Building a new system

[thesupermedium]

Ok, so I'm currently running on a Compaq presario with an AMD Athlon 4400+ 2.3Ghz, 9500GT (HD 4870 on the way) and a puny 250GB SATA (with 150GB external) and 3GB of RAM. Not a great setup, I can run most games, but by no means maxed out. I plan on building something from scratch by buying one piece at a time, and so far I've selected the CPU, the Motherboard and the Tower. Any suggestions like whether the components I'm looking at are even worth buying or whether there's a better deal out there, I would greatly appreciate. Here are the links:

Tower
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1384989&Sku=A107-3016

Processor
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4695457&CatId=4431

Motherboard
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4624697&CatId=4296

If you don't feel like clicking the links, then the components are:

Apevia BlackBlack X-plorer ATX mid-tower case

AMD Phenom Black Edition X2 3.10Ghz Dual Core

Biostar TA790GX A3+ Motherboard

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

And... Are solid state Hard Drives faster or as fast as conventional disk drives? Sorry if it seems obvious, I'm still learning.

 

[thesupermedium]

Just did some googling, answered my SSD problem. I think I'll use that for my OS.

 

[hunter315]

I would swap the motherboard and CPU for this combo on newegg, it costs less than the setup you are looking at and more powerful
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205337

What are you getting for the other components like the PSU, RAM, and graphics card?
For the ram i would suggest either this from OCZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297
Or this from Gskill
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
Depending on if you are willing to pay the extra for the tighter timings.

 

[skora]

If you don't mind posting in this format, would help answer some questions before you get asked.

If you're looking for better deals, use newegg. TD has its place, but lowest price and best CS are not it.

Case on newegg is $57
CPU is $100 and lots of combo discounts available for it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Damn you hunter, 2 seconds, you couldn't wait 2 more seconds could you

 

[tecmo34]

My first recommendation would be... Don't buy a piece at a time. Save up what you think you want to spend as a budget then we can truly help you. Tech. changes to quicky to warrant it. I would only recommend buying a case & PSU in advance since they don't change. Now... If you live near a MicroCenter, I would pick up a Core i7 920 for $200 and build your system around it when you have the money saved up for the rest of your build.

 

[thesupermedium]

Well, to asnwer the GPU and PSU, I already have a 550 watt and a standby 250watt to run off of if something goes wrong, and the GPU is take care of, either my 9500 GT or my ATI 4870 will work (more likely the 4870 lol). I haven't been concerned with RAM, doesn't seem a vital price/performance piece considering it might be a $5 difference. Idk, you guys know more than me. I do use Newegg alot, and thanks for the new links.

I do have a microcenter over in Fairfax I think... Not totally sure, There is a tiger direct store in Charlottesville. I was thinking of an AMD build, but is Intel a major improvement for the price?

Hunter:

I'm not sure if I need a triple core... I think I'll be fine with dual core clocked at a higher speed, or maybe making the jump to quad. Still, I'll look into it... This build isn't going to be all at once, I'm talking a part every month or so.

Tecmo:

My income is limited, and my attention span seems to be as much so, so consequently I find myself unable to save money well. If I could, I'd probably have a good setup as opposed to my presario and a guitar, a drum set ride, Xbox 360... etc. Thanks though... I've written quite enough. Thanks everyone, I'd love more suggestions.

 

[hunter315]

Well the 720 is a BE so its a super easy overclock to get it up to the same speed as the 955 quad core flagship, you just need to bump the multiplier up by two and it should be stable as all of the latest AMD chips are derivatives of the 955.

You dont want to buy the parts piecemeal, its a very very bad idea. You get a 30 day RMA period on most parts after which time you cant return it even for a replacement, so save up so you can get the components necessary to boot it up and installed windows to make sure everything works before you start buying, most things are fine but it would suck to get stuck with a DOA processor because you were buying the pieces a month a part.

Sorry skora i seem to be doing that to quite a few people lately.

 

[tecmo34]

You dont want to buy the parts piecemeal, its a very very bad idea. You get a 30 day RMA period on most parts after which time you cant return it even for a replacement, so save up so you can get the components necessary to boot it up and installed windows to make sure everything works before you start buying, most things are fine but it would suck to get stuck with a DOA processor because you were buying the pieces a month a part.

hunter315... That was going to be my second recommendation but got side tracked and lost my train of thought. ... Very good point though!!!

Sorry skora i seem to be doing that to quite a few people lately.

Yes... You have!!! LOL You have done it to me a couple of times lately as well...

 

[thesupermedium]

Good point there... I guess I'll be buying it al at once. I think I'll establish a budget of around 500-700. Seeing as the cpu and motherboard are probably the most expensive parts, and I can take parts from my old setup, like the PSU and GPU and probably even the HDD and Disc drive... All I need to worry about for now is the tower, Mobo, and CPU. Ram too. Am I missing anything?

 

[AMD_FAN_BOY]

great bang for the buck right now

Q9550 249$
WD caviar Black 750 Gb Raid 0(Blasing Fast) @99$ each
any P5Q mobo....depend on your budjet 99-259$
Corsair 650 Watt @ 79$

NCIX.COM IS THE BEST!!!!!

 

[shortstuff_mt]

WTF? You dug up this old post to suggest an EOL CPU and motherboard?