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[brain_stew]

I have a somewhat unique question about what the best parts would be for a reasonable price, but since I'll be carrying over a few things from my old PC, I don't need to factor that in.

I'm thinking the only things I'll need are a cpu and motherboard, maybe ram (I have 4 gigs that I could carry over, and I dont think I'll go to W7 64 yet), case, and whatever I need to help cool that case. Is there a rough estimate of how much that would all cost.

As much as you want it to be.

You need to be more specific, what are your current parts? What's your budget? What are your needs and primary uses? What sort of RAM? Willing to OC? What are you upgrading from (so we can have an idea what'd be a worthwile upgrade) and why do you feel the need to upgrade it?

Case is usually down to personal preference so I'm always hesitant to make any firm recommendations there.

 

[luiztfc]

I have a really noob question: what happens if you boot a computer with a ASUS P6T (which does not have a video chipset) without a videocard? I might have to do this as I'll buy my computer next week and my videocard will only arrive in the following one.

 

[combinekidd]

On what settings is an ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1GB) capable of playing Crysis at a 1920 x 1080 resolution? Will it work on high?

 

[brain_stew]

Finally got my tax return, so I'm just about ready to place my order for the last few parts that I need. I've already gotten an Athlon II x3, Gigabyte Mobo from the OP, Hyper 212, and a few other odds and ends. Thinking of grabbing these to round out the build:


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

HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Couple of questions:
Will the Seasonic SS-500ES (500W) be enough to power an sizeably overclocked AMD quad and modestly overclocked 5770 with one HDD and one optical drive?

Should I avoid OCZ RAM Platinum/Gold/Black since it looks like the reviews on newegg suggest they don't play nice with AMD systems?

Anyone know of a good etailer for RAM since newegg is quoting me almost $350 before rebates. Would like ti spend around $300 if possible.

PSU is fine.

How much are you paying for that RAM? Premium RAM is never usually worth it unless you're a professional overclocker/bencher, AMD's CPUs don't need particularly fast stuff for major OCs and don't benefit from it in terms of performance.

OCZ RAM is fine, problem is their specifications are usually for RAM ran at higher than standard voltages which is why I tend to not recommend it as much these days, despite having 6GB of OCZ RAM myself.


This is Newegg's best offer for DDR3 RAM imo:

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

On what settings is an ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1GB) capable of playing Crysis at a 1920 x 1080 resolution? Will it work on high?

High should be fine but you'll be able to get visuals very comparable to very high with a custom config whilst still maintaining a decent enough framerate.

 

[Manp]

I have a really noob question: what happens if you boot a computer with a ASUS P6T (which does not have a video chipset) without a videocard? I might have to do this as I'll buy my computer next week and my videocard will only arrive in the following one.

beeeeeeep beep beep

probably...

 

[luiztfc]

beeeeeeep beep beep

probably...

Thanks!

 

[rollingstart]

As much as you want it to be.

You need to be more specific, what are your current parts? What's your budget? What are your needs and primary uses? What sort of RAM? Willing to OC? What are you upgrading from (so we can have an idea what'd be a worthwile upgrade) and why do you feel the need to upgrade it?

Case is usually down to personal preference so I'm always hesitant to make any firm recommendations there.

Budget: I'd say ~$400-500. Really, I just want to build a structure that would support upgrading for a good while. I made the mistake of not doing that a few years back with this PC.

graphics card: GTX 275
hard drive: seagate 1tb
psu: hx750w corsair
ram: four 1gig sticks, 240 pin
cpu: intel 3ghz dual core (I would like to go quad if I get a new one)

then there is the blu-ray drive and dvd burner and things like that. OS is Windows 7 32, upgraded from Vista.

as for overclocking, I don't think I would do it right away unless I feel like I need to, but I have done it in the past without problems.

My reasons for upgrading are essentially because I feel like upgrades for my current PC are limited. The graphics card, hard drive, and psu are all fairly new. I want a PC that will be better than what I have now while also being a good base for whatever upgrades I'll make in the future.

As for the case thing, the best I could describe it is that I'd like something sleek and basic. I don't care for led lights or and things like that. Just something that looks fine and can help keep things cool. Also, not a huge case, but something big enough that it didn't feel so packed. Graphics card are getting huge now.

oh, and there is an old creative soundcard that's in there from the pc I had before this.

edit: forgot about usage. I use it for everything from watching videos to browsing the web to playing games. I don't do video editing or anything, if that's what you meant.

 

[brain_stew]

There's no clear upgrade path for any of the Intel platforms. Personally I'd just buy a 45nm quad (Q9400 or Q9550) and call it a day. It'd be a ~$400-$500 investment (for the CPU/MOBO/RAM) to move to one of Intel's new sockets and really hard to justify imo. Given your usage you are quite literally gaining nothing over a $200 Q9400, that's not hyperbole either, you honestly wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I guess socket AM3 is an option, problem is to get upgrade options you'll need to ditch the DDR2 RAM which means an extra $100 investment, I'm struggling to see whether you can justify it considering you'd actually have to sacrifice performance (albeit an inconsequential amount) in dual and single threaded applications.

A ~3ghz quad is going to be enough for any game for a long, long time, so I don't see the need to jump ship really.

Edit: Oh and install 7-x64, your key should be good for both versions, so don't gimp your hardware (and progress) by sticking with a 32 bit OS.

Edit 2: Maybe wait until the Phenom ii X6 series launches in a few month, that might make sense, a big enough leap now and guaranteed compatability with next generation 8 core Bulldozer chips.

 

[rollingstart]

There's no clear upgrade path for any of the Intel platforms. Personally I'd just buy a 45nm quad (Q9400 or Q9550) and call it a day. It'd be a ~$400-$500 investment (for the CPU/MOBO/RAM) to move to one of Intel's new sockets and really hard to justify imo. Given your usage you are quite literally gaining nothing over a $200 Q9400, that's not hyperbole either, you honestly wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I guess socket AM3 is an option, problem is to get upgrade options you'll need to ditch the DDR2 RAM which means an extra $100 investment, I'm struggling to see whether you can justify it considering you'd actually have to sacrifice performance (albeit an inconsequential amount) in dual and single threaded applications.

A ~3ghz quad is going to be enough for any game for a long, long time, so I don't see the need to jump ship really.

Edit: Oh and install 7-x64, your key should be good for both versions, so don't gimp your hardware (and progress) by sticking with a 32 bit OS.

Edit 2: Maybe wait until the Phenom ii X6 series launches in a few month, that might make sense, a big enough leap now and guaranteed compatability with next generation 8 core Bulldozer chips.

Are there any problems with Windows 7 64? I remember hearing of problems running older games in Vista 64.

Also, how many months until that Phenom? I was planning on upgrading around April since it's my birthday and I'll have a bunch of gift cash to use.

 

[hylian_pirate]

What to do if the I/O plate doesn't fit in the case?

Edit: nvm. Had to push it in really hard.

 

[Vanillalite]

Don't need a new PC, but I think my case fan in the back sounds like it could be dying. Figured I'd just order another one on newegg for cheap.

Any recommendations? It's a 120mm fan, and my case is solid around so I don't need any color fan or anything. I just want something that'll keep my case cool. Obvious the quieter the better, but I'm not one to be THAT anal about it being loud. I'd rather deal with a little noise knowing my case is cool so my shit won't overheat.

 

[brain_stew]

Are there any problems with Windows 7 64? I remember hearing of problems running older games in Vista 64.

Also, how many months until that Phenom? I was planning on upgrading around April since it's my birthday and I'll have a bunch of gift cash to use.

Compatibility is excellent, and you can actually make full use of your RAM, all programs are restricted to 2GB in 32 bit Windows and the entire OS won't have access to more than 3.25GB

The Phenom ii X6 chips should hit in May along with new 890GX motherboards.

 

[brain_stew]

Don't need a new PC, but I think my case fan in the back sounds like it could be dying. Figured I'd just order another one on newegg for cheap.

Any recommendations? It's a 120mm fan, and my case is solid around so I don't need any color fan or anything. I just want something that'll keep my case cool. Obvious the quieter the better, but I'm not one to be THAT anal about it being loud. I'd rather deal with a little noise knowing my case is cool so my shit won't overheat.

Yate Loons on a budget, Noctuas if money's no object, don't bother with anything else. You might have to order from somewhere other than Newegg though.

 

[rollingstart]

Compatibility is excellent, and you can actually make full use of your RAM, all programs are restricted to 2GB in 32 bit Windows and the entire OS won't have access to more than 3.25GB

The Phenom ii X6 chips should hit in May along with new 890GX motherboards.

ok, thanks. would I still be able to upgrade to 64 if I have Vista 32 and the Windows 7 upgrade dvd?

right now I'm thinking about going to windows 7 64-bit and thinking about the cpu you mentioned (Q9550). I should be able to OC the Q9550 to at least 3ghz, right?

If I can ride out this PC for a few more years, that sound good. Maybe the next full upgrade will be when I choose to get a new graphics card or something.

 

[Wag]

right now I'm thinking about going to windows 7 64-bit and thinking about the cpu you mentioned (Q9550). I should be able to OC the Q9550 to at least 3ghz, right?

Almost every Q9550 is a guaranteed OC to 3.4GHz.

 

[TheExodu5]

Yate Loons on a budget, Noctuas if money's no object, don't bother with anything else. You might have to order from somewhere other than Newegg though.

It's come to my attention that Scythes may be a good middle of the road solution. Also, they're black, which can be a big plus as opposed to the beige/red Noctuas.

 

[rollingstart]

Almost every Q9550 is a guaranteed OC to 3.4GHz.

hot damn

Yes and yes (and then some).

thanks again

 

[captain wow]

Just looking for a little advice in regards to what i should upgrade with my current pc.

HD5770
Q8300
500W PSU
4GBDDR2

foxconn G31MX-K MOBO

Ive only got a case big enough for a MATX MOBO and not enough space to get a bigger case. Not looking to go crazy with the spending just wanting a nice boost in performance. Any ideas?

 

[brain_stew]

ok, thanks. would I still be able to upgrade to 64 if I have Vista 32 and the Windows 7 upgrade dvd?

right now I'm thinking about going to windows 7 64-bit and thinking about the cpu you mentioned (Q9550). I should be able to OC the Q9550 to at least 3ghz, right?

If I can ride out this PC for a few more years, that sound good. Maybe the next full upgrade will be when I choose to get a new graphics card or something.

Yes and yes (and then some).

Here's a list of OCs, your avergae forum member has managed on a Q9550, 4ghz+ is quite common:

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/422093-_-q9550-club-_-please-read.html

It'll completely smoke a stock i5-750 at those sorts of speeds, so it should be more than enough for the forseeable future.

 

[brain_stew]

Just looking for a little advice in regards to what i should upgrade with my current pc.

HD5770
Q8300
500W PSU
4GBDDR

G31MX-K MOBO

Ive only got a case big enough for a MATX MOBO and not enough space to get a bigger case. Not looking to go crazy with the spending just wanting a nice boost in performance. Any ideas?

Your only worthwile cost effective boost is going to come through overclocking. Trading a quad for a quad just isn't worth it. Depends on whether that old G31 motherboard can support it though. A 3ghz clock will make a big difference, Coolermaster's Hyper 212 plus would be a good cheap option for cooling.

 

[captain wow]

Your only worthwile cost effective boost is going to come through overclocking. Trading a quad for a quad just isn't worth it. Depends on whether that old G31 motherboard can support it though. A 3ghz clock will make a big difference, Coolermaster's Hyper 212 plus would be a good cheap option for cooling.

Im guessing its the motherboard thats stopping me overclocking then? Pretty much anything outside of stock fails. Ive really no idea what im looking for in a new motherboard to be honest though.

 

[Stop It]

Your only worthwile cost effective boost is going to come through overclocking. Trading a quad for a quad just isn't worth it. Depends on whether that old G31 motherboard can support it though. A 3ghz clock will make a big difference, Coolermaster's Hyper 212 plus would be a good cheap option for cooling.

I had a G31 powered motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-G31MF-S2 which wouldn't overclock my Q9400 much past 3ghz. When I upgraded to a Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P, I could hit 3.68Ghz with ease.

Im guessing its the motherboard thats stopping me overclocking then? Pretty much anything outside of stock fails. Ive really no idea what im looking for in a new motherboard to be honest though.

Yes. Not all chipsets are made equal, and the G31 chipset is probably the most basic chipset that could support a C2Q, making it unsuitable for overclocking at all really.

So, a new motherboard is needed. Anything P45 based would do a treat, so look for discontinued deals etc as you should be able to find at least one quite cheaply.

 

[captain wow]

Thank you both for your help, got a good idea what i should be looking for now.

 

[darkpaladinmfc]

What is the estimated release date for the 480 GTX?

 

[Firestorm]

ok, thanks. would I still be able to upgrade to 64 if I have Vista 32 and the Windows 7 upgrade dvd?

right now I'm thinking about going to windows 7 64-bit and thinking about the cpu you mentioned (Q9550). I should be able to OC the Q9550 to at least 3ghz, right?

If I can ride out this PC for a few more years, that sound good. Maybe the next full upgrade will be when I choose to get a new graphics card or something.

Yeah, I have a Q9550. Used DDR2-800 RAM and overclocked it to 3.4GHz easily. Never OC'd before. Just followed a guide in the 2009 topic near the end.

 

[Manp]

Thanks!

that's the actual beep code (most of the times) for the "no video card" bios error btw

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Hope no-one minds me jumping straight in with a pretty open-ended question.

I'm looking at finally abandoning my trusty Dimension 9150, running XP (upgraded from factory with a second HDD, another couple of gigs of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce 8800GT) as it is starting to struggle with newer games and it has very limited capacity for upgrade.

My absolute maximum budget is £800-900 and for that I'm looking to basically build a brand-new system with the following must-haves:

• Built for future upgrade
• Be capable of running Dolphin/PCSX2 smoothly
• Be good for running new releases at minimum 1080p
• Good as a workhorse for design work (Photoshop, InDesign etc.)

A decent widescreen monitor would be good, but I'm not looking to go crazy there as I'll be using my HDTV for gaming purposes and the design work is more of a hobby at the mo.

Any suggestions for a good build?

 

[Salaadin]

Anyone here running a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P mobo and one of the newer ATI DX11 cards? A friend suggested my mobo and gfx card might have issues with eachother and thats causing mu corruption. Figured Id ask and see if anyone here had something similar. Thanks.

 

[brain_stew]

Hope no-one minds me jumping straight in with a pretty open-ended question.

I'm looking at finally abandoning my trusty Dimension 9150, running XP (upgraded from factory with a second HDD, another couple of gigs of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce 8800GT) as it is starting to struggle with newer games and it has very limited capacity for upgrade.

My absolute maximum budget is £800-900 and for that I'm looking to basically build a brand-new system with the following must-haves:

• 
  [*]Built for future upgrade
  
• Be capable of running Dolphin/PCSX2 smoothly
• Be good for running new releases at minimum 1080p
• Good as a workhorse for design work (Photoshop, InDesign etc.)

A decent widescreen monitor would be good, but I'm not looking to go crazy there as I'll be using my HDTV for gaming purposes and the design work is more of a hobby at the mo.

Any suggestions for a good build?

You'll have to give up that first bullet point I'm afraid. I'd say an i7-860 fits, processor wise.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

Phenom II X4 for $99: Unlocking the X2 555 BE

How does a full-featured Phenom II X4 CPU for $100 sound? AMD's new dual core hotrod, the X2 555 BE, is an X4 and just needs a bit of help to unlock those two extra cores for all the performance goodness you can dream about at bargain prices. We successfully unlocked the X2 555 BE and we'll tell you how today and show the resulting performance increase.

Click HERE for the full review.

 

[x3sphere]

Hope no-one minds me jumping straight in with a pretty open-ended question.

I'm looking at finally abandoning my trusty Dimension 9150, running XP (upgraded from factory with a second HDD, another couple of gigs of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce 8800GT) as it is starting to struggle with newer games and it has very limited capacity for upgrade.

My absolute maximum budget is £800-900 and for that I'm looking to basically build a brand-new system with the following must-haves:

• Built for future upgrade
• Be capable of running Dolphin/PCSX2 smoothly
• Be good for running new releases at minimum 1080p
• Good as a workhorse for design work (Photoshop, InDesign etc.)

A decent widescreen monitor would be good, but I'm not looking to go crazy there as I'll be using my HDTV for gaming purposes and the design work is more of a hobby at the mo.

Any suggestions for a good build?

HD5850 for the video card, but fitting it in that budget might be tough. In another month or two it may be a different story, as Nvidia's answer to the HD5000 series will be out.

 

[brain_stew]

HD5850 for the video card, but fitting it in that budget might be tough. In another month or two it may be a different story, as Nvidia's answer to the HD5000 series will be out.

It will? A 5850 can be had for £220 now, should be possible to come in under budget just fine.

 

[brain_stew]

Phenom II X4 for $99: Unlocking the X2 555 BE

Click HERE for the full review.

The probability of success definitely seems to be increasing but its still complete pot luck. If you're into tweaking I'd say an Athlon ii X4 630 (which can be had for around the $100 mark now) is still a safer/better option. Its a guaranteed quad core chip and unlike the unlock potential of the Phenom X2s, its serious OCing headroom is pretty much guaranteed. Clock that thing to 3.4-3.6ghz and it'll fly, sure the potential for that Phenom is even greater but even if you luck out the potential gains aren't that much higher.

 

[zedge]

Picked up a Sapphire Radeon 5770 Vapor X edition yesterday. Working fine all day yesterday and today. Well tonight while playing BF BC2 beta I started seeing these flickering black lines. Tried a few other games and the same thing is occuring.. Is this a bad card?

Intel Core i3
4GB Kingston DDR3
400W Corsair Power Supply
Sapphire 5770 Vapor X

 

[Mindlog]

Do any of those benchmark/tweak programs in the OP include a configurator™?

I have XXX CPU so YYY graphics would be the best pair.
The boxes are going to stay the same so 'upgrade potential' would be a non-issue.
If I need to get new power supplies I'd understand.

Right now I'm looking at 4770s. If I could get a closer estimate of this CPU can reliably support this GPU I'd be happy. It would save a lot of research time :]

 

[x3sphere]

It will? A 5850 can be had for £220 now, should be possible to come in under budget just fine.

You're right, thought the 5850 was around £270 but that's just the XXX edition. This one looks like a good buy:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Graphics-ATI/ATIHD5800Series/nov-5850.html

 

[Shambles]

Do any of those benchmark/tweak programs in the OP include a configurator™?

I have XXX CPU so YYY graphics would be the best pair.
The boxes are going to stay the same so 'upgrade potential' would be a non-issue.
If I need to get new power supplies I'd understand.

Right now I'm looking at 4770s. If I could get a closer estimate of this CPU can reliably support this GPU I'd be happy. It would save a lot of research time :]

Hardly any games are are CPU limited and as long as you stay within the same generations of products you don't even really have to think about it. A high end CPU won't bottleneck a high end GPU. A mid range CPU won't bottle neck a mid range GPU etc.

 

[BloodySinner]

Picked up a Sapphire Radeon 5770 Vapor X edition yesterday. Working fine all day yesterday and today. Well tonight while playing BF BC2 beta I started seeing these flickering black lines. Tried a few other games and the same thing is occuring.. Is this a bad card?

Intel Core i3
4GB Kingston DDR3
400W Corsair Power Supply
Sapphire 5770 Vapor X

Did you update your video card's drivers?

 

[brain_stew]

Do any of those benchmark/tweak programs in the OP include a configurator™?

I have XXX CPU so YYY graphics would be the best pair.
The boxes are going to stay the same so 'upgrade potential' would be a non-issue.
If I need to get new power supplies I'd understand.

Right now I'm looking at 4770s. If I could get a closer estimate of this CPU can reliably support this GPU I'd be happy. It would save a lot of research time :]

Its all down to individual demans on framerate, resolution and image quality really. There;s no reason to not get a quad core these days with prices starting from a $100, and a decent quad should see you fine with any single GPU rig.

Why are you looking at 4770s? They're EOL, get a 5770 or 5750 instead.

If gaming is your primary concern its almost always better to spend more on the GPU than the CPU, it'll net you the biggest boost in frames.

I mean look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...704&cm_re=athlon_x4_ii-_-19-103-704-_-Product

That's a 2.8ghz quad core CPU for $101 delivered!! That's going to be more than a match for any game, so on a budget there's really no need to spend anything more than that, it'll see you more than fine, its a heck of deal. Its a great OCer to boot.

 

[zedge]

Did you update your video card's drivers?

I have the newest Win 7 64 bit drivers from ati.com.

Thing is it was working fine all day yesterday and today, this just started late this afternoon. I took the card out, re-seated it. Unistalled and reinstalled the drivers. Same thing.. grrr

Likely end up returning it tomorrow, it was their last one too, may have to get a different brand.

 

[zedge]

whoops

 

[Druz]

Picked up a Sapphire Radeon 5770 Vapor X edition yesterday. Working fine all day yesterday and today. Well tonight while playing BF BC2 beta I started seeing these flickering black lines. Tried a few other games and the same thing is occuring.. Is this a bad card?

Intel Core i3
4GB Kingston DDR3
400W Corsair Power Supply
Sapphire 5770 Vapor X

Overheated card thats artifacting, or your RAM is bad, or your card is bad, or your drivers ar ebad

 

[Bob Coffee]

So i took a look at that 555 BE linked above, and im wondering what the difference between that and the previous 550 BE was? the 550 BE also could be unlocked to quad core. I have a 550 BE myself, but unfortunately, i couldn't get the 2 extra cores stable enough to boot into windows. the cores unlock tho. Anyone got any tips on how to get the cores stable enough to boot into windows?

 

[Hellsing321]

Overheated card thats artifacting, or your RAM is bad, or your card is bad, or your drivers are bad

Since this is an ATI card I'd say this is the most likely culprit.

 

[zedge]

Overheated card thats artifacting, or your RAM is bad, or your card is bad, or your drivers ar ebad

Would drivers all of a sudden be bad? I dunno, it was working fine for two days.. I am thinking its likely more the card itself.

 

[TheExodu5]

Since this is an ATI card I'd say this is the most likely culprit.

If it were drivers this would be a widespread issue. This is overheating or bad RAM.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

You'll have to give up that first bullet point I'm afraid. I'd say an i7-860 fits, processor wise.

Is that because building for upgradability is going to be too pricey on that budget? How much more would I have to spend to build something that would fit that point?

As for components, using the suggestions you gave what about:

• ATI Radeon 5850
• I7-860 CPU
• Windows 7 Pro
• Asus 22" monitor

That comes to around £780. I've got a Logitech keyboard/mouse combo on my current PC that I can cannibalise, as well as my secondary Western Digital 500GB SATA HDD, 3GB of DDR2 (though I suspect it may be best to look at replacing that too), and a DVD drive.

From that, I reckon I'm going to still need:

• A suitable mobo
• A decent PSU
• Another HDD to serve as my primary
• More/different RAM
• A decent DVD burner (not too fussed about Blu-Ray at the mo)

Any suggestions, or any changes to the bits and bobs I've got so far?

 

[Rabid Wolverine]

Would drivers all of a sudden be bad? I dunno, it was working fine for two days.. I am thinking its likely more the card itself.

Most likely hardware, but have you downloaded any windows updates recently?.

My 5850 which was working like a dream had Grey Screen issues which alot of other users had, turns out what was causing it was a conflict in a Windows Update.

ATI have now fixed the issue with Cat 10.1 Hotfix.

www.rage3d.com is a good place to post problems.

 

[diztrukted]

An i5-750 + 1156 motherboard + 4GB DDR3 will actually net you better gaming performance but save you a whole stack of cash.

brain_stew, after reading your reply I was wondering if I should be doing the same rather than going with the i7 920

the specs I've been thinking about going through with are listed below

* CPU - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
* MoBo -ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366
* SSD -Intel X25-M Mainstream SSD
* GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 or DIAMOND 5850 Radeon HD 5850
* HDD - Western Digital Caviar Internal Hard Drive - Bought this already
* RAM - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3
* PS - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX
* Fans -Something Rosewill I guess?
* Case - Thermaltake Element T

 

[Mr. Hyde]

How well does the Intel Core i5-750 2.6ghz overclock? I was looking at the high end gaf recommended pc and noticed that chip. If I tweak that setup a bit, should I invest in a better chip? Right now I have a Q6600 OC'd to 3.0ghz.


Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower - $69.95
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 - $89.99
SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 - $299.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - $120.00 plus a $10.00 rebate
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 104.99
GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3L LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - $99.99
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz - $199.99
Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 Socket - $19.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders $104.99

Subtotal: $1,111.86

My budget is $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 - Is there anything I should change in this to make it a better value?

Edit: Also, will that cooler master allow me to get that chip to the 3.6-4.00ghz range, or should I purchase a Tuniq Tower?