New Build Time

Yichi

Yichi

New Member
This will be a new build project thread as well as a asking for advice. I know a lot about computers and have helped a few friends build some setups of their own, but never built one for myself. Now onto the fun stuff :)

With a lot of the newer games and programs comming out that take more and more advantage of faster processors, my trusty 4 year old AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ just isnt cutting it anymore, so it's time for a new build. I have been browsing these forums a lot over the last month and have gotten a lot of great info and tips, but I want to make sure that I am getting the most for my money and have a reliable system that will last for a couple years as I do not have the money to go full blown like I would wish, but my family comes first.

I am wanting to do a build that will allow me to take better advantage of the things I do and obviously run circles around what I currently have, which at the moment is down due to a blown MB and PSU. So instead of investing money to fix whats broken, the wife said why not just upgrade. Love it when they tell you that!

The computer will be used for 3D Modeling and Photo editing, with light to moderate gaming as I still play some games such as Guildwars, Diablo 2 (Diablo 3 beta was murder on my machine), and such.

I already have some new equipment that will be re-used in this upcomming build such as:

Visiontek Radeon HD 5760 1GB DDR5 (new was going to use as upgrade)
Western Digital SATA II 3.0 7200RPM 500GB HDD w/ Windows Vista Ultimate x64 (wanting to keep my OS, but do have a copy of XP Pro if needed)
LITE-ON IHAS124-04 24x Sata DVD-RW Drive (2 months old)
LG 23" Widescreen 3D LED Monitor (christmas gift from my wife)
Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard (had and love this keyboard)
Ultra U12-40867 Gaming Mouse 2200gpi (fav mouse ever)

So basically I am looking for advice on a build consisting of the Case, PSU, Mb, CPU, RAM, and additional cooling (if needed).

I do have a case picked out that a couple friends have used that I really like and works very well for airflow and cooling as well as cable management. The case is a Diablotek CPA-3570 Epic ATX Mid Tower.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811822002

My budget I am trying to keep within is between $350-$400. (keep in mind that I already have the case picked out I want to use)

Thanks!
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207014&Tpk=xfx 650w - $65 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495 - $125

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144 -$40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078 - $125

Windows 7 - $100

Total: $455

If you can push the budget to this, you'll get the most out of your system, while being able to upgrade to a quadcore CPU. 3D modeling and photo editing requires a lot of RAM and a good CPU.
 
As much as I like AMD for gaming and other uses, Intel would perform so much better with 3D modeling and photoshop.
 
Yeah I really have no preference when it comes to AMD vs Intel. My home computers have been AMD, but all my work computers are Intel, and both perform very well. My wife and I are wanting to get more into photo editing to be able to get the most out of our photos we take, and I do bring some 3D work home to work on when I get swamped. I do still like to do some gaming whenever possible, so whatever build I decide to do will have to be able to keep up with the times for a bit.

claptonman said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207014&Tpk=xfx 650w - $65 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495 - $125

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144 -$40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078 - $125

Windows 7 - $100

Total: $455

If you can push the budget to this, you'll get the most out of your system, while being able to upgrade to a quadcore CPU. 3D modeling and photo editing requires a lot of RAM and a good CPU.
Click to expand...

I won't need an OS as I plan on keeping my HDD w/ Vista installed already, or is this not possible? If I am not needing the operating system, is there any way to be able to upgrade? I was thinking maybe since I didnt need the OS, I could upgrade the i3 to this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074

If I did that, without the OS it would bring my total to 420. I could probably push the budget to that as it is close to my original budget and would still have to include shipping.

Raz3rD said:
a very good CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
Motherboard good for the CPU to unlock to 6cores i think anyway, correct me if im wrong people: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262
and the PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...at_Power_Supplies-_-Best_Sellers-_-17-139-020

maybe this is something nice? i dont know i like to go full blown the best of the best as recommendations
Click to expand...

I was considering the AMD 960T as it was used in a friends build and unlocked to a hexacore. I believe Windows 7 read it as a x1605T or something like that.

Thanks for the suggestions, please feel free to keep them comming. :D :cool:
 
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Yichi said:
I was considering the AMD 960T as it was used in a friends build and unlocked to a hexacore. I believe Windows 7 read it as a x1605T or something like that.

Thanks for the suggestions, please feel free to keep them comming. :D :cool:
Click to expand...

i think it would've read it as a x6 1605T not sure
 
Yichi said:
I won't need an OS as I plan on keeping my HDD w/ Vista installed already, or is this not possible? If I am not needing the operating system, is there any way to be able to upgrade? I was thinking maybe since I didnt need the OS, I could upgrade the i3 to this:
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the copy of windows is still tied to your old motherboard, so you will need to get a new copy. I am unsure if you can install the vista, and then update to a update version of windows or not. Either way, you will have to reinstall vista since its again, tied to the old motherboard.

You may go the linux route since photoshop does have linux support. Unsure about the 3D modeling programs. What specific program are you using for that?
 
I was browsing around and saw that my local microcenter has an Amd Phenom ii x4 840 on sale for 59.99. Would this be a good deal?

If I cannot use my old hdd with vista on it than I will have to use my copy of XP as I think I will wait until windows 8 comes out later this year.
 
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