• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on these parts. I'm on a ~$500 budget and I have a mid-ATX case, HDD, DVD drive and Windows 7 key from an older PC. This rig is going to be my dedicated Steam box (since I have laptop) running on a 1680 x 1050 monitor. I'll likely do some CPU overclocking for Dolphin and GTA4, but not much. Whatcha think?



GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard $79.99

HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $162.99

SeaSonic SS-500ES Bronze 500W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $66.99

CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model VS2GB1333D3 G $49.99

AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model ADX435WFGIBOX $84.00

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm $29.99

Subtotal: $473.95
 
vocab said:
You can push that chip to at least 3.0-3.6 but you might want to invest into some better air cooling.

For video card upgrade, I just need to know your budget. The best bang for buck would probably be a 5770 atm.
Click to expand...

I'm already investing in a new case. This is what i had in mind (though one without the flashy lights would be better):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

The case i have now has pretty poor ventilation. Not to mention my PSU has a ton of cables and i had to pull some trick to get it in. Which must be contributing to my comps poor ventilation. My GPU is running a temp of 80c right now (fan speed at 50%) and i haven't even played anything today.

Like i mentioned earlier, the GPU i have now is apart of the series that has been giving people lots of problems with high temps. I tried changing out the thermal paste and cleaning out all the dust, but it's hasn't done it any good. I was kinda hoping to spend around $200 (maybe a little more) for my pc upgrades.

Beowulf28 said:
If I were you I'd spend an extra $10 and get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116091
Click to expand...

Not sure if i want to buy a new processor. Won't i have to buy a new motherboard as well?
 
the reason why i'm having them put it together is because i don't know hardly anything about pc's and would rather not chance screwing it up.

OK with the changes that were suggested here is what i'm sitting with now:



anything else i should do? thanks so much for all the help so far!
 
Firestorm said:
If you have an ATX motherboard, that'll fit.
Click to expand...

Damn, i looked up info for my comp (the HP p6110y model) and it says the motherboard i'm using is an Benicia-GL8E.

Guess i'm out of luck with this one, right?

EDIT: Or perhaps i completely misunderstood what you're saying.
 
ezekial45 said:
Damn, i looked up info for my comp (the HP p6110y model) and it says the motherboard i'm using is an Benicia-GL8E.

Guess i'm out of luck with this one, right?

EDIT: Or perhaps i completely misunderstood what you're saying.
Click to expand...

How big is your case? ATX is the size of the form factor. Almost every computer on the market is ATX.
 
ezekial45 said:
Again, i'm just worried i won't be able to fit the backplate into the new case.
Click to expand...
It'll fit -- that link says your motherboard is a micro-ATX, which is smaller than ATX (but still compatible with ATX cases). The backplates are a standard part of the specification also, so they'd be compatible.

I have an Antec 300 with a micro-ATX motherboard and there's room to spare. It's not a huge case, but compared to most off-the-shelf Dell and HP boxes it's pretty roomy.
 
I've been perusing and I have been really slinking by the last 4 or so years with an old E Machines celeron 512mb ram onboard intel video card POS:lol

Mostly because broke and having enough fun with consoles to bother with the old rat race of PC upgrades.

I used to spend tons of money and upgrading my PC every other month and all that but just had to stop so I know what (or at least did) on building a PC and all that but am enough out of the loop to know best to look in this thread before I jump head first to Newegg.

I don't need alot of horsepower and i'm probably looking at playing at most in the next couple years Dragon Age, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 so those are some definite must be able to plays. I don't need super maxed out settings but my budget has to stay somewhere around 600 to 800 including OEM Windows 7. My main thing is I want reasonably good hardware but not top of the line with a mobo able to be upgraded at least a bit later if necessary.

This is what I got so far
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=13031752

Any tweaks or suggestions (hopefully not upwards in price too much) would be appreciated. Also there is about a $40 difference between Win 7 home 32bit and the 64bit version, is it really worth it?
 
rohlfinator said:
It'll fit -- that link says your motherboard is a micro-ATX, which is smaller than ATX (but still compatible with ATX cases). The backplates are a standard part of the specification also, so they'd be compatible.

I have an Antec 300 with a micro-ATX motherboard and there's room to spare. It's not a huge case, but compared to most off-the-shelf Dell and HP boxes it's pretty roomy.
Click to expand...

Excellent. I need as much room as i can get, and those extra fans should help with the ventilation.

Whats a good replacement for my GPU (8800 GT 512mb)? I'm looking for something around $125-175 (sort of a limited budget), that can run with a 500w PSU and that can keep good temps.
 
Ponn01 said:
I've been perusing and I have been really slinking by the last 4 or so years with an old E Machines celeron 512mb ram onboard intel video card POS:lol

Mostly because broke and having enough fun with consoles to bother with the old rat race of PC upgrades.

I used to spend tons of money and upgrading my PC every other month and all that but just had to stop so I know what (or at least did) on building a PC and all that but am enough out of the loop to know best to look in this thread before I jump head first to Newegg.

I don't need alot of horsepower and i'm probably looking at playing at most in the next couple years Dragon Age, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 so those are some definite must be able to plays. I don't need super maxed out settings but my budget has to stay somewhere around 600 to 800 including OEM Windows 7. My main thing is I want reasonably good hardware but not top of the line with a mobo able to be upgraded at least a bit later if necessary.

This is what I got so far
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=13031752

Any tweaks or suggestions (hopefully not upwards in price too much) would be appreciated. Also there is about a $40 difference between Win 7 home 32bit and the 64bit version, is it really worth it?
Click to expand...
I'd recommend grabbing a product key off eBay and using that on an ISO myself: http://computers.shop.ebay.com/Wind...&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1
 
ezekial45 said:
Excellent. I need as much room as i can get, and those extra fans should help with the ventilation.

Whats a good replacement for my GPU (8800 GT 512mb)? I'm looking for something around $125-175 (sort of a limited budget), that can run with a 500w PSU and that can keep good temps.
Click to expand...

I heard the ATI Radeon 5770 is the best bang for the buck at the moment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=Radeon_5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product

Not sure if the Antec 300 has enough room to fit it in though.
 
Firestorm said:
I'd recommend grabbing a product key off eBay and using that on an ISO myself: http://computers.shop.ebay.com/Wind...&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1
Click to expand...

Ok, thats interesting. Is it pretty safe and legit? Not randomized activation keys? Do you or anyone else have positive experience with this type of transaction?


edit:

I think i'm narrowing down where i'm going to go with this but which processor would most of you go with

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus

or

AMD Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition Toliman
 
I was posting earlier in the thread re: 3D. Well I apparently wasn't realising the shutter glasses being so expensive, so I'm not going to wait for 3D. Anyway.

Is there any 'big' thing I should be waiting for? I know they say don't wait, but I have heard people get screwed over before. I only mean because technically I have the cash on me now, but I can wait probably until even june or july if I wanted to.

Thanks
 
revised my new pc a bit, got a few things already and the rest i need to save up for atm :lol

what i got:

Coolermaster Cosmos S
Corsair HX750
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Asus P6T Deluxe V2.
OCZ PLATINUM 6GB (3X2) DDR3 1333mhz CL7
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 1TB

What im saving up for

INTEL CORE I7 930
Intel postville 80GB
5870 or Fermi

if i dont overclock the 930 wont be a bottleneck for the 5870 or will it?
 
okay. i was told that newegg would be cheaper and that i could easily put the rig together myself with a phillips. the shipping diff alone makes newegg much cheaper.




is everything comparatively correct here?
 
WickedLaharl said:
okay. i was told that newegg would be cheaper and that i could easily put the rig together myself with a phillips. the shipping diff alone makes newegg much cheaper.




is everything comparatively correct here?
Click to expand...
Yes, Newegg for US is much cheaper than NCIX US. NCIX is great in Canada mostly due to their price match policy.

I'd switch out the RAM only because someone in this thread posted saying they were having issues with it + that motherboard.

Just grab this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0231277&cm_re=4gb_ddr3-_-20-231-277-_-Product

And switch our your HDD for the faster one here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...81&cm_re=500gb_samsung-_-22-152-181-_-Product
 
Tiduz said:
revised my new pc a bit, got a few things already and the rest i need to save up for atm :lol

what i got:

Coolermaster Cosmos S
Corsair HX750
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Asus P6T Deluxe V2.
OCZ PLATINUM 6GB (3X2) DDR3 1333mhz CL7
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 1TB

What im saving up for

INTEL CORE I7 930
Intel postville 80GB
5870 or Fermi

if i dont overclock the 930 wont be a bottleneck for the 5870 or will it?
Click to expand...
I assume you meant i7 920? No, it won't be a bottleneck. Honestly, I don't see the point of OCing the newer processors aside from PCSX2 and Dolphin.
 
Firestorm said:
I assume you meant i7 920? No, it won't be a bottleneck. Honestly, I don't see the point of OCing the newer processors aside from PCSX2 and Dolphin.
Click to expand...

no, the i7 930, 920 is EOL end of feb and ill prob have this pc complete by March/april

(console gaming is pretty expensive too :P) But thank you, i cant wait to get the 5870, hope it pricedrops when nvidia storms out
 
Follow instructions and you'll be fine. I haven't done a computer since maybe 4 or 5 years ago when I was on high school career prep at a computer store though =P Aside from the motherboard and CPU + heatsink which might be a tad scary at first, it should be like lego.
 
ezekial45 said:
Will my processor (Pentium Dual Core E5300 @ 2.60ghz) bottleneck the performance of that card?
Click to expand...

Yes, so OC it. I got 3.6ghz out of my old E5200 and a budget cooler, sure you can manage something similar. This cooler will manage that:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...35&cm_re=rosewill_92mm-_-35-200-035-_-Product


WickedLaharl said:
switched out those components per your suggestions. now is it really going to be that easy for a total noob like me to put it together? :lol
Click to expand...

Yes, follow the guides/videos in the OP and consult your motherboard manual if you're unsure and you should be fine.
 
Ponn01 said:
Ok, thats interesting. Is it pretty safe and legit? Not randomized activation keys? Do you or anyone else have positive experience with this type of transaction?


edit:

I think i'm narrowing down where i'm going to go with this but which processor would most of you go with

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus

or

AMD Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition Toliman
Click to expand...

The second choice is based on the old Phenom architecture, a.k.a its a piece of crap. Make sure you perform a stock volts OC upto ~3ghz or so on that 620 mind.
 
brain_stew said:
The second choice is based on the old Phenom architecture, a.k.a its a piece of crap. Make sure you perform a stock volts OC upto ~3ghz or so on that 620 mind.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks. One final question before I commit to ordering all this. For $50 more I put together a setup including this chip instead. Is it worth it, much better, equal or worse?

AMD Phenom II X4 810 Deneb 2.6GHz

I would be using the DDR3 ram with that Phenom II setup instead of the DDR2 also which i'm assuming would make some difference.

Thanks for your help and I promise I will help with the PC Defense force once my new computer is up and running.
 
Ponn01 said:
Awesome, thanks. One final question before I commit to ordering all this. For $50 more I put together a setup including this chip instead. Is it worth it, much better, equal or worse?

AMD Phenom II X4 810 Deneb 2.6GHz

I would be using the DDR3 ram with that Phenom II setup instead of the DDR2 also which i'm assuming would make some difference.

Thanks for your help and I promise I will help with the PC Defense force once my new computer is up and running.
Click to expand...

That's not worth it but this is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656&cm_re=925-_-19-103-656-_-Product

You should be using DDR3 RAM (and an AM3 motherboard) with both setups, otherwise you're locking yourself out from a potential future upgrade to a Bulldozer CPU. The cost should be nigh on identical anyway.


Edit: Since you probably need a GPU anyway, get in this combo with a 5770 and save $25, great deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.312206
 
Barring any last minute objections I'm going to get this for my sister:

6qzaj5.jpg
 
Well Samsung F3 drives are faster so I'd have gone with one of those but it means spending a little more for the 1TB option or sacrificing a little space and getting the 500GB model (though that's also cheaper, which is a bonus). Looks really good regardless, though.

Edit: Definitely change that HDD. You've chosen a slow, low power media drive there, the Caviar Green's aren't meant to be used as boot drives.
 
Since this is the new hardware thread, maybe someone will have an idea...my friend has an ATI 5850, but with Mirror's Edge set to 8xQ antialiasing, and his ATI control panel apparently not overriding any settings, this is what it looks like to him:

oarjgx.jpg


Is there some driver bug maybe that makes antialiasing not work properly for some cards? *edit* Updating the driver fixed it.
 
brain_stew said:
Yes, so OC it. I got 3.6ghz out of my old E5200 and a budget cooler, sure you can manage something similar. This cooler will manage that:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...35&cm_re=rosewill_92mm-_-35-200-035-_-Product
Click to expand...

I was thinking of bringing it to 3.0 or 3.2 ghz. Will setting it at that make a difference, and can a stock cooler be able to keep it cooled at those settings?

Also, is there a place i can find detailed instructions on how to overclock this processor? I haven't done it before and i don't want to screw up on anything.
 
usea said:
I just built my computer in like june I think, and my video card is already dying:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/redcancel/l4d21.jpg

Currently I have a geforce gtx 260. I guess I need to replace it. Looks like the options are a radeon 5770, 5850, or another gtx 260? This is depressing. Any recommendations? I think prices are actually higher now than when I built this thing.
Click to expand...
Send it for warranty? It has only been 6 months after all.
 
usea said:
I just built my computer in like june I think, and my video card is already dying:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/redcancel/l4d21.jpg

Currently I have a geforce gtx 260. I guess I need to replace it. Looks like the options are a radeon 5770, 5850, or another gtx 260? This is depressing. Any recommendations? I think prices are actually higher now than when I built this thing.
Click to expand...


did you register with the gpu comapny? (who was it btw)

evga and xfx have lifetime warranties.
 
It's evga. I didn't register it. Can I now? Looks like I actually bought it in April. I've never returned computer parts before.
 
usea said:
I just built my computer in like june I think, and my video card is already dying:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/redcancel/l4d21.jpg

Currently I have a geforce gtx 260. I guess I need to replace it. Looks like the options are a radeon 5770, 5850, or another gtx 260? This is depressing. Any recommendations? I think prices are actually higher now than when I built this thing.
Click to expand...

Its still under warranty, just get it replaced.
 
Hey PC GAF, I have a French friend, Conceptor that needs a new graphics card, his old one froze to death living up in the cold parts of Canada, money is tight so the range is $90-150, so lets go for some thing that is bang for your buck but with the queens face on it. Here are some quotes I posted of his, bare with him his English is not so good.

"graphics card from $90-150"
"no preference between nvidia and ati"
"not want to deal with anything XFX"
"dead XFX 8600 GT OC"
"I've seen.. the 9800 GTX+ / GTX 250 seem to be nice (both under 150$)"
"concerns are that I've got a mid-sized tower with a single PCI-E 1.0 slot mobo and huge card won't exactly fit.
"Power no issue I got monster" "750W"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PC games that are ONLY in a borderless window need to stop.
2
53
1K
RoboFu replied
Marathon releases March 5, new Limited Edition DualSense controller revealed; New trailer, pre-order rewards, Collector’s Edition
2
87
199
Men_in_Boxes replied
GAF - I need your help!
0
30
stn replied
Do we even need a new consoles so soon?
Opinion  2
80
564
Three replied
Fallout New Vegas 15th Anniversary Edition Announced - $155
News  2 3
100
1K
KungFucius replied
Top Bottom