El Needs A Big Favor From Geeks

[EvansLight]

El's computer is old and ready to die (some parts in it are at least 8yr old) and i need a new one. I really want to build my own, but even though i know how, and done if before, im out of it with currently tech. and where to buy stuff. I just need some links to what yall would buy. Or if you know of a place that sells the kind of desktop i want hell give me a link

I know i want a decent rig for gaming and photo editing, and i know i really want an Intel Quad Core, and a decent nVidia gfx card. I dont need a huge amount of ram, but i do need a good 500gb of HD space at least. I also would love a decent looking tower. Other than that everything is up to anyone who can come up with parts for a computer.

I found a Lenovo desktop at Office Depot, it has the quad core cpu, as well as 500gb HD, but shitty gfx for $550; would that be a better bet? Just get that and upgrade it? It also comes with an OS, which i will also need to buy

But i would love help, i really want to get a new computer and i need to start getting serious about it. If i can find the parts ill just slowly buy them and build my dream system, but if i have to i can live with that Lenovo with upgrades. Let me know

[EvansLight]

yea i forgot to put in a budget. It might be a bit optimistic, but i would like to spend less then $1,000

And for the hell of it, i went to Puget and built this XD
http://www.pugetsystems.com/?u=8730

[nicayotte]

I can help you, this is what I do for a living, your budgets 1000 i will get a thing sorted tonight and pm u

[gaia.plateau]

I just had a rig custom-built for me at my buddy's shop, for a bottle of Gibon's over cost... was $750 with taxes, in October. They built it for "Maximum value under $1k"; I could have gotten a quad core and the 8800gts video card, but that would have put me up well over a grand. Had a few parts ripped out of my old rig as well (140GB HD, Sound Card, 2GB RAM).

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
MSI MS-7270 Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
4GB DDR2 RAM, 460GB Dual HD (320 & 140)
DVDW/R, 16 USB ports and 4 card readers Edited February 10, 2008 by gaia.plateau

[oolatec]

Newegg has a ton of rebates/combo deals... $1060.94 plus another $70 off with mail-in rebates will get you a killer system.
[attachment=1057:Clipboard01.jpg]

Oops... and a 500GB Seagate... if you can spend a little over $100 your budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148136 Edited February 10, 2008 by oolatec

[Bulldog_916]

RAIDMAX XFORCE ATX-728WB Black Aluminum Front Panel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail -----|
RAIDMAX Volcano RX-630A ATX12V / EPS12V 630W Power Supply - Retail-----------------------------------| Combined $144.98

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail--------------------$276.99

Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail-------------------------------------------------------$189.99

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory----------------------$89.99

XFX PVT84JUSD4 GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card (x2)---$219.98

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM---------------------------------------$109.99
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total w/ shipping and tax:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------$1,134.26

Add in Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM-----------------------------$109.99

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Total: $1252.23

Just an idea based on what information you gave me.

This estimate is from Newegg.com.

Edit: Sorry EL, didnt know you were looking to go under 1k. Without shipping and tax it would have been under a grand for the system itself. What I would do personally is go with an AMD based system, dual core, that will keep you well under 1k. But I'm an AMD fanboy! :-P

Sub in:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF - Retail---$99.99

GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail--------------------------------------------$99.99

Total, including shipping, tax and O/S = $965.37 <-----Best shit ever! Edited February 10, 2008 by Bulldog_916

[gaia.plateau]

What I would do personally is go with an AMD based system, dual core, that will keep you well under 1k. But I'm an AMD fanboy! :-P

+1, that's the long and short of what my buddy advised me to do.

[oolatec]

Oops... I forgot a few things. lol

I got a total of $1,222.91... -$70 for rebates and you'd be just a tad over a grand.

[Bulldog_916]

What I would do personally is go with an AMD based system, dual core, that will keep you well under 1k. But I'm an AMD fanboy! :-P

+1, that's the long and short of what my buddy advised me to do.

Hell, I just hooked my brother up with a brand new AMD Sempron 3800+ based gaming rig (read: he already had the hard drives and monitor) for 250 bucks. Plays Crysis on medium settings. He couldnt be happier. All Quad Core really does is force the system to twiddle it's thumbs 4 times faster than a single core unless you're using all of it to process video or edit 3D animation.

[zeppyrkr]

seriously EL don't spend that much, you can get way more then an acceptable system for under 1000, honestly i think you would be set with 800 ... ?

the only people that need over 1,000 systems are people like my friend who wank off to there cool blue light up dragon on there case ... , im going to school for computers and even i don't have a high end pc, i do minimal pc game, buy a ps3 it will outlast any computer set-up. Edited February 10, 2008 by zeppyrkr

[EvansLight]

There was a reason i said my budget was optimistic

I actually got to looking around at newegg, and i found a pre-built desktop that has all i want, and my ass is lazy as crap so that sounds good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227051

or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227050

And not to mention the cases look awesome

[Ralleac]

There was a reason i said my budget was optimistic

I actually got to looking around at newegg, and i found a pre-built desktop that has all i want, and my ass is lazy as crap so that sounds good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227051

or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227050

And not to mention the cases look awesome

Yea. I almost went w/ ibuypower (you can go to ibuypower.com if you want to customize your own machine with them,) but some of their parts are way overpriced. I was looking at going from DDR2 800 to DDR2 1066 w/ basic Corsair and the price jumped up $250 (RAM that sells on Newegg for a bit over $100 for 2GB). In the end I wound up building something a bit better for a little less (I just checked, and they charge about $700 more than what I paid for what I wound up buying.) After looking at that price difference it'd probably be better to just buy the parts they'd be using in those systems on your own since you know how to set it all up. Edited February 10, 2008 by Ralleac

[Bulldog_916]

There was a reason i said my budget was optimistic

I actually got to looking around at newegg, and i found a pre-built desktop that has all i want, and my ass is lazy as crap so that sounds good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227051

or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883227050

And not to mention the cases look awesome

APPARENTLY, EL doesnt have a geek bone.

Those systems look really good. I might actually go that way if I ever need to build a system again in the near future. I need to focus on my bedroom now, outfitting it with surround sound and HD. That's where my tax return is going. Edited February 10, 2008 by Bulldog_916

[EvansLight]

lmao, im an idiot... ill tell ya why later XD Edited February 10, 2008 by EvansLight

[gaia.plateau]

Tell us now!

[erufiku]

I'm completely out of the loop at the moment, but are there actually any games/apps that are able to use quad core? Besides the already mentioned editing/3d gfx creation software.
I remember buying my old laptop with a Turion64 processor that is now acting as an internet browser; more than 2 years went by and I guess I never actually used the 64bit architecture on that machine.

[EternalSoil]

quad core is not like 64bit. quad core is basicly 4 mini processors in the single processor. thus it allows it to do essentially more processes for more programs.

[Bulldog_916]

AND....you can run 4 virtual machines at the same time at 2.6 GHz. So if you want to use a server, you only need 1 processor that serves as 4 separate processors. Get a board with 4 of those slots, you'll be rolling.

[EvansLight]

Ok earlier today i had started picking parts i liked from newegg for my quad core based system. I found it was getting expensive, so i decided to try an AMD dual core CPU. I had an awesome system set up at only $920 (i dropped from 500g to 250g to save money) and i was happy. BUT i quickly discovered how it was so cheap even though i didnt have cheap parts, my dumbass had forgot a friggin gfx card XD

So i went back and remade the system, and got it to $1058 and some change with everything i want, but an OS. I am liking it so far and im still debating whether or not to get Vista. I have a crap copy of XP but it doesnt allow me to get windows genuine advantage crap, which for some development stuff i do i need (.net framework). So if i get vista and hate it, and it doesnt give with my equipment, im just screwed XD But i wonder if i should get a new copy of XP Pro, maybe even the 64 bit version, even though i hear bad things about it. Eh i still have to decide on that.

For now here is the new system:


And here is the wish list version:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishli...EL%27s+New+Comp

Well? What do you think? And don't say anything about the CC Tubes or fans, i love my current case in all its bright shiny glory, so my new one is gonna shine just as bright, or i won't feel right

EDIT: Ok i added the OEM copy of Vista 32-bit Home Premium to the wishlist Not to bad on price with that. Add in the new copy of Adobe Creative Suite I have to buy, and computer comes out to $2200 or so. I can live with that Edited February 11, 2008 by EvansLight

[EvansLight]

Oh and im very tempted to pay a bit more and upgrade to this awesome looking modular power supply; from the reviews alone it sounds worth the extra cash.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817814015

EDIT: Ok, i swear this is the last time i will mess with the wishlist XD I changed to the above power supply, and changed some other small things. Edited February 11, 2008 by EvansLight

[Unrelenting]

EL, here. Save 10 bucks and get this case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811144151 , same one I just bought, ust a little bigger than my dimension 4700

[Bulldog_916]

Mine is better! EL, trust a nerd here bro, putting the 2 vid cards in SLI will be MORE than enough to run Crysis or Oblivion on MAXED settings. Samsung HDs are the shit. I got 2 of em in parallel.

[EvansLight]

Ok, after some working and some playing around i came up with 2 different systems, either one i would love to have. I could save money by getting a different case, cutting back on some extras, or maybe getting a different gfx card, but i love the case and the small things ive added to put in it, and that gfx card is the one major selling point for me for a new computer. Each one shares the gfx card, case, new fans, CC tube, ram, and OS.

Intel Quad Core:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishli...Intel+Quad+Core

AMD Dual Core:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishli...e=AMD+Dual+Core

My problem is i don't really know a whole lot about some of the products currently on the market, so i don't know if i picked the best mobo, hard drive, and ram for the cost. I was going off lots of guesswork, and tons of reading user reviews. Also these are both over my original hopefull budget of $1000, but not by much and im happy with where there at. Any suggestions though would be appreciated

Oh and as for the old wishlist i had linked to; somehow all of its components but like 3 got deleted, so i went ahead and started over. Im glad because of where i ended up on both. And if anyone else is wondering about the choice of Vista, i have a copy of XP Pro, so if i hate it i can just install XP again, but i need to get my bearings around Vista, most of my family have new laptops/desktops with Vista installed, and im already getting calls for some tech support with it. Oh and thats another thing, if you know of any of the parts i have listed that don't jive with Vista, let me know

And thanks a lot all those who have helped so far.

[nicayotte]

don't get an AMD....... i have a x2 amd and a intel core 2 duo and also a quad.... intel is so much better for the cost.....

Go for the quad, it will last you longer, also for the price of your 2 X1gb sticks u can get 1 2gb stick and save space for when ram is even cheaper and you want to go to the full 8 gigs.

[Bulldog_916]

I'd still go with the AMD, you get close to the same speed after overclocking without having to pay an insane amount. AMD will always own Intel in the consumer sector because of the price to performance ratio. Intel will always own AMD in the server sector. Best thing would probably be to wait until AMD comes full scale with their quad core processor. This will knock the price of both processors down to a level that isnt for power junkies only.

You gotta ask yourself what you're going to need all that power for. Ditch the excess processing power and get more ram. That's where the bottle neck is 9/10 times. Not to mention the 32-bit PCI buses.