Need Advice on New PC

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by jasperchc, Oct 26, 2009.

  1. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    CPU: i5-750 @ $270
    MOBO: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 / MSI P55-CD53 / MSI P55M-GD45 @ $230 (CPU + mobo @ $500)
    RAM: Kingston DDR3 4GB (2x2) @$130
    GPU: ATI 4870 1GB @ $260
    PSU: OCZ Z Series 650 Watts Silver / OCZ Modxstream-Pro 600 Watts / Cosair HX620W EPS / Antec TP-650W True Power / EnerMax MODU82+ 525W @ $190 - $150
    HDD: 1TB x 2 @ $300
    Casing: ....... @ $100

    Total: (price in Singapore Dollar)
    $1480
    $1780 (i7-860, ATI 5850)

    Been away for a long time, busy with work. Anyway, need some help and inputs with a new rig. Rig is primary for gaming, any idea if i should take i7-860 with ATI 5850 for extra $300?

    And for mobo and psu, dunno which one is better, list a few out, anyone has an experience or recommendation for any of them?
     
  2. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    If you ask me, the Core i5-750 is fast enough. Heck, even the good old Core 2 Duo is fast enough for all games!

    Spend the money on the Radeon HD 5850 and more RAM (if you can afford it). Otherwise, the $1480 system's really good enough for most games.

    Oh, be sure to spend some money on a decent power supply and a good MONITOR!!!
     
  3. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Why are you getting the micro ATX board?

    5850 is great, but I don't think it's worth it.
     
  4. goldfries

    goldfries www.goldfries.com

    after reading so much about the i5 and seeing it at the launch, I personally tested it and found it not to be any much of an improvement over my Xeon 3320.

    I think it's not worth going i5 if your usage doesn't warrant it, or if you already have a fast quad-core.

    probably the consolation of going i5 would be the NEW socket.

    MONITOR - wise people will know that IT IS worth spending on that. :D i love my Dell 2007WFP.


    why don't you consider a HD5770 1GB?
     
  5. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    It is a no brainer to get i5 IMO. It is definitely the future. Why go for the soon to be outdated C2Q, when i5 setup doesn't cost that much more? Maybe DDR3 is slightly more expensive.
     
  6. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    micro atx? i dont know, arent they all the same? :confused:
     
  7. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    all the reviews seem to favour the lga-1156 socket, and my last desktop is amd athlon xp, so looking for something better which will last me for a few years after so many years to get back into the game.

    and 5770 seems to be inferior to 4870, i mean from the reviews except for dx11 support although they are price the same.
     
  8. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    4gb of ram arent enough? monitor, hmm... i bought a 22' LG last year, its now sitting back at my hometown collecting dust, so gonna use back that monitor but can only get it when i go back for CNY next year, will just borrow a 19' from a friend in the meantime.
     
  9. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    No they are not the same. Micro ATX is a smaller version of ATX, they are meant for smaller form factor casing.

    But it seems like you are buying full ATX casing and PSU, and there is no reason for you to buy a micro ATX board. They usually have less expansion (less PCIE, PCI slots, less room for other chipsets like Firewire, Floppy controller, IDE, other external chipsets tc).
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2009
  10. goldfries

    goldfries www.goldfries.com

    my browser crashed when i was typing my reply earlier, so the above was a re-draft :p

    anyway about the i5 part - just to clarify - what i'm saying is that if you already have an existing fast system then it's not worth just to jump over. and what i missed out was that i am referring to stock i5 750. :) I was on P45 X3320 4GB D2 setup, i benched that vs the P55 i5-750 4GB D3 setup and found that if i switched from one to another, it incurs quite some cost with not so much gain.

    after OCing - now that i5 750 is really a nice beast. :D 4.2ghz is awesome CPU-Z Validator 3.1 I was just limited by my RAM (OCZ 1066). it passes all the benchies i threw at it but i can't run Forged Alliance with 4.2ghz. :(

    in your case, yeah i5 is the way to go.

    as for the HD5770, do you think it's inferior to HD4870?

    I've tested (read my article) the HD5770 and I found it to be really close to the HD4890, I guess you can say it's between HD4870 and HD4890 BUT remember that you're getting DX11 support AND something that consumes less power, which means it generates lesser heat too.
     
  11. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I'm actually seriously considering to move to i5 from my C2D setup, purely for performance/clock and excellent idle power consumption, but I can't afford the upgrade. So I will still stick with C2D for now. :mrgreen:

    5770 would have been a great choice if it's cheaper. But ATI is getting deperate.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2009
  12. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    for ATI 5770 / 4870, they both can still run all the latest games without any problem right?

    and chai you have any mobo to recommend? cause the one i picked are actually the cheapest in the price list :haha:
     
  13. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    The ATI Radeon HD 5770 / 4870 should have no problem running all games in the market. You may only have performance issues if you intend to run at 1920x1200 or higher with high AA levels, but that depends on the game as well.
     
  14. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Maybe you can pick P55-UD3, but then it's not as cheap as your selection...
     
  15. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    these are some of the board i came across, the
    Asus P7P55D and Gigabyte P55-UD3P are price almost the same. But i prefer the asus more cause i think the audio codec is better VIA VT1828S where as gigabyte use ALC888.

    Also i have a old creative audigy LS at home, would it be any better (or worst) compare to the built in audio codec these days?

    Price below are bundle with i5-750

    Asus P7P55D @ $513
    Asus P7P55D Pro @ $552
    MSI P55-GD65 @ $535
    Gigabyte P55-UD3P @ $520
    Gigabyte P55-UD4P @ $589
    EVGA P55LE P55 @ $569
     
  16. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Although both have similar price, but the pros and cons are quite different. Decide which features are more important for you.
     
  17. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    got another question, i am thinking of getting 2TB hdd, would it be better to get 1 x 2TB or 2 x 1TB and set it up in raid 0?
     
  18. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Why do you want RAID 0??? Do you need the speed?

    RAID 0 will give you a high throughput but with double the risk of losing all your data. One of the two HDDs die, all your data goes down the drain.

    On the other hand, it's cheaper to buy two 1 TB hard disk drives, than it is to buy one 2 TB hard disk drive. In fact, I think you can buy THREE 1 TB hard disk drives for the price of one 2 TB HDD.
     
  19. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    I've never really had major problems with RAID 0. Though it never hurts to have backup. Current RAID 0 user right now... :wave:
     
  20. jasperchc

    jasperchc Newbie

    review on raid 0 seems to be mixed, so i think i will go with just one 1TB WD Caviar Black, cause didnt find any black version more than 1TB :nuts:
     

Share This Page