bang for the buck build...opinions..

[mj246969]

..well I've tried before and every time I think I've got the scratch someone throws a monkey into the mix and the $ is gone....BUT...this time I just got a $1600.00 merit bonus and after "uncle" gets his share I may have a grand to spend....I'm going to spend it before something else happens....well...maybe wait until after Christmas...maybe New Years if someone thinks the prices will drop enough...lol...
...but let's figure a week and I should do this....
...ok....1k or a little less...
I have a 300g VelociRaptor, and 640 &320 sata 2 drive(s)...wireless N card and the “basics” (22” wide screen lcd monitor,mouse,keyboard,logitec 5.1 surround sound speakers...and so forth)....

1. have a new Antec 900 cooler and a Hyper TX3 cpu cooler...will add fans as needed....

...so what I'm thinking...(and interject opinions at will...)


first off....AMD &890FX mobo: (yea....I'm an AMD fan...Intel guys feel free to suggest something faster for the money):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131655
(I figure in maybe a year or so I could drop in a killer 8 core)


CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
or:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808


(kind of want to O/C over 4ghz...but $41.00....and “might” get a 3.2 stable over 4ghz....{?}.....)
Ram: (ok....here's a question..the board says DDR3/2000.......if I bought say...DDR3/2200 would it be better to O/C or would the board have trouble “seeing” the higher speed ram?...also...would 1 stick of 4GB be better or 2 sticks/2GB each be better???
...thinking (add more later):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145317
or is this worth $20.00 more?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231370


..then....got to get the SSD, thinking about this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227601
...yes...I'll image it to another drive and when the prices come down buy another one or 2 and set up a RAID5 SSD array......(yes...dreaming at this point)
....now...video card....say $180 =/- $20.....best guess anyone???
....PSU,,,good 650w-700w?..suggest please....(say $100?)
...win7...pro or home???...I loved the beta & RC.....home seems slow on my lappy...but it's slow anyway..
...HD docking “station”.....still have good IDE drives & would love to “dock” SATA +IDE drives so anyone that
knows a good one that's USB3 please let me know...
...also...”ready boost”...would it be worth getting a USB3 flash drive and setting it up to use that feature??


...and yes...I'm up to $1100 - $1200....don't tell my wife...lol


.....am I missing anything???.....opinions please!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks in advance!!!!!!


MJ246969

[RedFury]

Well, I'm not as up to date on the newer systems being built, but the one thing I do know about any build I have made recently ( 4 core Intel for the wife a few years back ) is that the most important part of the computer is the power supply. I've read nothing but glowing reviews of and will continue to favor PC Power and Cooling power supplies...bad power will destroy the most thought out PC over time, so you want to make sure you don't scrimp on that one item, otherwise you are just asking for problems down the road. Feed the thing good juice-good system. Feed it garbage and you will curse the wretched thing.

I'm considering a new build for myself in the near future as I'm still running on this AMD 2500+ I built eons ago.

[mj246969]

I agree on the PSU...what I have now is 7 years old (amd sd4000 939 pin-I build it when the dual cores were about to come out....figured I'd upgrade the CPU when the dual cores came down in price...picked the wrong socket...lol)..anyway I bought a case/PSU combo with a 450W PSU that sounded good and after a couple mounths I started getting reboots, I knew the only thing that wasn't supect was the PSU so I put in a 480W Antec and haven't had trouble since...granted this is a single core 2.4ghz and not up to par with today's systems but it's been clocked at 2.8+ for 7 years and stays at 42c - 50c under load...
...back on topic...YES....I want a realy good power supply.....
.............suggestions?????

[stroyal]

Enermax
Corsair
OCZ

Or any one off the good list
Power Supply Info

The size of you power supply is pretty much determined by your video card, and it is a rare system that will need 600w, unless you have dual cards.

Most single card systems will run on 450W, if it is a quality brand name power supply.

[stroyal]

If you want to save a little money, the SSD is only going to speed up boots, and program loading.
I will have no effect on gaming, as you will have plenty of memory

[mj246969]

...bought the basics for the upgrade....please tell me what might not work for the setup so far:
...what I'm "recycleing from my present system:
...going to use the HD's1)WD 300g Velociptor,(1)640g WD SATAII,(1)320g WD SATAII HD,NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB),Monitor LG W2240(Digital) [NoDB] (002NDEZ3Z276),linksys wireless n card,Antec 480w PSU w/20+4 power connector and 6+4(?)...whatever full vid connector the 8800 card needed...also has 2 - 12v rails..I can get the exact model if there's any doubt it will support the system (please let me know if there are doubts)...1 each; wd300g velociraptor,640G + 320G SATAII drives,22"LG HD wide screen monitor,7.1 logtec 7.1 6 channel speakers,wireless mouse & keyboard ect..
...buying this:
1
AMD Battlefield Bad Company 2 Gift Coupon
Item #: N82E16800995092
Downloadable Software Return Policy
$29.99
1
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131655
Standard Return Policy
$184.99
$174.99
1
Sharkoon QuickPort Combo 2.5" & 3.5" Black USB 2.0 HDD Docking Station
Item #: N82E16817735001
Standard Return Policy
$39.99
1
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103808
CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
$144.99
1
G.SKILL Flare 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL9D-4GBFLS
Item #: N82E16820231371
Memory Standard Return Policy
$139.99
1
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116758
Software Standard Return Policy
$119.99
1
DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #25151
-$29.99
Subtotal $619.95
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 Days $5.80
Order Total $625.75
...I plan on researching and upgrading the video card in a month or two (suggestings please)...adding another 4gs (2x2g) or maybe a (2x4g) of the same G.SKILL Flare Ram...and a 90-120g SSD..or 2 50-60 SSD's and set up raid 5 with the wd300g velociraptor as the raid backup drive...lot's of upgrade options this way...
...
... so please let me know if I'm missing anything,,,does this sound like a good start???
..is there anything I missing??
......feedback please...
..thank you in advance ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
mJ246969

[JasmineTF]

I do know about any build I have made recently ( 4 core Intel for the wife a few years back ) is that the most important part of the computer is the power supply. I've read nothing but glowing reviews of and will continue to favor PC Power and Cooling power supplies...bad power will destroy the most thought out PC over time, so you want to make sure you don't scrimp on that one item, otherwise you are just asking for problems down the road.

I always thought, "A power supply is a power supply is a power supply." I never thought about "good" or "bad" power. I figured they all worked or they didn't, and that it was pretty cut and dried.

How about Silencer Mk II 650W for $120? The reviews I read seem to praise it highly and, from what you said, it has plenty of power.

[mj246969]

...well...I ended up with the 945 (cpuz says 955, I think it's because the motherboard has "cpu step up" for easy oc'ing)...anyway, the temp shown is at idle and running 3d mark it's only maxed out at 47...no signs of any problems at this speed and I have not even pushed the voltages other than to take them off "auto" and set them for manual....
...looks like I could get a bit more out of it if I try...but not too bad of an O/C from 3.2ghz!!!!!!!!!!!!
...let me know what you guys think, ok??

http://markscomputerstuff.webs.com/945%20oc.jpg

[mj246969]

...ok...bought a couple more things:
Newegg.com - OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - HIS IceQ X Turbo H685QNT1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

...what you guys think??

[nwo75200]

...ok...bought a couple more things:
Newegg.com - OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - HIS IceQ X Turbo H685QNT1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

...what you guys think??

If I am reading correctly, that PSU only has a maximum output of around 450W on the 12v rails, so it probably isn't one of the better quality PSUs on the market, but it is a pretty good price for a modular PSU if you take the MIR into account.

As far as the graphics card goes, it's way too overpriced. You could have spent a little bit more on a significantly (20-30%) faster 5870 (I think they are $220-230 now) or spent less on an equally performing GTX 460 1GB ($160+).

[ShyguyXPC]

PSU is fine, 450W Total Combined +12V power, there's at least 37A combined power on 12V for the cards, which is more than enough for a single higher end card and the rest of the system.

Though its Overpriced, as your paying for the Fancy Schmancy Bling Bling Red Lighting (And Sorry if this offends anyone, no intentions), Gay A$$ "Fatal1ty" Branding.


$10 more and could of gotten this instead, more power, far greater +12V power, and modular: Newegg.com - Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

Agreed on the pricing of the Video Card, its too high for a 6850, a GTX 460 1GB would be better performing and cost that price, probably even less.

Radeon 6870 costs close to the $200 Mark and in some/many games comes close or even Bests, the GTX 470.

5870's: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,Radeon HD 5000 series,Radeon HD 5870

6870's: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,Radeon HD 6000 series,Radeon HD 6870

GTX 460 1GB: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,GeForce GTX 400 series,GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi),1GB