Hi, I'm building a new rig and need some advice. I want to keep the costs down but I also want something that will play new games well, so... A friend of mine is offering me these brand new parts at a good discount of their retail value, which ones should I buy and which ones should I keep? XFX Radeon HD 5770 Fansink 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI Display Port HDMI PCI-E Video Card http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15180BD9758&vpn=HD-577A-ZNFR&manufacture=XFX MSI P55A-G55 P55 ATX LGA1156 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SLI CrossFireX SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12980BD8807&vpn=P55A-G55&manufacture=MSI Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 8GB 2X4GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950BD3503&vpn=996770&manufacture=Others He is also offering a antec earthwatts 500 powersupply, 1TB western digital caviar hd, cpu is an i5 but not sure which because it is already in the motherboard and I don't want to take it out. Is it ok if I take it out or is there a risk of damage? anyway, I'm guessing new power supply will be a good idea, and graphics card might be old too for my needs.
I've had bad luck in the past with antec earthwatts, so i would definately replace that. I would definately get the hard drive from your friend, with the flooding in thiland causing hard drive prices to skyrocket right now, that HD was about $70 pre sep. 28 but now its close to $220. as long as the thermal compound was applied properly to the cpu/heatsink, there should be no problem with removing it, but, alot of times the model number is illedgeable on used CPU's. you could just hook it to the PSU and jump the power switch pins to see the specs of the CPU via the BIOS. Since its a socket 1156 its going to be either a lynnfield or clarkdale CPU, both of which score significantly lower in benchmarks and have an inferior instruction set than the newer socket 1155 sandybridge core i5's. For Me it all would depend on the prices He is charging. I wouldn't pay more than $125 for the motherboard and processor, $25 for the memory, $80 for the video card.
interesting thoughts. should I forget about the graphics card because I am somewhat of a gamer and a newer model would be worth paying full price for? I will forget about buying the power supply. i scratched of some thermal paist and got a look at the processor without taking it out. its as we feared: intel core i5 760 http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200AC1456&vpn=BX80605I5760&manufacture=INTEL should still be fast enough for me though if the price is right eh? btw this is sorta a name my price situation.
sure yes if the price is right its a good processor. If you are wanting to play the newest games on high graphics settings then yes a higher end video card is probably a better idea.
ok, hows this for a powersupply, I can choose between 500 watt and 700 watt. I think the 700 might be safer? http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC1267&vpn=OCZ700MXSP&manufacture=OCZ
I've never used this brand but it's 80+ certified and seems to have good reviews. on the wattage it depends what graphics card you choose. most of them have a recomended wattage listed on the technical details.
Ok, I'v decided to spend the money on this build and upgrade what I can. I'll keep motherboard and CPU, im gonna go with corsair for the powersupply and Im also going to get a new graphics card. Is there any point in getting 8 more gigs of ram? http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57869&vpn=KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX&manufacture=Kingston&promoid=1282 its cheep enough but would the computer use it for a total of 16 GB?
You need a 64 bit operating system to utilize more than 3 gb of ram so i assume you're already planing for that. For video cards i think the best bang for the buck right now is Nvidia 560 ti
ok how about this video card? or are there better deals. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=60642&vpn=N560GTX-Ti HAWK&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar#CustomerReviews it will be a 64 bit os but maybe the difference between 8 gb of ram and 16 gb isnt worth the 50 bucks.
The 560 ti is a really good GPU for the price/performance, for gaming you don't really need more than 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM. I would recommend this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604 as apposed to that MSI. Just my opinion though.
