Fizban140 Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week or next. BUDGET RANGE: My budget is about $1200 but I am willing to spend whatever to get the best price for performance, with an edge towards performance. SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, media, web use. PARTS NOT REQUIRED: PSU, input devices, speakers. PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com PARTS PREFERENCES: Just a preference of quality OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe MONITOR RESOLUTION: Whatever, haven't considered it yet. I want a build that will last a while and be able to be upgraded (or is that a bad idea?). I know it is low but I have not decided on a monitor yet, if anyone could recommend one that would be great. I saw dell has a lot of great deals and if I wait out slickdeals.net long enough I can find one. Right now this is what I am looking at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129042 $54.95 Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136319 $74.99 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128387 $109.99 GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail [/b] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161276 $199.99 after $25.00 Mail-In Rebate IS Hightech H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231207 $46.99 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103471 $189.99 AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817703009 Already own PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Retail The total is about $700 which is low but from what I can tell is going to perform on games almost as well as system that do cost more, is it worth the money to spend maybe $300 more or so on the CPU/mb and video card? Also getting 2 120mm fans and some arctic silver five. I am debating on if I should go with an intel cpu instead, possibly even the i7 which seems like it would be a better socket that will last longer although I doubt I will need that kind of processing power for games so the money seems wasted. Also the graphics card is a little expensive but I can afford it, it there any real performance increase over a 4870 or a 260? Both of which are cheaper. I am purchasing all these parts from and to the US, do not intend on overclocking but it is something I am interested in and might consider it if it is really worth it. I have a baraccuda AC-1 sound card, should I continue to use that, go with onboard or get a new card? One last thing, I am debating on if it is worth getting a more expensive CPU or should I stick with an e8400 and overlock it? I have no overclocking experience but I really want to get into it with this build. I am trying to decide between the i7, e8400 or phenom x4 940/955. Is anything above an e8400 really worth it for gaming? I could get an e8400 and CPU heatsink for the price of a x4 940. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GabrielT Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) Well if you really want to get into overclocking I suggest you get the e8400 and a good heat sink but since I am kind of a newbie here myself I couldn't actually tell you if you would see gains over the X4 but I suspect you would. That video card would most likely give you great performance unless you plan to use a real high resolution screen. I would go for a 260 if you could find one cheaper than the 4870 because the performance is nearly the same. I wouldn't change your sound card unless your dissatisfied with it. It's a couple years old but still seems solid. You probably don't need an i7 for gaming, but it wouldn't be a bad option for future proofing. If anybody thinks I am not giving good advice lemme know alright. Edited May 25, 2009 by gabrieltessin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetfats Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) You are looking at a system very similar to mine, i think I even have the same mobo I was going into the build with the same intentions of getting the most for my money like you are I am incredibly happy with my cpu and have found no reason thus far for more power there. I originally bought the 4870 as the 4890 was not even out yet.. I soon found myself looking for more power. I think to do it all over again instead of going with one 4870 and then another I would have just gone straight for a gtx 285 or 295. That case is very good for the price but I put some screen above the top vent and the side vent because dust was getting into them. Where I shop I have found the acer 23" 1920x 1080 to be of excelllent value,,, if you want to go even one inch bigger the price seems to jump a fair bit. Personally I reccomend going with a screen with this resolution or higher or you will be way behind the crowd and you wont be using the potential of your video card. Good luck with your build edit: wait till someone that knows what there talking about confirms this but I think you should go with some 1066mhz ram Edited May 25, 2009 by feetfats Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9KRacing Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) Yes, if you plan on OCing you will want 1066mhz ram. Also I would recomend an E8*00 chip for gaming, yes. They OC like a SOB and every review I have ever seen shows the E8500 producing higher FPS in games than any quad core out except the 9770. Edited May 25, 2009 by 9KRacing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizban140 Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) Do you have a link to the charts? Edited May 25, 2009 by Fizban140 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocre Posted May 25, 2009 Posted May 25, 2009 Why not the i7? you can easily fit one into that price range. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizban140 Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 Why not the i7? you can easily fit one into that price range. Is an i7 worth the money for gaming though? I would rather spend the extra money on a nice monitor instead of a CPU I will likely never reach the potential of on just video games. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkrow21 Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 Yes, if you plan on OCing you will want 1066mhz ram. Also I would recomend an E8*00 chip for gaming, yes. They OC like a SOB and every review I have ever seen shows the E8500 producing higher FPS in games than any quad core out except the 9770. Why not the i7? you can easily fit one into that price range. Most games don't support four cores and the ones that do probably don't need that horsepower. Not to mention the few situations where it will come in handy to have an i7 are going to make your wallet scream. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9KRacing Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 (edited) Do you have a link to the charts? Chart #1 Chart #2 Chart #3 Chart #4 Chart #5 Chart #6 OCing an E8500 to 4.8ghz on air... WHEEEEEEE Theres moar but I'm bored. Case in point is that for todays games you would be hard pressed to find anything close for the money as the E8*00 chips. Edit: almost forgot my favorite benchmark for everyone that says it's not all about gaming speed yada yada yada.... Edited May 26, 2009 by 9KRacing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocre Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 Is an i7 worth the money for gaming though? I would rather spend the extra money on a nice monitor instead of a CPU I will likely never reach the potential of on just video games. In multi gpu setups the i7 leaves all other processors standing. The scaling is great. In single gpu setups you dont need the i7, not at all. But most ppl now a days dont start off with a $1200 budget. At least not in my neck of the woods. You see if thats all the money you want to throw at it with the monitor you know you still have enough to get some very good components. Most of the people I build for usually get more stuff for their nice fancy rig in just a few months. You know get one GPU and then another gpu in like 2 months. Anyway thats an option that i think is great. Kinda keeps the excitement going. So no for the average gaming rig the i7 isnt at all what i would recommend. But your case you could easily end up with the the tops gaming rig. The i7 is tops for tripple sli or 2 4870x2s in one rig. I would go Nvidia for sli over crossfire because there is just more SLI support in more varietiy of games. Anyhow whatever you do will be fine as long as it pleases you. I very seldom advise the i7 but if you can see where i am coming from you would just be so close to the top, why not? But if not the i7 i would go the e8xxx route. I would actually go with an amd quad. You will see games are becoming more and more cpu demanding. The i7 will crush any dual core in multithreaded games. And they are more and more on the way. Thats FACT. Last year was an easy call for duals over quad for gaming. The year of the quad is 2009. They are at such an affordable price now. Thats real and games will take advantage of this. Some already have. Why bother with a dual right now. Sure the old games are well optimized for duals, but things are already moving. The games out ther that show the e8500 ahead of the quads are misleading. Sure they might benchmark a few fps higher but you will never notice that. NEVER. but what you can notice is if you encoded a DVD and played a demand game. The quad will be smoother. The e8500 doesnt really perform better although you might get a few more fps on a benchmark. You still dont feel the improvement. But there are games out now that you can feel the advantage the quads have over duals. So thats it, You see i have reasons although you might not agree, I do have a point Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizban140 Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 (edited) The only problems with the charts is that the X4 was not even on there. Also to upgrade from my build to an i7 would be atleast $200, is that worth it? This is the new RAM I am going to get. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231219 G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $49.99 Also there are so many sticks of RAM I have no idea how to chose which to get, how is that RAM any different from this RAM? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231209 Is this monitor good for gaming? http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...&lid=628335 It does not have to be incredible for gaming but it should work right? Edited May 26, 2009 by Fizban140 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
enragingchaos Posted May 26, 2009 Posted May 26, 2009 (edited) Is this monitor good for gaming?http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...&lid=628335 It does not have to be incredible for gaming but it should work right? http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1359955 http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...f0fp20981c0s558 For the money it's going to be cheaper and better. Compare the two and decide for yourself, buddy. The Samsung has a higher contrast ratio. It seems like they're close in specs. I would just look at that one before making a final decision. Especially since you get $100 off that price plus if you use a promo code you get 10% additional off of that. Can't beat that deal. Especially if you're willing to spend what you are on the Dell. Good luck! Edited May 26, 2009 by enragingchaos Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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