Potential Future New Computer
Ok, so i have spent the morning going over parts and stuff for building a new computer system that i could maybe pick up over the summer if i am extremely lucky. As far as i can tell all is compatible with each other and by using an online power supply calculator to determine power requirements i think i am well covered. I have calculated a potential cost for it at “bare bones” which is one processor and one stick of ram, then also did the price as a quad core machine with 8gb of ram.
So i guess i am looking for Curt, Joe, and anyone else that has an opinion or thoughts to look it over and double check it. Make sure i did not goof somewhere and pick non compatible parts, or pick shitty components and what not. I got the prices mostly from a decent local store that i have used in the past (Not MicroBytes!). If you think i can get better prices elsewhere (even online) that would be fantastic. So let me know what you think! Thanks!
New Computer Specs
Case - Antec Nine Hundred $119
Motherboard - Asus M3A AMD770 $100
Processor - AMD Phenom 9600 QCORE BE 2.3G 4M Box AM2+ $282
Power Supply - Enermax Galaxy DXX EGX850EWL 850W $240
Memory - Kingston 2 x 2048MB 800MHz DDR2 $139
Graphics Card - Asus PCI-E GeForce 8500GT 512MB DDR2 128bit $95
Sound Card - Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer $109
Hard Drive - WD IDE 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache OEM $125
Optical Drive - LG GSA-H55N 20X/20X DVD-RW Internal $55
Bare Bones Total = $1264
Total with quad Core and max Ram = $2527
15 Responses to “Potential Future New Computer”
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on 07 Apr 2008 at 10:01 am # Curt
Well, before I go off in search of pricing and stuff, I feel the need to let you know that the currently lineup of AMD processors aren’t very good and actually have all kinds of problems. They’re supposed to be bringing out a new batch of quad-cores that fix everything, but I’m not yet convinced.
The Intel processors, on the other hand, are doing great.
Also, I wouldn’t bother with the sound card. On board sound is usually good enough. I, too, am looking to price out a new computer in the very near future, I just need to wait for processors to arrive before I buy it, so maybe I’ll put in some price lists of my own and we can hash it out here.
on 07 Apr 2008 at 10:08 am # Neil D
thanks for the heads up on AMD, that is exactly the kind of thing i wouldn’t ha ve known unless i really spent a good amount of time reading up on things. Hell i probably would not have even known about cause AMD always seemed like a name you could trust, so i wouldn’t have doubted them.
I have lots of time to look over prices and parts, like i said i am aiming to build a system over the summer (so roughly around July).
Good to know about onboard sound, i usually liked having a sound card cause back in the day i was not too impressed with onboard sound, but i guess over the last 10 years it can’t be too bad now…lol.
All i know is i want to really aim for quad core and as much ram as i can possibly throw on there. The fact that windows will have the 64 bit Photoshop CS4 is what has really sold me now, and atleast now my machine will till be able to double as a gaming beast. WOOT! Warhammer online should look amazing!
on 07 Apr 2008 at 10:09 am # Neil D
Oh, and what is the deal with having multiple graphics cards? worthwhile, or does not enough out there really make use of it to make it something to invest in yet?
on 07 Apr 2008 at 10:30 am # Curt
SLI/Crossfire (the multiple video card thing) are not really worth it, in my opinion. It’s alot of cost for not much performance. You’re better to just get a more powerful single card.
It also has the added problem of needing software support to be any benefit. Playing a game that doesn’t support SLI? Too bad, you’re only using one of your two videocards.
on 07 Apr 2008 at 10:35 am # Neil D
Good to know, it didn’t sound to amazing from what i had read. My first Motherboard pick had Crossfirex on it, i was like “what da fuck is that?” so i did some reading and was not too impressed (especially since it was only ATI cards) so then i changed my motherboard to something else.
Didn’t read up on SLI cause i figured it also would not be that impressive.
on 07 Apr 2008 at 5:52 pm # Joe
If you want to stick with AMD, just get an AM2 6400+. Or get an intel board with something like a E6850.
Here is a benchmark of the E6850
http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q6600_8.html
Crossfire and SLI have come along way and its a nice feature to have in a motherboard. Usually because a board decked out with Crossfire or SLI has all the other features you would want as well.
As for performance, the gain (even in games that don’t support it) is seen when you scale up. It will loadbalance in both instances, sli and crossfire, and you will see great improvments when you have all the bells and whistles cranked to max. However, unless you are looking to burn a whole in your pocket or have a 30″ screen its best to start with one card. It won’t have an impact in photoshop.
on 07 Apr 2008 at 5:53 pm # Joe
Oh, and the videocard sucks, get the new 9xxx series
on 07 Apr 2008 at 5:54 pm # Joe
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28577&vpn=PVT94PYDF4&manufacture=XFX
Look its on sale
on 07 Apr 2008 at 6:17 pm # Curt
I can attest to the awesomeness of XFX, that’s my new videocard brand.
Hopefully, the prices for CPUs should shift a bit in the near future as the Intel Q9300 and Q9450 45nm quad-core CPUs are coming to market (like, now), so the Q6600 should hopefully start to drop in price.
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:28 am # Neil D
so is there a difference between sli and crossfire? is one better then the other? or is it simply that one brand has sli and the other crossfire with both built on the same technology?
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:29 am # Joe
ncix & canada computers both ship from Canada. In most cases they are the cheapest.
This one is sorta same spec, better processor and videocard but $200+ cheaper.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=017737&cid=170.540
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:33 am # Curt
SLI is for nVidia cards and Crossfire is for ATI cards. It depends on the chipset on the motherboard, basically.
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:37 am # Neil D
thats what i figured. does asus make mother boards for sli? only seen ones sporting crossfire.
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:40 am # Curt
I believe they do. All the ASUS boards I’ve had have SLI cause they’re nVidia chipsets. I’ll have to do some poking around on the horrendous ASUS site that I absolutely despise with a burning hatred.
on 08 Apr 2008 at 7:43 am # Neil D
apparently asus was the first to offer sli. man, what can’t 30 seconds of surfing the weeb tell you? lol.