New computer build time, need advice/help

[bigblockmatt]

I think it is time to put my P4 to rest. It has had a great life and a crap load of use.

Here is what i have/don't need:
- Monitor
- Speakers (have 5.1 logitech surround system - I have a sound blaster x-fi sound card)
- Case (have antec p180)
- other accessories (ie, keyboard/mouse/etc i have all that)

My use: Medium amount of video gaming (COD 4 & L4D), internet, pictures, music, ect. I do leave it on all the time, 1 - for music when home and 2 - when at work, i log into via logmein.

Overclocking: Not really into it, but not against if simple/basic stuff, nothing extreme.

What I'm Thinking: pretty much the only specific thing i can think of it the I7, unless i am wrong

Processor: I7 920 (i figure that will give me plenty of power and the price diff to the next one is just insane)
Mobo: no idea
Video: want to go with Nvidia
RAM: no idea
PSU: no idea
Harddrive: dont need more than 500gb, and i dont think i will use that much.
DVD: dont need blu-ray, just reg dvd burner will be plenty.
Operating system: I have XP now. is it worth getting vista or wait till 7? i could delay that purchase no problem if something is coming out soon that would make a purchase wiser.

I think that covers it. As always, thanks for the suggestions. I am not really in a hurry either.

[pwcmed]

CPU - The new D0 stepping is in the wild, I would hold off a bit. Tankguys.com sell D0 i7 but at a cost and sell out pretty quick.
Motherboard- I heard about an inexpensive motherboard from gigabyte that allowed SLI from a BIOS update. Other then that I don't know.
Video Card - This really depends on your resolution and budget.
Ram - No idea if there is a better brand for i7 memory.
Power Supply - Corsair is always good. The wattage is going to depend on your setup. I think I saw a new 750w posted here.
Hard Drives - I personally like western digital and the black series, AALS, are pretty fast.
OS - The windows 7 release candidate will be out on the fifth and that key should last until next year. I would wait

[bigblockmatt]

whats the DO I7?

[XstollieX]

whats the DO I7?

The d0 is the new revision of the stepping on the I7. It is supposed to over clock better and have better thermals. If your planning on overclocking I agree with pwcmed about holding off. If not it shouldn't make a difference in what you will be doing.

[martini161]

new stepping that clocks better. not really all too worth it, the i7s are monsters at stock clocks anyways. the gigabyte UD3R x58s are nice. corsair has a 6gb ddr3 1600 memory kit for $150 now on the egg. As for video, either the ATI 4770s are cheap, or ify our looking for something nicer the gtx275 are almost as good as teh gtx280's and run around 250

[Major_A]

I say go the other other way and get a triple core or quad core AMD setup.
A) Overall it's cheaper.
B) You don't seem to be the most demanding user.
C) You aren't going to be overclocking much, if any.

Build up the current fan favorite (AMD X3 720) and overclock just a little bit. It will be faster than what you have now and you will enjoy it.

That is my recommendation.

[pwcmed]

Thats a good point. Maybe you throw more money at the video card by getting a X3.

[DMB2000uk]

What's your overall budget for the parts you need? A pricepoint to aim for will let us suggest the best items in that price bracket.

Dan

[bigblockmatt]

AMD... never really looked into/thought about that.

Price point is 1,000 and that is the highest i would like to go.

[Major_A]

Well then the i7 is almost out.

i7 920 ~ $300
Cheapest X58 motherboard ~ $250
Cheapest 3GB DDR3 Kit ~ $60

Build Suggestion:
AMD X3 720 - $139
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros
Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H - $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128384
OCZ 4GB 1066Mhz DDR2 - $37.99 after $20 MIR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros
Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB 32MB Hard Drive - $78.89
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros
Corsair VX550 - $59.99 after $30 MIR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros
XFX GTS 250 1GB - $144.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros

=$600.85
Add the case, burner, monitor, and speakers you want.

[bigblockmatt]

wow. i like that number!!

[Bio-Hazard]

Well then the i7 is almost out.

i7 920 ~ $300
Cheapest X58 motherboard ~ $250
Cheapest 3GB DDR3 Kit ~ $60

Your Core i7 prices are off by just a bit...................

Core i7 920 at eWiz, shipped - $266
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=I7-920&c=pw

MSI, Asus or Gigabyte MoBo's for what he's looking at doing go for around $200 shipped, shop around and you can find them cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... rder=PRICE

6 gigs of many different quality tri-chan DDR3-1600 ram kits start at around $76 shipped and go up from there.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... DR3%201625

[Major_A]

That's what the ~ symbol means, roughly. $34 gets a ? From $266 that's only 12% or almost sales tax in some states. I didn't know that you could pick up a X58 motherboard for under $200 though. And it appears that DDR3 is finally coming down.

Taking all that into account I still think it is a waste for bigblockmatt.

[bigblockmatt]

since anything i get is will be pretty much better than what i have now, it is hard to say no to the AMD X3.

Question on the AMD: would i be able to upgrade (easily) in 6 month - 1 year without another major overhaul? is this older generation tech that no more improvements will be made in that level?

How does the ddr2 compare to the ddr3? where would i really see a difference?

What would i need to be doing to really justify getting the I7?


Windows Question: PWCMED, i didnt really understand what you said about the release key thing... if you wouldnt mind expanding


Thanks again everyone!! My Landlord has no more than 3 weeks to get my deposit back to me so that is really my time frame i am looking for. If there is a great deal on something, that's what i have credit cards for

[Major_A]

Well the X3 720 was released only a few months ago if memory serves me correctly. But that doesn't mean that AMD won't come out with a new socket in a year to replace the current 940 with a "better" one.

DDR2 vs DDR3 Articles
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1782/ ... index.html - Current Phenom II CPUs
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989 - Older Phenom CPUs
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... 810_7.html - Current Phenom II CPUs

What would i need to be doing to really justify getting the I7?

Two things that I've noticed where the i7 really shines is hardcore gaming and video encoding.

Windows Question: PWCMED, i didnt really understand what you said about the release key thing... if you wouldnt mind expanding

If you sign up for the Windows 7 beta the beta key doesn't expire for a year. Usually it's only good for 6 months. So basically you have a free OS for a year. But you said in a previous post that you have XP so I figured you would just re-use that and skip Vista all together. According to leaked Acer memos Windows 7 will be out by October of this year. So buying Vista at this point is a waste of money.

[bigblockmatt]

For my use/needs, AMD makes the most sense. I wont have top top stuff but i dont think i really need it (especially since i have been running on a P4 for the past how ever many years...)

ddr2 vs ddr3... still not sure. If i get a board that can do the ddr3, it seems to make more sense to me since that is the trend of things. I could get 4 gigs between 50 & 100 bucks.
- What would you all recommend the minimum amount of memory i get? 4 gigs?

still waiting on deposit $$ back... damn landlords...

[DMB2000uk]

Yeah, 4GB is a nice amount to have some headroom for future program bloat

And if you're going vista you'll appreciate the extra ram.

Dan

[bigblockmatt]

doesnt look like i will get vista. i'll stick with my XP until 7 comes out and upgrade then. doesnt really make sense to buy new OS now and then have 7 comeout in ~ 6 months.

[pwcmed]

Try out windows 7 RC, it's free and it will hold you up until it comes out. Should be October, maybe a little later.

[bigblockmatt]

I could do a dual boot right? Load up XP to start and get everything going/operating, then load in 7?