First home build: need some suggestions

[alhanelem]

Right now im planning on replacing my old computer at the beginning of next year, BUT i cant decide if my new system should:

A) be made of old (as in brand new but released ages ago) but less expensive

B) newer parts (like the new I series or bulldozer that will be released later this year) but be very expensive

OR

C) mixture of both A and B

I do not care whether the cpu is intel or AMD, and whether the gpu is nvidia or AMD, i just want the best bang for buck.

my current specs are in my sig.

My budget will be around $1000 - $1500 (AUS $$$)
My system will be used for hardcore gaming at 1080P and other..... ahem personal uses

P.S im not looking for any links to newegg or Amazon since the prices and hardware will be different by next year.

im just looking for suggestions like what cpu, gpu, ram, etc. i should look out for to get.

 

[jfby]

I would recommend whatever you could afford from the current generation of parts. Buying old parts, except in a few cases, doesn't usually save that much for the performance hit you take, but there are exceptions.

If I were buying now

Intel Core i5-2500K + high end CPU cooler
Compatible motherboard
8 GB of low latency RAM
1 - 2x GeForce 570 or Radeon 6970 2 GB or 1x 580, 590 or 6990

But in 9 months I can't even speculate. If there was some awesome LGA 2011 I or Bulldozer I could afford at that price range, then I might go that route.

 

[alhanelem]

I would recommend whatever you could afford from the current generation of parts. Buying old parts, except in a few cases, doesn't usually save that much for the performance hit you take, but there are exceptions.

If I were buying now

Intel Core i5-2500K + high end CPU cooler
Compatible motherboard
8 GB of low latency RAM
1 - 2x GeForce 570 or Radeon 6970 2 GB or 1x 580, 590 or 6990

But in 9 months I can't even speculate. If there was some awesome LGA 2011 I or Bulldozer I could afford at that price range, then I might go that route.

i was looking at the specs in your sig.
how well does you pc perform in games?

 

[jfby]

I'm quite happy with it. I bought the Sapphire with everything else, and the Gigabyte 6 months later after price dropping. My recommendation would be to buy a single GPU of whatever price you could afford, and upgrade later if it makes sense for you.

The i7 is really powerful enough without overclocking, but Civ IV responds well as it doesn't really use even 2 full cores when gaming.

The two most gruelling games I play are Bad Company 2 and Star Trek Online. 'Crossfire quirks' aside, it runs BC2 at 8xMSAA/8xAF at 1920 and never dips below 60 FPS, and with the exception of a few AMD/STO compatibility issues I play it with VSYNC enabled and stay pegged at 60 FPS. I hope as drivers come out that crossfire becomes more stable, but until then I can work around the problems.

With that said, I plan on getting a new, single GPU setup when my current setup fails to play min 45 FPS at med-high at 1920x1080, which I'm hoping doesn't happen untl 2013, but we shall see.

Generally I expect my CPU/motherboard/RAM setup to play well for at least 4-5 years, and the GPU subsytem to play at high level for 18-24 months. Even then I'll keep the old system as a legacy computer.

 

[alhanelem]

I'm quite happy with it. I bought the Sapphire with everything else, and the Gigabyte 6 months later after price dropping. My recommendation would be to buy a single GPU of whatever price you could afford, and upgrade later if it makes sense for you.

The i7 is really powerful enough without overclocking, but Civ IV responds well as it doesn't really use even 2 full cores when gaming.

The two most gruelling games I play are Bad Company 2 and Star Trek Online. 'Crossfire quirks' aside, it runs BC2 at 8xMSAA/8xAF at 1920 and never dips below 60 FPS, and with the exception of a few AMD/STO compatibility issues I play it with VSYNC enabled and stay pegged at 60 FPS. I hope as drivers come out that crossfire becomes more stable, but until then I can work around the problems.

With that said, I plan on getting a new, single GPU setup when my current setup fails to play min 45 FPS at med-high at 1920x1080, which I'm hoping doesn't happen untl 2013, but we shall see.

Generally I expect my CPU/motherboard/RAM setup to play well for at least 4-5 years, and the GPU subsytem to play at high level for 18-24 months. Even then I'll keep the old system as a legacy computer.

are you sure the CPU/motherboard/RAM setup will even last more than 2-3 years?
i doubt it will be able to play at max settings for longer than that...

i guess it just depends on how graphic intensive games will be in the future

 

[jfby]

I hope it will last functionally at least; I spent a fair amount of money... as for gaming I would expect to be playing newer games at medium-high level graphics.

I built a system back in 2001 that lasted until 2005 and though the games I played weren't too intensive, I met the spec to play at mid level of the games of the day without issue. My 2005 build lasted into 2007 and then I rebuilt (electrical issues at my apartment), which was really only a very slight upgrade in the CPU/RAM/motherboard area due to budget restraints, and I was able to again play games into 2008 with med-high settings.

The constant here was that the CPU/RAM/MOBO was only incrementally better from 2001-2008 but I changed GPUs multiple times.

I'm not going to act smug and say my system will crush whatever FPS or RTS or RPG is big in 2015, but I feel confident that I will be able to at least play at a medium level by then. Considering people are still experiencing enjoyable gameplay with Core 2 Duo, myself included, I think I'll be OK in 4-5 years with GPU upgrades.

IMHO, there was a huge jump in graphics/requirements from 2000 to 2006/7/8, but since then I haven't really seen the jump as evident. Even with BC2, my CPU never goes near maximum (don't know the number at the moment but can update later).

It would be nice to upgrade every time I can't play the latest game at the highest settings, but there isn't a budget for that. Instead I try an upgrade every 4-5 years, or whenever my current 'core' setup can't play at medium levels anymore, whichever happens later.

 

[alhanelem]

^bump

any news on what to expect with the bulldozer cpu's from AMD?