finally have the opportunity to pick up some parts to do my rebuild. I only need a motherboard, CPU, Video Card, and RAM for my build as I will be recycling everything else from my old PC. I'm tyring to keep everything under $700 if at all possible. ASUS EAH5830 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel OCZ Special Ops Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK $433.98 for the above on the Egg as a combo. Add in a Intel Core i5 for another $200 and right at my budget. Recommendations/Critiques as I'd like to get this build started since I've been using my work laptop for about 2 weeks...
I am personally a fan of the Nvidia cards ... throw in one of those new 1g 460 cards Also working where I do i would suggest running a gigabyte board ... we have had a few problems with ram on the asus 1156 boards as of late (might just be our stock) also if you are near a micro center ... take the drive up and get i7 860 for 220 or even 200 at some stores i know there is one in northenr jersey
This looks okay to me. What's the speed of that i5? Oh, and if you order the combo keep an eye on that Radeon card. I just [as in yesterday] had to RMA an 5870 I bought a week ago 'cause it is DOA.
I'd be wary of OCZ RAM. OCZ doesn't have the same testing requirements as companies like Patriot, G Skill, or even Kingston and can sometimes end up shipping faulty parts. I've had to replace two sets of OCZ RAM within 6 months of purchase and will never buy from them again. With regards to CPUs, I haven't noticed any difference between AMDs and Intels other than the price tag. Might be worth considering an equivalent AMD CPU, which is almost guaranteed to be cheaper.
I have seen great reviews on Tom's hardware about the Phenom II X4 Black Edition 965 and how it's comparable with the 15 750 i have specced out. Anybody out there that has any first hand experience with them? It seems the prices are cheaper and AMD is known to keep the same socket types for a longer time than Intel.
Agreed. OCZ is hella fussy. I'm upgrading my old Q6600 with a i5 760 as well, and Patriot has a set that is supposedly guaranteed to work with the P55. I also got an EVGA motherboard, since EVGA is one of a few manufacturers to include 775 mounting holes along with 1156, so I get to keep my huge fanless heatsink.
i5 750 is a great chip, I don't have one but seen great reviews about it. And like others have stated, would be a little wary of OCZ.
Well, I just installed my new motherboard, CPU, and memory, and wow. It's idling at about 70 watts less than my old Q6600 core (90 vs 160) and scores slightly higher on the Windows Experience Index (.2-.3 pts higher - memory continues to drag the score down to 5.9). And thanks to the miracle that is Windows 7, I just dropped in the motherboard, booted into Windows, and reinstalled the chipset drivers.
Not if you have the same components. Everything is fairly standardized across Intel platforms: unified chipset drivers, realtek audio and network, etc. It took a few hours to replace and rewire components, but I was back to playing games in less than 15 min with no problems. I did the same with my Vista system and had no problems up before I upgraded to Win 7.