[marty_mcfly]

i'm looking into building a new PC but am not too familiar or up-to-date with parts.

what are some of the cool or "hottest" parts to have right now?

video card
motherboard
ram
audio card
etc etc

thanks

[BMW_TT]

Go on Newegg.com and pick up the most expensive stuff.

/thread

[marty_mcfly]

Originally Posted by BMW_TT

Go on Newegg.com and pick up the most expensive stuff.

/thread

lol i was thinking about that but sometimes more isnt always better

[vgame64]

I've been a bit out of it recently but when I last left off, it was:
Core i7 Quad Core Processor
X58 Motherboard
12 GB of DDR3 (at some crazy fast speeds)
GTX 295 or 285 Video card (ATI released some nice parts in the interim)
Raptors were still crazy fast hard drives
Power supplies were still fine at around 1000W

...PM me if you need any more help

[Mega Man]

www.tigerdirect.com

[marty_mcfly]

Originally Posted by vgame64

I've been a bit out of it recently but when I last left off, it was:
Core i7 Quad Core Processor
X58 Motherboard
12 GB of DDR3 (at some crazy fast speeds)
GTX 295 or 285 Video card (ATI released some nice parts in the interim)
Raptors were still crazy fast hard drives
Power supplies were still fine at around 1000W

...PM me if you need any more help

exact type of answer i was looking for... thanks

[brocken]

The question is can you really utilize that computer to it's potential?
If the answer is no (most likely) then there are plenty of more budget minded choices that still perform well.
The Core 2 Duo's like the E8500 are great performers and only set you back a couple hundred. The P35 or P4* series mobos are great too. I have an asus P5K-e and I really like it. They have a couple that are a step up if you plan on doing SLi.

Ati 4850 is a great graphics card for under $200.

Make sure you have a 64 bit OS if you go over 3 GB of ram. And fyi, crazy fast ram speed isn't necessarily a good thing. You can get 1000mhz ram with cas 4 and do really well. 4 x 2GB sticks of that wont set you back too much. Look for the higher quality models of Corsair, Patriot, Crucial, etc.

A 600-700 W power supply from a reputable brand is plenty. Enermax and Antec are a couple brands to look at.

Yes, you can get the 10k rpm scsi raptors if you want to be cool.... Or you can be clever and get WD or Seagate enterprise SATA drives and save a bunch of money.

[Mega Man]

Good point, brocken. I'm looking to move to a Quad-Core myself, but waiting for the price to drop, and for my current set-up to lag, or not be able to run stuff at a good enough speed.

Until then, I'm pretty happy with my set-up.

[E(@M#]

unless youre a hardcore gamer or require multifunctional programming....then there really is no need ....i cant tell you how often i regret building the system that ive had for nearly 5 months and hardly used

im making assumptions on how much you game, etc....but,imo, anything more than an
i7 920, 4 gb ddr3, sli gtx280 or ati hd4890, and the rampage x58 is overkill...and will run most games flawlessly...i wouldnt rush into it though

[DevJ]

Are you wanting to build a PC or wanting one built for you?

Newegg always has really good parts for cheap..compared to most

[marty_mcfly]

thanks a lot for the feedback guys.

im planning on building it with the help of my brother-in-law who helped me build my previous PC, 4 years ago.

what do you guys think about overclocking?

[Mega Man]

If you're buying any of the newer, aforementioned stuff, you shouldn't need to do it.

[AllydNYC]

newegg.com ftw

[d_crome]

Four things.

1 - Budget - Just how much do you want to drop on this bad boy?

2 - Use - Are we talking hardcore gaming, video editing or simply just crusing the net and office?

3 - Overclocking - Are you technically savy enough? Think of this as a JB3 for a PC - are you comfortable uping the performance above stock to make serious gains?

4 - Timing - When do you "need" the system? Can you wait or is it a must right now?

The timing question is pointed at this - Intel's current i7's are great CPUs - HOWEVER - the next itteration of i7's, which should be due soon, will improve more so and with Intels pricing policy, won't cost much (if at all) more than the current i7's.

If it were me I'd go the following route:

CPU = Intel i7 920 (arround $200 right now @ Microcenter)
MB = ASUS (this) is a good start.
RAM = 6 gigs minimum - depending if you overclock depends if you'll need the faster timing stuff.
HD = Get one of these, Western Digital 1T Black - fast, reliable.
VID Card = right now, I'd say get one of these ATI 4890 - if you need more horsepower down the road, buy a second and run them in Crossfire, it'll destroy anything out there right now and it's sub $200. Brand wise, XFX is lifetime waranty and have the best customer service.
CASE = This is easy - Antec 900 - shop around, you can find these sometimes as low as $50 shipped at Fry's. Great air flow and easy to work with.
PSU = DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS! Your PC is only as good as your CPU. 750W minimum I'd say so as to future proof if you get another Vid card - this - this and this are good options.
HEATSINK = You'll NEED a better HEATSINK than the Intel Stock - its like an intercooler for your CPU - this or this paired with this and you're golden.
MONITOR - This is NICE - sure there are better out there, but for the money this 28-inch is hard to beat.

Best of luck with the build.

[marty_mcfly]

Originally Posted by d_crome

Four things.

1 - Budget - Just how much do you want to drop on this bad boy?

2 - Use - Are we talking hardcore gaming, video editing or simply just crusing the net and office?

3 - Overclocking - Are you technically savy enough? Think of this as a JB3 for a PC - are you comfortable uping the performance above stock to make serious gains?

4 - Timing - When do you "need" the system? Can you wait or is it a must right now?

The timing question is pointed at this - Intel's current i7's are great CPUs - HOWEVER - the next itteration of i7's, which should be due soon, will improve more so and with Intels pricing policy, won't cost much (if at all) more than the current i7's.

If it were me I'd go the following route:

CPU = Intel i7 920 (arround $200 right now @ Microcenter)
MB = ASUS (this) is a good start.
RAM = 6 gigs minimum - depending if you overclock depends if you'll need the faster timing stuff.
HD = Get one of these, Western Digital 1T Black - fast, reliable.
VID Card = right now, I'd say get one of these ATI 4890 - if you need more horsepower down the road, buy a second and run them in Crossfire, it'll destroy anything out there right now and it's sub $200. Brand wise, XFX is lifetime waranty and have the best customer service.
CASE = This is easy - Antec 900 - shop around, you can find these sometimes as low as $50 shipped at Fry's. Great air flow and easy to work with.
PSU = DO NOT SKIMP ON THIS! Your PC is only as good as your CPU. 750W minimum I'd say so as to future proof if you get another Vid card - this - this and this are good options.
HEATSINK = You'll NEED a better HEATSINK than the Intel Stock - its like an intercooler for your CPU - this or this paired with this and you're golden.
MONITOR - This is NICE - sure there are better out there, but for the money this 28-inch is hard to beat.

Best of luck with the build.

awesome.

willing to spend at least $1k

i dont need it right away, but at the same time i dont want to wait too long. the thing is, my current PC actually turns off by itself and im pretty sure its the power supply. i think its time to build a new PC anyway. im not too familiar with overclocking so i probably wont do it.

if you had to turn the motherboard and ram a notch up, what would you go with?

[d_crome]

No worries mate.

Well - given you're current PC is on it's last legs - you're in luck. Intel JUST upgraded their sockets on the CPU (i.e. the design on how a CPU connects to the Motherboard) - so that means they're unlikely to change for a while.

What does this mean to you?

It means that if you buy the i7 920 now and say in 6 months time a newer, faster, better CPU comes along, you can just pop out the i7 920, slam in the new Intel CPU and you're rolling. No other adjustments necessary. You could then ebay off the i7 920 and minimize your upgrade cost, giving you a fast PC now, and a faster PC then.

As far as overclocking goes - look into it, it's relatively simple and you can get serious gains in speed with minimal fuss and bother. Google "i7 overclocking" or check out forums like hardforum.com etc and there are some really nice step by step guides.

Now as far as upgrading the Motherboard, the next steps up from that ASUS are pretty much classified as "enthusiast" level boards that are specifically built for guys that want to benchmark their PC etc (think dyno for PC's basically). These boards might just have features that you'll never need or even want.

That said, this evga is a good step, and so is this ASUS. Both however I feel are overkill, but you said bump it up - there you go!

RAM - well, DDR3 has come WAAAAY down in price, so now you can get good kits for minimal bucks. This, this or this would be my choice. OCZ, Corsair and Patriot make some quality gear.

Other than that - look into Windows 7 aswell, don't bother with Ultimate, Home Premium (?) is all you'll need. Sweet OS and wayyyy better than Vista with the speed of XP.

[marty_mcfly]

Originally Posted by d_crome

No worries mate.

Well - given you're current PC is on it's last legs - you're in luck. Intel JUST upgraded their sockets on the CPU (i.e. the design on how a CPU connects to the Motherboard) - so that means they're unlikely to change for a while.

What does this mean to you?

It means that if you buy the i7 920 now and say in 6 months time a newer, faster, better CPU comes along, you can just pop out the i7 920, slam in the new Intel CPU and you're rolling. No other adjustments necessary. You could then ebay off the i7 920 and minimize your upgrade cost, giving you a fast PC now, and a faster PC then.

As far as overclocking goes - look into it, it's relatively simple and you can get serious gains in speed with minimal fuss and bother. Google "i7 overclocking" or check out forums like hardforum.com etc and there are some really nice step by step guides.

Now as far as upgrading the Motherboard, the next steps up from that ASUS are pretty much classified as "enthusiast" level boards that are specifically built for guys that want to benchmark their PC etc (think dyno for PC's basically). These boards might just have features that you'll never need or even want.

That said, this evga is a good step, and so is this ASUS. Both however I feel are overkill, but you said bump it up - there you go!

RAM - well, DDR3 has come WAAAAY down in price, so now you can get good kits for minimal bucks. This, this or this would be my choice. OCZ, Corsair and Patriot make some quality gear.

Other than that - look into Windows 7 aswell, don't bother with Ultimate, Home Premium (?) is all you'll need. Sweet OS and wayyyy better than Vista with the speed of XP.

geez, thanks a lot!

im gathering opinions from other people too and ill post what i come up with sometime later today or tomorrow and let me know if the setup works out

i7 920 is definitely on the list

[d_crome]

No disrespect to the Core2Duo chips - they're still great performers and do more than most will ever need - HOWEVER - given that to get the latest in technology is only an additional $100-$200 for the newer motherboards, it makes sense to go i7.

Feel free to post your configuration for a critique and I'll see what I can do.

[marty_mcfly]

hows this so far?

case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

processor : Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

motherboard: EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

ram: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory

video card: EVGA 02G-P3-1186-AR GeForce GTX 285 Superclocked Edition 2GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

[d_crome]

Everything but the vid card.

The 4890 can be had for less than $200, the 285 $300+ - you won't get a 33% performance gain so it's money wasted. Plus, if you need the extra firepower, slot in a second 4890 and then you have SERIOUS GPU power.

This is worth a read:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...4890cf_17.html

and also this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...hics,2296.html

[marty_mcfly]

actually i meant gtx 295 instead of 285. or is the 4890 still better?

[d_crome]

GTX 295 is the best single card option currently available.

Does that mean it's truly necessary or good value?

With the GT300's just around the corner, this card will halve in value pretty quick.

$530 for the GTX 295 and 2 4890's will cost you $400.

The 2 4890's will beat the 285 and cost you $130 LESS.