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What to buy

atommo75

atommo75

atommo75

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Joined
31 Dec 2008
Posts
14
Hi guys i know there are lots of threads on this sorry.

I want to upgrade from my 3-4 year old amd x2 4200+ with a asus 7800GT and 2gb of ram system and 1tb of hard drives spead over 4 discs (which i plan to use to store movies on) im not sure what to go for.

I plan to use it for gaming and when im gaming sometimes i run itunes in the background my budget is from around £750 - £950 but i would like to know if spending the full amount would be overkill for my needs i was looking at a I7 with 4Gb -8Gb of ram and a Ati 4850 gcard.

Or a Q6600 with 4gb - 8Gb of ram ati 4850 xfx xxx or 4870
or a core 2 duo unsure of what one to get again with the same ram or graphics options.
I have never overclocked but it seems quite straight forward and i can see what others have upped theres too.
a 750gb samsung hard drive as using old system to store movies on.

Is it worth getting that much ram (i plan to use vista premium 64)?
Is I7 overkill?
Sould i go core 2 or quad? (i have seen that the prices are dropping)
And the quadd and core 2 arnt to far appart in price.

thanks in advance
 
Ok where to start
Intel I7 systems at present are for those who have lots of cash to burn, im not knocking the system but the prices are still just a joke.
However if i had a large amount of cash availeable and money was no object then yes i would possibly go the I7 route.

Intel Core2Quad systems or AMD Phenom II systems appear to be where most of us are currenlty aiming for.

As you are building a gaming PC you may wish to look at Core 2 Duo systems i believe the E8400 seems to be the best bang for buck judging by the numerous threads around the forum.
There is also the enevitable argument that forever crops up whether for gaming a quad core or dual core is better. However as you are like myself and only upgrade every few years
i would recommend a quad core as by the time most mainstream games start making better use of current multi core processors including quad cores your system should still be upto par.

As for the Intel versus AMD argument it is more down to personel prefrence and what you intend to do with the system when built.
If overclocking the system is a must and you wish it to be as easy as possible then Intel is probably your best bet.
However the new Amd Phenom II cpu's are showing some good results in the overclocking department, and look to be getting better.
They are currently matching Intel quads and sometimes surpassing them clock for clock in benchmark testing.

Memory as you are looking to instal Vista 64Bit i would recommend as a minimum 4Gb however again as you upgrade rarely i would suggest that 8Gb.
this will all depend on whether or not you join the I7 ranks or not, at present due to DDR3 prices i would suggest only 4Gb and add extra as you need it as it should only get cheaper in the future for quality ram.
However if go for a Current DDR2 system then i would suggest getting the full 8Gb as like with DDR1 prices will start to rise as more systems start using the newer DDR3 memory.
Trust me i know from experience my current 2Gb set of Muskin XP4000 Redlines would set you back around £150 in todays market if you are lucky enough to find some. not much cheaper now than when i bought them just over a year ago.

Graphics cards this is where your choice's are numerous as to which model you go for, again though theres the ATi versus Nvidia argument.
The way i look at it is you get the best card you can afford at the time no matter which manufacturer makes it.
It also comes down to what size of monitor you are using and what resoloution you intend to game at.
If you have a 22" monitor or less (1680x1050) then the ATi 4850 would be ideal for you, if you have a 24" monitor or larger (1920x1200) then the ATi 4870 would be ideal for you.
I've only mentioned these to cards as these where the one's you were currently looking at. If you where looking at the Nvidia side i would suggest the GTX260 for 22" or less and the GTX280 for 24" or more.
 
Just as an added note to my earlier post my current system is similar to your's
currently running X2 4400 (939)
3Gb ram all Muskin xp4000 redline's
2x 8800 GTS 320 in sli

when i upgraded hopefully end feb beginning march

im looking at a Phenom II 940 8Gb ram 1066 Mhz
i will also be overclocking to get as much out of it as possible.
and if i can afford it a Nvidia GTX 200 series video card possibly the gtx285
the reason for the nvidia card is i currently use folding at home and the nvidia GPU clients work better at the moment.
the card will be a bit overkill for current monitor as i have an acer AL2202W 22" (1680x1050)
 
Id say stick with socket 775 for now too, i7 isnt worth the premium if youre gaming
Id also personally recomend going C2D, the e8500 is actually best for performance/price ratio at moment, but as sir les mp says its an age old argument so decide yourself
Get a P45 based chipset, and Id look at something like this, £800 so lower end of your budget and will more than meet your needs - didnt include an OS as wasnt sure if youre gonna use old one or get new, but adding it in is still within budget
800775basket.jpg
 
I have been offered this for £890 inc Vat
Elite Pro i7 LE
System Base Price: £ 738.26
Intel® Core™ i7 920 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz,8MB Cache,4.8GT/s)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit - English
NZXT HUSH Silent Brushed Aluminium ATX Midi Tower - Black + 550W PSU
ASUS P6T Deluxe Mainboard - Intel Core™ i7 - ATX - Dual Mode SLI & CrossfireX
3GB 1333MHz Triple Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (3x1GB)
750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer
Samsung 22x Dual Layer DVD Writer Super Format +R/-R/RW/RAM
512MB ATi 4850 Graphics accelerator - DVI, DirectX 10.1 PCI Express 2 [upg £ 70.00]
7.1 High Definition onboard sound card - for 8 Channel Cinema sound
Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + Limited Microsoft Office Trial
Free Cyberlink Video Editing Utility Suite - 7 titles (oem)
BullGuard Internet Security 8.5 - 90 Day Trial - AntiVirus/Firewall/Backup/Spamfilter
10x USB 2.0 Ports (6 ports at back panel, 4 ports at mid-board) - ASUS P6T Deluxe
1x IEEE1394 Firewire (onboard)
Dual Gigabit LAN, both featuring AI NET2 - ASUS P6T Deluxe
1 Year Hardware Warranty - Return to Base Parts and Labour (UK Mainland only)
£ 773.48
 
not a bad deal there the only weak piont i can see there would be the PSU
i would be looking at swapping that out for a better branded one.
 
The 775 spec I did for you is better re gaming, youre getting better quality components and the gfx card is better too, though this would depend on your screen size/resolution as to whether or not you'd realise the full effect of the increased performance re the gfx card
 
95thrifles said:
The 775 spec I did for you is better re gaming, youre getting better quality components and the gfx card is better too, though this would depend on your screen size/resolution as to whether or not you'd realise the full effect of the increased performance re the gfx card
Click to expand...

the 4870 card would be wasted on his system as currently he is using a 20" samsung monitor with max resoloution of 1680x1050

as for atommo75 going I7 he may benifit from it in the long run as by the time he wishes to upgrade again all he should require is a cpu more mem and new graphics card.

going the 775 route would mean a complete new platform yet again when he wished to upgrade again. Which when looking at current prices etc doubles the cost of his upgrade.
this is based on his current upgrade period of 3 - 4 years

If Atommo was due to upgrade again in say a year then yes i would agree with you whole heartedly that the Core2Duo would be his best option.
 
atommo75 said:
I have been offered this for £890 inc Vat
Elite Pro i7 LE
System Base Price: £ 738.26
Intel® Core™ i7 920 Quad Core Processor (2.66GHz,8MB Cache,4.8GT/s)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit - English
NZXT HUSH Silent Brushed Aluminium ATX Midi Tower - Black + 550W PSU
ASUS P6T Deluxe Mainboard - Intel Core™ i7 - ATX - Dual Mode SLI & CrossfireX
3GB 1333MHz Triple Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (3x1GB)
750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer
Samsung 22x Dual Layer DVD Writer Super Format +R/-R/RW/RAM
512MB ATi 4850 Graphics accelerator - DVI, DirectX 10.1 PCI Express 2 [upg £ 70.00]
7.1 High Definition onboard sound card - for 8 Channel Cinema sound
Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + Limited Microsoft Office Trial
Free Cyberlink Video Editing Utility Suite - 7 titles (oem)
BullGuard Internet Security 8.5 - 90 Day Trial - AntiVirus/Firewall/Backup/Spamfilter
10x USB 2.0 Ports (6 ports at back panel, 4 ports at mid-board) - ASUS P6T Deluxe
1x IEEE1394 Firewire (onboard)
Dual Gigabit LAN, both featuring AI NET2 - ASUS P6T Deluxe
1 Year Hardware Warranty - Return to Base Parts and Labour (UK Mainland only)
£ 773.48
Click to expand...

That's not a bad system at all. If you can possibly manage it, get 6Gb RAM though.
 
theres a reasonable chance in 4 years there'll be a new socket, barring 775 this has been the average turnaround for intels sockets, so Id disagree, but its all speculation, unless you have a crystal ball? lol
 
went for the I7 they upgraded the PSU for £20 extra.
also comes with a Liedek (spelling )4850 512 card or the saphire one.
Got for £910 inc del and vat
 
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