might want to look at a 790FX instead, but the GX can get the job done. Might be 5% slower on the graphics in CF. No difference though for 1 GPU.

 

[jballer10]

Case - Yes, recycling the old one
OS - I'm running on XP32bit at the moment, I was hoping I could hold out until Windows 7 64bit hits the shelfs...

Oh ok.... didn't even notice/research that.

Oh ok, I'll def keep that in mind. CF? Yea, I saw the 790FX, but I just thought I couldn't justify the $70 price difference between that and the 790GX.

I'll update my first post with that info.

 

[hunter315]

I would suggest swapping the motherboard for the one in this combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.212580
It will likely stick around for a while, the ASUS boards seem to have their combos with the AMD processors continually refreshed, they have been going on for almost a month now.

If you are going to be overclocking switch your ram to this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297
its a bit more expensive but offers tight timings at slightly higher speed.

You may also want to look into a new hard drive depending on how old it is, i just built a new system and my seagate 7200.10 250GB drive is by far the slowest part of it so im upgrading that soon so its just something to keep in mind.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

I agree, avoid the MSI board. I've never used ASUS, but they seem to get good reviews. I personally prefer Gigabyte and Biostar. Biostar boards have always done well for me, and the current Gigabyte board I have now has been great. Very nice for the price IMO.

 

[skora]

The Win 7 upgrade is priced at $120. Buying Vista now with a free Win 7 upgrade only cost $110.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677

That and at least one part you'll be buying can be combo'd with vista for an extra $5 off. Even if you don't install vista, you'll at least have win 7 available to you. Now you can't UPGRADE you're XP install directly to win 7, you'll have to do a clean install of Win 7. But you can upgrade from Vista.

Sounds like you have a good road map to what you'll be getting and well balanced with a better mobo. I'd say once your ready to buy, repost so we all can help with combos for the prices at that time. If you're ordering a part here or part there, you can post and ask if what you're going to buy with the total system noted is a good price.

As for mobo manufactures, I don't have any stats or links to back this up, but here's my preception of quality and tiers.

1st tier, best overclockers and quality control:
Gigabyte, DFI, Asus, Evga (intel systems only)

2nd tier good price/performance at Stock speeds:
MSI, Biostar, Foxconn, AsRock (Asus's lower end line)

Avoid: ECS, PC Chips
Unknowns: Jetway, XFX for mobos? Zotac

If anyone wants to comment and help me revise my thoughts, I'm open to the help.