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Optimum PC upgrade for under a grand?

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Death Rabbit, Jul 30, 2010.

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  1. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Remove all ads!
    [​IMG] Yo.

    It's been a while since I've posted anything, let alone one of my famous "I'm too dumb/lazy to research this stuff on my own, so tell me what to buy" tech threads. High time we had one, eh? :heh:

    I'm about 3-4 months away from the upgrade in question. I'm definitely upgrading all the following:
    • Processor
    • Motherboard
    • RAM
    • Hard Drive
    • Operating System (will go from XP to Windows7)
    Pieces I won't upgrade unless I have to:
    • Tower (Antec Sonata - 6 years old)
    • Power Supply (Antec Neo HE 500w - 3 years old)
    • GPU (nVidia 8800GTX)
    Things I won't be upgrading:
    • My monitor (Acer P243i - still amazing)
    • Speakers, keyboard, mouse, cables, wireless card, etc.

    I'm thinking Quad-Core i5 or i7 processor (I've heard good things about the Lynnfield). I've historically been an AMD guy, but I'd be interested in giving Intel a try.

    I'll be using this PC primarily for gaming. Specifically, the upcoming titles Civilization 5, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Diablo 3, Dragon Age 1 & 2 and a slew of others. My 8800GTX is getting a bit old, but I'd like to get more use out of her, and she can still max any of my current games with ease.

    I've been scouting the combo deals on NewEgg for a while, but nothing I've seen yet is a "holy hand grenade, that's THE ONE!!"

    Helpedy-help-help. Thanks. :wave:
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 30, 2010
    #1
  2. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    If you still want NVIDIA... I'd suggest waiting to see what they do with the GF104. Now isn't the time to upgrade your graphics card if it's a 8800.
     
    Taza, Jul 30, 2010
    #2
  3. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Good advice, Taz. I have been holding off as well on upgrading my 9800GT. This is not a good time if nVidia is the choice. Still, ATI is looking more and more tempting everyday. But I'm still waiting on the specs for TES V before I jump in.
     
    Chandos the Red, Jul 30, 2010
    #3
  4. Topken

    Topken Elven-dragon wizard

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    ive been looking at the i5 personally myself with what i need to upgrade to. im currently running a single core amd athlon 64bit 3500+ so upgrading to an i5 for about $700-$750 but lets see how much i have when the time comes to upgrade in december or janurary after the holidays. so i might be able to snag a sale then. i wont need to upgrade my gpu sence i have a new gts 250 sence i had issues with my old geforce 7600 gs dying and taking the slot it was in withit. now my whole motherboard is shot. im currently using my moms old pc sence she just got a new windows 7 machine. ill b e upgrading from windows xp to 7 ont he new pc. this pc is running windows vista which i find kinda funny that ill be using this os for a few months before getting windows 7.just bought a new psu sence i had to replace the old 400watt that died in the other pc. i got a 750 watt for only $35 from www.pcdirect.com got the gpu for only around $100 from newegg.
     
    Topken, Jul 30, 2010
    #4
  5. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Oh, DR, I like my Intel I5 750. With my Gigabyte 55A-4P mainboard I was able to update the BOIS to unlock the core. Now I can just pretty much type in the speed I want it to run at into the CMOS (as long as it stays cool enough). Runs great!

    Mainboard, CPU and Memory (4 GB Corsair, DDR3 PC1600) was only $425.00 on NewEgg as a bundled deal (and that was at Xmas).
     
    Chandos the Red, Jul 30, 2010
    #5
  6. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Is my power supply sufficient to run what you have, plus my GPU?
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 30, 2010
    #6
  7. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    DR - I have a 650w PS and it runs everything just fine - plus 2 640GB HDDs, 2 DVD-RW drives, the 9800GT, an SB X-Fi Titanium SC and 3 case fans. The I5 750 only uses 95W.
     
    Chandos the Red, Jul 30, 2010
    #7
  8. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    About the same here, and I also have a 650W - powering a quad Intel 9450, 8GB RAM, 2x 640GB, 2 DVD drives, an SSD, and ATI 4870, three case fans .... No problems whatsoever.
     
    Ragusa, Jul 30, 2010
    #8
  9. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Appreciated, but mine is a 500w - not a 650w. I'll only be running the processor, a single optical drive, a single hard drive, 4g (or so) of DDR3 ram, and my 8800. Not much smaller than a 650w, but is it enough?
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 30, 2010
    #9
  10. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    I'm holding off on any upgrades until Intel has a chipset that natively supports SATA 3 and USB 3.0. That will most likely be on X68 based mobos...and the rumor is that they could hit the street anywhere in Q4 to early-2011.

    DR - What is your current CPU/Mobo?

    Also, I'm running an overclocked Intel C2D E8400 along with an overclocked AUSU Maximus Extreme mobo, ATI 5850, 4 sticks of RAM, and 4 HDDs...all on a 850W PSU, which is *more* than capable. :D
     
    Kitrax, Jul 31, 2010
    #10
  11. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    The system I built back in '06 (wow!):

    ABIT KN8 SLi motherboard
    AMD 64 FX-55 Clawhammer CPU
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 31, 2010
    #11
  12. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    I believe the FX-55 a 65 watt processor but I'm not positive. I think it would run, but you are probably close to the max. Antec is a pretty good brand, so I wouldn't replace the PSU just yet.
     
    Chandos the Red, Jul 31, 2010
    #12
  13. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Blackthorne TA, Jul 31, 2010
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  14. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Ok, good. Thanks for the clear-up on the power.

    Here's a package I'm looking at:

    Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66Ghz
    + GIGABYTE GA-P55a-UD4P Motherboard (combo) link = $360
    Seagate Barracuda 750GB SATA Hdd link = $70
    4GB G.SKILL DDR3 RAM link = $100
    OEM Copy of Windows 7 = $100

    Total = $630

    Well under budget! Thoughts?
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 31, 2010
    #14
  15. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    Sounds nice overall but since I had two Barracudas failing late last year I can't with a good conscience recommend them (it was apparently limited to that particular production lot of 32MB/7200 250GB drives, but anyway).

    I have two WD Caviar Black now, also 32MB/7200 drives, albeit in 640GB capacity, and I am happy - they're fast and quiet. And as I see they haven't gotten much cheaper since I bought mine six months ago.

    And if you feel you're seriously under budget and have money to spare - theere's no limit to goldplating :D SSDs go well with Windows 7, and are fast ;)
     
    Ragusa, Jul 31, 2010
    #15
  16. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    I swear PC prices don't make sense. It used to be that after 6-7 months the same parts were much cheaper. Now they are the same.

    DR - That's the same CPU/mainboard that I have. I've been really pleased with both. I'm not real pleased with Windows 7 though. It's got some nice features but it is quirky and over 150 updates already - and it's only been 10 months! I still use the W XP half of my computer for really touchy programs.

    Ragusa - I have the blue version of the same drives and had one fail after several months. They replaced it with NP though.

    SSD - That's the way to go, but prices are falling fast on that particular part.
     
    Chandos the Red, Jul 31, 2010
    #16
  17. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    Chandos,
    as for WD drive failures ... LA-LA-LA! ... what did you say? didn't hear you ... :1eye:

    And my Intel X-25M SSD in 80 GB is still nearly as expensive as it was five months ago ... :o ... but I agree, they are the future (I am VERY pleased with mine) and with time they'll get larger (important - the larger the faster) and cheaper. In a year or so, I estimate that you'll get a decent 128 GB one for approx € 150.

    And as for crazy prices: My particular RAM modules (Apogee DDR-2 1066 w heat sinks; no longer in production) actually are iirc now going for 20% more than what I paid when I bought them, trend rising.
     
    Ragusa, Jul 31, 2010
    #17
  18. Merlanni

    Merlanni Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    500 watt is enough, like the others already said.

    Setup looks nice.
     
    Merlanni, Jul 31, 2010
    #18
  19. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    IIRC, SATA3 and USB3.0 will hog up 8x of your 16x PCIe bus. That's why I'm waiting for native support on the chipset.

    Other than that, your setup looks pretty sweet. :thumb:
     
    Kitrax, Aug 1, 2010
    #19
  20. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Ok, so if the Seagate Barracuda is a bad investment, I think maybe I'll go for the WD. It's a little cheaper anyway, and if the reviews on NewEgg are any indication, it's pretty popular. Admittedly, I'm hesitant to go with WD, since I always considered them an inferior brand. But they may have improved their quality in the years since I have had a WD drive that failed on me (back in 2002).

    Unless anyone has a recommendation for a different drive. At the end of the day, either would probably be fine, at least for a few years.
     
    Death Rabbit, Aug 1, 2010
    #20
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