Hey everyone, new here to Bit-Tech, Here's some background on my current rig P4 2.66 Northwood (533Mhz FSB) ASUS P4S800D-X 2x 512 MB Corsair DDR 400 PNY 6800GT Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Maxtor 200GB IDE WD 120 GB IDE PC Power & Cooling 610W Silencer Old huh? =P So lately the computer has having problem starting up, sound card emitting whines (probably due to drivers). So since this computer is 8 years old, I decided it was high time to build a new rig. My current budget is 1000 dollars and I will be using my PSU, Case (Antec P160W), DVD and DVD-RW drives. I need to format my current rig and see if a fresh install of the sound card fixes the errors. If the card is fine, I'll just re-use my SB Audigy 2 Plat. With 1000 dollars this is what I've come down to AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb (AM2+) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471 Gigabye GA MA790X-UD4 motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128381 Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066Mhz (PC-8500) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220315 WD 640GB SATA HD (already purchased $5 coupon expired 3/4/09) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 Now when it comes to the video card, I was thinking either a GTX 280 or GTX 285. I found a Galaxy GTX 280 w/ HDMI adapter and SPDIF cable @ zipzoomfly for 299.99 However, looking at BFG/XFX/EVGA with their lifetime warranties, would it be better to invest in a GTX 285? The XFX GTX 285 lowest price does not include an HDMI adapter and internal SPDIF cable and I really don't know where to get the cable. However all the XFX cards have a free copy of Far Cry 2 and COD5 is a NVIDIA gift. Should I get the lowest XFX card and save for the possible OC i can get from it? Or should I go to a BFG card that is slightly more expensive but cheaper after rebate? It has a HDMI adapter and SPDIF cable as well as the COD5 gift? So what do you guys think about the build so far? For a 1000 budget, does it seem ok? Arguments for Intel? Phenom II X3 and AM3 w/ DDR3? I would appreciate any suggestions you guys have. Thanks!
what resolution will you be gaming at? i cant really comment on american prices, but is there a particular reason you've gone AMD over intel? if not then the intel quads tend to run cooler, clock higher and you dont have to make do with below par AMD chipsets. as far as graphics options go the GTX285 is just a die shrink of the 280, so the gpu runs cooler and can be clocked further (sorry if you know this not sure where you're up to). it really depends how bothered you are about the advantages. the 280/5 is a very fast card whatever way you look at it so if you can pick up a 280 cheap that may be the way to go (depending on the resolution you're running). as for cables etc i wouldnt let that sort of thing effect your decision on a gfx card purchase really as you can probs pick them up on amazon for buttons.
I currently have the Samsung 2233BW, so i guess i'll mostly be gaming at 1680x1050 resolution for the time being. When this monitor goes (and it's new, so when my parent's current monitor goes ) i will hopefully pick up a 24" monitor so i can run this rig at 1920X1200 resolution. I can pick up the AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black edition for 219.00 USD. The comparable C2Q is more than 100 dollars more expensive (when looking at straight 3.0Ghz speeds). Since my last rig lasted about 8 years, I'm hoping to get 5-6 years from this one
An Intel solution could be a bit faster and could also be a bit more low-power. AMD haven't had as much luck doing low-power processors with their Phenom series as with the original Athlon64 series. Price might go up a bit though. You CANNOT compare current AMD and Intel processors purely from speeds. Intel's offerings are quite a bit faster than their AMD counterparts. I'm more concerned about your PSU. Watt-wise it's probably beefy enough, but how much can the 12V rail(s) cope with? These days that's what matters the most.
Where are you getting that from? Sure, Core 2 Quad is a bit faster than Phenom IIs on a clock-by-clock basis, but these aren't duds that can't clock above 3.1GHz anymore. 3.6-3.8GHz on air is basically the norm for the X4 940. Their power usage is essentially the same as a Core 2 Quad (they do about 10W better idle and about 10W worse load). The final conclusion from most reviewers around the internet is that Phenom II marks "a true return to competition" (quote f/Anandtech) for AMD. Yes, the "comparable" C2Q is not the 3GHz Q9650. But when the Phenom II was released, the consensus was that the X4 940 was more or less the new AMD equivalent of the Q9550 (which runs at 2.83GHz stock, btw). At the time, that was a match in both performance and price. Today the X4 940 is a full $55 cheaper than the Q9550. Not quite $100, but still a considerable amount cheaper nonetheless. My recommendation is to stick with AMD. - Diosjenin -
I vote Dragon platform: AMD Phenom II, whatever chipset (I don't know anything about chipsets really) and a 4800 series graphics card. However, the 285 is undoubtedly the fastest single-chip card around, but you pay for it. The 4800 series can be had pretty cheap, comparatively. Here's one I'd like to have for $220.
I have absolutely no problem with AMD processors. My current system's based around one. What I meant was that e.g. a 3GHz C2Q will run faster than a 3GHz Phenom II and it will. That's what I meant when I stated that you cannot compare AMD and Intel CPUs on (clock) speeds. I also stated that an Intel solution would likely be more expensive than an AMD solution. In any case I certainly did not want to dissuade bane in getting an AMD system. I would however suggest he get a Phenom II AM3 since it can run in both DDR2 AM2+ and DDR3 AM3 boards.
Remember, they're limited to only 99 per customer! I second choosing a HD48xx card, by the way. You really get a lot of boom! for your cash.
After having no internet for 2 days, i finally can come back and comment. Here are the two possible rigs I will be looking at AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE Gigabyte MA790X-UD4 Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC1066 EVGA GTX285 SC (still up in the air) Intel i7 920 Nehalem 2.66Ghz ASUS P6T LGA 1366 X58 OCZ (3x1GB) DDR3 PC3 10666 EVGA GTX285 SC Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling 610W Silencer <--- enough? Hard Drive: WD 640GB SATA Comment: I am currently running XP Pro 32bit and do not have the funds to purchase another OS. I chose the 3GB set because 32bit OS can't address 6GB of memory. However there is a combo on the ASUS P6T motherboard and Corsair XMS3 6 GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600. So what do you think of the builds? I want to get a single video card solution, and the rig will have to last for quite awhile (around 5 years) with minimal upgrades.
Intel are generally quieter and more flexible, is I think the general consensus. 610W should be fine; try a PSU calculator (http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp) if you haven't already for a roughly accurate picture. I like Corsair's modular ones, great little things - check out their HX620W if you like. The OS is more of a problem - Vista's still pretty much £90, which is £70 too much when 7 will allegedly be out soon, especially as that will take advantage of the RAM...
No way you can get a roughly accurate picture with a PSU calculator, even less with that one you linked to. It usually overestimates the power consumption with 50-200%. If you want a somewhat accurate, but still a bit overestimated number, try this one: http://web.aanet.com.au/SnooP/psucalc.php
If you haven't got enough for a new OS, keep the XP 32bit for now and get Win7 64bit when it's out (hopefully later this year). Also, I'd say cut back on the 285 (you'll save a shedload (read: £100 here in the UK)) and once again, I'll show my vote for the ATi 48** cards.
