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New pc for $400 worth it?

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First time poster here, have browsed this website for a few years for different things. I am considering building a new pc and just want a consesus if it would be worth it to upgrade from what I've got.

WHAT I'VE GOT

HP 6330f:

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 5600+
• 2.80GHz, 1MB + 1MB L2 Cache, 2000MT/s System Bus
NVIDIA nForce 430 Chipset
Standard memory
3072 MB (2 x 1024 MB 2 x 512 MB)
Memory type
DDR2-SDRAM
memory slots
4 DIMM sockets
Internal hard disk drive
500 GB
Hard disk controller
Serial ATA
Hard disk drive speed
(7200 rpm)
Memory card device
15in1 memory card reader
video adapter
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE
Video RAM
Up to 1343MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows Vista®

I have added a 530w raidmax PSU and a gt240 EVGA graphics card as well to this system.

THE NEW SYSTEM

ECS A880GM-M7 (V2.0) AM3 AMD 880G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9D-16GAO
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready Power Supply
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...
LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Total cost for this would be $417.92 and a $20 MI Rebate. I plan on buying a video card from ebay and possibly a new monitor as well.

Currently this would be used for light video editing(youtube vids) and gaming. I currently play Leage of Legends/SWTOR and will be wanting to some BF3/Skyrim/GW2.

So all in all would it be worth it to upgrade to this right now (Also my first ever build) or just wait another 3-4 months after christmas and try to build with the 2500k?

I could cut costs by not buying the PSU ($40) and use my current 530w and I could cut 16gb ram down to 8 GB (that ram is so cheap right now, $54.99 for 16gb is awesome deal) and that would save me another $20 bucks.


Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.

More about : 400 worth

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Hey there,

If you will have a larger budget after Christmas it is definitely worth waiting. There is a huge performance difference between an X3 Rana and something like a 2500k.

My suggestion for you, if you are itching to buy/upgrade is to get a new video card now and use it in your older PC until you save up the money for the new CPU/Mobo. GPU+PSU purchases are easy to stagger from the rest of the build because they will be easily be compatible with both.

Also this will give you a bit of a performance boost now, without forcing you to settle for lower performing parts.
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squirrelonfire said:
And where is the video card?
You can't play those advance games w/o a card.


Quote:
So all in all would it be worth it to upgrade to this right now (Also my first ever build)

Quote:
I plan on buying a video card from ebay and possibly a new monitor as well.

S/He is asking for our advice. No reason to insult him/her.

EDIT: didn't see that you have included Win7 in the price, so add $80-$100 depending if Newegg still have Win7 promo codes coming out....Still, this would be a much better system that your new system. Look at lowering the graphics card and maybe dropping to a G630 processor to cut costs a little more.
EDIT 2: Squirrel: the CPU cost was included, just not listed. Thanks!

This would be a much better "new" build than your new build, which frankly, wouldn't be worth the $400 you would be spending on it.

This system would make you happier in the long run, but as stated above, its only a $400 so your expectations have to match that.

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231424
$33.99

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
$16.99

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...
Item #: N82E16811147153
$39.99

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148697
$49.99

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (11202-00-20G )
Item #: N82E16814102969
$99.99 (- $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card)

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139026
$44.99 (- $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card)

ASRock B75M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157335
$54.99

Intel Pentium G860 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G860
Item #: N82E16819116405
$74.99

Shipping: $8.71


Total $424.63 (not including the two $10 MIRs)

Total after rebate $404.

aebome said:
EDIT: didn't see that you have included Win7 in the price, so add $80-$100 depending if Newegg still have Win7 promo codes coming out....Still, this would be a much better system that your new system. Look at lowering the graphics card and maybe dropping to a G630 processor to cut costs a little more.

This would be a much better "new" build than your new build, which frankly, wouldn't be worth the $400 you would be spending on it.

This system would make you happier in the long run, but as stated above, its only a $400 so your expectations have to match that.

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231424
$33.99

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
$16.99

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...
Item #: N82E16811147153
$39.99

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148697
$49.99

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (11202-00-20G )
Item #: N82E16814102969
$99.99 (- $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card)

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817139026
$44.99 (- $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card)

ASRock B75M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157335
$54.99

Intel Pentium G860 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G860
Item #: N82E16819116405
Shipping: $8.71


Total $424.63 (not including the two $10 MIRs)

Total after rebate $404.


I think this is a decent build. Did you include the price for the CPU?

You want to invest $100 into an SDD. It will significantly increases your os performance. A Samsung 830 series will do.

squirrelonfire said:
I think this is a decent build. Did you include the price for the CPU?

You want to invest $100 into an SDD. It will significantly increases your os performance. A Samsung 830 series will do.



Yes, the cost of the CPU was included, but I just failed to list it. Thanks for the heads up and I have edited my original post.

Wow thanks so much for the rapid response team help here !! Win 7 was included in that $400 build and I was looking at buying an ati 6850 or gtx 460/470 depnding on prices off of ebay.

I'm married so my pc budget has to pass the Congressional Budget that is my wife. Only reason I was looking to go so cheap. If I wait 3-4 months I could throw another $150-$200 onto the build.

I am somewhat "itching" to build my first pc, but I wouldn't mind waiting if it's going to make a signicant difference.

Everything I have read says the 2500k is the optimal gaming pc for the price so that would be the only real upgrade.

Overall I sincerely thank you all for your time and help, will decide later today if I'm going to place this order.

*note*

Just looked at that build aebome posted and I have a few questions about it.

1) if I went with " ASRock B75M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard " would it be sufficient for an I5-2500k once I am able to upgrade?
2) Does 16GB of ram make any difference over 8GB ram in regards to the games I play?

TY

The ASRock should do fine with the i5-2500k and yes and no on the RAM 8Gbs is more then enough in most cases but I would try to keep it to minimal amount of RAM chip on the MB.

Also IMHO check out microcenter.com and see if they have a store near you they have good deals with buying motherboard and processor combo a lot of times. I brought the 2 together and got an instant $40-50 off the MB.

The AsRock mobo should work fine with a 2500k, and be able to overclock it, if you want to go that way. Unlike most inexpensive chipsets, the B75 supports overclocking.

8gb will be fine for gaming. 16gb won't hurt, and probably won't help much. It will help with more memory intensive tasks (photoshop, content creation, etc)

If you go the overclocking route, you'll probably want to get an aftermarket cooler for the 2500k, fyi.

kadsuarez said:
Everything I have read says the 2500k is the optimal gaming pc for the price so that would be the only real upgrade.
Overall I sincerely thank you all for your time and help, will decide later today if I'm going to place this order. TY


With regard to your processor choice. The K series processors are only worth it if you are going to overclock -- otherwise you can get a normal, less expensive model processor.

Also, if it is within your price range I would consider upgrading to a newer Ivy Bridge processor (3xxx) instead of Sandy bridge (2xxx). Performance per dollar isn't that different between the two, however if two similarly spec'd processors line up against each other on price you want to get the newer model.

+1 that 8gb ram is plenty.

P.S. I still think it makes little sense to buy one processor now then upgrade it later. Upgrading GPU, saving an extra hundred bucks, then upgrading other parts makes a lot more sense.

P.S.S. You have to think about how to impress the wife. I tell mine that me right here playing video games is better than out drinking! Also I've encoded all kinds of video for her iphone and Apple TV ... It's all about demonstrating ROI!

aebome looks good, it will put you into a Sandy/Ivy Bridge motherboard, doing a AMD now would be a waste since you plan on going Intel later. The B75 should support a Ivy Bridge model and Microcenter is selling the i5-3570 for $169 in my area. since you have Windows Vista you can buy and upgrade to windows 8 pro off the MS website for $39.99. He included a VGA card and in your post you said you were going to buy one later so you could take the money you were saving for the VGA card and add it to the VGA card amount and get a better model. 8gb RAM is good for gaming 16gb won't give you much of a performance boost for the cost.
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