Shopping spree (need help)

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dazzazzad

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Planning to get a new pc in 2-3 months.

I very strongly want to get the i7 920 and will only need a 500gb HD. Don't need a monitor or any other peripherals. Everything else is up in the air. It will primarily be a gaming rig and I need to keep the price under 10k.

Also, an OS question. I've stuck with XP but with Windows 7 on the way (are we also getting it in October?) I think its time to move on up. But XP doesn't upgrade to 7 does it? I don't want to buy Vista for just a month or two before having to then get 7. Any advice and clarification on that would be great.

Thanks guys.
 
I thought that the beta trial wasn't available anymore (assuming that's what RC is). Not that I've really been keeping up.

Is it in good enough shape and are programs (thunderbird, photoshop, bitdefender etc.) and games working well with it?
 
You'll have a hard time keeping the price under 10k if you want to go i7 on a gaming rig. You'll need around a 3k gpu alone to match the system, then probably 7k on the processor mobo and ram. Mind you if you don't need anything else you could just about pull it off.

Everything works very well on win7 and yes the beta is still ongoing.
 
I don't mind skimping on the GPU a bit, as that's easy enough to upgrade in 6-12 months. My monitor is only 19" so I won't need insane resolutions.

So yeah, I guess its just

CPU
GPU
MOBO
RAM
PSU
Case
DVD writer
 
Well if you skimp on a gpu then you'll shortchange the rest of your system, doesn't seem very worthwhile to me.

But ok let's say an i7 920 + P6t + 3gig 1333 ram = about 6.5-7k.
Then a gts250/4850/4870 = 2-3k.
700w psu = 900
CM690 = 1k
dvd = 250

That's around 11k, seems pretty solid to me.
 
Maybe I can make 11 at a push. A painful push.

Know a good place to contact to put the system together for me?

Do you reckon that if I do wait a couple months I'd be able to shave half a grand or so off the overall price?
 
My personal recommendation is rather to go for a high end quad core and a p5k deluxe motherboard with 4gigs of memory. Let's say a q9550 (3k) + mobo (1.6k or lower) + ram = 5k. that's a significant enough savings that you can push some other things and hit the 10k budget. A couple of months will not be enough to make a real dent in the prices I think - except that ati's 4000 series is receiving a significant price cut very soon, which will make a 4870 quite manageable with your budget.
 
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Ja, +1 on the quad core. The i7's are way overpriced right now. Or go for a nice AMD system. A lot of gamers are choosing rather to get a souped up AMD system at a fraction of the cost.
 
They're not overpriced for the performance. The only equivalent c2q processor to the lowest i7 costs R10k just by itself. But they are very expensive.
 
Windows 7 RC is currently running as my only OS on my laptop, which I use for work with some rather exotic applications, so that says something about my faith in it.

As for the hardware, yes i7 is tempting, but it doesn't quite offer the bang for buck of a good normal quad.
 
My wallet certainly appreciates what you're all saying but I'm someone who likes to get a system and doesn't want to even think about anything for 18 months, where I'll then upgrade the gpu and the ram and maybe overclock a bit...so I then don't have to think about anything for another 18 months. At which point I then start thinking of a new system.

So I'm all about the future proofing.

I totally respect people who are cool with a quicker turn over of setups but I really can't stand it. Even with the excitement that comes with a new system, I still half dread all the work needed to get my new home as comfy as my old home was.

If I could keep this system and get another purely for games, that'd be a different story. But selling this machine is going to help pay for the new one.
 
Well that's fine, but just you'll have to pay out a bit more and cut back on other things in order to make the budget. What I showed you above for an i7 system is imo a pretty good setup for just scratching the 11k mark. I doubt you can realistically go lower with i7.
 
Yeah, I'm going to give it some thought. My original intention was to wait till the end of the year or early in the new year to make the switch, and I'm sure the i7 prices would have had a decent drop by then. But my dad wants my system asap.

The quad seems perfect for the short term. Good price and performance. I'm just thinking whats better for the long term. I mean, with the i7 option I could always just upgrade the CPU down the line. Whereas with the quad...thats all she wrote.
 
hang in there until the i5 arrives if u dont want a quad now
 
Whats the story on the i5? I don't know much beyond that its on the way and that it'll be a more affordable option than the i7.

Is it supposed to be that performance/price sweet spot between the quad and the i7? And when is it due? I have to get the new system in 2-3 months at the most.
 
i doubt the i5 will be out in time for you but you can look it up. It lacks a few features of the i7 but should perform more or less on par.

I would say then try to save on the graphics card because of the fact that next generation is around the corner and dx11 capable and you'll want to upgrade anyway when it arrives. So you can get a gts250 for 1.8k on prophecy.
 
Yeah, that's a good idea. I mailed PC Int asking for quotes on two custom systems. The one is the i7 and the other a more affordable Q9550. Will take it from there.
 
The problem with trying to future-proof a PC is that it can't be done on a small budget - it's like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
At best, you can only get what you can afford, then use it for as long as you can before having to upgrade - in reality, you'll never be happy with what you have after 6-18 months anyway, even if you manage to get the i7 - Murphy's Law says that as soon as you buy the i7, they'll release the i5 or i9... and your i7 price will plummet - either way, you lose - that's technology. :D
 
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