EggXpert

Good afternoon,

I am an elderly fellow (aka old fart) attempting to build my first computer. jsv35's suggestions are exactly what I need. The $800 build looks appropriate for me.

Any suggestions on whether to use AMD or Intel? I really don't know the difference. I use Photoshop and Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Can I use the Vista or XP programs that came with my old computers? Is this legal?

Recommendations on a TV tuner? Don't need to record, just watch the news while I'm working.

Thanks for any help

For your purposes Mr. Boatman, I would advise the following:

Switch Memory for this: Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS24G8500ELKN - Retail

Switch the video card to this: MSI R4870-T2D512 OC Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail mainly because if you go with Sapphire, chances are, you'll never get the rebate back and MSI is slightly more reliable for warranty/etc...

Maybe switch case for: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail mainly because I feel that Coolermaster is overpriced and shipping makes it worse.

Everything else is perfect; go with the AMD 9850; you'll notice the difference over a dual-core (it's a quad-core :-))

What Vista or XP programs that came with your old computer? 

Slmclarengt

Thanks for the help. I have Windows XP on old desktop and Vista Home Premium on a fairly new laptop.

Boatman, if you're asking whether you can use those Operating Systems on your new desktop, legally no. So you'd have to buy or otherwise attain a legal version of an OS. There's always linux; it's free and good :-). Or use the Windows 7 beta as your primary OS which is free...

Slmclarengt

Indeed Windows 7 beta does expire August 1, 2009 but at that point more options should be available.

Slmclarengt

Hi! can you revise this build/check for any incapabilities? I plan to build around the end of February, so I am trying to "prepare" before buying.

 ~Uses~  LOTS of multitasking (I tend to run 8+ programs at once and put my current comp at a deadlag...), everyday uses, "casual" gaming, some photoshop, a good amount of video encoding...

~CPU~ I am pretty much glued to this quad core, and will take a lot of convincing to change my mind... I understand why people still prefer duals, but in my theory, I want this to happily last me 4+ years, and I think quads will slowly be the "new duals". O yeah, I plan to Overclock it to 3ghz with the stock cooler, any advice?

~Heatsink~ From what I know, I can replace the heat sink if I wanted to, so I'll stick with stock for now...

~GPU~ I am most likely going to use it at 1920x1080 resolution, with a second monitor(extended) at 1024x768(something like that, 15" only lol)... how good do you think it will run games at 1920x1080? Would I be able to run at high settings (Just plain fps games, and i don't need ultra-high settings/ or to be able to run crysis, etc) at a resonable fps (as long as I can't notice any lag, I don't really give a c**p to the amount).

~Power~ I just want to be able to power the system, and possibly add a few pci cards/hard drives in the future...

Rig 3

Any advice on building? I pretty much know how to do it, as I have taken apart old ones and rebuilt them, but this is technically my first build and I'm pretty nervous about it... Also, If I built this system as it is right now, connecting everything together, If everything works, i should be able to just power on, install windows, install drivers, etc, right?

Yeah... Well, Thanks!

Thanks for replying and helping people on this thread slmclarengt, I've been swamped at work and haven't been able to touch my thread in the longest time.

Jamorama, that build looks fine for the price, but expecting it to play anything smoothly at 1080P is asking a bit much especially with the limited 512mb of memory.  If you were to play with lower filtering such as AA & AF and lower textures then you might see a comfortable result, otherwise you need atleast an HD 4870 1GB or GTX 260 to have a decent experience at that resolution.

I think you might find yourself having to go with a dual core such as the E7300 and a cheaper motherboard to make it into this range, so you will probably be seeing yourself having to compromise between gaming quality and the quad core. 

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		Savings	Total Price
		LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM		$24.99
		Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM		$74.99
		Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM Item #: N82E16835100007 Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy		$5.99
		AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail

i was going to get a gigabyte 790gx, or would it be better to get an 790fx,  

also 1066 4gb ram probably patriot.

 also i will be purchasing an 10000 rpm raptor harddrive as a os drive,

video card wise would it be better to purchase 2 4870s, or get a 4870x2 card, I plan to use this pc for gaming, yet for about a grand or under i want to also have it last me at least 4 years, in gaming im about two three years behind, because its cheaper that way lol.

any other suggestions, or thoughts about this build would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Haha... well I finally built it, just to find out the motherboard was defective...

Well... I am not THAT big of a gamer... And truth is, I don't even know wth AA & AF is... All I care is that I am able to play games (in pretty high detail) w/o lag... I'm pretty sure a 512 mb 4850 will be good enough (considering I came from a laptop with a 7150m graphics card...). Plus, the 1080p resolution was basically the highest I could go (being that's our family television...), but I bought a monitor(19"... by asus for $110) that runs @ 1680x1050(or something like that), so it should be even easier on the gpu...

I ended up going for the e8400 (eh... parents gave me a cap of 1k, and I took advantage of it... although it was too hard squeezing in a quad core, so I opted for the e8400, which has double the 7300's cache and a higher clocked speed...)

~If you ever get around to updating the thread, you should come up with i7 solutions... since a large amount of computers (pre-built) over 1k now have i7 (lol... with integrated graphics).

~LOTS of items have been discontinued...

Elo i need a budget top 2000$ for gaming in a 22" monitor high settings(not extreme)\HTPCing\inet\msn\misc stuff

 Thanks all and cya

LVCIO: Post your request in the System Builds forum.

You'd probably want: Phenom 940 + 790GX motherboard + 4GB (or 8GB for upgrade's sake) DDR2 1066 + 4870x2 + Corsair 750W = fun fun fun. Or Core i7 + 6GB DDR3 1333/1600 + X58 motherboard + same other components.

Slmclarengt

Techie: Yes, it is updated... laast one has been on dec. 9... not much has changed for lower budget builds though.

slm- if I am not mistaken, the mobo requires a bios flash to support the cpu (amd, unless it supports it... idk) 

Lvcio- For 1k(Intel or AMD), you can do everything you have listed with ease! I have a monitor(equivilant to a 22" monitor) running at 1680x1050 and I only use a ati 4850... runs games like combat arms in high details, 4x AA without lag! 

~I spend ~740 (base) on my computer, and it is freakin crazy! e8400 @ 4ghz, slightly overclocked 4850, 4 gb ram.

If you really are planning to spend 2k, I would go with an i7 build, taking the new phenoms are still behind them. 

Hey jsv35 !

Its been awhile... 7 month old twins are keeping me busy busy busy! So busy that I dont even know whats what in the PC hardware these days.

Good to see your keeping up with the budget builds ! great work man, keep it up!

Wasper

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Keds: If you need any help, pm me and I'll help you as much as I can.

Wasper:

Hey jsv35 !

 

Its been awhile... 7 month old twins are keeping me busy busy busy! So busy that I dont even know whats what in the PC hardware these days.

Good to see your keeping up with the budget builds ! great work man, keep it up!

 

Wasper

Wasper!  It has been a while.. and there is quite a bit going on in the PC hardware world these days, but I've been pretty busy my self and have only been able to read about it.  I finally got around to finishing the most recent up date, it was over two months overdue!  Hope you get time to read up on it every once in a while or check back here regularly.

Great to hear about the twins!  Hope things are going smoothly

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