Looking for suggestions

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jinxwolf69
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Looking for suggestions

Post by jinxwolf69 »

Hey guys,

I am currently looking to upgrade my system/make a new rig. I used to be much more up to date on the tech and pricing and such than I currently am so I thought I would come here for some suggestions. I am looking to build a budget gaming rig so to speak. I am looking to spend about $600.00-$700.00 USD on the unit. Not buying any monitor or keyboard... just the tower unit. I am having a hard time deciding if I should spend the extra money on an intel processor or stay with AMD for the lower pricing as well. So my question is, given todays computer technology, any suggestions on what would give me the best bang for my money here? I appreciate the help and apologize for not keeping up on technology as much as I used to.

By the way, I don't do much hardcore gaming like I used to, I may play a little Half life and such but mostly mmorpg's like WoW and SWToR. Just looking for something to run them better than what i have now.

Thanks
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Sttm »

Couple questions.

What do you have now? If have like a Phenom II Quad at 3.2 with a 5770 graphics card, $600 wont get you that much better.

Do you already have a Hard Drive you can use, since the current cost is quite high. And do you already have a copy of Windows 7 for it?
7200 rpm 500gb drives are $100 right now, and you might already have one. They havent changed much in the past few years anyway.

If you had those 2, then you could do something like this from NewEgg:

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black Computer Case $59.99
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS $19.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W Power Supply $69.99
ASUS ENGTX560 DC/2DI/1GD5 $194.99
ASUS P8H67-V (REV 3.0) ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $104.99
{Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
-$13.00 Combo $239.98 $226.98}
CORSAIR CAFA50 120mm CPU Cooler 34.99

$711.92, with about $50 in rebates.

Otherwise you have to take $200 out of it for Windows and the Hard Drive. Which probably means dropping the Graphics down to a HD 6770 and the cpu to an i3 2100 and cutting the psu down to a 500w cheap brand. Which would not be very satisfying, and in fact be a remarkably worse system in the long run.

If it was me I would want to wait until I had enough to get a Core i5 with at least a $150+ graphics card, a Radeon HD 6850 being the minimum.

Oh and the AMD FX cpus are not a good buy at all for gaming, your much better off saving for an i5 or even getting an older Thuban based Phenom II.
Core i7 2600k/ ASUS P8Z68-V Z68/ 8gb Corsair Vengeance 1600 Blue/ EVGA Geforce GTX 560ti Maximum Graphics Edition/Windows 7/Antec 300/Antec 650w/LG Blu Combo/Hp 27inch 2710M/Samsung P2770HD

"I think sharing is overrated...and helping others. And what's all this crap I've been hearing about tolerance?"
jinxwolf69
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Re: Looking for suggestions

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Right now I am running an AMD Athlon II x4 635 processor and running a nvidia gts 250. My mobo (forget the model but it is an asus) can handle up to a 1055T processor. I do have the ability to switch my HD over to a new system as it has plenty of space left on it for what I do. My cpu fan died about 2 weeks ago and i am afraid it damaged my cpu as my system does not seem to be running as smoothly as it used to and Windows has prompted me to change my desktop settings to improve performance.

As far as the windows 7 disk, I have my system disk that was supplied by cyberpower when I bought my last rig but I am not sure how compatible that will be if i swap mobo's and such. I am thinking so long as I keep the HD intact it should be fine and just ask me to update the mobo drivers, although I usually like to format when I do these things so that may or may not work. I could also knock off the dvd as mine should work fine already and can be ported over as well. I will have to check my PS when i get home but i think i already have a 600W but could be mistaken. I may call them about it since I was actually charged for a windows 7 operating system, i am hoping they didn't use a site license and give me a repair type disk.

I know it is really limiting operating within the budget I am looking at here but having a new baby in the house = less money on my new rig lol.

I may look into what you posted there and see if i can find some discount codes maybe.

Appreciate the info though.

Thanks
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Velo:Sity
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Velo:Sity »

There still seems to be some life in your machine. I'd keep the board, drop in 1055T, new video card, SSD and you will experience quite a performance bump.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by jinxwolf69 »

This was my backup plan if i couldn't get what I wanted with an I5 processor. Upgrade to 8gb ram new vid and max the processor on my board. I haven't paid much attention to the SSD technology so a quick question, I see they all have lower drive space than current non ssd hd's, are you in essence giving up space for speed of access when you upgrade to SSD?
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Velo:Sity »

Ideally, of course, you would put all your files on SSD. But it is enough to put OS and program installations on SSD to greatly cut down on waiting times while doing routine operations on your PC and make it much more enjoyable.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

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So here is what I have found on newegg so far and this is if i keep my current MB and just max out the processor it can handle:

ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply
Thermaltake CLP0579 120mm Contac 30 Intel LGA-2011 Ready 160W TDP Heatpipe Direct-contact Technology CPU Cooler
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) <------ would the 120gb be overkill?
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B


This comes to about $650.00. I need to verify my MB can handle the 125W on the processor and not really sure i need the cpu fan as i already have an aftermarket Thermaltake fan on my current processor. So may can get it under 100.00.

Is the 1055T still a fairly decent processor these days vs newer tech? I know the new FX bulldozers are mostly craptastic but the intels are pretty rocking these days aren't they? If only I had an unlimited budget lol.

Anyway, thanks again for all the help guys.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by jinxwolf69 »

Quick question,

Got the model # of my MB and it is an Asus M4A78LT-M LE. The book says it can only handle processors up to 95W/45 nm and the only 1055T's I can seem to find are 125W. Seems like I am kind of screwed here? So may be back to looking for an I-5 kit to set up again. Back to the drawing board... lol
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Velo:Sity
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Velo:Sity »

Yeah, unless you want to look elsewhere for 95W x6, not much CPU upgrade options with this motherboard. Plus, if you upgrade your motherboard, you could get features like USB3 and SATA6 which would further enhance transfer speeds. That SSD, for example, needs SATA6 to reach top speeds. 120GB should be enough, you can check how much place Windows + software take on your PC now and you will approximately know which SSD size you need.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

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Well after a lot of debate last night, I ended going this route:

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

and stayed under $600.00 plus a few rebates for about 40.00 total will put me down to about $550. I still may pick up a new case, any opinions on the Rosewill cases? I was looking at one of those last night (Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, front mounted dual USB 3.0).

My PSU is confirmed as a 600W so no need to get that. I will probably pick up the SSD next month. Now just to wait and make sure my Windows 7 disk from Cyberpower will work. Hopefully since I am keeping the HD it will work. if not I guess I'll be buying windows 7 again.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Major_A »

600W doesn't mean much. It could be 600W of waiting to fry every component in your system. Can you crack open the case and let us know the make and the specifics.

Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ir%20tx650
Output: +3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V@53A, [email protected], [email protected]

That's what I want to see if you can find it on your current model.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by jinxwolf69 »

Ok, i remembered my brand of PSU and it shipped with the generic cyberpower xtremegear PSU which apparently is a PoS PSU. After looking into them, they are not really recommended for much and discouraged when buying from cyberpower. (who'd of thunk all the years i used to make my own rigs I never really paid much attention to this one aspect).

So with that said I am considering this unit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817152035

any thoughts? and yeah... I like pretty blue lights.. my kids get a kick out of them. i want to put that in this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811147145

or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129066
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Major_A »

Cases are a personal preference. Kind of like buying a pair of shoes. What I might like you might hate.

This doesn't have any LED fans but I don't trust Raidmax one bit. This unit is $5 more than the Raidmax after a mail in rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817207013
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by jinxwolf69 »

I added this PSU today (the one major linked earlier), they have 15% off today and there is an alleged $20.00 rebate so it runs $57.00:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139020


Also added this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811147108

Nothing overly fancy but it keeps me just over my budget and after rebates I should still be under $700.00.

Would have really liked to get the I5-2500K but gotta work within the means I have. I don't think it will come out too bad though for what I am doing.
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Re: Looking for suggestions

Post by Major_A »

Good choice for the power supply. I have the 1st generation of that model and it works great.

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