Discussion Forums > Technology
help me buy a new comp
kitamesume:
--- Quote from: Nyking754 on July 18, 2011, 05:18:17 PM ---primary OS HD- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
secondary HD- SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
--- End quote ---
this is so wrong, what datora meant by use a WD black for OS is IF you are going to use a HDD for the OS instead and arent going SSD based.
for the same price(thinking about 150$) you could get like 128GB of SSD plus the fact that the OS barely even uses 30GB...
imho 60GB SSD for OS and 1TB HDD on main storage should be your primary goal, any excess should be done externally(NAS, bah even USB 3.0 based is enough as a storage) or at least do it on a different HDD.
datora:
.
One thing I was clearly wrong about is that, if you wanted to go Intel, then you can certainly get a solid mobo for under $150 (not the $220 I listed; those exist but are getting into the top performance range).
Apart from that, it seems you're willing to go AMD. For what you want to do, it should be all the power you need & still meet budget. For the rest of us to make sure, it would help if you can list maybe the top ~5 or so most intensive games you intend to play.
As far as AMD mobos go, here is a shining example of a modern, powerful AMD board:
- GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X
currently going for $168 (including shipping). If the price drops on this (usually by $10 or $20 and free shipping), this is the board I will get for my build. OR one very similar -- for me, price is pretty critical right now.
When you're looking at AMD boards, notice this:
- 990FX is pretty much the top model chipset, so a 990X or 990GX or 990XA makes some compromises; you will pay a $30 to $50 premium to go with an FX board, but you may not need it.
- the "AM3+" means you can upgrae the processor to the next generation Bulldozer ... once it's available. So, maybe in ~12 or 18 months you might be able to really jump your CPU horsepower. A "AM3" socket will top out with the Phenom line, such as the x6 core you're looking at.
- on the Gigabyte boards, the UD3 is below the UD5, which is below the UD7 models. Again, more bling$ to buy into those ... and you may not/probably don't require the extra features.
Even though I used Gigabyte as an example, ASUS and MSI ( to name at least two others) are equivalent brands right now ... so Gigabyte offers very impressive features and an superb BIOS, but I'm not advocating it as the only option.
Generally speaking, if you intend to run two video cards in SLI, you'd want two PCIe 16x slots for maximum/premium performance. To get that feature, you would need to look at 990FX / UD5 boards. On the other boards, the first PCIe slot runs at 16x with one video card, but if you add a second GPU to the next slot, then both slots drop down to 8x speed.
That's still enormous amounts of mad power, unless you are really a l33t gamer ... in which case, your budget would need to be expanded.
So, what games you want to run? Would you want/need dual video cards?
I'll also take issue with the x6 core CPU. You can certainly get one, but do you really need that power? Very few apps can use 6 cores (so far). By the time that changes, in about a year or so, then the Bulldozer CPUs will have been out for some time. You might consider a solid x4 core now, such as the Deneb Black Edition 965 or 970, if you can get one at a good price. These will overclock to 4 GHz with ease; most folks get them up to 4.2 on air cooling.
This solution might be good enough for your needs; it's a shitload of power, especially coupled with 1600 MHz RAM (which can usually be OC'd to 1800). Then, if you've got an AM3+ board, you could jump the CPU up in a year for ~$150 or $180 and completely revitalize your system for newer games coming out in late 2012.
Final thought for this post: 950 watts for a power supply is vastly over-powered ... for a single video card. A 650 watt would do you just fine, and 700-750W is a bit overpowered but still a comfortable "headspace" of extra, unused capacity. Once you hit 800watts and above you're wasting money.
Look for something more like this example:
- COOLER MASTER GX RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE
which would come in at $70 including free shipping AFTER rebate. And, you can do a bit better by shopping carefully. If you found one for less that was 680 or 700 or 720 watts, get it. 750 should be the upper limit, unless you decide you need to run two video cards.
The 80 PLUS rating is high energy efficiency rating ... more electricity gets used, less wasted, less extra heat generated. The Bronze Certified is always good; just means nice, solid build. Look for those ratings, they are nice to have & are worth the extra couple $$$s that go into a quality PSU.
kitamesume:
i just dont get people getting those "raw power" just to crunch the same resolution on games as i do when i only need like a 10th of the power they're gonna be getting...
my gaming rig *whistles* i3-2100 + HD6670 + 4gb ram + 500GB HDD + Agility(1) series 40gb *whistles* and i could crunch metro 2033 @ 1920x1080 med @ 40fps XD
@OP
i5-2500K WILL eat the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition alive for like 40$ more? plus the fact that the i5-2500K can OC like hell on air cooling(we're talking 4-5Ghz here).
datora:
--- Quote from: kitamesume on July 18, 2011, 06:13:24 PM ---
--- Quote from: Nyking754 on July 18, 2011, 05:18:17 PM ---primary OS HD- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
secondary HD- SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
--- End quote ---
this is so wrong, what datora meant by use a WD black for OS is IF you are going to use a HDD for the OS instead and arent going SSD based.
for the same price(thinking about 150$) you could get like 128GB of SSD plus the fact that the OS barely even uses 30GB...
imho 60GB SSD for OS and 1TB HDD on main storage should be your primary goal, any excess should be done externally(NAS, bah even USB 3.0 based is enough as a storage) or at least do it on a different HDD.
--- End quote ---
Yeah .. I sort of missed that.
Look, I picked up one of these drives:
- Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
for $49.99 delivered on a newegg special. It is a huge drive for an OS install, but it's a great one. I was trying to find a 500 GB or under drive ... but they just don't make them anymore. I would not have bought htis drive for the $70 it's going for regularly. You very much do not need a 1 TB drive. Go for this one instead:
- Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
What I was trying to say is: be aware of the available drives and get one when it comes up on a good price.
As far as the mass storage, check this topic:
> Technology > 4 TB external storage solution
for one option. I'm using this exact solution and it is fantastic. I have had solid luck with the SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s drives ... I have three of them and they are all working flawlessly.
However, I also bought them for $69.99 (first one) and $59.99 (second two) when they went on special. You can get one of these drives and put it inside your build and they transfer data at very fast speeds, even for SATA II drives. Later you can play with external storage enclosures (maybe find a USB 3.0 one), etc.
Please keep in mind that the suggestions I'm making for you also mean looking for a good price, not just paying the standard rate. You'll kill your budget on the shipping alone ... everything I've bought so far has been free shipping ... probably close to $50 in savings that are being invested in actual hardware.
kitamesume:
well if i look at my HDD, and if i make a pie chart it`ll look like this:
500GB(my main disk, so cute LOL)
games 20% (reason why its under 100gb is because i dont keep games i've finished, i uninstall them and store the installer on my backup drive)
audio files(mp3, flacs, etc.) 10%
pictures 10%
movies 50%
free space 10%
currently transferring the movies on my newly bought seagate drive XD
PRO TIP: buy your HDD locally, seriously.
reason: warranty replacement is just at your door step.
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