Budgeted computer upgrade

[migit128]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Sometime this month
BUDGET RANGE: $800 max. lower the better though
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, watching movies, surfing the internet
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard(logitech g15), mouse(logitech g9), monitors(samsung 22inch wide screen and a 20 inch), speakers, OS, PSU(mine is 850 watts and compatible with all the parts listed below), sound card (sound blaster elite pro),
PARTS CONSIDERING UPGRADING: hard drive(i've got 6 atm, but I'd like to get a 1.5TB hard drive so i can remove 3 of them), video card(currently have a 9600gt but i'd like to upgrade it if i can fit it into my budget.)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com
PARTS PREFERENCES: nvidia over ati as far as gfx cards are concerned

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe; SLI Maybe

Other comments:
I'm going to be upgrading my computer later this month and I'm not sure which of the two following options would be the best choice for me. My current computer is mainly used for gaming(World of Warcraft). It's main weakness is it's processor/memory so that's the focus point of this upgrade.

Option 1:
--EVGA E758 mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046
--intel I7 processor (2.66ghz) (Might overclock to about 3.2 on air)
--Zalman heatsink http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046
--OCZ 3x2gb of ddr3 @1600 and 8-8-8-24 timing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
--1.5 TB seagate hard drive since i'm out of space yet again. (7200 rpm)

This would be used with my current 9600gt gfx card because of my budget.

Option 2:
--Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
--arctic cooler freezer 7 heatsink http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
--GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
--G.SKILL (2 x 2GB) DDR2 @1066 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
--seagate 1.5tb hard drive since i'm out of space yet again
now with the extra 200 dollars i saved from getting a quad core instead of an I7, I can afford a mid ranged gfx card.
--i was thinking about getting an asus geforce gtx275 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121313
with option 2, i'd still be able to use my current gfx card in the system as a physics processor (SLI the 9600gt w/ the gtx275 for a major graphics boost.


which option is better? does anyone want to suggest a different option that would get me more bang for my buck? If it's with an AMD processor I'd be fine with it.

 

[migit128]

corrected the formatting to match the examples

 

[obsidian86]

2x samsung f3 1tb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235

275 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475

ocz ddr4 4gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227478

amd 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

sunbeam ccf http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004 try this for a build its in your price range and comes with 2x1tb drives EDITED

 

[migit128]

I'd like to stick with NVIDIA graphics cards if i am to get one. If i'm to get a new graphics card I'm going to SLI it with the 9600gt(for a physx processor). Otherwise the old graphics card, which still runs fine(just slower than i'd like), would be sitting on the shelf unused.

Are the AMD quad cores faster than the intel quad cores?

 

[obsidian86]

the amd quads are faster then the core 2 quads at a better price and you can run your 9600 with an ati card for physx as well

 

[szymek]

Totally agree with obsidian. Right now amd + ati is best for budget even though its not really slower than intel and nvidia.

 

[migit128]

Didn't know that. I thought ATI used a different type of physics processor. How would i set that up? If one is nvidia and the other is ati, can you SLI them together?

 

[obsidian86]

you can download the physx driver from nvidia for your 9600 it explains everything and you cant sli an ati card

 

[migit128]

after a little research i came across this:
"Physx is an open software standard any company can freely develop hardware or software that supports it. Nvidia supports GPU accelerated Physx on NVIDIA GPUs while using NVIDIA GPUs for graphics. NVIDIA performs extensive Engineering, Development, and QA work that makes Physx a great experience for customers. For a variety of reasons - some development expense some quality assurance and some business reasons NVIDIA will not support GPU accelerated Physx with NVIDIA GPUs while GPU rendering is happening on non- NVIDIA GPUs. I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused but I hope you can understand."


http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/16223-nvidia-disables-physx-when-ati-card-is-present.html

edit: yes, it says you can use older versions of the drivers to get it to work, but i'd rather not be stuck at that version until my next upgrade. this make sense?

also, if i bought a new nvidia card and i used my 9600gt for physx, would I SLI the two cards together or no?

 

[obsidian86]

http://forum.****/graphics-displays/17684-success-windows-7-hd4870-cf-9600gso-physx.html or wait or this mother board with the 275 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235

 

[psycho sykes]

Try this Build:

- ASRock X58 Extreme
- Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem
- Corsair XMS3 DDR3 6GB 1600MHz C8
- 2X SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB
- BFG nVidia GTX260 Core216 OC2 Ed.

Total: $900 (i7 $200 from MicroCenter) -$30 Available MIRs = $870, $70 over Budget.

I know it's way over budget but it has a good GPU from nVidia(BFG) and 6GB PC3 12800 C8 RAM And will last long enough, For the HSF you can wait for it sometime and then get it when you're ready for OC'ing its time i would recommend this: Scythe Mugen 2
OR this: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm
------------------------------------------
Regards.

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=100473138&mpage=1&key=&#100484231

 

[obsidian86]

updated my build comes too $875 with the 275 added or $796 with the bfg 260

 

[psycho sykes]

Well he has 4 options now (Confusion is bad ) and i think your build would suite him more (due to budget), but the i7 build would be great as the GTX275 doesn't actually add much vs. GTX260 C216 when OC'ed And would add longer lifespan to the system (considering the i7 is powerful enough to need an upgrade) .

Regards.

 

[migit128]

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
shows:
amd's 955 at a score of 3632 costing $189
amd's 965 at a score of 4160 costing $240
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 at a score of 4163 costing $220
the i7 920 at a score of 5443 costing $280+the extra cost for more memory and a more expensive motherboard.

Right now i'm kinda leaning towards an i7/mobo/memory/heatsink and waiting until the mid ranged DX11 gfx cards come out next year. It doesn't even look like the main video game i play supports physx yet (that being world of warcraft). as long as I'm capable of 20+ frames per second in heavy combat I'd be happy for now. Right now when i'm in a 25 player group and killing stuff, my frame rate drops down to 5-6 fps -_-


this being said, i heard there are some new i7's coming out very soon. The new ones have caster clock speeds but lack triple channel support. For me, i see it as a money savings.

Any thoughts on the new i7 870 model? I've heard it doesnt have QPI and uses DMI for memory communication(slower), but has direct links to two pci express x16 slots from the processor. I can't seem to find a benchmark result between the i7 920 and the new i7 870 though.

 

[psycho sykes]

Wait just a minute.

 

[psycho sykes]

Her's a review i7 870/P55 Review I'll fetch a comparison (Benchmark).

 

[migit128]

how much faster would a solid state drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233090) be compared to the two 1tb drives in raid 0?

I don't *need* more space (but i'd prefer it). I know hard drives are a major bottleneck atm, but the 2tb is the same price as this 64 gb ssd

 

[psycho sykes]

how much faster would a solid state drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233090) be compared to the two 1tb drives in raid 0?

I don't *need* more space (but i'd prefer it). I know hard drives are a major bottleneck atm, but the 2tb is the same price as this 64 gb ssd

The SSD would be much faster as it doesn't demand mechanical devices to perform a read and/or write thus it doesn't get much delayed when dealing with fragmented files nor wait for the "needle" to find the targeted. But i don't see a good reason to sacrifice a 2TB RAID0 config. for a 64GB SSD drive as the selected 1TB drives (Spinzpoint F3) are fast enough and a RAID0 setup will increase perf. by about 70% so you need no more perf. or speed even for the Prog. and OS device (EXCEPT if you want to break the world record of 6 Seconds boot to Windows! ).

Regards.