EPTOf course, prices may move depending how good the Bulldozer are. So if you can wait, nothing really you will lose, except time!
Computer Build Resource Thread - Page 301
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XenOmega
Canada2822 Posts
Of course, prices may move depending how good the Bulldozer are. So if you can wait, nothing really you will lose, except time! | ||
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Aduromors
United States279 Posts
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Uhh Negative
United States1090 Posts
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
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Soupconner
United States37 Posts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138293 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103903 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396 http://speedtest.net/ Again, looking to spend as little as possible on an upgrade. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
Many 720p streams have low bitrates and noticeable artifacting and really should be running at a lower resolution to improve quality IMHO, so keep that in mind. The lower the resolution, quality, fps, etc., the lower the requirements on the CPU. GPU is pretty much irrelevant unless you want to play on higher game graphical settings. If you're fine with a poor-looking 720p stream or maybe an okay-looking 480p stream, you can upgrade to a Phenom II X4 ($115): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809 One issue is that you have a low-end Biostar motherboard that only claims to be able to support 95W TDP AM3 processors. The higher-end Phenom II X4 and Phenom II X6 would be more powerful for streaming, but they might overload the power circuitry on the motherboard. In the worst case you could have chips burning or starting a small fire. (Similarly, you wouldn't want to try overclocking on that). To be able to stream around 720p decently, you're looking for at least a Core i5-2300. So around $256 for the CPU and motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.638743 | ||
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Progamermatt
United States79 Posts
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Soupconner
United States37 Posts
On May 29 2011 03:11 Myrmidon wrote: What was your speedtest result? You linked the website but not your result. Upload was like 3 Mbps at least? Many 720p streams have low bitrates and noticeable artifacting and really should be running at a lower resolution to improve quality IMHO, so keep that in mind. The lower the resolution, quality, fps, etc., the lower the requirements on the CPU. GPU is pretty much irrelevant unless you want to play on higher game graphical settings. If you're fine with a poor-looking 720p stream or maybe an okay-looking 480p stream, you can upgrade to a Phenom II X4 ($115): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809 One issue is that you have a low-end Biostar motherboard that only claims to be able to support 95W TDP AM3 processors. The higher-end Phenom II X4 and Phenom II X6 would be more powerful for streaming, but they might overload the power circuitry on the motherboard. In the worst case you could have chips burning or starting a small fire. (Similarly, you wouldn't want to try overclocking on that). To be able to stream around 720p decently, you're looking for at least a Core i5-2300. So around $256 for the CPU and motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.638743 http://www.speedtest.net/result/1316484346.png | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On May 29 2011 03:22 Progamermatt wrote: If I am getting the i5 2500k, must I have windows 64 bit? or is 32 bit fine? if 32 bit is fine, are there any disadvantages to using it? CPU is irrelevant regarding which Windows unless you're talking about processors several years old that can't support 64-bit. 32-bit Windows is fine, but you would be limited in the amount of RAM that can be used (to roughly 3GB, depending), no matter how much RAM you have installed. 64-bit operating systems don't have that limitation, so that's preferred if you have 4GB of RAM or more. Well, Win7 Home Premium 64-bit limits you to 16GB, but that's a restriction imposed by Microsoft. It's also well above what home users would need anyway. Yeah you'll be limited by the CPU before your connection. | ||
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Uhh Negative
United States1090 Posts
On May 29 2011 02:50 Myrmidon wrote: With a $900-1000 budget it makes sense to do so if you're doing things on the computer that would really benefit from a faster CPU. I don't think it's the overclocking process itself that is as relevant as the fact that you'd need a more expensive CPU (the i5-2500k), a more expensive motherboard, an aftermarket cooler, and possibly a slightly more expensive PSU/case. That's maybe $80 extra to be able to run your otherwise identical CPU at something like 4.5 GHz rather than 3.1 GHz or so. That kind of money could be spent on other components or something else. I'll be using it mainly for gaming so it would make sense. $80 extra doesn't sound like too high of a price to pay for a significantly higher clock speed with OCing. Just an extra day of work  From what I hear you can as much as a 20% increase in performance by overclocking? If that's the case it's totally worth it because I probably won't be upgrading/building a new computer for quite some time. I've never owned a high-end PC in my life so I want to do it big this time. Just for reference, the computer my family has right now (I've got a 2 year old tablet) is from 2001 and it's a Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 256mb RAM, 40GB HDD, and integrated video. That costs about 1200 back then. Crazy how much things change in 10 years.edit: I've just realized I might need to buy a new windows 7 for my new build because I have transferred schools and my new school doesn't offer free or cheap windows 7 like my old one. If this is the case, would this work? http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/windows/buynow/default.aspx I know there are "other" ways to get Windows 7 but if I can get it for $30 that wouldn't be bad. I think it says its an upgrade so I would need some other older version of windows for this to work.... hmm... I'm assuming the upgrade package won't allow me to install it fresh by itself? I'm thinking there's a definite work-around for this. edit2: I still a windows key for windows 7 enterprise that I'm using right now on my tablet. My friend built a computer last summer and used the same key he was using on his tablet and it worked. Might be because it's a school key? | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
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FinBenton
Finland870 Posts
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Uhh Negative
United States1090 Posts
On May 29 2011 06:01 skyR wrote: Upgrade and OEM discs are (nearly?) identical. Both allows you to do a full custom install on a blank harddrive. That's great news. I wonder why they are named differently then? Very odd. I think I still might even be able to get a free copy through my school but $30 isn't too bad. I think it might be a limited offer though. It doesn't say when it will end. I should be able install with from a flash drive right? edit: I'm reading right now that you CANNOT install with an upgrade version of windows on a fresh HDD directly but there are relatively easy ways to get around it. Now that I think about it, I probably have a Vista disc sitting around I could install first if I have to. BAHAHAH! Apparently when you try to do a clean install the first time it won't work, but then once that is done you can install again over top of that and it will work. Pretty funny stuff. | ||
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AaronJ
United States90 Posts
What is your budget? My budget is 2-2.6k but i could MAYBE go to 2.9k if it would make a huge difference. What is your resolution? I don't know since I am also planning to get 1 or maybe 2 new monitors (If I can afford it or else 1 would get 1 and then another when the money came to me) What are you using it for? I would mainly use it for gaming (I want to be able to play any game at high or more graphics settings) and videos (movies, hulu, starcraft vods, ect.) I would also like to have it be 1080p and be blue ray (although I don't know if my budget allows for this.) I also might do some video editing (but not too much and not in that high quality) and I want to get into programming (if that is relevant). What is your upgrade cycle? Four years although I wouldn't mind putting in a new thing or two if a new and MUCH better thing came out. When do you plan on building it? Over the summer is when I would have the time most likely. (But I could maybe wait if something revolutionary was about to come out) Do you plan on overclocking? No. It seems hard, I'm not knowledgeable, and I don't see a big enough reason. EDIT:It seemed harder but I guess it is not. sorry for the mis-understanding. Do you need an Operating System? I don't think so, so don't factor it into the cost. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? Should I? I don't know what that is. Where are you buying your parts from? The internet but I have a Microcenter 1 1/2 hours away. (I would go if I would save money.) I think that's it. Thank you so much for your help. | ||
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Dhays9
United States51 Posts
What is good video card (that is on the cheaper side) that can almost all the game currently out there on medium setting? | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
Past about $1200 you're not going to get much benefit from throwing money into the machine. Anyway, you might as well ask again later closer to when you're going to build, as prices change. AMD is releasing new processors next month, and they're indeed revolutionary from an architectural point of view, but I don't think they'll be particularly exciting for gamers (i.e. very unlikely to be much better than what Intel has now, if better at all for the price). Overclocking something like an i5-2500k a fair amount is pretty easy. It involves changing a number or two in the menu and that's it--and then running a stress test program to make sure the computer doesn't crash and/or overheats. You can get multiple high-end graphics cards, but that's generally a waste. You can also get things like super premium cases, power supplies, motherboards, etc., but I don't think you'll get much out of those items. @Dhays9: Particularly at lower resolutions and maybe except for the most demanding games, an HD 5670 would work ($70, $60 after rebate). It's a bit on the low side: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871 A good deal at the moment is an HD 5830 ($110), which is enough to run SC2 on ultra at most resolutions and should handle games for a while on medium: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102878 If you count mail-in rebates, a HD 5770 is just a bit worse than a HD 5830 and one is selling for $75 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447 | ||
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Dhays9
United States51 Posts
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FinBenton
Finland870 Posts
If you then interest more in OC, you van tweak your settings to get less volts and more performance. | ||
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Fisiks
Australia11 Posts
) After adding up the cost it seems i have alot of room left in my budget. I'll stick with the 8800GTX card for now, however i will probably upgrade in the future to one that can play on ultra. How much would going from 4gigs to 8gigs of ram cost? And could someone suggest a higher end motherboard that will allow for 8 gigs of ram and the ability to upgrade to a better graphics card in the near future? thanks again! | ||
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Dhays9
United States51 Posts
On May 29 2011 09:18 Myrmidon wrote: Particularly at lower resolutions and maybe except for the most demanding games, an HD 5670 would work ($70, $60 after rebate). It's a bit on the low side: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871 A good deal at the moment is an HD 5830 ($110), which is enough to run SC2 on ultra at most resolutions and should handle games for a while on medium: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102878 If you count mail-in rebates, a HD 5770 is just a bit worse than a HD 5830 and one is selling for $75 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447 What about this card: ASUS GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB DirectCU http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_876&products_id=16985 or SAPPHIRE 100297L Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ ATI Eyefinity Technology http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-102-878&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo | ||
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