My laptop is about a year old... still works great. But when I bought it, it was bought as a computer to just 'get by' with.

My desktop is ancient. Sure I've upgraded it every few years, by buying it presents every now and then. But the fact of the matter is I purchased the motherfucker in 2001. Hahaha, I guess I got my money's worth. The only thing that has every gone bad in it was RAM.


So. Yes. Now is the time for me to build a new tower.

This is going to end horribly

1/8/2010 7:19:42 PM

if you need any help you know who to call.

BLACKDOG.

1/8/2010 7:21:12 PM

oh, you can bet on me calling on some of you for advice / recommendations.




if only there were a forum on TWW for this type of thing

[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 7:23 PM. Reason : or feel free to throw out suggestions / good deals]

1/8/2010 7:22:45 PM

first question is what is your budget and what do you want to do with the computer?

1/8/2010 7:27:16 PM

wait for some of the shit unveiled at CES to hit market

1/8/2010 7:28:22 PM

not a bad idea, but CES will only drop prices of current hardware when the new products are released.

1/8/2010 7:29:11 PM

just buy the midrange whatever from dell

it'll be serviceable for a while

1/8/2010 7:30:28 PM

if you have a decent amount of money go i5, if not S775 C2Q/C2D is still extremely fast in almost all apps/games.

1/8/2010 7:32:21 PM

-OS will be windows

-I don't necessarily need to game, because I do that on the xbox + ps3 + wii. But I don't want to skip on the video card, because video/photo editing is something that I will need to do.

-I use my current tower as a network center for my house. This is something that I would like to continue doing.

-Obviously storage is a big goal. But that's very easy to accomplish.

-Speed is very important.

-Recording, Audio editing / mixing is (will be) important for the future.

============================================================

I don't want to spend money on features that I won't use. Having said that, money isn't really an obstacle for me.

1/8/2010 7:35:41 PM

"skimp", not skip

1/8/2010 7:39:09 PM

^ I'll rape you love you tenderly. Don't test me, son.

1/8/2010 7:39:49 PM

I'll build you what I would build for a customer with this those requirements, brb (and yes I do build computers on the side besides my IT job).

1/8/2010 7:47:13 PM

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365&cm_re=DDR_3_RAM-_-20-227-365-_-Product

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475&cm_re=GTX_275-_-14-130-475-_-Product

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256049&cm_re=PSU-_-17-256-049-_-Product

Sound Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156014&cm_re=Auzentech-_-29-156-014-_-Product

Case: Up To You (though I do recommend the Raven2)

Do you need a monitor/mouse/keyboard?

I recommend eVGA products because they are based in the US (unlike most) and they have a lifetime warranty. I've seen plenty of people RMA their card after a problem and get a better card in return. I plan to do this with my 295 when the GT300 comes out.


That computer above can do anything you need it to except OC the CPU to extreme levels. You might get 3.8ghz out of it but watch your temps.

Also the motherboard is upgradeable to 2 more GPUs if you ever need that much power.

(note some items out of stock currently)

The only reason I went i7 is because you say you have the money and you will benefit doing audio/video encoding/decoding tremendously over S775.





[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Reason : .]

1/8/2010 7:51:38 PM

i, too, am interested in building a desktop

i have a case that can be used.. might need a power supply though

zero gaming

regularly have a stupid number of programs going so i guess i need a lot of ram

so

not sure of the budget. give me some options.. i use a lenovo x61t w/4gb ram at work but it's really pretty slow. dual monitor support is pretty much required.

what do i buy

1/8/2010 7:58:33 PM

thanks man. I'll check into all of those.


I'll probably end up getting a new monitor.
I have an acer 27" at work, and I love that thing:




I got a $100 gift card to walmart for christmas, so I was hoping they would have something there for me. that's probably a pipe dream though... I haven't looked.

1/8/2010 8:00:39 PM

^^ you have to give a budget or it can't be done. If you are on a less than $500 budget then look at going C2D getting a nice heat sink and OC the shit out of an E8400.



[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 8:01 PM. Reason : ^]

1/8/2010 8:00:54 PM

yeah, under $500 for sure.

[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 8:01 PM. Reason : i need to research what's out there right now.. havent even looked in years]

1/8/2010 8:01:30 PM

DAMN YOU DISABLED IMBEDDIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA

1/8/2010 8:03:55 PM

But buying a Core 2 Duo now if you're getting a new system is completely stupid. The platform is outdated. But I can tell that you're an Intel fanboy, so reasoning with you is impossible.

A nice AMD on socket AM3 would be great for a 500 dollar budget. The Phenom II's also overclock very nicely.

1/8/2010 8:10:16 PM

for under $500 a C2D at 4.0ghz is an awesome computer and he said he needs lots of a RAM and a GPU to push 2 monitors. C2D or C2Q is perfect for him as the resolution rises the less important the CPU becomes.



[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 8:12 PM. Reason : ,]

1/8/2010 8:11:55 PM

Nice setup.
I'll compare other candidates as well. There's probably not a need for me to spend that much on a sound card right now, so I might hold off on that.

1/8/2010 8:25:45 PM

^^ And AM3 is not? He can push an AMD Phenom II 955 to 3.77 Ghz.

Are you serious?

Hell, I'm using an 8800GTS 512 MB to push my 23" Acer monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 and my old 19" Viewsonic with a resolution of 1440x900. It works totally fine on my AMD X2 4200 @ 2.2 Ghz.

A Phenom II 955 would provide the best performance on a platform that isn't dead

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail - $165.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $79.99 before $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail - $92.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

HIS H465FS512H Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail - $52.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161303

CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Of course, you can go with a motherboard with integrated video to bring the cost down, but two monitors may not be very smooth on it. You'll have to take the DVD drive out of your current computer or buy another one, and you can always get another HDD later down the road. But the price is just over 500 dollars at 516.94 bucks. That's without the 10 dollar MIR as well, so you can knock 10 bucks off of that.

[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 8:42 PM. Reason : another ^]

1/8/2010 8:42:26 PM

i can't wait till where i work is making more money and i can just buy a crazy as fuck $2K desktop for the office and keep the tablet for on the road..

but yea..nice setup. i have some HD's from work i could use too

1/8/2010 8:46:23 PM

tomorrow when I get the motivation, I'll log into my work laptop and check to see what discounts are available.
There's a pretty extensive list of companies that I get discounts through, for being an employee

1/8/2010 8:56:31 PM

C2D Wolfdale@4ghz (which the E8400 can easily hit) out performs all AMD offerings in most applications unless they are quad threaded which is like 5-10% of apps/games.

Quote :

"thanks man. I'll check into all of those. I'll probably end up getting a new monitor. I have an acer 27" at work, and I love that thing:"

no problem, that is a hell of a system; it would easily last you 2-3 years (especially with the GPU upgrade abilitiy). Yea that is a sweet as monitor, I love my BenQ FP241W it's a P-MVA panel, so it was expensive as fuck for a 24" ($600); but I have had it almost 2 years, still amazing to watch games/movies/etc on.

Here is a shot I took of mine:







[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 9:06 PM. Reason : .]

1/8/2010 9:03:00 PM

Quote :

"C2D Wolfdale@4ghz (which the E8400 can easily hit) out performs all AMD offerings in most applications ."

You're comparing an OCed e8400 @ 3.0 ghz to a non-overclocked AMD Phenom II 955? REALLY? That's comparing apple's to oranges.

You are aware that the 955 can hit at least 3.77 Ghz? Right? And fairly easily, since it does have an unlocked multiplier. And who said that he even wants to OC? And you can't guarantee him that he'll hit 4 GHZ.

This article shows that a 965 can hit 4.0 Ghz pretty easily, so a 955 can get up around there as well:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2468&page=3

And you can see in this article that a Phenom II 955 is faster than a Q9650, which is clocked at 3.0 Ghz. You can see in the Cinebench benchmark that the 955 beats the shit out of a Q9650 in the single-threaded benchmark.

Don't let your Intel fanboyism blind you to the truth that a Phenom II 955 is better than a E8400. The CPU is overall faster, has just as much overclocking potential as a E8400, it's better at multi-tasking, and it's not on a dead-end platform. LGA 775 is DEAD. You're a moron if you buy it. You're locking yourself out of any future upgrades without buying new RAM (unless you get one of those expensive LGA 775 motherboards that uses DDR3 RAM) and a new motherboard. It's foolish to do that. Simply foolish.

Quote :

"unless they are quad threaded which is like 5-10% of apps/games"

Which the number keeps growing. Try recommending him a setup that will MOST benefit him in the future and not one that will benefit him the most now (which even then, that's not an E8400 @ 4.0 Ghz, that's a 955 @ 3.8 Ghz).

And if he's going to be doing a lot of video or audio encoding, you bet your ass that 2 extra CPUs will come in handy, as most encoders are now multi-threaded to use as many CPUs as possible.

1/8/2010 9:36:16 PM

yeah, and at least AMD isn't bailing on their customers by switching socket designs and not making the chips backwards compatible.

they did the AM3 right. the nehalem/bloomfield chips are awesome, but i'd rather get a phenom II if i'm gonna have to get a new motherboard every time i want to change cores.

1/8/2010 9:51:06 PM

I swear to god EMCE, if you build skynet I will stop posting in your threads.

Serious as a fucking heart attack on this one.

1/8/2010 9:56:33 PM

=======================================================================

on a more serious note, I've seen some shit at work. seen it with my own two eyes...
and I have come here to tell you
a skynet type platform really isn't too far off



but it would never happen. people are too afraid of relinquishing control to computers

[Edited on January 8, 2010 at 10:01 PM. Reason : ]

1/8/2010 9:59:57 PM

also, for the record, i think BlackDog is cute as hell.

1/8/2010 10:01:11 PM

also, for the record, I've been debating fucking evan in the arse

1/8/2010 10:02:16 PM

also, for the record, i think that large apples.

1/8/2010 10:07:22 PM

unless adobe builds a computer

i don't think i'll ever switch from apple

no matter their feud

i just can't go back to the "boxed" feeling of a microsoft os

1/8/2010 11:09:40 PM

what about the boxed feeling of 9/11 in a box?

1/8/2010 11:11:23 PM

in other news, marko drinks haterade like water

1/8/2010 11:11:46 PM

Quote :

"You're comparing an OCed e8400 @ 3.0 ghz to a non-overclocked AMD Phenom II 955? REALLY? That's comparing apple's to oranges. You are aware that the 955 can hit at least 3.77 Ghz? Right? And fairly easily, since it does have an unlocked multiplier. And who said that he even wants to OC? And you can't guarantee him that he'll hit 4 GHZ. This article shows that a 965 can hit 4.0 Ghz pretty easily, so a 955 can get up around there as well: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2468&page=3 And you can see in this article that a Phenom II 955 is faster than a Q9650, which is clocked at 3.0 Ghz. You can see in the Cinebench benchmark that the 955 beats the shit out of a Q9650 in the single-threaded benchmark. Don't let your Intel fanboyism blind you to the truth that a Phenom II 955 is better than a E8400. The CPU is overall faster, has just as much overclocking potential as a E8400, it's better at multi-tasking, and it's not on a dead-end platform. LGA 775 is DEAD. You're a moron if you buy it. You're locking yourself out of any future upgrades without buying new RAM (unless you get one of those expensive LGA 775 motherboards that uses DDR3 RAM) and a new motherboard. It's foolish to do that. Simply foolish."

haha you linked PCStats, that is all I have to say.

Also almost everyone I know with an E8400 is over 4ghz with a decent mobo and heat sink and you are wrong about quad threaded apps. I know so many guys on tech forums that wish they had saved the money and went high clocked C2D. I posted a link on this a while back so you can look that up. AM3 is dead, was from the start; they couldn't even keep up with C2Q at stock most of the time.

Not to mention you got the people backwards, EMCE is doing encoding/decoding; ScHpEnXeL is the one with the budget and he said nothing about encoding/decoding. All he said was he needs a lot of RAM, so learn to fuck reading you dumb fuck.

1/8/2010 11:53:36 PM

Quote :

"haha you linked PCStats, that is all I have to say."

Here's a neoseeker review that has a 955 at 3.77 Ghz:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/pii955/

But nice ad hominem argument, though.

Quote :

"Also almost everyone I know with an E8400 is over 4ghz with a decent mobo and heat sink and you are wrong about quad threaded apps."

And? The E8400 is still a horrible option. A Phenom II X4 is going to be a much better choice when it comes to multi-tasking. Besides, where did he say he even wanted to overclock? The E8400 is fast now, but it's ON A DEAD PLATFORM. How fucking dense are you?

Also, you do realize that the black edition Phenom II's have unlocked multipliers? Making it quite a bit easier to overclock.

FYI, here's a list of programs that are known to use all 4 cores:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/243332-28-programs-cores-quad-core-chip

And here you can see a list of games that use 4 cores:

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=130262

If a game developer, or even a just a regular program developer, is going to spend the time making a dual-threaded program, they'll take the time to make it use as many cores as possible. This has been the case for the past 2 years and it will continue to be the case.

And both of those threads are quite old.

Quote :

"I know so many guys on tech forums that wish they had saved the money and went high clocked C2D."

He said he has a 500 dollar budget and you know that at stock speeds the 955 beats an E8400, while costing the same price, "so learn to fuck reading you dumb fuck." Have you even been paying a attention? The 955 IS 2 DOLLARS CHEAPER THAN THE

Quote :

"AM3 is dead, was from the start; they couldn't even keep up with C2Q at stock most of the time. "

Your right, a Phenom II X4 955, which DOES beat a Q9650 at stock all of the time means that AM3 is dead.

Quote :

"All he said was he needs a lot of RAM, so learn to fuck reading you dumb fuck."

You mad because I'm trashing on your suggestion? Go run off like a little bitch, you worthless fanboy.

You're fanboyism is blinding you from realizing that the 955 is a better option than an E8400. As MORE AND MORE programs use more than just 2 cores, it makes no sense to buy a dual core now if you can afford not to. And as DDR2 is being phased out, it makes no sense to even build a system using it. It makes little sense to go with anything LGA 775 at this point. A quad core is better at multi-tasking than a dual core.

You're only argument for going with an E8400 is that hopefully he can get up to 4.0 Ghz (and are you forgetting his 500 dollar budget? You want throw in a HSF on a 170 dollar CPU for a 500 dollar budget? REALLY?), and that most programs are single-threaded. You completely ignore the fact that more and more programs are becoming multi-threaded.

You also completely missed the part where he said, "regularly have a stupid number of programs going," you fucking twat. He's obviously going to be multi-tasking, ergo, a quad-core IS the best option.

You know what, go link the guy up with a computer that will be able to hit 4.0 Ghz for 500 dollars and let him make his own decision based on what was said. I'm done arguing with you over this matter. I expressed my opinion, and you expressed your misinformation. There's nothing more to discuss, and in the end, it's the other guy's choice.

And to ScHpEnXeL: Right now, I have an ASUS M2N-SLI-Deluxe motherboard from 3.5 years ago. With a BIOS update, I can run a Phenom II X4 920/940 with ease. Meanwhile, LGA775 motherboards from the same time period can't run the latest LGA 775 processors, and many people who had early LGA 775 motherboards couldn't even run Core 2 Duo processors when they were released, because the voltage regulator on those motherboards weren't compatible. I'm just pointing out to give you some perspective. I expect that AM3 will have the same lifetime.

[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 1:16 AM. Reason : .]

1/9/2010 1:09:34 AM

yes I am a S775 fanboy, that is what I suggested i7 for EMCE.

It's hilarious I got you to type that much shit in response, AMD fanboy.


For the record, I've owned 3x more AMD processors than Intel; so suck my donkey dick.


Let's see if you spend 20 mins typing a response to this post, if so you are a fucking dumbass; get a life.




[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 2:46 AM. Reason : .]

1/9/2010 2:43:56 AM

Someone say SkyNET?





Don't worry, it's just a Bluetooth radio with the wrong reg entry, or is it?

1/9/2010 3:36:59 AM

hahahaha... love the banter on here. If it was my money and I'm not gaming on it I'd find a used twin or quad xeon workstation, fill it with a minimum 8GB of RAM, one of the 'twin' graphics cards (2 cards sandwiched - most workstations only have 1 socket) and RAID0 twin WD10K drives to boot and whatever else you got for storage.

If I had to have new I'd look seriously at AMD. Great performance for much less coin. Again, if you're not rendering video or pounding this thing 8 hours a day it'll be perfect. I also note that to me a fast dual core (3.6ghz+) is more useful than a slower quad core (2.6ghz-) because 95% of the software has not figured out how to use those cores. Particularly flash. I despise getting dropped frames while 75% of the machine sits idle . Refer to rendering comments prior.

1/9/2010 3:40:02 AM

Quote :

"yes I am a S775 fanboy, that is what I suggested i7 for EMCE. "

I didn't call you a LGA775 fanboy, I called you an Intel fanboy.

Quote :

"It's hilarious I got you to type that much shit in response, AMD fanboy."

What's hilarious is that you called me an AMD fanboy, simply because I think that AMD is the best choice for ScHpEnXeL. Notice how I wasn't even suggesting AMD for EMCE, because if he has the money for i7, then he should go for i7. I also didn't suggest an AMD build to my friend with a budget of 800 bucks about 4-5 months ago either, because I didn't feel that it was the best option at the time.

Quote :

"For the record, I've owned 3x more AMD processors than Intel; so suck my donkey dick. "

And I've owned 3 times more Intel processors than AMD. You're welcome to wrap your mouth around my cock too.

Quote :

"Let's see if you spend 20 mins typing a response to this post, if so you are a fucking dumbass; get a life. "

You spent time on this to only to end up saying nothing, you post pictures of your computer bragging about it on a fucking forum, you brag about your upgrades, and then you have the audacity to call me a fucking dumbass and to get a life. You sir, just defined the word hypocrite. Perhaps your advice would be best served on yourself.

1/9/2010 10:55:25 AM

served on him naked like one of those sushi girls?

1/9/2010 10:58:03 AM

k dorks

shut up

1/9/2010 11:03:48 AM

^

1/9/2010 11:07:46 AM

^ I, for one, appreciate your input.

1/9/2010 11:25:15 AM

^ his input has nothing to do with your system though, he is arguing about a budget sub $500 system. Which is still S775 until i5 comes down.

I'm not even reading his posts, just seeing how much I can piss him off since trolling isn't ban-able on TWW.



[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 12:40 PM. Reason : .]

1/9/2010 12:39:02 PM

so, mr blackdog

i was thinking of this
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Intel-Core-i7-860-Quad-Biostar-TP55-LGA1156-Mobo_W0QQitemZ300385110760QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f0590ae8

but just realized that i need a video card.. i could get ram and probably still be under budget but not sure on a video card too. suggestions?

the hard drive(s)/case/power supply i'll be able to get from work so not worried about those. wont be the best but meh, free is free

1/9/2010 1:12:47 PM

that is actually a very good deal

for a video card I would recommend the GTX 275 or the HD5850; or get the GTS 250 if you aren't playing games at retarded resolutions 1600x1200+

the 5850 has more power, but I don't know if you need it.

For ram I recommend OCZ, Corsair and GSkill.



[Edited on January 9, 2010 at 1:15 PM. Reason : /]

1/9/2010 1:14:36 PM

yeah i wont need much i dont think.. 0 gaming really. at most i'd watch an HD movie every now and then

1/9/2010 1:16:40 PM

Yeah don't waste your money on s775. Spend the extra on the i7.

1/9/2010 2:36:52 PM