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2 PCs and one netbook final review

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So I didn't want to just update This thread so I'm copying my post from PC Perspectives HW forum, where there is knowledge but not much traffic and brought it here where there is knowledge and traffic, thanks!

Hi All, So I'm about to build two pcs. One for myself that will be gaming focused (I'll call it PC1) and one for my wife that will mainly be used for school work and photo editing and storage (I'll call it...PC2 wow didn't see that one coming did you lol) I think I've narrowed it down but I just wanted to get your opinion on them.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month
BUDGET RANGE: see separate PC builds below
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: see below
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: One monitor and set of K&M
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS newegg amazon etc
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD mainly for price
OVERCLOCKING: Maybe but not an extreme amt
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: no
MONITOR RESOLUTION: PC1 I’m looking at 1980x1020 PC2 has an Acer with 1400x1050

PC1 Budget around $1700 Main focus gaming
Case - COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black
HDD- Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Optical- Don't know if I should go with just a BRD that also burns DVD or get seperate right now I have seperate an ASUS Black Blueray and a Sony Optiarc Black DVD burner
PSU- SeaSonic S12D 850 Silver 850W
GPU- Radeon 5850
MOBO- ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3
CPU- AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE
CPU Fan - Xigmatek HDT-S1283
Not really sure if this is a great fan but it seems good.
RAM- OCZ Gold Edition 2x2GB C7
Monitor - Whatever 23-24" Widescreen I can find for about 200-250

And PC2 Budget around 700 Most taxing app photo editing
Case- XCLIO Godspeed 747
I'm looking at this case mainly because my wife will run her chair over any USB cables if they are near the ground so the main requirement is Front ports up top
HDD- another Spinpoint F3 1TB
Optical-The Sony Optiarc DVD burner
PSU- CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W
GPU- Radeon for around 100
Mobo- ASRock M3A770DE
CPU- AMD Phenom II x2 550 BE
CPU Fan - Same as PC1
RAM- OCZ Gold Ed 2x2GB C7
And also for her I'm looking at a Verbatim 16GB Flash drive

AND last night she told me she wanted a 10" notebook so any recomendations on that too (though I havn't done any research so I'm mooching on that point)

More about : pcs netbook final review

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I don't see how you have a budget of $1700 for your PC1 gaming build. I calculated your current PC1 build at $1250, so if your budget is $1700 you can certainly do a lot of upgrading there, this is also including the screen below.

Here's a 24" (1920x1080) Asus Screen for $230. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PC2:
For $90 you can get a HD 5670 which is pretty powerful if shes doing no gaming. You could go for a HD 5450 for $40 and invest the leftover money in a more powerful CPU as I think that would be more appropriate.

HD 5450 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
HD 5670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Even if you go with the HD 5670 for $90 you will still be able to afford a Phenom II x4 965 BE for $200, this will take you to your $700 budget and you reckon she will need more a lot of CPU power.

Phenom II 965 BE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Upgrades to the PC1, Since you have another $500 to spend according to my calculations:

Get the Phenom II x4 965 BE $200 since you will need the fastest CPU to limit the bottleneck created with a HD 5970. Replace the HD 5850 with a HD 5970 $700. Get faster RAM for overclocking Corsair Dominators 1600MHz $147. Seeing as your going to have to overclock that processor pretty far to limit its bottleneck heres a good cooler Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme $63.

HD 5970 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Corsair 1600MHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Phenom II 965 BE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This build cost is already at $1769 which is out of your budget and also you don't seem to keen on overclocking which you would need to do with this build. So you could just go with a HD 5870 for $400 and it won't be bottlenecked even at stock CPU speeds.

HD 5870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This instead of the HD 5970 with the other parts I suggested should be great. Although it will only be at $1500.

Hope I helped and please other people suggest other opinions.

Thanks, bedtime now.

First build:

1- Solid build, if your budget is $1200, but with $1700 you can build and i7 rig, even with the same $1200 you can build an i7-860 rig.
2- I would change the mobo for a 790FXTA-UD5, is a better mobo.
3- With that budget, you can install a 5870 or 5970.

Second build: It's fine for me and your needs.

I forgot to add in there that I'm including Win7 Pro ($140) and the monitor (around $200) in the 1700 for PC1, cuz I'm getting that it all adds up to about 1600

Also JSC thanks for the netbook rec!
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