A friend of mine is currently building a computer, and for their power supply they currently have chosen this: Raidmax Hybrid, 730W. I haven't found any reviews outside of the Newegg ones, but I'm not familiar with the brand (for PSUs, I've heard of them in general), the wattage at that price makes me wary, and IIRC the low 12v rating would prevent them from using stronger graphics cards. I was hoping someone might know something about the PSU though, because if it is okay (reliable, doesn't explode) than that isn't a bad deal from what I can tell, assuming they don't want to get much in the way of a powerful graphics card. It also doesn't mention any kind of efficiency certification, it says it has 85% efficiency though? In general I'm not thrilled by this PSU, but I'm not in any way an expert, so advice is greatly appreciated!
Also, I don't know yet what graphics card they have/are getting (will be finding out soon though), but I don't believe it will be more powerful than around a 560/560ti, so I'm kind of aiming around that and sticking to the general $50-$80 price range while looking at stuff.
I was thinking about recommending the Neo Eco at 520W, if someone could confirm that this is a solid PSU? I also have this Corsair Builder, CX600 and OCZ ModXStream 700W as alternatives. I haven't heard great things about the Corsair Builder series, and I like that the OCZ is modular but it's 12v is also at 25A.
I know the advice I (and you all) can give is a bit limited, not knowing the full setup this person is going for, but I'm mostly looking for general "this is a good PSU"/"this PSU will explode, taking everything you love with it" type of help. Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me - I stopped by this thread when I was building the computer I'm currently using and you guys were immensely helpful.
additional: Okay the person has an old 9500GT right now, so no problems with getting a PSU to run that. Talking to them about a bit of future-proofing, though.
I have a 256 GB Samsung 830 and it's worked great so far. Crazy fast, and decently large. Though, if between now and your purchase you see a sale on it, or the Crucial M4 @ 256GB I'd jump on either of them.
Okay, so I'm going with @Alecthar 's build from the other day (about to pull the trigger, since my paycheck got in the account!)
I've also put in this hard drive - anything against Seagate drives, or are they still good?
S'fine, I prefer WD for my HDDs because I've had a few seagates fail on me. Buuuut for every person like me, there's someone who has horror stories in the other direction. Basically a wash imo.
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Lord Palingtonhe.him.hisHistory-loving pal!Registered Userregular
That's what I keep reading, and both have worked for me in the past, I just wanted to make sure nothing had changed.
I'm attempting an inaugural overclocking sessions (never tried it before), and I'd like to get some advice from folks around here before I go full bore into this. I'm trying to get my old-ish motherboard to accept 1600 RAM (it's currently maxed at 1333, but the sticks I've got in there go up to 1600). As far as I understand, the procedure is as follows:
Enter the BIOS
Change the Processor Frequency Multiplier to 1600 MHz
Win
Is that all? Do I need to adjust voltage or anything like that so that it's not underpowered at this new MHz? I'm sure I'm doing something foolish in here, but I've never overclocked before and a lot of the things I've read online are a bit out of my scope or experience. Thanks, denizens of Moe's.
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AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
A friend of mine is currently building a computer, and for their power supply they currently have chosen this: Raidmax Hybrid, 730W. I haven't found any reviews outside of the Newegg ones, but I'm not familiar with the brand (for PSUs, I've heard of them in general), the wattage at that price makes me wary, and IIRC the low 12v rating would prevent them from using stronger graphics cards. I was hoping someone might know something about the PSU though, because if it is okay (reliable, doesn't explode) than that isn't a bad deal from what I can tell, assuming they don't want to get much in the way of a powerful graphics card. It also doesn't mention any kind of efficiency certification, it says it has 85% efficiency though? In general I'm not thrilled by this PSU, but I'm not in any way an expert, so advice is greatly appreciated!
Also, I don't know yet what graphics card they have/are getting (will be finding out soon though), but I don't believe it will be more powerful than around a 560/560ti, so I'm kind of aiming around that and sticking to the general $50-$80 price range while looking at stuff.
I was thinking about recommending the Neo Eco at 520W, if someone could confirm that this is a solid PSU? I also have this Corsair Builder, CX600 and OCZ ModXStream 700W as alternatives. I haven't heard great things about the Corsair Builder series, and I like that the OCZ is modular but it's 12v is also at 25A.
I know the advice I (and you all) can give is a bit limited, not knowing the full setup this person is going for, but I'm mostly looking for general "this is a good PSU"/"this PSU will explode, taking everything you love with it" type of help. Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me - I stopped by this thread when I was building the computer I'm currently using and you guys were immensely helpful.
additional: Okay the person has an old 9500GT right now, so no problems with getting a PSU to run that. Talking to them about a bit of future-proofing, though.
You shouldn't be thrilled by that PSU, Raidmax has a long and storied history of being cruddy. The PSU in question uses Passive PFC, so it's built cheaply, and the label is complete bullshit. They should be telling you the maximum wattage you can pull across the 12V rails, and then separately the max you can pull across 3.3V and 5V combined. The way they're showing it there is indicative of some seriously fuzzy math. They've also included the standby rails in their wattage rating, which is dumb as hell, and I feel certain it's rated based on some bullshit peak wattage they reached in a fridge, rather than a reasonable real-world sustained number. It's a terrible supply and your friend shouldn't buy it, regardless of the card he's running.
The Neo Eco is a solid PSU, the CX600 is okay as well (though it should probably be rated as a 520W supply based on the wattage). The OCZ 700W unit is fairly solid as well, but also overrated, it's probably more reasonably considered a 600W unit, the unit has 2 12V rails each with a maximum amperage of 25A, and a combined maximum wattage of 552W. Basically you can pull up to 300W on a single rail, but not more than 552W on both, at that point Over Current Protection will trip. Of the three I'd probably go Neo Eco, just because I like the OEM (Seasonic, the CX600 is CWT, and I'm pretty sure the OCZ is Sirfa) and it's being marketed at a reasonable wattage.
I'm attempting an inaugural overclocking sessions (never tried it before), and I'd like to get some advice from folks around here before I go full bore into this. I'm trying to get my old-ish motherboard to accept 1600 RAM (it's currently maxed at 1333, but the sticks I've got in there go up to 1600). As far as I understand, the procedure is as follows:
Enter the BIOS
Change the Processor Frequency Multiplier to 1600 MHz
Win
Is that all? Do I need to adjust voltage or anything like that so that it's not underpowered at this new MHz? I'm sure I'm doing something foolish in here, but I've never overclocked before and a lot of the things I've read online are a bit out of my scope or experience. Thanks, denizens of Moe's.
What motherboard and processor are you overclocking?
I didn't think that PSU was in any way great, but dang. Such is the treacherous world of PSU's for the unwary, I guess. I've recommended the Neo Eco to them, I'm pretty sure it'll be a good fit.
I decided to build a new computer back in February, but life intervened. I sat down yesterday to try it again and most of the old plan is outdated and no longer available.
So, my new attempt:
I'm a tad rusty, and I have no plans to OC. Does anyone see something that jumps out as wrong or simply a very poor decision?
I might try and throw a second video card in there, the primary purpose for this thing is gaming. Thanks so far for the advice I've gotten while just reading this thread!
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EshTending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles.Portland, ORRegistered Userregular
I decided to build a new computer back in February, but life intervened. I sat down yesterday to try it again and most of the old plan is outdated and no longer available.
So, my new attempt:
I'm a tad rusty, and I have no plans to OC. Does anyone see something that jumps out as wrong or simply a very poor decision?
I might try and throw a second video card in there, the primary purpose for this thing is gaming. Thanks so far for the advice I've gotten while just reading this thread!
Save yourself some cash and get Windows 7 Home Premium.
I decided to build a new computer back in February, but life intervened. I sat down yesterday to try it again and most of the old plan is outdated and no longer available.
So, my new attempt:
I'm a tad rusty, and I have no plans to OC. Does anyone see something that jumps out as wrong or simply a very poor decision?
I might try and throw a second video card in there, the primary purpose for this thing is gaming. Thanks so far for the advice I've gotten while just reading this thread!
Save yourself some cash and get Windows 7 Home Premium.
You can also save some cash on your PSU (500-600W is more than enough) and on your RAM (8GB will be enough for anything you do and memory is getting cheaper so if you find yourself running short you can always buy it later, for cheaper anyway)
I decided to build a new computer back in February, but life intervened. I sat down yesterday to try it again and most of the old plan is outdated and no longer available.
So, my new attempt:
I'm a tad rusty, and I have no plans to OC. Does anyone see something that jumps out as wrong or simply a very poor decision?
I might try and throw a second video card in there, the primary purpose for this thing is gaming. Thanks so far for the advice I've gotten while just reading this thread!
Save yourself some cash and get Windows 7 Home Premium.
You can also save some cash on your PSU (500-600W is more than enough) and on your RAM (8GB will be enough for anything you do and memory is getting cheaper so if you find yourself running short you can always buy it later, for cheaper anyway)
Thanks Esh, that dropped the price by $40. The listings were hard to figure out, because there was a $180 home version.
All right, gearing up to build new gaming PC. I want to to run steam games, Guild Wars 2, and Skyrim. Doesn't have to be on max settings all the time, just decent ish.
I have monitors, optical drive, sound card, speakers, etc, from my old system. I have also already ordered windows 7 and DDR3 ram.
So that leaves motherboard, cpu, video card, and hard drive. I'd like to keep it to between 600-800 dollars. I'm not terribly interested in overclocking. Gets too complicated for me
I have a potential system lined up. Want to know if it is compatible (I think so) or if there are areas of improvement.
Thus there is some room for potential improvement within the budget. Any suggestions? I guess my biggest question is: should I jump up to a 560 or 560ti? I feel like I may be allocating too much towards the CPU when typically the GPU is the bottleneck for games.
Or would I be better advised getting an SSD for faster load times? I'm not going to be putting tons of games and raw video on there, so smaller hard drives would probably work out.
All right, gearing up to build new gaming PC. I want to to run steam games, Guild Wars 2, and Skyrim. Doesn't have to be on max settings all the time, just decent ish.
I have monitors, optical drive, sound card, speakers, etc, from my old system. I have also already ordered windows 7 and DDR3 ram.
So that leaves motherboard, cpu, video card, and hard drive. I'd like to keep it to between 600-800 dollars. I'm not terribly interested in overclocking. Gets too complicated for me
I have a potential system lined up. Want to know if it is compatible (I think so) or if there are areas of improvement.
Thus there is some room for potential improvement within the budget. Any suggestions? I guess my biggest question is: should I jump up to a 560 or 560ti? I feel like I may be allocating too much towards the CPU when typically the GPU is the bottleneck for games.
Or would I be better advised getting an SSD for faster load times? I'm not going to be putting tons of games and raw video on there, so smaller hard drives would probably work out.
Since you've got the budget, I'd absolutely swap out the 550Ti for an HD7850 (this one is $230 with a $20 MIR and Deus Ex: HR).
If you're comfortable reaching your upper budget limit, that still leaves you room for something like a 180GB OCZ Agility 3.
In the future, getting an aftermarket HSF for < $40 (like the CM Hyper 212 EVO) and overclocking will be a very easy and effective upgrade to push the lifespan of this setup. OCing on the Sandy Bridge procs is literally as easy as changing a single value in your BIOS.
I'd really like to recommend a new case (like an XCLIO 320, or BitFenix Merc Alpha, or NZXT Source 210), since the Sonata III doesn't have any cable management but since it's not completely unusable I'd have a hard time justifying cutting back somewhere else to fit it in your budget.
Thanks for the help. Is the 7850 just better buy than the equivalent nvidia offerings? I don't have any personal grudge against ATI, just a dim recollection that some game or other I play is optimized for nvidia and that nvidia was quicker with driver updates for games. If the ATI card is better at that price point though, I think I'll go with that.
Ok so, a EVGA GeForce GTX 480 just went on sale at NewEgg (was 299, now 199). I figure this is a worthy upgrade to my 5 year old GTX 9800+. So , woo, new video card!
I bought this Zalman VF3000F Cooler to go along with it. I hate stock heatsinks. SO LOUD.
Thanks for the help. Is the 7850 just better buy than the equivalent nvidia offerings? I don't have any personal grudge against ATI, just a dim recollection that some game or other I play is optimized for nvidia and that nvidia was quicker with driver updates for games. If the ATI card is better at that price point though, I think I'll go with that.
Here's the most recent "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" article from Tom's Hardware. The nVidia equivalent is the GTX 570, but it's ~$30+ more expensive. If you want to take a step back, you'll want a GTX 560Ti (AMD equivalent, the HD6950 is overpriced). Depending on your resolution, the 560Ti could be plenty of graphical muscle to last you a good while (it's what I have, and at 1680x1050 I'm completely happy with it). This review article will give you a good real-world comparison of all the cards you'd be looking at in your price-range.
TheCanMan on
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AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
Ok so, a EVGA GeForce GTX 480 just went on sale at NewEgg (was 299, now 199). I figure this is a worthy upgrade to my 5 year old GTX 9800+. So , woo, new video card!
I bought this Zalman VF3000F Cooler to go along with it. I hate stock heatsinks. SO LOUD.
That's a steal at $199, especially given that it can replace expensive stoves and white noise makers, while using only 100% more electricity!
In all seriousness, the 480 is a pretty nice card, even now, but it can easily pull double duty as a space heater. Hopefully that aftermarket cooler is the real deal.
So I'm itching to build a new system for myself... my current one is over 5 years old by now and now that I have some money coming in I figure it's about time to put that one to rest. I'm just starting to look up parts now and this is what I have so far:
So, I'm speccing out something very similar to this (same Case/Mobo/Proc/Cooler/GPU, but 16 GB (2 x 8) G.SKILL 2400 memory). Has anyone had issues getting these components to fit together? I've seen rumors of people having problems in general with certain cooler/mobo/RAM configurations, and I want to make sure I won't have that issue before I put an order in...
For business reasons, I must preserve the outward sign of sanity.
--Mark Twain
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AlectharAlan ShoreWe're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered Userregular
I maintain that unless you are doing something professionally that demands high memory bandwidth, you don't need 2400 Mhz RAM.
In fact, my recommendation would be to pick up some 1600 Mhz RAM, take the money you've saved and set fire to it. Your computer is performing identically to how it would with 2400 Mhz RAM, and for a few minutes you have something significantly more interesting to look at than synthetic benchmarks.
acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
so with all the one-size fits all graphics drivers, if I'm jumping from my 470 to this 680, I don't have to go through the hullabaloo of uninstalling video drivers before upgrading, do I?
Ok so, a EVGA GeForce GTX 480 just went on sale at NewEgg (was 299, now 199). I figure this is a worthy upgrade to my 5 year old GTX 9800+. So , woo, new video card!
I bought this Zalman VF3000F Cooler to go along with it. I hate stock heatsinks. SO LOUD.
That's a steal at $199, especially given that it can replace expensive stoves and white noise makers, while using only 100% more electricity!
In all seriousness, the 480 is a pretty nice card, even now, but it can easily pull double duty as a space heater. Hopefully that aftermarket cooler is the real deal.
And I live in Texas! At least I'll never need a heater during the winter. All the reviews pointed out the massive heat and power consumption. My 550W PS should still be able to handle it though. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to upgrade and get a good card at good cost.
So far I've never had any issues with the Zalman vga coolers. Expensive? Yes, but I've yet to get one that wasn't worth the price.
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
So Windows 8 Pro'll be $70 apparently. Seems like a good time to maybe get into them there PC games (been running Linux for about 7 years). Didn't see the price mentioned in the thread so I figured I'd give a heads up to anyone who could maybe stand to wait until October to get a cheaper OS. Upgrades will only be $40 as well, though the worthwhileness of 8 compared to 7 seems questionable.
There I was, 3DS: 2621-2671-9899 (Ekera), Wii U: LostCrescendo
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
So I'm reading Newegg reviews for Mini-ITX boards.
"It's cramped"
"Everything is so small"
"After I've put in the CPU&heatsink, RAM and video card, it's hard to reach the CMOS reset button with my finger, I have to use a pen"
Why do I start to feel like eugenics wasn't the worst idea in the world?
So Windows 8 Pro'll be $70 apparently. Seems like a good time to maybe get into them there PC games (been running Linux for about 7 years). Didn't see the price mentioned in the thread so I figured I'd give a heads up to anyone who could maybe stand to wait until October to get a cheaper OS. Upgrades will only be $40 as well, though the worthwhileness of 8 compared to 7 seems questionable.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM is a NewEgg special right now for $80, $20 off with code EMCNBHJ52. You know, if you wanted to get going on the games thing.
I wonder if I'll be able to utilize the student upgrade discount if I previously used it to better Windows 7. I certainly hope so, but $80 isn't that bad.
So Windows 8 Pro'll be $70 apparently. Seems like a good time to maybe get into them there PC games (been running Linux for about 7 years). Didn't see the price mentioned in the thread so I figured I'd give a heads up to anyone who could maybe stand to wait until October to get a cheaper OS. Upgrades will only be $40 as well, though the worthwhileness of 8 compared to 7 seems questionable.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM is a NewEgg special right now for $80, $20 off with code EMCNBHJ52. You know, if you wanted to get going on the games thing.
So I am currently getting a few of my items right now because of a 48 hour sale on newegg and I noticed that they have the CoolerMaster Storm Scout case on sale for nearly the same price as the HAF 912 and with free shipping. I know the HAF 912 is supposed to be a really good case for the price, but what are people's thoughts on the Storm scout.
And yea.. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM for $80 is a great price.
Guess I have not been keeping up with Windows licenses I always thought they hovered around $130. I will probably wait for 8 though. Nothing about Windows is interesting to me now so I might as well wait for 8 even if it is disappointing.
There I was, 3DS: 2621-2671-9899 (Ekera), Wii U: LostCrescendo
It's just us early adopters so far, but nobody's unhappy with it yet over in the Windows 8 thread.
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Apothe0sisHave you ever questioned the nature of your reality?Registered Userregular
edited August 2012
I have three Dell e520s sitting here, and they run WHISPER QUIET. I cracked them open and they have giant cooler dealies which are integrated with the case, so my plan to transplant bits and pieces into my Fractal R3 is a bit untenable.
At this point, I probably need to admit to myself that I could more or less fit all the computing power sitting on my floor into a modern cpu and consume drastically less power.
BUT it is hard to throw out a fully functional machine.
Posts
I think those reviews speak for themselves.
A friend of mine is currently building a computer, and for their power supply they currently have chosen this: Raidmax Hybrid, 730W. I haven't found any reviews outside of the Newegg ones, but I'm not familiar with the brand (for PSUs, I've heard of them in general), the wattage at that price makes me wary, and IIRC the low 12v rating would prevent them from using stronger graphics cards. I was hoping someone might know something about the PSU though, because if it is okay (reliable, doesn't explode) than that isn't a bad deal from what I can tell, assuming they don't want to get much in the way of a powerful graphics card. It also doesn't mention any kind of efficiency certification, it says it has 85% efficiency though? In general I'm not thrilled by this PSU, but I'm not in any way an expert, so advice is greatly appreciated!
Also, I don't know yet what graphics card they have/are getting (will be finding out soon though), but I don't believe it will be more powerful than around a 560/560ti, so I'm kind of aiming around that and sticking to the general $50-$80 price range while looking at stuff.
I was thinking about recommending the Neo Eco at 520W, if someone could confirm that this is a solid PSU? I also have this Corsair Builder, CX600 and OCZ ModXStream 700W as alternatives. I haven't heard great things about the Corsair Builder series, and I like that the OCZ is modular but it's 12v is also at 25A.
I know the advice I (and you all) can give is a bit limited, not knowing the full setup this person is going for, but I'm mostly looking for general "this is a good PSU"/"this PSU will explode, taking everything you love with it" type of help. Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me - I stopped by this thread when I was building the computer I'm currently using and you guys were immensely helpful.
additional: Okay the person has an old 9500GT right now, so no problems with getting a PSU to run that. Talking to them about a bit of future-proofing, though.
I have a 256 GB Samsung 830 and it's worked great so far. Crazy fast, and decently large. Though, if between now and your purchase you see a sale on it, or the Crucial M4 @ 256GB I'd jump on either of them.
S'fine, I prefer WD for my HDDs because I've had a few seagates fail on me. Buuuut for every person like me, there's someone who has horror stories in the other direction. Basically a wash imo.
Enter the BIOS
Change the Processor Frequency Multiplier to 1600 MHz
Win
Is that all? Do I need to adjust voltage or anything like that so that it's not underpowered at this new MHz? I'm sure I'm doing something foolish in here, but I've never overclocked before and a lot of the things I've read online are a bit out of my scope or experience. Thanks, denizens of Moe's.
You shouldn't be thrilled by that PSU, Raidmax has a long and storied history of being cruddy. The PSU in question uses Passive PFC, so it's built cheaply, and the label is complete bullshit. They should be telling you the maximum wattage you can pull across the 12V rails, and then separately the max you can pull across 3.3V and 5V combined. The way they're showing it there is indicative of some seriously fuzzy math. They've also included the standby rails in their wattage rating, which is dumb as hell, and I feel certain it's rated based on some bullshit peak wattage they reached in a fridge, rather than a reasonable real-world sustained number. It's a terrible supply and your friend shouldn't buy it, regardless of the card he's running.
The Neo Eco is a solid PSU, the CX600 is okay as well (though it should probably be rated as a 520W supply based on the wattage). The OCZ 700W unit is fairly solid as well, but also overrated, it's probably more reasonably considered a 600W unit, the unit has 2 12V rails each with a maximum amperage of 25A, and a combined maximum wattage of 552W. Basically you can pull up to 300W on a single rail, but not more than 552W on both, at that point Over Current Protection will trip. Of the three I'd probably go Neo Eco, just because I like the OEM (Seasonic, the CX600 is CWT, and I'm pretty sure the OCZ is Sirfa) and it's being marketed at a reasonable wattage.
Battle.net
What motherboard and processor are you overclocking?
Battle.net
I didn't think that PSU was in any way great, but dang. Such is the treacherous world of PSU's for the unwary, I guess. I've recommended the Neo Eco to them, I'm pretty sure it'll be a good fit.
Thanks again, man!
I love my Samsung 830 256GB even though its $100 cheaper now that when I got mine in May.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
So, my new attempt:
$80 BitFenix Shinobi Window White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$310 MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
$145 CORSAIR HX Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3
$85 G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$140 MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
$210 Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
$140 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM
$200 SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Total:$1,308.92
I'm a tad rusty, and I have no plans to OC. Does anyone see something that jumps out as wrong or simply a very poor decision?
I might try and throw a second video card in there, the primary purpose for this thing is gaming. Thanks so far for the advice I've gotten while just reading this thread!
Save yourself some cash and get Windows 7 Home Premium.
You can also save some cash on your PSU (500-600W is more than enough) and on your RAM (8GB will be enough for anything you do and memory is getting cheaper so if you find yourself running short you can always buy it later, for cheaper anyway)
BF3 Battlelog | Twitter | World of Warships | World of Tanks | Wishlist
Thanks Esh, that dropped the price by $40. The listings were hard to figure out, because there was a $180 home version.
minirhyder, I replaced the two like you suggested. I figured was overshooting my needs, but figured better safe than sorry.
$90 PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 600W Modular 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge
$50 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
This brings the total down to $1,178.92. Thank you for your recommendations. Here's to hoping it doesn't burst into flames. (it's happened)
I have monitors, optical drive, sound card, speakers, etc, from my old system. I have also already ordered windows 7 and DDR3 ram.
I am hoping to keep my existing case Antec Sonata III 500 and power supply: Antec 500W PSU.
So that leaves motherboard, cpu, video card, and hard drive. I'd like to keep it to between 600-800 dollars. I'm not terribly interested in overclocking. Gets too complicated for me
I have a potential system lined up. Want to know if it is compatible (I think so) or if there are areas of improvement.
Video Card: EVGA Geforce 550ti 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 $120
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $120
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core $220
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA $90
Total so far is: $550.
Thus there is some room for potential improvement within the budget. Any suggestions? I guess my biggest question is: should I jump up to a 560 or 560ti? I feel like I may be allocating too much towards the CPU when typically the GPU is the bottleneck for games.
Or would I be better advised getting an SSD for faster load times? I'm not going to be putting tons of games and raw video on there, so smaller hard drives would probably work out.
PSN: Vorpallion Twitch: Vorpallion
Since you've got the budget, I'd absolutely swap out the 550Ti for an HD7850 (this one is $230 with a $20 MIR and Deus Ex: HR).
If you're comfortable reaching your upper budget limit, that still leaves you room for something like a 180GB OCZ Agility 3.
In the future, getting an aftermarket HSF for < $40 (like the CM Hyper 212 EVO) and overclocking will be a very easy and effective upgrade to push the lifespan of this setup. OCing on the Sandy Bridge procs is literally as easy as changing a single value in your BIOS.
I'd really like to recommend a new case (like an XCLIO 320, or BitFenix Merc Alpha, or NZXT Source 210), since the Sonata III doesn't have any cable management but since it's not completely unusable I'd have a hard time justifying cutting back somewhere else to fit it in your budget.
PSN: Vorpallion Twitch: Vorpallion
I bought this Zalman VF3000F Cooler to go along with it. I hate stock heatsinks. SO LOUD.
PSN: Vorpallion Twitch: Vorpallion
Here's the most recent "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" article from Tom's Hardware. The nVidia equivalent is the GTX 570, but it's ~$30+ more expensive. If you want to take a step back, you'll want a GTX 560Ti (AMD equivalent, the HD6950 is overpriced). Depending on your resolution, the 560Ti could be plenty of graphical muscle to last you a good while (it's what I have, and at 1680x1050 I'm completely happy with it). This review article will give you a good real-world comparison of all the cards you'd be looking at in your price-range.
That's a steal at $199, especially given that it can replace expensive stoves and white noise makers, while using only 100% more electricity!
In all seriousness, the 480 is a pretty nice card, even now, but it can easily pull double duty as a space heater. Hopefully that aftermarket cooler is the real deal.
Battle.net
So, I'm speccing out something very similar to this (same Case/Mobo/Proc/Cooler/GPU, but 16 GB (2 x 8) G.SKILL 2400 memory). Has anyone had issues getting these components to fit together? I've seen rumors of people having problems in general with certain cooler/mobo/RAM configurations, and I want to make sure I won't have that issue before I put an order in...
--Mark Twain
In fact, my recommendation would be to pick up some 1600 Mhz RAM, take the money you've saved and set fire to it. Your computer is performing identically to how it would with 2400 Mhz RAM, and for a few minutes you have something significantly more interesting to look at than synthetic benchmarks.
Battle.net
And I live in Texas! At least I'll never need a heater during the winter. All the reviews pointed out the massive heat and power consumption. My 550W PS should still be able to handle it though. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to upgrade and get a good card at good cost.
So far I've never had any issues with the Zalman vga coolers. Expensive? Yes, but I've yet to get one that wasn't worth the price.
"It's cramped"
"Everything is so small"
"After I've put in the CPU&heatsink, RAM and video card, it's hard to reach the CMOS reset button with my finger, I have to use a pen"
Why do I start to feel like eugenics wasn't the worst idea in the world?
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM is a NewEgg special right now for $80, $20 off with code EMCNBHJ52. You know, if you wanted to get going on the games thing.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I would jump on this rather than Windows 8.
And yea.. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM for $80 is a great price.
Of course, I'm also been in a holding pattern for a while, and am still running a 478 motherboard and this processor http://ark.intel.com/products/27441/Intel-Pentium-4-Processor-2_53-GHz-512K-Cache-533-MHz-FSB waiting to figure out how I want to upgrade.
At this point, I probably need to admit to myself that I could more or less fit all the computing power sitting on my floor into a modern cpu and consume drastically less power.
BUT it is hard to throw out a fully functional machine.