Building New PC

[sbr]

I am starting to think about replacing my PC.  I will be getting the parts and putting it together myself.  I am not too worried about being absolute top of the line now, but I would like it to be as future proof as is reasonable.  I'm not too worried about price at the moment, though money is always a Top 2-3 concern.  Also I likely won't be able to afford the whole thing until later this year, early next so I may buy a piece here and there for the next few months.

I have monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and know I need a new OS (Win 7).  I will more than likely keep my GPU(GTS 450)for now and upgrade it in 24-36 months.  After reading some things this is my starting point:

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASUS M5A97 AMD 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155

Western Digital AV-GP WD10EURX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

I am thinking I am going to go with 8GB RAM.  How does one chose a specific product here, I assume there are some that are better than others?  How useful is the jump to 16GB or more here?  I don't do much more than gaming.

I will need a power supply I think, I wanted to replace it a year or two ago but didn't.  Recommendations on brands?  My GPU is the GTS 450, how much power should I plan on needing?

Any reason to buy a new DVD drive?  Any reason not to?  Mine is a few years old and has almost no use, most all of my games are downloaded, not installed from disk.

So how does that look?  Will all the LEGO pieces fit together?

[DGuller]

Be careful with SSD size if you use Steaming Pile.  Steam can only install games on the Windows drive, which is going to be your SSD.  You can run out of space in a hurry that way.

[Grey Fox]

Be careful with SSD size if you use Steaming Pile.  Steam can only install games on the Windows drive, which is going to be your SSD.  You can run out of space in a hurry that way.

Steam is a fully copy paste able executable. Just move the entire steam folder somewhere else.

[DGuller]

Be careful with SSD size if you use Steaming Pile.  Steam can only install games on the Windows drive, which is going to be your SSD.  You can run out of space in a hurry that way.

Steam is a fully copy paste able executable. Just move the entire steam folder somewhere else.

Have you actually done it?

[Grey Fox]

Be careful with SSD size if you use Steaming Pile.  Steam can only install games on the Windows drive, which is going to be your SSD.  You can run out of space in a hurry that way.

Steam is a fully copy paste able executable. Just move the entire steam folder somewhere else.

Have you actually done it?

Yes. Multiple times.

[Vricklund]

ASUS M5A97 AMD 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155

So how does that look?  Will all the LEGO pieces fit together?

Your choice of motherboard has AMD's AM3+ socket and your processor is from Intel, that won't work.

[sbr]

ASUS M5A97 AMD 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155

So how does that look?  Will all the LEGO pieces fit together?

Your choice of motherboard has AMD's AM3+ socket and your processor is from Intel, that won't work.

Yeah, I copied the wrong piece over when I was writing the post.   But thanks.

I am doing some more research and will make another post sometime soon.

[Vricklund]

Heh, ok. The processor sounds very competent on paper, so if it's not too expensive, stick with it.

On a side note I wouldn't go for 16GB of ram, it's easy to upgrade over time anyways and probably cheaper too. Don't bother getting a new optical drive unless you want to play bluray discs.

[viper37]

I am starting to think about replacing my PC.  I will be getting the parts and putting it together myself.  I am not too worried about being absolute top of the line now, but I would like it to be as future proof as is reasonable.  I'm not too worried about price at the moment, though money is always a Top 2-3 concern.  Also I likely won't be able to afford the whole thing until later this year, early next so I may buy a piece here and there for the next few months.

I have monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and know I need a new OS (Win 7).  I will more than likely keep my GPU(GTS 450)for now and upgrade it in 24-36 months.  After reading some things this is my starting point:

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASUS M5A97 AMD 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155

Western Digital AV-GP WD10EURX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive

I am thinking I am going to go with 8GB RAM.  How does one chose a specific product here, I assume there are some that are better than others?  How useful is the jump to 16GB or more here?  I don't do much more than gaming.

I will need a power supply I think, I wanted to replace it a year or two ago but didn't.  Recommendations on brands?  My GPU is the GTS 450, how much power should I plan on needing?

Any reason to buy a new DVD drive?  Any reason not to?  Mine is a few years old and has almost no use, most all of my games are downloaded, not installed from disk.

So how does that look?  Will all the LEGO pieces fit together?

Intel is overpriced.  And that board you chose ain't that good if you go the AMD way.

Try this:
Asus Sabertooth 990FX

AMD 6100 (6 cores)

Don't with 16gb RAM, unless you intend to run a server on a virtual machine.
Lots of games barely use memory above 4gb., though that's changing.

As for memory, go with 8gb of this:
AMD Performance edition[/url]

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Intel is overpriced.

Two points on this:

1) Based on the discounts I see from MicroCenter, Intel processors have a higher margin for retailers than AMD processors.  The two processors mentioned in this thread, from MicroCenter:  FX-6100 vs. i5 3570K.  Their discount on the I am buying is even more significant.

2) The 3570K is a much more capable processor than the FX-6100, arguably twice the processor for twice the price.  If the FX-6100 is all you need, of course, the 3570K is a waste of money, but it is not overpriced.

[viper37]

2) The 3570K is a much more capable processor than the FX-6100, arguably twice the processor for twice the price.  If the FX-6100 is all you need, of course, the 3570K is a waste of money, but it is not overpriced.

no argument there, Intel offers the best performance.  AMD offers the best price/performance

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

2) The 3570K is a much more capable processor than the FX-6100, arguably twice the processor for twice the price.  If the FX-6100 is all you need, of course, the 3570K is a waste of money, but it is not overpriced.

no argument there, Intel offers the best performance.  AMD offers the best price/performance

My point is the price/performance ratio is roughly the same.  AMD has decided to shoot for the lower end of the market, while Intel shoots for the higher end.

[viper37]

My point is the price/performance ratio is roughly the same.  AMD has decided to shoot for the lower end of the market, while Intel shoots for the higher end.

considering what I have seen so far, AMD has the best price/performance ratio, Intel doesn't offer 3 times the performance for 3x the price.
You got to figure the higher priced ram, the higher priced board and everything.

Imho, Intel high CPUs are overkill for most machines, except for FPS players on 3 monitors.

Looking at this benchmark:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8100+Eight-Core
i7 2600k is 28% faster than FX-8120.

i7 = 319$
FX-8120= 150$

2.12x the price for 28% performance gain on the CPU.

[sbr]

Back to dreaming about building a new PC.

What do people think of this bundle I just accidentally stumbled upon?

http://www.tigerdire...5884&catid=4910


Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H I5-3570K QUAD CORE BUNDLE
This Bundle Includes:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H Intel 7 Series Motherboard - ATX, Socket H2 (LGA1155), Intel Z77 Express, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA III (6Gb/s), RAID, 7.1-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, SLI/CrossFireX
Intel Core i5-3570K BX806237i53570K Processor - Quad Core, 6MB L3 Cache, 3.40GHz (3.80GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 95W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail
Kingston HyperX Red KHX16C9B1RK2/8X 8GB Memory Module Kit - 1600MHz, 9-9-9, DDR3, 2x4GB, CL9, 1.65V, Unbuffered
EVGA GeForce GTX 650 01G-P4-2650-KR Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 1x Mini-HDMI, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot
Toshiba HDKPC03 DT01ACA100 1TB Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200 RPM, SATA, 3.5"
Thermaltake W0388RU TR2 Series Power Supply - 600 Watts, ATX
Kingwin CFBL-012LB LED Case Fan - 120mm, Blue
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Mid Tower Case - ATX, Micro ATX, 120mm LED Fan, 4x 5.25 Bays, 5x 3.5 Bays
Samsung SH-224BB/BEBE Internal 24X DVD Burner -Tray, SATA, 1.5MB Buffer Memory, 16x DVD-R Read, 48x CD-R Write (OEM

[viper37]

The link is not working, can't see the price

Anyway, generally, it's a good build if you insist on going the Intel way
I don't know about Toshiba hard drive, I'm now a Western Digital fan myself

You might want to consider adding a SSD, 128 or 256gb for your main partition.