OK – I admit it, I’m a cheapskate. Four years ago when I was flush I and a friend built what I thought was a good gaming machine around an ASUS P5E3 motherboard and a Yorkfield 2.83 Ghz quad processor (LGA 775). Just recently I had heat problem when the CPU fan (Freezer Pro 7) seized and now have either a motherboard failure or CPU (potentially both). So I’m in the market for a new build. I have about $1,000 to spend so am looking to re-use the case, WD Veloci Raptor drives, Blue Ray and DVD optical drives, GForce GTX 280 Zotac graphics cards, ANTEC power supply, monitor, mouse, keyboard from the existing machine. In essence, I believe I just need an up-to-date motherboard, high-end, CPU and compatible ram (minimum 8 gb). Below is a list of the existing components I plan on re-using and my thinking on mother board and CPU.
My aim with this new set up is as follows is to stay within my $1,000 budget and:
1. Produce an upgradable machine where over the next 3-5 years (my lifespan target for the hardware) I can upgrade components to keep the machine fast enough to continue to run games like Skyrim, World of Warcraft, Star Wars Old Republic and whatever new high-end games may come out. I expect to replace the graphic card with something faster in the near term but not reduce my flexibility with this build by trying to fit a new card (s) within the budget.
2. Usage – heavy gaming, moderate business (Lotus Notes over the net, MS Office Applications - only heavy app would be MS Project with very complex and large plans), internet surfing, moderate music w/ some Netflix video streaming).
3. Running 100 gigabit home network on a higher end FIOS Network….
4. Don’t care a whit about how slow the boot up will be
5. Will be Running Windows 7 Ultimate if that matters.
6. No prejudice on CPU Graphics et.al. – also willing to scrap existing components – budget is the issue
Current Cpu/processor
Intel Core 2 Yorkfield 2.83 GHz LGA Quad-Core Desktop Processor (LGA 775/95w) assume nothing newer useful for going forward if I just replaced the CPU?
Motherboard
ASUS P5E3 Premium w/ WFI (never used) – these are no longer in stock and existing replacements have less capability / compatibility with the existing ram. BTW sound is coming off the motherboard…
Memory
Corsair DDR3 CMX4GX3M2A 1600C9 – 4 2 gb sticks (max the mother board would hold)
Hard Drives
2 Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLHX 300GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Case
Antec 900
Power Supply
Antec 1000 Watt True Power Quattro (TPQ 1000) – had to upgrade from a Corsair 750 CPMSU-750-TX
Video Card
ZOTAX GForce GTX 280 - a honker when it first came out now a real BTU generator
Optical Drives
1 LG HD DVD Blue Ray and 1 generic DVD
My aim with this new set up is as follows is to stay within my $1,000 budget and:
1. Produce an upgradable machine where over the next 3-5 years (my lifespan target for the hardware) I can upgrade components to keep the machine fast enough to continue to run games like Skyrim, World of Warcraft, Star Wars Old Republic and whatever new high-end games may come out. I expect to replace the graphic card with something faster in the near term but not reduce my flexibility with this build by trying to fit a new card (s) within the budget.
2. Usage – heavy gaming, moderate business (Lotus Notes over the net, MS Office Applications - only heavy app would be MS Project with very complex and large plans), internet surfing, moderate music w/ some Netflix video streaming).
3. Running 100 gigabit home network on a higher end FIOS Network….
4. Don’t care a whit about how slow the boot up will be
5. Will be Running Windows 7 Ultimate if that matters.
6. No prejudice on CPU Graphics et.al. – also willing to scrap existing components – budget is the issue
Current Cpu/processor
Intel Core 2 Yorkfield 2.83 GHz LGA Quad-Core Desktop Processor (LGA 775/95w) assume nothing newer useful for going forward if I just replaced the CPU?
Motherboard
ASUS P5E3 Premium w/ WFI (never used) – these are no longer in stock and existing replacements have less capability / compatibility with the existing ram. BTW sound is coming off the motherboard…
Memory
Corsair DDR3 CMX4GX3M2A 1600C9 – 4 2 gb sticks (max the mother board would hold)
Hard Drives
2 Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLHX 300GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Case
Antec 900
Power Supply
Antec 1000 Watt True Power Quattro (TPQ 1000) – had to upgrade from a Corsair 750 CPMSU-750-TX
Video Card
ZOTAX GForce GTX 280 - a honker when it first came out now a real BTU generator
Optical Drives
1 LG HD DVD Blue Ray and 1 generic DVD