Curse

Kamatsu · Mar 30, 2010, 07:23 AM // 07:23

Hi all again,

I'm now finalizing my options, and considering all the idea's posted in my other thread (and elsewhere), I thought I'd post all my options in 1 new thread.. max budget is $2,000

Option #1 - Intel I7 setup:

Total Cost w/p&H: $1,815

Intel Core i7 930
OCZ PC3-12800 Platinum 3x2GB OCZ3P1600LV6GK
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Motherboard
Antec Six Hundred Case
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ
CoolerMaster 4-Pack 120mm Fans
Corsair HX-850 Power Supply CMPSU-850HX
XFX Radeon HD5850 XXX Edition

Unfortunately, no new monitor - new monitor would break budget of $2,000 max.

I could switch Video card to a Sapphire Radeon HD5850 TOXIC 1GB, it would change total price to: $1,861

Or Switch video card to Sapphire Radeon HD5870 1GB for total cost of: $1.955

Option #2 - Intel I5 setup:

Total Cost w/p&H: $1,773

Intel Core i5 750
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P Motherboard
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum 2x2GB OCZ3P1333LV4GK
Antec Six Hundred Case
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ
CoolerMaster 4-Pack 120mm Fans
Corsair HX-850 Power Supply CMPSU-850HX
XFX Radeon HD5850 XXX Edition
Samsung P2350 23in Widescreen LCD Monitor

I could switch video card to Sapphire Radeon HD5870 1GB, Total cost would be: $1,913

Or switch monitor to a Samsung 2443BW+ 24in Widescreen LCD Monitor for total cost of $1.939

Or switch monitor to Samsung 2443BW+ 24in Widescreen LCD Monitor & video card to Sapphire Radeon HD5850 TOXIC 1GB for total cost of: $1,985

Option #3 - AMD Phenom II setup:

Total Cost w/p&h: $1,767

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H Motherboard
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum 2x2GB OCZ3P1333LV4GK
Antec Six Hundred Case
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ
CoolerMaster 4-Pack 120mm Fans
Corsair HX-850 Power Supply CMPSU-850HX
XFX Radeon HD5850 XXX Edition
Samsung P2350 23in Widescreen LCD Monitor

I could switch video card to Sapphire Radeon HD5870 1GB, Total cost would be: $1,907

Or switch monitor to a Samsung 2443BW+ 24in Widescreen LCD Monitor for total cost of $1,933

Or switch monitor to Samsung 2443BW+ 24in Widescreen LCD Monitor & video card to Sapphire Radeon HD5850 TOXIC 1GB for total cost of: $1,979

Out of all 3 options, #2 & 3 are preferrable to me as it lets me purchase a new monitor as well. I can not afford to CFX right now, but maybe in 6-12 months. I like to play games mainly, also watch some dvd's and movies (when my home system fails me for whatever reason).

Would value & appreciate any thoughts/opinions/advice regarding these options.

Elder III · Mar 30, 2010, 01:38 PM // 13:38

You will be happy with either Option #2 or #3 --- by all means upgrade to the 5870 if it is in your budget, it will last longer into the future without needing CrossfireX etc... Your only real difference is the CPU, and the i5 will be faster (albeit marginally a few % or less) in games and will do well in multi threaded apps., the faster clock speed of the phenom ii will win out in some apps, esp if they are still single threaded. FOr a price difference of under $10 I'd have to recommend the i5 system.

Quaker · Mar 30, 2010, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Of those choices, I'd go for the i5-750 based setup.

Jumping Is Uselss · Mar 31, 2010, 03:05 AM // 03:05

I would have chosen option #1, but since you are over budget for a 24" monitor, there is no point in getting a beefy gpu.

I'd go with option #3 for a total cost of: $1,979.

GWfan#1 · Mar 31, 2010, 04:14 AM // 04:14

+1 for option#2.

Lourens · Mar 31, 2010, 07:15 AM // 07:15

Id spend some more and get an i7 and 5870 but thats just my opinion

Kamatsu · Mar 31, 2010, 08:22 AM // 08:22

Elder III - According to toms Hardware, the I5-750 is superior to the AMD Phenom II 965.. if you pay attention to Toms Hardware that is - CPU Heirarchy Chart (and my current cpu isn't even on that list.. lolz!)

My choices seem either get beefiest system and get new monitor later, or go with a 23" monitor with a HD5870.. or a 24" monitor with a HD5850.. considering I'm gaming on a 17" monitor.. either option #2 or #3 is looking appealing. lolz

Thanx all for the opinions, appreciate it

Elder III · Mar 31, 2010, 02:29 PM // 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamatsu

Elder III - According to toms Hardware, the I5-750 is superior to the AMD Phenom II 965.. if you pay attention to Toms Hardware that is - CPU Heirarchy Chart (and my current cpu isn't even on that list.. lolz!)

My choices seem either get beefiest system and get new monitor later, or go with a 23" monitor with a HD5870.. or a 24" monitor with a HD5850.. considering I'm gaming on a 17" monitor.. either option #2 or #3 is looking appealing. lolz

Thanx all for the opinions, appreciate it

And I would agree with Tom's on that - one thing to consider is if you want to overclock the CPU; both the i5 750 and the phenom ii series will overclock very well. Now I would buy the i5 since it's only a few dollars more. One thing you could check out would be a Phenom II 945/955 since they are going to be just about equal to the 965, and easily overclock to that frequency at stock voltage and with a stock cooler... and are probably $30-40 cheaper. That's just an option, and whether or not you are the type to pinch pennies will determine if it is worth it to you.

I still think I would get the i5 though - when all is said and done it's worth the extra cash (keeping that 2k budget in mind).

Don't even think about not getting a new monitor - the difference you will IMMEDIATELY notice when you first plug that baby in will be more than you will ever notice by throwing money away on an i7 920 CPU. If you want to game then you need a nice monitor and the i5 is just as good for gaming as anything else.

Quaker · Mar 31, 2010, 03:59 PM // 15:59

Actually, if you go by what Tom's says, it's not worth getting anything more than an i5-750. The price/performance ratio beyond the i5-750 is not good.

Sir Baddock · Apr 02, 2010, 04:11 AM // 04:11

My experience knowledge makes me decide option #1 is better, however some simple changes to help you out, if you want a more detailed explanation feel free to Private Message me through Guild Wars or on the Forum (See my Forum name for my IGN). I'm not in the right state of mind to write a huge post explaining why Option 1 is superior.

Motherboard: EVGA x58 SLI (best X58 motherboard if you ask me, it's what I use in my current build).

Processor / CPU: Core i7 920 (d0 stepping) the i7 930 is fine if you want it but the i7 920 is also fine, they're basically the same processor except one has a minor overclock.

Hard Drive: I cannot stress this enough, Western Digital > All, if you're not using Western Digital you're doing something wrong.

PS: You may run into issues with the case you have picked, if you're using a 5 series card I recommend using a Full-Tower but if you're sure it'll fit in a Mid-Tower case go right ahead and upgrade. Just remember though Graphics Cards are only going to get bigger.

PPS: If you wait a month a drop in price is coming to the ATI cards, I cannot tell you where I've acquired this knowledge but lets just say nVidia is going to feel the pain when the new prices drop. Additionally if you again wait a few months you can grab an AMD 6-core Processor which I assume will be launching within 2 - 3 months with a bargain price of $299.99 for an "Extreme Edition" (Black Edition is what AMD calls it) which is clocked at something like 3.0GHz out of the box with 6 cores and an unlocked multiplier you should be able to pump those babies to 4GHz easily on decent air cooling (True 120, Dark Knight, V8, etc)

snikerz · Apr 02, 2010, 05:29 AM // 05:29

My setup is similar to what you desire.

For MMO's in general, a top priority would be to get a Solid State Drive(SSD), SSDs strength lie in access times, most of which have speed of 0.1ms, so being in a MMO environment you are constantly going to new areas which textures are constantly being loaded.

Elder III · Apr 02, 2010, 11:24 AM // 11:24

GW1 is instanced so ^^^ is not that big a deal - and they are still too expensive to merit it if you are trying to stay under a certain budget.

I don't think anyone would argue that the i7 920 is the best CPU listed, but the OP is gaming on a 17" monitor - think about that.... it almost makes me sad enough to buy him/her a new lcd myself (ok, that's pushing it lol), a new monitor won't fit into the budget with a i7 920 build - and the i5 series is amazing for gaming purposes, which is what we are concerned with here.

Snograt · Apr 02, 2010, 02:31 PM // 14:31

I have a 22" Samsung that I would happily give the OP - but shipping to Oz?

Sorry, mate

Lord Sojar · Apr 02, 2010, 10:55 PM // 22:55

PS: The Corei7 860 bitch slaps the 920/930. ^_^

God forbid you can't run 3x SLi/CFX! GOD. FORBID. END GAME MAN! /sarcasm

I easily OCed my 860 to 4GHz, and I even managed a 4.6GHz OC on it via software OCing, but it seems to dislike Flash at that speed.... which is odd.

Kamatsu · Apr 03, 2010, 09:14 AM // 09:14

Elder III - funny, what sparked me to get a new monitor was my mum. she recently got a 22" wide-screen lcd.. and I was impressed with the resolution. It's funny cuz my mum is not a gamer and she for the longest time swore she would never get a computer .. and now she sits and tinkers on it and got a bigger screen because 17" was "just too small!".. lolz

From what iIve read, both i5-750 & phenom ii seem to overclock fairly well, so unless I was going for extreme oc'ing.. that likely isn't a concern - and I do believe the phenom ii was better then.

I'm not really into penny pinching unless it will gain me something tbo. The 955 is $30 cheaper and the 945 is $50 cheaper, but even if I went with the 945.. my options for video card and/or monitor upgrades would stay the same.. as getting HD5870 & 24" monitor would still be over $2,000.. so apart from saving my bank balance $30-50.. there is no point in not going with the best possible option.

Hmm.. WD. I look at the list of Western Digital HD's.. and I get confused. Whats the difference between the following (apart from price.. lolz):

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB WD1002FAEX - #135
Western Digital Green 1TB WD10EARS - $105
Western Digital RE3 1TB WD1002FBYS - #169
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_344&pro ducts_id=13198

that last drive is 500MB bigger than the others and is priced around the same. What is the diff between the Caviar & the Green drives?

Sir Baddock - unfortunately I can't wait much longer. Reason I'm buying is because my computer is on it's last legs. And it's just getting worse - not sure my computer will last the next few weeks, let alone a few months.

snikerz - if I had the money to burn on a SSD I would, but the problem is SSD are not big, and cost a lot... $300-500 just for 128GB.. and since I am looking for space.. right now, I'll have to pass on SSD

Edler III & Snograt - I appreciate the sympathy about me gaming on a 17" monitor. It's terribad.. lolz

Rahja - lolz @ end game comment

I have to say, 1 thing I'm debating about with the Phenom II vs i5-750 is future upgradable.

The i5-750 does give me a upgrade to the i7-860/870.. but doubtful Intel will release any new/more cpu's on this board .. and we are looking at 6-cores being released later this year or early next year.. and doubt they will go on the 1156 boards...

The Phenom II 965 however provides no further cpu options at this moment, as this is the highest available at this time. However, the upcoming AMD cpu's are supposedly AM3 based.. so will be usable on the MB I listed.. and these are supposedly 6-core cpu's. So the amd suggest's it's long-term upgradability is superior to the intel..

as with intel I'd need to buy new mb and ram along with cpu while amd suggest's all I'd need to buy is the cpu...

Lord Sojar · Apr 03, 2010, 01:02 PM // 13:02

The 1156 socket is far from done. Actually, I was reading up on the Corei3 530 CPU.... little wee beastie that thing is... if you are on a budget, and you want a better graphics card (which is the primary bottleneck for games with high end graphics), the i3 530 is amazing. It overclocks to 4GHz on STOCK cooling at nearly stock voltage, and it runs very cool. Yes, it's a dual core, but it has Hyperthreading, giving it 4 logical cores, which is plenty for games. Later on, you could put an 860 into the system, when games truly become multithreaded. Until then, the 530 would more than suffice! That would give you a budget for an HD5970 or GTX480 if you would so choose, without stressing your budget to the point of exploding. I'd recommend taking a peek at that path.

Jumping Is Uselss · Apr 03, 2010, 01:20 PM // 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Baddock

Hard Drive: I cannot stress this enough, Western Digital > All, if you're not using Western Digital you're doing something wrong.

Lolwut?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamatsu

Hmm.. WD. I look at the list of Western Digital HD's.. and I get confused. Whats the difference between the following (apart from price.. lolz):

IIRC the difference among green, black, and blue is how WD is trying to be environmentally conscious with their HDD usage of electricty and the heat they produce. Someone correct me if I am wrong, I read this on Tom's Hardware sometime ago.

Anyways here is a quick and simple explanation

green = low power / low performance
blue= medium power / medium performance
black = high power / high performance

personally I'd get the samsung you have already posted http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=12711. F3 are amazing and SSD are too overpriced atm.

Quaker · Apr 03, 2010, 02:38 PM // 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamatsu

. WD. I look at the list of Western Digital HD's.. and I get confused. Whats the difference between the following (apart from price.. lolz):.

Without spending too much time digging into their specs, I notice that the Green drives use a new "advanced format", which is not compatible with some OSes, and they are designed to use less power. I also know, from past experience, that WD sells drives in various levels of "performance" - in this case, the RE3 drive is designed for work in business/server applications where continuous use and data reliability are prime concerns. The extra cost is more a function of the extra testing/certification the drive goes through, than any major physical difference.

snikerz · Apr 03, 2010, 02:39 PM // 14:39

yep, SSDs are still too pricy, especially 128gb+ , and you want a good one too since some of them are prone to stuttering(not enough cache)

realizing this, i decided all i needed was a 64gb, to install windows, a few selected games i regularly play(GW and BF:BC2), and do alot of .rar extracting, when i want to store stuff, i'll use other hard drives, aka my greens

greens are great for storage, which i have several of, speed isn't a concern,,, as all i want them to do is store stuff.

imo best thing since sliced bread.

Lord Sojar · Apr 04, 2010, 04:55 AM // 04:55

Hi Kamatsu, my name is value, nice to meet you.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=13218

BUY ME.