Computer Upgrade 2012

[Sylvus]

Hello friends...

It's been WAY too long since I've upgraded my computer, and I'm currently looking for the biggest upgrade from where I'm at for the cheapest $$ amount. Read: I'm not looking to go to the latest, top-of-the-line upgrades, I'd be perfectly happy going from 5 years ago (or more) to something a year or two old. Anyone want to help?

For the most part (other than power supply and vid card) I'm still running a Dell Dimension 9100 from years ago. It's like single-core and 2GB of RAM. I was hoping to get into a major upgrade for less than $400 or so (if that's even possible), but I'm not sure where to even start. Obviously I need some sort of mobo/cpu/ram combo from newegg or something, anyone have any recommendtions?

Thanks

[Sylvus]

A friend of mine just bought the following:

CPU
Mobo
RAM

It appears I could probably get twice as much RAM for hardly any higher cost, but would anyone else recommend a different/better cpu or mobo at a similar price?

[masteen]

Do you have Win7 64-bit?

If not, buy that, and come back again when the piggie bank is full.

If you already have it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130571
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231312

Good core system, can use current crappy graphics card until you save up some more flow.

[Aslanna]

I can't, sorry. And while I never had a problem with AMD I generally prefer to stick with Intel these days. Something like this CPU/MB combo seems decent. Throw in some memory and can still come in under $400!

For RAM I'd probably go at least 8GB (and a 64 bit OS). RAM Is so cheap these days!

[Kluden]

Do you live near a Microcenter? They have one in michigan in detroit/madison heights. They have the best prices on a CPU/mobo combo, no one is better. With intel sandy bridge, they do i5 2500k cheaper than anyone in the world ($179), plus $60 bucks off a motherboard with it. Only problem is, its in store only... They also have instore deals on amd cpus plus mobos...like $50 off combo or something. Check their circular.

If you don't live near a microcenter, or just prefer internet sales, NCIX and Newegg have the best prices on things, consistently. NCIX has AMD thuban and FX with mobo combo prices that are pretty nice. the FX cpus were kind of a dud, so I would go with an AMD phenom II X6 since they are priced real nice. Something like THIS (MUCH better motherboard than what your friend bought at newegg..and only a couple bux more). I'm not sure what a comparable intel system would be...probably an i3 2300 cpu and a p67 mobo...and it would cost about the same or more. performance in games is probably the same.

As for video cards, AMD/ATI just released their new generation 7000 cards...and they are really fast...but are also very expensive and hardly available. Nvidia's next gen won't release until March, I hear...but who knows. I always prefer nvidia because of drivers. They have beta drivers out for release games the night before release. ATI still doesn't do driver updates fast enough for my liking. Probably not that big a deal if you run single card setups...but SLI/Xfire needs profile updates to work with new games.

[Sylvus]

I didn't realize it, but my windows 7 came with 32 bit and 64... so yeah, I do have that. And I appear to be about an hour from a Microcenter, so if the deals are that good maybe I should head up there.

If I went with the i5 2500k, which mobo (that Microcenter carries) should I get with it?

[masteen]

Doesn't matter a lot, as long as it's a P67 chipset, not the H series.

[Kluden]

Its definitely worth the drive to microcenter.

As said, P67 or Z68 is what you want...and HAVE to get with a 2500k to get the $50off combo.

If you never plan on running SLI, just get the ASUS board that has one pcie slot (ie, Asus z68 V LX..its like $130 bux).So the 2500k and asus z68 would be $180+$130-$50=260 plus tax. Unbeatable price. No where on the web is it that inexpensive.

Asus and MSI have the "cool" UEFI bios...gigabyte does not. if that matters to you.

The z68 utilizes the on die gpu of the cpu, so in case you have video card problems, you have a backup to test with (the on die gpu that is). That's always handy, although unlikely will you need it.

[masteen]

UEFI is more than just cool, it also boots faster than BIOS. Not really noticable unless you're running an SSD though.

[Sylvus]

Ok, as I knew would happen, this is starting to get bigger than I wanted but oh well.

Taking a trip up to Microcenter soon, so any changes/recommendations need to be available there.

So far I'm looking at:
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V LX
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Series 16GB DDR3-1600
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1024MB DDR3 PCIe 2.0 x16
Case: Diablotek EVO Mid Tower
PSU: Diablotek UL Series 675W

I may need a new SATA optical drive, was thinking about just a cheap-o DVDR. is there any reason that I would need a Blu-Ray? Virtually all media I consume is a digital download, I can't even remember the last time I burned anything.

I will probably just cannibalize my hard drives from my current computer. They aren't the best but I have around 2TB and I figure I can wait to upgrade those.

Anything I'm missing? It's literally been 10 years since I last built anything, my last couple have been pre-built and I just swapped components out.

Right now, that comes in at $543 including tax (I'll get $20 off that in rebates), and is a major upgrade over the piece of shit I'm currently running.

[Kluden]

Hard drives should be avoided as long as you can because of the flooding in thailand that destroyed all stock, driving prices to quadruple from a few months ago. SSD prices are stable though.

Only three things I'll suggest a different route on.

Ram: if you can, order some from newegg. you'll get nicer shit at much cheaper costs...microcenter fails at stocking ram at good prices. You don't need 16gb, and probably never will. 8gb should be enough for anything, for a long time.

Power supply. Dialbotek...shame on you! Never go noname/cheap on power supplies. Its probably the most common failure point or cause of failure on a system. I will assume you were on price rather than size, so here's what I suggest around the price of the one you linked:
Corsair 600W its not corsair's "nice" stuff, but they will back up the product better than anyone else. Either that one, or the Antec 620W one, since that model is made by Seasonic for them, and is the old Corsair HX 620W model.

Video card: I wouldn't bother with anything less than a GTX460 from nvidia, or a 6850 from ati. they are like $160, and I know that's 100 more...but the difference is vast. if you are just getting cheap to hold over until the new models come out in the coming months...then use your old card.

[Sylvus]

Thanks a lot for your help! I'll order the RAM and make the other changes you suggested.

[Kluden]

Enjoy! have fun building it, and don't let those microcenter guys upsell you too much!

[Aabidano]

Ram: if you can, order some from newegg. you'll get nicer shit at much cheaper costs...microcenter fails at stocking ram at good prices. You don't need 16gb, and probably never will. 8gb should be enough for anything, for a long time.

On that RAM though, loading it up WITH 16Gb and getting it working now as a group seems more reliable than a later upgrade when you might have to replace all of it due to memory goofiness to get the extra 8Gb installed.

I've been putting off upgrading my Core2Duo from '06 for a long time now, the wife's E7600 seems to have a lot of life left in it for her usage.

[Aslanna]

Ram: if you can, order some from newegg. you'll get nicer shit at much cheaper costs...microcenter fails at stocking ram at good prices. You don't need 16gb, and probably never will. 8gb should be enough for anything, for a long time.

Nah I disagree. But it really depends on how you use a computer. My usage regularly tops 10GB. And throw in 4GB on top of that I use for a RAMdisk and there isn't much left. I've actually been thinking of going to 32GB just because the prices are so low.

If you just web browse and watch an occasional video or something yeah 8GB is probably enough.

[Fairweather Pure]

Ram: if you can, order some from newegg. you'll get nicer shit at much cheaper costs...microcenter fails at stocking ram at good prices. You don't need 16gb, and probably never will. 8gb should be enough for anything, for a long time.

Nah I disagree. But it really depends on how you use a computer. My usage regularly tops 10GB. And throw in 4GB on top of that I use for a RAMdisk and there isn't much left. I've actually been thinking of going to 32GB just because the prices are so low.

If you just web browse and watch an occasional video or something yeah 8GB is probably enough.

/agree

This is my experience as well.

[Canelek]

Core i5 + ASUS mobo is a great call. ASUS is simply the best in that area. EVGA doesn't come close, imo. The i5 is a great processor and you really do not need the i7 unless you are working with very intensive applications like AutoCAD, etc.

RAM: 8 or 12 is great...it is very cost-effective as well. I like G-Skill in that area.

[Aabidano]

Windows uses whatever you've got so that's not a good indication. Have to look at process use, page faults, etc.. to get a feel.

[Aabidano]

Thread motivated me to finally upgrade, bought a 2500k and an Asus P8Z68-V + 16Gb. Kept the ATI 5750, it's got plenty of life left.

Runs really nice, converts a DVD to a 1Gb mp4 in about 15 minutes.

[Sylvus]

I went ahead and upgraded...

i5 2500k + MSI mobo (they ran out of the Asus as I was about to make the 1hr drive, didn't want to wait) + 16gb ram, new case + corsair PSU and a random SATA dvdr.

My machine screams now! Win 7 64bit took less than 10 minutes to install, SW:TOR looks like a different game... I love it! Thanks for all your help everyone in this thread, especially Kluden.

BTW, Microcenter is my new favorite store. I could go "shopping" in there without even having anything in mind. That place was huge, with everything a guy like me could want. A+ recommendation.

[Aabidano]

SW:TOR looks like a different game...

Mine too, that wasn't expected.

[Canelek]

Kluden knows his shit!

[Aslanna]

Other than RAM recommendations!

[Canelek]

Other than RAM recommendations!

Haha yeah that.

G-Skill for win

[Aabidano]

Holy patches batman. It's like every patch set and shutdown brings in more patches for the patches.

[Kluden]

Bah! whatever! I went by his user model. Clearly he is not a heavy threaded user, or Sylvus wouldn't be rocken that old Dell still...so 4gb of ram is probably still enough for what he does. Most games that are console written and ported to PC (Skyrim, Fallout Vegas) were program hacked to utilize more than 2gb of ram...so for a gamer...really there is nothing for using more than 8gb...or really 4gb for that matter.

Hence my recommendation of 8gb being fine. its also a hell of a lot easier to get a system stable with 2 sticks of ram. But since Sylvus is not overclocking, that doesn't really matter either.

OK, enough justification for me!

You're welcome Sylvus, even if you are a Wolverine slutface...i don't mind helping a fellow big tenner. lets see some picks so we can mock your cable management! haha

Also, you are correct, Microcenter is like a blessing and a curse...I probably spend more money each year because its local...I definitely wouldn't "window shop" online stores like I do there and just buy something because, "yeah, I'll use that someday". My microcenter is 1.5 miles from my office, on my drive home. Dangerous.