Curse

Imori Akari · Jan 13, 2009, 10:19 AM // 10:19

'ello Guru's.

so I'm looking to get a new computer, as the one I'm on is beginning to suck.

Unfortunately, I work a minimum wage job and am gearing up for college so I'm tight on funds. I was browsing Newegg and came up with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227122

Does this look pretty damn good for its price? Anything you would suggest getting with it? Got a better suggestion?

I do gaming, lots of WoW and Guild Wars. Sometimes when the mood hits me I'll play some Dead Space or Command and Conquer 3. It doesnt all have to run maxxed out, I can live with medium-high settings.

Would this work for those demands?

Also, I can do bits and pieces of computer building. I've customized my current computer a bit, so I think I could learn how to put a computer together. I browsed the stickied post about parts to buy, but I'm not sure what all I'd want that way.

As far as building goes, if I did I'd use my current MSI 600 Watt PSU and DVD drive plus

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208020 - Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319 - Harddrive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136044 - Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102803 - Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220353 - RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103234 - Processor

Would the above work out pretty well? any way to make it cheaper for around same performance?

I know I'm asking alot, but I wanna make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck, as my buck is limited =P

Blackhearted · Jan 13, 2009, 11:12 AM // 11:12

Buying the parts you listed and building yourself would be much more worth your money(and cheaper) than that prebuilt you linked. You could also cut the price of ram roughly in half by buying it alone, without the bundle. I should also point out on the ram that you don't really need to go above ddr2-800 unless you plan on overclocking.

Imori Akari · Jan 13, 2009, 11:21 AM // 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

Buying the parts you listed and building yourself would be much more worth your money(and cheaper) than that prebuilt you linked. You could also cut the price of ram roughly in half by buying it alone, without the bundle. I should also point out on the ram that you don't really need to go above ddr2-800 unless you plan on overclocking.

Over clocking isnt really something I look to do. Just dont want to risk it, and I have no experience with it.

I already have 2G of memory I'm going to carry over from my old system. Would I even really need more RAM? =\

Blackhearted · Jan 13, 2009, 11:43 AM // 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imori Akari

Over clocking isnt really something I look to do. Just dont want to risk it, and I have no experience with it.

I already have 2G of memory I'm going to carry over from my old system. Would I even really need more RAM? =\

If you need more than 2gb depends on what all you will do, really. If it's just gw and wow for the most part(along with the basic web browsing and such), then 2 gigs is usually fine. But other, non gaming things, such as photoshop, could probly benefit from more. Oh, and btw.. is that 2gb in the old system ddr2? if not you'd need the new ram regardless.

Imori Akari · Jan 13, 2009, 11:54 AM // 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

If you need more than 2gb depends on what all you will do, really. If it's just gw and wow for the most part(along with the basic web browsing and such), then 2 gigs is usually fine. But other, non gaming things, such as photoshop, could probly benefit from more. Oh, and btw.. is that 2gb in the old system ddr2? if not you'd need the new ram regardless.

Nah I dont Photoshop or anything. Pretty much do just what you named. Some medium gaming and web browsing.

Yeah, its DDR2. =\ Alright, I'll look for some cheaper DDR3 then.

As for graphics card, I'm only familiar with the Nvidia line, so I'm not sure about how the one I chose would compare. Would it be about a 9500 or 9600?

How does

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145183

look got RAM?

Also, I'm about to crash for a few hours, so I wont be replying right away.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Blackhearted · Jan 13, 2009, 12:12 PM // 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imori Akari

Nah I dont Photoshop or anything. Pretty much do just what you named. Some medium gaming and web browsing.

Yeah, its DDR2. =\ Alright, I'll look for some cheaper DDR3 then.

As for graphics card, I'm only familiar with the Nvidia line, so I'm not sure about how the one I chose would compare. Would it be about a 9500 or 9600?

How does

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145183

look got RAM?

Also, I'm about to crash for a few hours, so I wont be replying right away.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Haha, you didn't need to look for ddr3. What i meant was if it wasn't ddr2 that you had now, that you'd then need to get new ram of the that type(ddr2). I guess i might not have worded that the best back there.

Anyway on the video card.. i'm not a fan of ati's r700 architecture personally, but the 4830 should be much faster than that 9500gt, it should also be faster than the 9600gt as well. If i remember correctly it should be nearer to the 9800 series in performance.

Imori Akari · Jan 13, 2009, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Ah gotcha =P It all just needs to be the same? Right on.

Dang that will be quite the upgrade..I'm running an Nvidia 8600 right now. Seems pretty cheap compared to the other cards with that capability.

Celestial Crown · Jan 15, 2009, 01:08 AM // 01:08

If you don't plan on running crossfire/sli, pick yourself up a 790gx board. Also I'd strongly recommend getting the x2 7750 (bundle it with memory or even the biostar 790gx, which I heard was a pretty good board.) The x2 7750 is basically a phenom with 2 cores disabled, so its about 20% clock for clock faster than older x2's and it can run 1066 ram. Mine overclocked very easily to 3.2 with a multi change and a little bump in voltage. I think 4830 is a good budget choice too.

Elder III · Jan 15, 2009, 01:54 AM // 01:54

what exactly is your budget? GIve us a figure and someone here will whip together the pc of your dreams

Imori Akari · Jan 15, 2009, 05:06 AM // 05:06

Looking to spend 600 or under. Hopefully.

Celestial: I dont overclock. I know nothing about it. I was thinking about how since I wont be running SLI or Crossfire I shouldnt need a board with it. The one you named is a Crossfire board. Is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138130 the one you had in mind or is it another one?

snaek · Jan 15, 2009, 06:21 AM // 06:21

imo u can get much cheaper

i wouldnt go wit an amd 790fx unless u plan to crossfire (go wit an amd740 or 780)
hard drive is excessively big (unless u really need all that space?)
----in which case if u do, then i'd go wit 2 smaller seperate hd's
and that ram is way expensive (do u really need the usb key+3dmark bundle?)

also, i wouldnt buy a pre-built machine wit vista on it
wait until windows 7 (hopefully it releases before the end of the year)

Imori Akari · Jan 15, 2009, 07:04 AM // 07:04

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138105 How does this board look? Only need the one graphics card slot. Says its a micro though, will that still be mountable in a medium case? And how about everything being so close together, would that be an over heating issue?

Quaker · Jan 15, 2009, 08:12 PM // 20:12

Micro ATX fits into a regular ATX case - it's just a bit smaller. There shouldn't be any particular heat problems.

Elder III · Jan 16, 2009, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144197

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

MOBO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135075

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227298

CPU & GPU combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.151878

TOTAL Price (after rebates) = $499.15

Buy it, use it, love it. I'll vouch for all those parts.

Imori Akari · Jan 16, 2009, 03:44 AM // 03:44

oh damn

Nice build Elder.
Is the OCZ ram good even though I wont be overclocking? The impression I've got is its not too great unless you OC it.

Quaker · Jan 16, 2009, 05:16 PM // 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imori Akari

Is the OCZ ram good even though I wont be overclocking? The impression I've got is its not too great unless you OC it.

It's not usually worth paying extra for high performance RAM unless you intend to overclock, but it still works ok. In this case, you wouldn't even be paying "extra", so it's all good.

Imori Akari · Jan 16, 2009, 08:31 PM // 20:31

ugh that combo deal ran out today =[ Gotta buy them seperate now
gonna go with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.153595

Elder III · Jan 17, 2009, 02:33 PM // 14:33

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103249

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150323

same CPU as the combo deal I picked out before (def. better than the 2.3ghz agena CPU)
to save you a little more $$$ you could get that 9800 gt, not quite as good as a 4850, but very close imo, and it comes at a great price and free FarCry 2 (mail that to me!!! lol) better card than the 4830 and at the same price too....

Imori Akari · Jan 17, 2009, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Alright its ordered. Added a little more, but I figure its not that big a deal.

aha, I'll install Farcry, and if I dont like it, I'll get ahold of you Elder =P

Imori Akari · Feb 03, 2009, 07:18 AM // 07:18

Ugh...After getting a PSU that's fan burnt out on second time being turned on, and a motherboard that fried right after, got the stuff RMAed I got it back and hooked it back up. Now, I'm getting nothing. Everything is hooked up, checked it all over repeatedly. When I turn on the power, I hear a whining like the PSU is starting up, but the LED's on the PSU, and no lights on the motherboard come on.

This is the PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817701004

now with these symptoms, does the PSU sound like the problem or would it be something else?

Note that the PSU works fine in my old computer