![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
First, a little history...
This will be only my second build and my first build since 2004 when I made a P4 2.8 Northwood/865PE system. Much has changed since then (and, amazingly a much is still the same) and I could use a little expert advice on my build selections as well as pointers where I might still optimize. My current system is getting WAY long in the tooth and just can't keep up with any recent games:
Current System:
Antec PerformanceII SX635BII case
ASUS P4P800 SE (865 PE chipset)
P4 2.8C Northwood
HIS Radeon X1950PRO AGP (added in 2007... who would have figured AGP'd still be around that long???)
2 GB Kingston PC-3200 RAM
FSP Group SAGA 450W PS
Drives/burners/etc.
It's been a good system but has to be put out to pasture now (web surfing and games for the kids, folding, etc.) now. My intent when I built my current system was to pluck something near the highest level of performance, based on my budget at the time, from a recently outdated standard... essentially picking something near the end of a path as soon as a new path had rolled out. So I bought a Northwood when the price dropped following Prescott/socket 775, I stuck with AGP when PCI-Express was blooming, etc. By doing this I saved a considerable amount of money but essentially backed myself into a corner... I knew that would be the result and that I would wind up where I am now (although I never suspected my current system would still be anywhere near usable as long as it was).
In some ways I may be repeating history a bit (jumping on a Wolfdale/Yorkfield system with Nehalem rolling out) but I would like to still leave myself an upgrade path open for the next year or so, if possible. That's where your recommendations will hopefully come in handy.
Q&A
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
- Primarily gaming (Fallout 3 rates high on my wish list, Mass Effect as well... Been wanting to play Supreme Commander but it just makes my current CPU cry. I wrapped up Oblivion with expansion packs a while back on my current system but wouldn't mind doing it again maxed out)
- The usual requirements of web surfing, email, some DVD burning (nothing too demanding), etc... none of these tax my current system so I don't see them having much bearing on my build.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
- $1050 total, tax and shipping included
3) Where do you live?
- North Carolina
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
- Case, PS, mobo, CPU, RAM, HD, video card, DVD, OS (see below for list)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
- HP w2207h 22" widescreen LCD
- One DVD burner (Pioneer 16X DVD+/-R that's still decent)
- Floppy drive, maybe
- Keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer, scanner (assuming drivers work in 64-bit OS)
- Assorted cables and ties... not much else in my current box worth recycling
Everything else in my current system will be left as is, allowing me to pass it on to the kids or perhaps sell it for some additional $$$.
6) Will you be overclocking?
- I do intend to try to take an E8400 to 3.6GHz via FSB bump (see below) only because I like seeing the FSB and memory clocks nicely tied to one another but I don't plan to do any other overclocking.
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
- HP w2207h 22" widescreen LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- Within 10 days
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
- Firewire
- Prefer PCI-E 2.0
- E-SATA
- Crossfire and/or SLI possible down the road (see below)
Here's what I have put together so far (prices from NewEgg):
Antec 900 Case----------------------------------------- $109
PC Power&Cooling S75QB 750W PS----------- $130 (I picked this in case I decide to try a quad core or CrossFire/SLI in the future)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3-Ghz--------------------- $165
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard-------- $137 (If I head down future Crossfire route)
ASUS P5N-D nForce 750i motherboard-------- $135 (If I head down future SLI route)
Sapphire 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB-- $240 (If I head down Crossfire route)
MSI GeForce GTX 260 896MB--------------------- $210 (If I head down SLI route)
Kingston 4GB (2*2GB) DDR2-800 RAM-------- $45
WD Caviar SE16 640GB SATA HD-------------- $70 (Might buy two of these to play around with RAID)
Samsung 22X SATA DVD Burner---------------- $25
MS Windows Vista Home Prem 64-Bit -------- $100
Total for ATI route: ~$1020
Total for Nvidia route: ~$990
My intent is to bump the FSB of the E8400 up to 1600 (4*400) to hit 3.6Ghz as I assume this will fit nicely DDR2-800... although benchmarks may point me in another direction as I tinker. I doubt I will leave any other component in the system overclocked, although I likely won't be able to resist the urge to try it at the beginning. I left a little in the budget in case I get unlucky and can't hit 3.6Ghz on the E8400 out of the box and need to invest in an after-market fan and heatsink. I also figure I'll have to pick up an extra 120mm fan to fill the side vent in the Antec 900. I initially plan to use on-board sound although, depending on the results, may pick up a X-Fi or Xonar a month or so after the initial build. I tend to wear a USB headset when gaming... don't want to wake up the kids, you know... and don't do any serious encoding so sounds cards aren't high on my priority list anyway.
I am trying to leave myself in a position where, 6-12 months down the road, I can pick up another video card for a quick shot of performance boost and/or grab a Core 2 Quad hopefully before they start getting pricey due to scarcity.
The primary difference is whether I go AMD or Nvidia, unless you can see something glaringly wrong. To be honest I had planned to go AMD as I like Crossfire's ability to mix and match a bit (in case I wait too long to buy an exact duplicate) but, from what I can tell, the performance of a GTX 260 is on par (or better, depending on the specific game and drivers in use) with the HD 4870 and the price on the GTX 260 is pretty good.
Thoughts? Can someone see if I am making a wrong turn or recommend a way I can spend a comparable amount of money to get better performance today with the ability to quickly supplement it within the next year as needed?
Thanks!
This will be only my second build and my first build since 2004 when I made a P4 2.8 Northwood/865PE system. Much has changed since then (and, amazingly a much is still the same) and I could use a little expert advice on my build selections as well as pointers where I might still optimize. My current system is getting WAY long in the tooth and just can't keep up with any recent games:
Current System:
Antec PerformanceII SX635BII case
ASUS P4P800 SE (865 PE chipset)
P4 2.8C Northwood
HIS Radeon X1950PRO AGP (added in 2007... who would have figured AGP'd still be around that long???)
2 GB Kingston PC-3200 RAM
FSP Group SAGA 450W PS
Drives/burners/etc.
It's been a good system but has to be put out to pasture now (web surfing and games for the kids, folding, etc.) now. My intent when I built my current system was to pluck something near the highest level of performance, based on my budget at the time, from a recently outdated standard... essentially picking something near the end of a path as soon as a new path had rolled out. So I bought a Northwood when the price dropped following Prescott/socket 775, I stuck with AGP when PCI-Express was blooming, etc. By doing this I saved a considerable amount of money but essentially backed myself into a corner... I knew that would be the result and that I would wind up where I am now (although I never suspected my current system would still be anywhere near usable as long as it was).
In some ways I may be repeating history a bit (jumping on a Wolfdale/Yorkfield system with Nehalem rolling out) but I would like to still leave myself an upgrade path open for the next year or so, if possible. That's where your recommendations will hopefully come in handy.
Q&A
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
- Primarily gaming (Fallout 3 rates high on my wish list, Mass Effect as well... Been wanting to play Supreme Commander but it just makes my current CPU cry. I wrapped up Oblivion with expansion packs a while back on my current system but wouldn't mind doing it again maxed out)
- The usual requirements of web surfing, email, some DVD burning (nothing too demanding), etc... none of these tax my current system so I don't see them having much bearing on my build.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
- $1050 total, tax and shipping included
3) Where do you live?
- North Carolina
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
- Case, PS, mobo, CPU, RAM, HD, video card, DVD, OS (see below for list)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
- HP w2207h 22" widescreen LCD
- One DVD burner (Pioneer 16X DVD+/-R that's still decent)
- Floppy drive, maybe
- Keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer, scanner (assuming drivers work in 64-bit OS)
- Assorted cables and ties... not much else in my current box worth recycling
Everything else in my current system will be left as is, allowing me to pass it on to the kids or perhaps sell it for some additional $$$.
6) Will you be overclocking?
- I do intend to try to take an E8400 to 3.6GHz via FSB bump (see below) only because I like seeing the FSB and memory clocks nicely tied to one another but I don't plan to do any other overclocking.
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
- HP w2207h 22" widescreen LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- Within 10 days
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
- Firewire
- Prefer PCI-E 2.0
- E-SATA
- Crossfire and/or SLI possible down the road (see below)
Here's what I have put together so far (prices from NewEgg):
Antec 900 Case----------------------------------------- $109
PC Power&Cooling S75QB 750W PS----------- $130 (I picked this in case I decide to try a quad core or CrossFire/SLI in the future)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3-Ghz--------------------- $165
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard-------- $137 (If I head down future Crossfire route)
ASUS P5N-D nForce 750i motherboard-------- $135 (If I head down future SLI route)
Sapphire 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB-- $240 (If I head down Crossfire route)
MSI GeForce GTX 260 896MB--------------------- $210 (If I head down SLI route)
Kingston 4GB (2*2GB) DDR2-800 RAM-------- $45
WD Caviar SE16 640GB SATA HD-------------- $70 (Might buy two of these to play around with RAID)
Samsung 22X SATA DVD Burner---------------- $25
MS Windows Vista Home Prem 64-Bit -------- $100
Total for ATI route: ~$1020
Total for Nvidia route: ~$990
My intent is to bump the FSB of the E8400 up to 1600 (4*400) to hit 3.6Ghz as I assume this will fit nicely DDR2-800... although benchmarks may point me in another direction as I tinker. I doubt I will leave any other component in the system overclocked, although I likely won't be able to resist the urge to try it at the beginning. I left a little in the budget in case I get unlucky and can't hit 3.6Ghz on the E8400 out of the box and need to invest in an after-market fan and heatsink. I also figure I'll have to pick up an extra 120mm fan to fill the side vent in the Antec 900. I initially plan to use on-board sound although, depending on the results, may pick up a X-Fi or Xonar a month or so after the initial build. I tend to wear a USB headset when gaming... don't want to wake up the kids, you know... and don't do any serious encoding so sounds cards aren't high on my priority list anyway.
I am trying to leave myself in a position where, 6-12 months down the road, I can pick up another video card for a quick shot of performance boost and/or grab a Core 2 Quad hopefully before they start getting pricey due to scarcity.
The primary difference is whether I go AMD or Nvidia, unless you can see something glaringly wrong. To be honest I had planned to go AMD as I like Crossfire's ability to mix and match a bit (in case I wait too long to buy an exact duplicate) but, from what I can tell, the performance of a GTX 260 is on par (or better, depending on the specific game and drivers in use) with the HD 4870 and the price on the GTX 260 is pretty good.
Thoughts? Can someone see if I am making a wrong turn or recommend a way I can spend a comparable amount of money to get better performance today with the ability to quickly supplement it within the next year as needed?
Thanks!
Using that combo I can pick up the CPU cooler and still remain within my original budget and the difference in cost between DDR2 800 and DDR2 1000 fits as well