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Looking for opinion on a new build

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Anonymous
Homebuilt system Expert

Hey ya'll,

I've been a Tom's frequenter for ages now, but this is my first post seeking opinions. I'm planning on doing a new build this summer, overhauling my machine that hasn't been updated since late 2006.

Here are those specs:
AMD Athlon 3700+ 64 bit
Nvidia 7600 GT 256 MB Ram
2 GB DDR 333
WD 160 GB drive + 74 GB Raptor
ABIT KN8 Mobo
Antec 550 W Truepower
Augidy 2ZS Gamer 7.1 Soundcard
Cooler Master Praetorian Black Case

Here's what I'm currently thinking:

Required:
WD Caviar Black 640 GB
ASUS EVO AM3 AMD 790X Mobo
Sapphire Radeon 4850 512 MB
G-Skill Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 1600
AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9 GHz
^ Planning on OC'ing and cooling w/ Cooler Master Hyper 212
Corsair 550W ATX 12V 2.2 80 PLUS Power Supply

Optional/Alternate:
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Case
Antec NEO ECO 400W PS
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM
LITE-ON DVD Writer
PCI Wireless card
Blu-Ray Drive

Total of the build, without optional/alternates: $630 shipped

I have a pretty firm budget of $700 for the build itself (not incl' shipping). As for the alternates, I'm thinking of just keeping my old Cooler Master Praetorian case rather than buy a new one, it's got some dents in it but it's in pretty good shape overall. I put down a alternate PS because I'm not sure if the Corsair is overkill for what I'm planning to run. SLI may happen in the future, but that's not for sure. I'm planning on keeping the ol' soundcard and my Logitech X-620 because they're serving me pretty well.

My needs for the PC are basically gaming, media (Hulu, etc), and some engineering (CAD, SolidWorks) work. Most of my basic schoolwork will probably still go through my MacBook, but more heavy duty stuff will be put to the PC. For gaming, it doesn't have to fly but I'd like to be able to run most new games at a decent resolution on my 22" widescreen monitor with respectable FPS. Right now my current system can play Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Bioshock at good rates, I'd just like to continue that trend but apply it to newer games like GTA4, Dragonage, Starcraft II, etc. If anyone sees areas that I can reduce cost reasonably, please let me know. If I'm too vague with my needs, I can also expand there.

Thanks!



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The PSU brand is good, and so are all of the parts. The only thing I would suggest is a GTS250 or maybe even a 9800GTX video card. They are about 110, so I dont know if you're willing to go over a few dollars for it. If you plan on running SLI stick with the 650 watt PSU, they can run anything in SLI these days, and with everything becoming more efficient, some of the newer cards actually use less then the less powerful cards!
Homebuilt system Master

The Nvidia cards are not a good option right now. They offer lower performance, higher temps, and higher energy use. That's not even mentioning the fact that you can't run SLI on anything but Nvidia chipset motherboards for AMD systems. The motherboard the OP picked can't run SLI, not that you would want an Nvidia GPU right now anyway.

The current build looks OK, but can be improved. The 640GB WD drive is outperformed by the current 500GB/platter drives. I would ditch the WD for this one:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $54.99

What resolution does your monitor run at? I have a feeling you're not going to be happy with the performance of the 4850. I wouldn't use a previous generation GPU in a new build anyway. I would try to squeeze a 5770 into the build.

Here's a nice combo to consider:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $204.98 (GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX + AMD Athlon II X3 440)

Here's a cheaper combo if that one's out of the budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $185.98 - $15 MIR (ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX + AMD Athlon II X3 435)

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Anonymous
Homebuilt system Expert

I definitely want to go with an ATI card, and my monitor is in storage right now, I was running it as a second monitor for my Macbook at (I believe) 1600 x 900. Recommended says 1920 x 1080, however, and it has HDMI.

Thanks for the good advice on the HD, I've just kind of always used and trusted WD but I'll gladly give them up for a quicker drive. I like the second combo, it fits exactly what I had in my original list but saves me a little $! I don't see any difference in the two processors from those, and looking at the mobos, I see Sata 6 Gb/s, USB 3.0 and a little more power behind integrated sound/graphics as the advantages of the Gigabyte over the Asus. Are these worth the extra $40 I'd spend on that combo (processor in cheaper combo comes with a $10 newegg card right now)? Actually, looking at the CPU compatibility, the Asus board doesn't list Athlon II as a supported chipset...but I'm guessing it still is.

If the prices on the 5750's were to come down just a little, I would consider them more. Right now I can get a 4850 for under $100, and at least from what I've read they can keep up pretty well with current cards. I'm not really sure I'll be needing DX11, eyefinity just yet...seems a little bit overkill. Whatever card I get will likely be lightyears ahead of my 7600GT, regardless of what ends up in this build I know I'll be impressed.

Quote:
I definitely want to go with an ATI card, and my monitor is in storage right now, I was running it as a second monitor for my Macbook at (I believe) 1600 x 900. Recommended says 1920 x 1080, however, and it has HDMI.

Thanks for the good advice on the HD, I've just kind of always used and trusted WD but I'll gladly give them up for a quicker drive. I like the second combo, it fits exactly what I had in my original list but saves me a little $! I don't see any difference in the two processors from those, and looking at the mobos, I see Sata 6 Gb/s, USB 3.0 and a little more power behind integrated sound/graphics as the advantages of the Gigabyte over the Asus. Are these worth the extra $40 I'd spend on that combo (processor in cheaper combo comes with a $10 newegg card right now)? Actually, looking at the CPU compatibility, the Asus board doesn't list Athlon II as a supported chipset...but I'm guessing it still is.

If the prices on the 5750's were to come down just a little, I would consider them more. Right now I can get a 4850 for under $100, and at least from what I've read they can keep up pretty well with current cards. I'm not really sure I'll be needing DX11, eyefinity just yet...seems a little bit overkill. Whatever card I get will likely be lightyears ahead of my 7600GT, regardless of what ends up in this build I know I'll be impressed.


Hell, If I were you I'd go with the 5750... The 4850 consumes a buttload of power and you'll definately need a bigger CPU. The 5750 only really needs a 450 watt PSU, but considering yours is generic, I'd watch out of any burning smells for the first few weeks. Generic PSUs aren't meant to go past 90% of their advertised wattage output... this is not true in rare cases though.

I actually think I'm gonna pick up the Antec NEO ECO 620C today, it's on shell shocker for only $40 (AR), and it's in a combo with the Antec Six Hundred Case. Lookin like a sweet deal with stuff that I can use on my current system now.

Didn't pick up the case, but did get the PS. Not sure I need the new case at this juncture, but I'm gonna start assembling my build piece by piece, starting with the PS then getting the GPU, then buying various accessories until I get enough $ to shell out for the CPU/Mobo/RAM. Then I'll go for new HD and install Windows 7.
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