Little upgrade for my PC

B

benggarth

New Member
hey guys, i built a desktop a few years ago and my HD is now corrupted so i need to get a new one...figured its about time i replace a few other bits too. Ive come up with a list and think its all compatable, but wanted to run it past some other people who will know a bit more than me. What do you think?

GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GB24GB6400C5DC) £40.99 (£48.16)
Asus M3N78-EMH HDMI nForce 8200 Micro-ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £42.99 (£50.51)
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9850 2.50GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail £109.99 (£129.24)
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A33435) £28.99 (£34.06)
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £95.99 (£112.79)

I'll be using it for gaming and media editing. Thoughts are very welcome!
 
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I have heard bad things about Hitachi, apparently they have some problems (such as corruption/doa) more so than others.

I wouldn't get the amd phenom unless you have your heart set on it, the intels are just better right now in my opinion.

which wouldd mean you would have to select a different motherboard too if you were going to get an intel based cpu.

anyway that's my 2 cents
 
What is your budget???

I see your in the UK,

As for that build, AMD not good for multitasking and gaming, Intel is better for that, and i would go for a different drive, i'll see what i can do, when i know your budget.
 
Yeah... it depends the games you play and the money you pay. Anything in the performance segment of the market is Intel's domain.

When it comes to 7200RPM drives, Excelstor is the company to buy from. 10k RPM belongs to WD and has for many years.
 
ahh ok, thats worth noting. Im looking to spend around £300, give or take 50 if its going to be worth it. As for hitachi HDs, maybe thats why my old one packed up! ill have a look at intel then, but your ideas for a set up would be really ideal!
 
Well, if we assume a 2:1 exchange rate for the sake of simplicity, I'd pick...

Mobo
CPU
RAM
GPU
HDD x2 (in RAID)

The big reason for picking Intel over AMD right now is not that their chips are any better, but that their system bus speeds are faster. AMD is stuck on a 200mhz system bus right now, whereas Intel systems operate at 200 (budget), 266 (mainstream), 333 (enthusiast), or even 400 mhz (insane).
 
how does all this sound?

Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.40GHz (800FSB) - Retail £64.99 (£76.36)
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99 (£82.24)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) £29.99 (£35.24)
Maxtor Diamondmax 22 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (STM3500320AS) £39.99 (£46.99)
Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99 (£117.49)

Total : £368.83
 
benggarth said:
how does all this sound?

Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.40GHz (800FSB) - Retail £64.99 (£76.36)
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99 (£82.24)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) £29.99 (£35.24)
Maxtor Diamondmax 22 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (STM3500320AS) £39.99 (£46.99)
Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99 (£117.49)

Total : £368.83
Click to expand...

I agree with that, very nice build.
 
benggarth said:
how does all this sound?

Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.40GHz (800FSB) - Retail £64.99 (£76.36)
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99 (£82.24)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) £29.99 (£35.24)
Maxtor Diamondmax 22 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (STM3500320AS) £39.99 (£46.99)
Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99 (£117.49)

Total : £368.83
Click to expand...

Go for the cheap P43 Mobo, then get better CPU
MSI P43 Neo-F iP43 @ £50
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148024

E8400 @ £109
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971
 
thanks for all your resposs. I want to use the same case and power supply i have at the moment, but i have no idea if the supply will be good enough, its 430W supply...is that ok for running newer hardware?
 
benggarth said:
thanks for all your resposs. I want to use the same case and power supply i have at the moment, but i have no idea if the supply will be good enough, its 430W supply...is that ok for running newer hardware?
Click to expand...
With that Phenom and a 4850 I'd say that you probably need a better power supply.

As far as the build, I'd choose a different hard drive, but everything else looks good. (Yes, I was a victim of the old "Deathstar" Hard drives... 3 or my 4 failed within 6 months!) Out of curiosity, is there a particular reason for going with the Phenom BE? It may be a better overclocker CPU, but you're probably not going to get very far with a mATX motherboard.
 
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