Purchasing a new PC

[AnthIste]

Hey guys this is my first post, I figured I'd post here because mbb is an excellent resource for local computer issues

I have a budget of ~R7000 to build myself a new PC for next year. This PC will primarily be used for work/studies but I'd love to be able to game on it as well so I'm obviously going to squeeze as much out of the budget as I can

Ive already looked around quite a bit but tbh I'm at a loss over what to buy. Id really like some opinions one what some of the recent 'gems' are in terms of value for money. Ive already looked at the following threads:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=3470299#post3470299
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=3386191
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=3449333
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=176480

The Radeon HD5750 is sounding like a good card but is it possibly a bit overkill considering what the PC will be used for? To put this in perspective, atm I'm running 2x GeForce 8600 GT XXX 256mb cards in SLI, which is fine for my purposes, how does the Radeon compare?
EDIT: Im studying CompSci so its highly likely that I'll end up setting up a linux partition, in which case it would be MUCH better to get an NVIDIA card due to poor driver support from ATI. Ive heard that Radeon cards are better value for money atm but im not sure if this is true, any ideas what the equivalent GeForce card would be?

Hard-disk space is also really an issue so im probably going for a 1TB, the lowest price that I have found is R820 from pcint (specs further down).

Its quite a bummer having to use some of the cash for stuff like a case and screen (I have nothing, I need to get them new). Before this gets too long il post a possible setup:

CASE:
Cooler Master RC-360 Elite 360 Mid Tower Chassis - Black - No PSU (R294 sybaritic)

PSU:
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus RS-500-PCAR Power Supply - 500W (R542.00 sybaritic)

GFX Card:
HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DUAL DVI-I / TVO - Asus R (R1366.86 pcint)

RAM:
Kingston DDR2-667 2GB Memory Module (R473 sybaritic, 'red hot') x2

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0GHz AM3, 512k L2, 6MB L3 (R997.00 sybaritic)

MOTHERBOARD:
Asus M2N68-AM SE2 , all-in-one ; socket AM2/AM2+/AM3 , nvidia GeForce7025PV + nForce630a chipset, 2x dual channel DDR2-1066/800/667 , 2 x s-ata with raid 0/1 , 1 x parallel ata133 , on-board 256mb UMA vga with + ALC662 5.1 audio + 10/100 lan ; 1x pci-e (R495.00 sybaritic)

HDD:
Seagate 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA300 32MB 7200RPM Hard Drive (R863 sybaritic, 'red hot')

DVD Drive:
LG GH22LS40 48xCD-R / 32xCD-RW / 48xCD / 16xDVD / 22xDVD+\-R / 16xDVD+R DL / 12xDVD-R DL / 8xDVD+RW / 6xDVD-RW / 12xDVD-RAM LightScribe SATA Combo Drive (R216 sybaritic, 'red hot')

SCREEN:
LG 19" L1942S 300cdm 8000:1 5ms LCD Monitor (R1,337.00 sybaritic)

MOUSE/KEYBOARD:
Dont really care, Il get something cheap ~R150 total

TOTAL: R7679

Il probably have to bring this down by
- Getting a cheaper screen (but im so used to my current 19" :'(
- Settling for 2GB of RAM
- Getting a cheaper GFX card that performs well anyway
- Getting advice here

Any thoughts?

 

[WolfByte]

According to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html the ATI HD4850 is only an 8 point difference. If you get it from http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=74_224&products_id=39606 you should save roughly R118.86 excluding shipping seeing as you're already ordering from Sybaritic. If you're not fanatical about gaming, i doubt you'd notice those 8 points.

Also check out www.take2.co.za for more prices, even oddly enough www.kalahari.net sometimes has some well priced stuff sometimes.

 

[Chevron]

Firstly the 5750 supports dx11 so stick with it.

Regarding power supply you can drop to the 460watt version.

As for processor I'd say spend an extra R100 and get the AthlonII 620.

As for hard drive I'd rather say get a 500gig for now and get a 1.5 Tb later when you get cash.

 

[AnthIste]

thanks for the quick replies

WolfByte: thanks for the links, but I guess it would probably be easier to just get EVERYTHING in one go from one supplier (probably sybaritic, their selection seems to be the biggest so far, and the prices are good)

Qwikslver: If I swap all that I get a final price of R6925 which is pretty good in terms of my budget . Are you sure the 460Watt is enough to power everything though?

Im also a bit unsure about going the 64bit route. It is the future and everything, but so far I've heard more complaints than anything else. Then again, my sources are limited so it could be biased .

The motherboard is nice and cheap, but I'm really not sure how scalable it is. If I wanted to upgrade in the future will it be fine or completely redundant? At least its not too expensive to replace...

 

[Chevron]

thanks for the quick replies

WolfByte: thanks for the links, but I guess it would probably be easier to just get EVERYTHING in one go from one supplier (probably sybaritic, their selection seems to be the biggest so far, and the prices are good)

Qwikslver: If I swap all that I get a final price of R6925 which is pretty good in terms of my budget . Are you sure the 460Watt is enough to power everything though?

Im also a bit unsure about going the 64bit route. It is the future and everything, but so far I've heard more complaints than anything else. Then again, my sources are limited so it could be biased .

The motherboard is nice and cheap, but I'm really not sure how scalable it is. If I wanted to upgrade in the future will it be fine or completely redundant? At least its not too expensive to replace...

That 460watt will actually give you power to spare. Remember it's not some no name brand power supply.

As for the mother board find something with more sata ports.

 

[TheRift]

I'd spend more money on a better motherboard. You won't be needing an onboard video card so there's no point getting that one. Get something with more than just 2 SATA ports. Trust me, you're going to get another drive at some point and you've already consumed both SATA ports with the 1TB HDD and the DVD drive.

I'd also get maybe 320GB HDD as a main drive and leave the 1TB as data. I like running it that way 'cos if the OS drive pukes at least the 1TB still has my data on it. Or if the 1TB pukes at least I can still boot up and try some recovery software.

 

[Sting]

I see you say it's a new PC; that implies that you already have a PC. What are you doing with it? If you are selling it you can add the money to your kitty!

Good advice on the MoBo - get one with more SATA ports.

Also get a smaller HDD as your primary OS drive. You can always save up for a bigger HDD later.

Look around for LCD monitor prices, that one looks a bit steep.

 

[Chevron]

Sigh. People that dont read a thread before posting...

 

[TheRift]

shame.

 

[Sting]

Sigh. People that dont read a thread before posting...

I did. Was supporting your tips and also giving him options, like selling his current set up to fund extra HDD's and a better MoBo. Nowhere in his unedited OP did he mention what he is doing with the current PC/components...

 

[AnthIste]

Moggie is right, I didnt mention what I was doing with my old PC, but its shared so it isnt going anywhere any time soon

I'd spend more money on a better motherboard

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=81_573&products_id=26316
That seems sufficient

Am I right in assuming that if I get a good CPU/Motherboard/RAM/GFX Card and then fill in the details I should get pretty good performance regardless?

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 620 Processor - 2.6GHz AM3, 2MB L2 - Boxed R1099
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G Motherboard w/A8 + G + LK + FWa + SATA2 RAID + DVI + HDMI R1282
GFX CARD Club 3D CGAX-57524IDP Radeon HD5750 16xPCIE 128-bit 1GB GDDR5 w/HDMI + 2DVI R1436
RAM: Kingston DDR3-1800 2GB (2x1GB) Tall HS Memory Module Kit R1099
PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus RS-460-PCAR Power Supply - 460W R 426
HDD: Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA300 16MB 7200RPM Hard Drive R 476
CASE: Cooler Master RC-360 Elite 360 Mid Tower Chassis - Black - No PSU R 294
DVD DRIVE: LG GH22LS40 LightScribe SATA Combo Drive R 216
PERIPHERALS: Keyboard/Mouse R 200
SCREEN: Screen R????

TOTAL: R6528

This seems to be what I've settled on. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it
Unless someone finds something disturbing or obviously poor about this setup, I think il probably go with it

In all honesty I must say that even this system is way above what I expected to get with R7000 :wtf:

 

[TheRift]

I'd swap the RAM for 4GB of Kingston ValueRAM (2x2G modules). Buy them individually instead of a 4GB kit. They're cheaper. I paid under R1K for my 4GB DDR3. Depends ofcourse if sybaritic carry it. Can't recall now if I got the DDR3-1066 or DDR3-1333. Old age setting in.

The guys here have shown there's minimal to be had from the higher RAM speed.

That motherboard has onboard as well, but I understand it'll work together with the other Radeon card.

 

[Chevron]

Moggie is right, I didnt mention what I was doing with my old PC, but its shared so it isnt going anywhere any time soon



http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=81_573&products_id=26316
That seems sufficient

Am I right in assuming that if I get a good CPU/Motherboard/RAM/GFX Card and then fill in the details I should get pretty good performance regardless?

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 620 Processor - 2.6GHz AM3, 2MB L2 - Boxed R1099
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4A785TD-V EVO AMD 785G Motherboard w/A8 + G + LK + FWa + SATA2 RAID + DVI + HDMI R1282
GFX CARD Club 3D CGAX-57524IDP Radeon HD5750 16xPCIE 128-bit 1GB GDDR5 w/HDMI + 2DVI R1436
RAM: Kingston DDR3-1800 2GB (2x1GB) Tall HS Memory Module Kit R1099
PSU: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus RS-460-PCAR Power Supply - 460W R 426
HDD: Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA300 16MB 7200RPM Hard Drive R 476
CASE: Cooler Master RC-360 Elite 360 Mid Tower Chassis - Black - No PSU R 294
DVD DRIVE: LG GH22LS40 LightScribe SATA Combo Drive R 216
PERIPHERALS: Keyboard/Mouse R 200
SCREEN: Screen R????

TOTAL: R6528

This seems to be what I've settled on. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it
Unless someone finds something disturbing or obviously poor about this setup, I think il probably go with it

In all honesty I must say that even this system is way above what I expected to get with R7000 :wtf:

That's a nice board you chose there. Just swap the ram for 4gigs of ddr3 1333mhz.

 

[TheRift]

Sigh. People that dont read a thread before posting...

 

[AnthIste]

omsack 4gigs of DDR3-1333 for only R61 more?? Yes please

I read about the Athlon II X4 here and it seems the missing L3 cache really does make a big difference, so im wondering if its worth it to go the extra R250 and get a Phenom II X3 (which I hear can be overclocked pretty nicely too). But that would REALLY start stretching the budget, seeing as there isnt a screen yet :wtf:. Lets say the screen isnt a problem, would it be worth it getting the phenom rather than the athlon? I must admit that maybe I'm just being picky, because im moving from a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, so I doubt I'd notice the difference, they'd both just be pretty sick

 

[TheRift]

Are you going to OC this stuff?

Don't snowball.

I assume since you've not added a screen yet and you're R500 or so short of budget already that the screen will be an extra. In that case, the X3 will fit the "new" budget.

I do think that athlonII will suit you just fine. How often do you expect to using the full speed of the CPU anyway? I have a 3.2 PhenomII X4 955BE and I run it at 800MHz all the time and hardly ever see the thing ramp up to full speed.

 

[AnthIste]

Well tbh I havent OC'ed anything in my life, because if I do happen to screw up somewhere I know that a replacement is a looong way away, you understand . I just thought it might be a cheap-and-easy way to get good performance for better price.

I do think that athlonII will suit you just fine. How often do you expect to using the full speed of the CPU anyway? I have a 3.2 PhenomII X4 955BE and I run it at 800MHz all the time and hardly ever see the thing ramp up to full speed.

When I'm jamming some games or compiling a monster project
But I believe you, in that case I should be good to go *gasp*

Once again, I appreciate the help man, wading through all the muck without some sort of a guide is a really frustrating task

 

[ponder]

Where do you live?

 

[Chevron]

omsack 4gigs of DDR3-1333 for only R61 more?? Yes please

I read about the Athlon II X4 here and it seems the missing L3 cache really does make a big difference, so im wondering if its worth it to go the extra R250 and get a Phenom II X3 (which I hear can be overclocked pretty nicely too). But that would REALLY start stretching the budget, seeing as there isnt a screen yet :wtf:. Lets say the screen isnt a problem, would it be worth it getting the phenom rather than the athlon? I must admit that maybe I'm just being picky, because im moving from a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, so I doubt I'd notice the difference, they'd both just be pretty sick

For your uses I reckon the extra core will come in handy. If you don't need a screen maybe look at a phenomII quad.

 

[AnthIste]

Where do you live?

Somewhere over the rainbow . But within driving distance of sybaritic's place in jhb so I can pick the stuff up np.

If you don't need a screen maybe look at a phenomII quad

Hahaha yeah well I think thats really gonna be pushing it a little too far
Personally, I think I'm gonna go with the Phenom II X3, because I swear if I don't I'm gonna feel as if I cheated myself out of something. I did a bit of reading and heard that it does in fact outperform the Athlon II X4 in pretty much all situations.