Advice on new system

[ApathyOne]

Hello, I am out-of the loop with current computer components. With the help of my friend I have drawn up a list of components I will be buying within the next week or so. I would appreciate advice on how to tweak my build.

I already have my case and power supply: Antec 900 case and a Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W

here is what is on my to buy list as suggested from my friend.

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

MSI 770-C45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K2/4G

Scythe SCKTN-3000 92mm Sleeve "KATANA3" 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler

PNY VCGGTS2501XPB GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Any comments or advice would be appreciated. When suggesting items to get please keep in mind that I want to stay with geforce cards and AMD processors. If you can suggest a better card for around the same price I will be much obliged.

 

[tecmo34]

I would look to change your hard drive to either the Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 500GB hard drive, which is relative close in price. Also, I would look to up your video card to an ATI 5770 for better performance, if you can fit it into your budget.

 

[ApathyOne]

I've been looking at Seagate and they look a bit unreliable. I have not looked up Samsung hard drives though. Are they faster? I would rather stay with Geforce, just a brand preference of mine, any other suggestions? I was also wondering what I'd be able to play with this system.

 

[tecmo34]

Samsung is just as fast as the Seagate and is a great drive. I'm running the 1TB version in my system.

Your gaming experience will be dependant on your monitor resolution. If you are gaming around 1400x900, the GTS 250 will perform adequate in most games. As for alternatives, it depends on how much you are willing to spend. The GTX 260 Core 216's are great cards but a those prices, the ATI 5770 is still the better option. If you have the cash... The new GTX 465 looks like a great card.

 

[ApathyOne]

Why do you feel like the ATI 5770 is such a better option? Which model would you recommend for the GTX 456 it isn't out of reach but I would prefer something cheaper for now, because I believe that if I upgrade to that card the power supply I already bought would become insufficient.

 

[ApathyOne]

Why do you feel like the ATI 5770 is such a better option? Which model would you recommend for the GTX 456 it isn't out of reach but I would prefer something cheaper for now, because I believe that if I upgrade to that card the power supply I already bought would become insufficient.

 

[tecmo34]

Why I recommend the 5770 is it's price to performance ratio in it's price range. You can't really get a better performing card without jumping up to another $100 or more.

My recommendation for the GTX 465 is the EVGA GTX 465 (Fermi). I have always trusted EVGA for my Nvidia graphics cards.

 

[asteldian]

Bite the bullet and say goodbye to Nvidia this round, you can always go back to them in a couple of years when you need to change your card.
The 5770 is a better option becasue:
It is a more powerful card (competes with the GTX260)
It is new which means:
Direct X 11 support
Less power consumed
Quieter
Cooler

This is the first time in all my gaming life that I went with ATI instead of Nvidia, and believe me, it is a good decision.

 

[ApathyOne]

Okay, thanks for the information on the video card. I'm not sure if my brand loyalty will allow me to buy an ATI card still. kind of sad haha. anyway other than that does my build look pretty solid? besides the lack of optical drive, and OS which will be win 7 64 bit. I still need suggestions for a monitor. Thanks.

 

[asteldian]

A 24 inch monitor with HD resolution: $209.99 + $12 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009245&cm_re=acer_24_inch_monitor-_-24-009-245-_-Product

Really depends on what you can spend, I would try to find money for an HD monitor as it means you don't need to upgrade it unless you break it -you tend to upgrade a computer a lot more often than a monitor so it is worth getting an HD one

However, if you insist on sticking with the Nvidia 250 then you may have to settle for playing games at medium quality at that resolution, even the 5770 is at its limit then.

It surprises me that you are brand loyal to Nvidia when you are also loyal to AMD who are pretty much one with ATI are they not?

 

[ApathyOne]

To answer your loyalty question they are but it wasn't always that way. They merged or signed that deal 2 or 3 years ago. I might upgrade to the 465 I'm not sure yet. I was going to buy a HD monitor it would be a waste of money to get anything else. Acer monitors are better than they're computers? lol

 

[asteldian]

2 to 3 years ago I would have said I would never touch an ATI card - how times change

As for Acer, well, they work, are inexpensive and I have had no problems with them - so yes they are better than their computers

That was just a decent priced monitor I found without looking - you may want to have a look and find another, certainly plenty to choose from.

But if you are getting an HD monitor which I agree is a waste to buy anything other than that, then you really will have to either find extra money for a better Nvidia card or go with ATI - the 5770 is not ideal for it but will do well enough whereas the 250 is inferior (as well as being old tech).
Just remember that if you save money to buy a better Nvidia card you are spending more and still getting dated technology.
Join the fun and experience ATI while they are producing the better cards - it may be the only time it EVER happens

 

[ApathyOne]

Are you saying that even if I decided to go with say a 465... you'd suggest going with the 5770 instead?

 

[tecmo34]

The GTX 465 is a step up from the 5770 using DX11 tec, so it isn't dated. It competes with the 5850 in performance with better cooling / power consumption than it's bigger brothers GTX 470/GTX 480.

If you can afford the Nvidia card, I recommend it over the 5770. Where you get into another arguement is do you spend the extra $20 for the ATI 5850, which is slighty better than the GTX 465. Being a Nvidia guy myself, I go with the GTX 465 over the ATI 5850.

 

[asteldian]

Apologies, I missed that part. Yes the 465 is definately a better plan than the 5770.

Having said that, the 465 is not a particularly good card. It was designed to fall between the 5830 and 5850 but as with most Nvidia products it is very overpriced. It falls very close to the 5830 performance while being priced insanely close to the 5850.

Given that the 5830 is considered a fairly pointless card from ATI, it is odd that Nvidia produced a card to compete with it, both cards are in a 'no man's land' in the market with the 465 being far too expensive.

On Newegg:
XFX 5850 - $299.99 free shipping
ASUS GTX465 - $279.99 + $7.87 shipping

With a price difference of $12.13 I don't think there is any arguement for getting the Nvidia GTX465. Have a look at reviews and tests done - for a card that is supposed to be between the 5850 and 5830 it ended up inferior to the 5830 surprisingly often at 1920 x 1200 while once managing to best the 5850 yet still they price it almost as much as a 5850?

The most favourable review I saw was techpowerup where the card at least did sit where it is supposed to - above the 5830 most the time, but it was still too close to it to justify charging 5850 price. Also, the problem with that review is most the games were such high fps it was irrelevant which card beat what

 

[ApathyOne]

The review I saw put the 465 decently close to the 5850 but I understand what you mean that for an extra 12 dollars you get a sizeable upgrade. The only thing I am wary about is that on newegg there are no reviews of the card. I was also wondering that with this card I would be able to play things on close to max settings while on full display? If not what would I need to be able to play games that well?

 

[ApathyOne]

I was also wondering if this we a good optical drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335. I also need a monitor and I need suggestions. Don't forget about the post before this! lol

 

[asteldian]

ANy optical drive will do to be honest, there is not much difference between them and should cost around $20.

The 5850, 5870, 470 and 480 will play on HD resolution at max settings. The 5830 and the 465 will play many games at max settings, but as more games come out they will likely start to fall behind quickly.

You can get a 24 inch monitor between $200 and $250. Acer have a good 24inch 2ms response time monitor for a good price ($209.99). There are so many monitors with so many similar specs that your best bet is to find ones at a good price then use google to find reviews on them to decide.

 

[ApathyOne]

Any critiques on the rest of my build? I'm getting 64 bit win 7 I might go with premium because I don't know if the games I play from XP are compatible with windows 7.