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Decided to start from scratch with a new rig..
Hellfyre420
Member Posts: 861
Ok.. So i was here recently asking for help on how to update my m9500y.. But the thing ended up being a bigger problem then i think it's worth.. HP built the computer to pretty much stay as is and it didn't really make sense for me to update it when for a few hundred dollars more I could get a whole new rig.. So i decided to bite the bullet..
Come to find out my neighbor actually makes computers for a living.. He's the one who told me it really wouldn't be worth upgradeing and that Best Buy hosed me on the computer (yeah like i didn't already know that lol.) Best part of all he's willing to accept a payment plan with me since im 22 work and only part time and am going to school.. Needless to say i only got like $150 cash on me to spare right now lol..
I already had the case/psu/gpu for the updates I was going to do on my computer already.. But here's what he's gotten me so far..
AMD FX 6-Core Unlocked Black Edition 3.3GHZ cpu
MSi 970A-645 mobo (USB 3.0 / Sata 6)
4x 4GB Ram (might just make it only 8GB since 16 seems like a bit of overkill.)
Windows 7
6870HD 1gb Raedon GPU
620w Antec Neo Eco PSU
Rosewill Challanger Case (will this case even work now that im going USB 3.0? I Only see it has USB 2.0. Might RMA)
As for the hardrive he said he'd be getting that later this week.. He said 1000RPM either 3 or maybe it was 6gbs.. I dont know lol.. Im not really versed to well with computers.. My knowledge of computers is probably a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10; beyond takeing out a psu/gpu I can't do much lol..
Anyways.. Now with a build like this i assume i'd be able to run SWTOR decently enough.. But how bout games like Battlefield 3? I'm not looking to go crossfire or anything too extreme later on.. Im just looking for a good machine that could play modern games on high settings for the next few year(s).. I guess my real question is for a budget rig is this a good build? And how much of a upgrade would it be over my 9500y
Heres stats for the m9500y :
HP
m9500y
Windows Vista
AMD Phenom 9750 Quad-Core Proccessor 2.40 GHz
8.00 GB RAM
64-Bit OS
Thanks MMORPG.com forum users once again for all you're advice.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
Comments
Depends how much budget is being allocated to the budget rig, how much is he charging you?
Ok cool.. Im not really aiming for ultra, i'd much rather be able to run on high with decent fps.. I've been playing games on min settings and still only getting 20-30fps (max) so if i could get this rig to play on high with decent fps then that's more then enough for me.. Ill see what's up with a SSD drive, he actually might already be putting one in there as the parts listed are only the things he just had laying around and are sitting at my house now.. He said hes ordering more off the internet so im not really sure what he has planned beyond what i've listed..
$700-800.. I guess that depends on how much more I want to add to the build.. And that also includes whatever mark up he has to make to make some money doing this for me (i understand its what he does for a living and has to make something.) Plus the cool thing is he's my neighbor and isn't going anywhere so if things go wrong or i decide i need to upgrade it later he said he'd be able to fix it or work on it anytime for me.. Pretty much warrantied for as long as either of us move out lol
Seems like a ok deal since i just paid $1,300 for that m9500y I listed on 2 years ago at best buy and it only came with a 1yr warranty (gpu crapped out after 1 yr and a few months lol.) Not to mention he's accepting a payment plan from me that dosn't include some ridicilus intrest rate lol.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
First of all I own a AMD hexa core myself, it really gives you little unless you run many apps in the background, games rarely support more than 4 cores and MMOs often only 2. A Quad is really good enough.
Secondly, the 6870 is somewhat underpowered, a 6970 or a Nvidia 570 GTX is a better choice. But dont take me for ir, check this list (and don't confuse crossfire and SLI with single cards). BF3 take some juice to max out and so will future games the next 2-3 years until you need to upgrade the GFX card.
As for harddrives, the best and fastest thing is to get a SSD for system drive and a huge slow media drive for the rest, it will give you top performance for at least an acceptable price, a 60 GB SSD is fine enough. You can keep your old drive and maybe add a second if you download a lot or something.
Besides that it looks fine to me.
I Agree with Loke for the most part.
I don't think the 6870 is underpowered, but I do think if you can find money in your budget to get up to the 6950 (another $50 or so) your much better off. Just dropping from the 6-core to 4-core gives you probably that much money.
A bit more on the HD: 10k rpm drives aren't as good for gaming as SSDs are. They are good for FRAPs'ing and that's about it as far as games go. And yeah, you don't need a huge SSD, just pair it with a large bulk data drive and for the same price as a 10k rpm drive you end up with a ~much~ faster system drive and more total storage.
What you've been quoted is very decent setup, some may disagree, but for normal user it'll work nicely. But the main question is "does your wallet agrees?".
-That being said 8GB it is still overkill, most apps dont use that much memory, unless you plan to multitask heavily. But if you want to splash the cash, get some higher end performance DDRs at 4GB.
-You can live WITHOUT six core, quad core still viable and cheaper.
-If you planning on using only one or two HDD, you can downgrade your PSU to 550W. But at 620w or 550w it doesnt make much difference anyway.
I googled m9500y, looks like it got bad reviews for it. From what I see it will struggles to run any new games for sure.
For comparison, my rig runs Skyrim and MW3 full option at 1920x1080 (minus anisotropic), fps hovers around 27-33:
-i5 720
-4gb kingston ddr3
-1TB WD black edition
-ATI HD Radeon 6970
-Silverstone 550w
I would keep the PSU, you never know when you decide to get more stuff or to change the GFX card and a 620W is probably good enough to last for the next computer also, unless something radical happens.
Antec are not the best PSU out there but they sure last long, my old faithful were good for 10 years before I had to retire it since I needed more power. I tend to use a lot of power... Right now I have Corsairs top 950W PSU, but I expect it to last for 10 years so in the long run it gets cheaper than 3 crappy PSUs.
Also noted the case and your USB question:
It doesn't really matter. That just means that the front USB ports are USB 2.0 only. Your motherboard will have several USB ports built into it (a few of which will be 3.0) - so it's not like you won't be able to run USB 3.0 at all, you just won't be able to route any to the front of your case. It's not a big deal really - and you can still use USB hubs to put USB ports wherever you want outside of your case.
Your friend picked out a good power supply - if it's the Seasonic S12 based unit that I think it is.
I tend to agree, 16G is a bit overkill - most people don't use over 4G.
Memory is cheap, still 4GB is good. I would personaly go with Intel now. Also don't skimp on PSU, quality one should last even next build if you upgrade in 2-4 years.
Agreed but the important thing is to get a MB with 4 slots and 2 x 2GB so you can upgrade it easy when in a year or 2 8GB is actually a must (or 2 x 4GB). If you think a little forward you will save money.
Same thing with the PSU, a little more is always good unless it is a crappy model that actually always runs at 100% (yeah, those exist).
Thanks for the tips guys.. And yeah that Antec PSU was the one Seasonic made im 99% sure.. It was $35 on a new egg daily sale so for that price i couldnt refuse.. As for the gfx card Im sort of stuck with it now.. He told me what you guys are telling me, to return it for my money back and add an extra $50-100 for a high grade gpu (since i guess 6870 is a mid grade.) But new egg wants a 15% restocking fee and i figure I could always upgrade later so whatever it'll do for now lol.. As long as i can get high settings on some of the more newer games for the next year or so then ill be happy.. Ill worry about upgradeing my gpu once i get finished paying off what's already here lol..
Btw whats the difference between a SDD and HDD ?? I'll bring it up to him but i don't want to sound like a complete idiot not knowing the difference lol..
Another question.. I have a HP w1907 minitor.. Am i going to get the quality video out of this rig or should i upgrade that too? New egg seems to have lots of sales on monitors.. BUT if this monitor is even slightly worth keeping then ill just keep it and upgrade later.. I could always hook it up to my 36" vizio HDTV, although i've never tried doing so.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
SSD is new solid-state technology, price is higher and transmission and seek times are better. HDD is old tech with platters and mangnets, cheap(gone up a lot after floods) and slower. SSD allows faster loading times and booting. Metric on price is per gigabyte. Generaly you need HDD or SSD+HDD, HDD is used for storage space and if you have multiple large games SSD is going to run out of space.
HP w1907 is only 1440x900 if I cheked right. You aren't getting fullHD, but if you don't know about quality you don't worry about it ;D
Going for 16:10 or non tn-panels(better colors/viewing angles) is expensive...
In which case you're not really getting a good deal at all as you already have a case, GPU and PSU. For that money you'd be better off with something along the lines of :
Intel Core i5-2500K $219.99
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Motherboard $149.99
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2 x 4GB) $44.99
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB HDD $99.99
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit $99.99
Total $614.98 + whatever your taxes are in the US
It will be faster for almost all tasks including gaming than the one you listed in the OP. Future proof socket if you decided to change to next years new processors. The i5 2500k is an excellent overclocker, depending on the chip you get pretty much all of them will go up to anywhere between 4.4Ghz - 4.8Ghz ish with a few chips going up to 5Ghz, but you'd need to buy an aftermarket cooler for overclocking. If overclocking isn't your thing then the non K version of the 2500 is a bit cheaper.
The way I understood it is that it would be an entire new computer, including case, GPU and whatever - at least as indicated in the OP. I don't see anything where the OP is recycling any components from the old HP, just that some parts have already been placed on order. A Sandy Bridge is still a tight squeeze in any budget under $1k.
SSD = Solid State Drive, think of it as a huge USB flash drive.
HDD = Hard Disk Drive, someone already explained this. But technically the term HDD applies to both, confusing right?
As for your monitor, max resolution is 1440 x 900. Most new games goes as far as 1920 x 1080, and as usual bigger is better. And yes it'll do fine for another year.
I wouldnt recommend using HDTV as monitor, I have mine hooked on 42" HDTV and i tell you sometimes I have to come to the screen to read (not all the time though but still annoying).
An SSD will make your computer boot up in about half or quarter of the time. It will make apps and games load in about half to a quarter of the time. The only problem is you can only get about quarter of the storage space. And SSD will not get you any more FPS or let you turn on any more graphical options, but levels and zones will pop up much faster, and the computer feels much more responsive. SSD's also have the nice benefit of no moving parts, much lower power requirements, totally silent operation, and much lower heat generation.
That being said, an SSD does add a non-trivial amount of cost to a rig, and is something that can easily be added on later. On your budget I'd probably skip over it for now, and try to get a decent 7200 rpm drive for now (although prices on new drives are through the nose right now, SSDs are more competitive but still pricey per Gb - it's something to talk over with your neighbor, especially if he's wanting to push a 10k rpm drive).
As far as the monitor goes - that's entirely up to you. It will physically work with your new computer. If you think it looks good enough, then by all means keep it. A 6870 won't have to work very hard to deliver nice graphics on the native resolution, since it's a bit smaller than full HD, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. And yeah, the 6870 will work on your VIzio as well, and can do 1080 out there and look pretty snazzy doing it. Monitors basically all boil down to if it can hook up to your computer and if looks good to you or not, anything else is just meaningless really - but what looks good to one person may be totally different to another.
SSD is like Ekaros said a solid state drive. It kinda works like a flash memory (USB memory) instead of a HD that kinda works like an old LP player but with magnetism instead of scratchings. No moveable parts make it a lot faster and also soundless and generating no heat. A great thing.
As for your screen I think you should upgrade it pretty soon, 1440 x 900 is a crap resolution and getting a nice Samsung 24" will open your eyes to a much more beutiful game but waiting a month or 2 is fine there. HP makes crappy screens generally and Samsung make by far the best.
Too bad about the GFX card, you probably will need to upgrade it after a year or so, but it could be worse. It is still good enough even though you might have to lower a few settings under max for BF3. But no biggie.
Actually checking up your screen made me realized it is by far the worst thing on your old PC that makes any game uglier, a perfect thing to wish for X-mas if you celebrate it.
Perhaps i'm misreading it but he says he already had the case, GPU and PSU from when he was just going to upgrade his older system. If he means that they were only decided upon with the fella that's building it and not already bought then yeah, i5 wouldn't be the route to go. I'd still probably go down the i3 path instead though.
A lot depends on the price tag. A computer that would be really nice for $600 may be a pathetic deal for $1500.
For gaming purposes, I'd stay away from Bulldozer processors at least until Windows 8 launches. They'll probably be off the market and replaced by Piledriver by then, anyway. You could save some money and get about the same gaming performance from a Phenom II X4, or spend more and get a much nicer Core i5 2500K.
The motherboard doesn't exist. You may mean MSI 970A-G45. That's a decent enough budget Socket AM3+ motherboard, and a reasonable choice if you're going AMD on the processor and not overclocking or going SLI/CrossFire.
Even 8 GB of memory is a bit overkill, though I'd still get 8 GB just because 4 GB modules have gotten so cheap. 16 GB is ridiculous for gaming purposes.
A Radeon HD 6870 is pretty much the card to get if you're looking to spend about $160-$170 on a video card. On a larger or smaller budget, natually you'd look at other options.
The power supply is decent but not great. If you got a great deal on it at $50, then have at it. If it cost $70, then you can get something better for that price. (Now that I read the replies, at $35, sure, keep it.)
The case is basically a budget model that is meant to handle gaming systems. The USB ports are mostly attached to the motherboard, and a part of the motherboard that sticks out the back of the case. If the front USB ports are USB 2.0 rather than 3.0, so what?
I don't know if they've ever made 1000 RPM hard drives; if they have, then it has been a long, long time. 7200 RPM is the standard today. If your neighbor is getting you a 10000 RPM hard drive, then that's a WD VelociRaptor, and would likely mean that he hasn't followed computer hardware in the last few years, either. If it's any number of RPM at all, it's not an SSD, as SSDs have no moving parts, so a number of "revolutions per minute" wouldn't make a bit of sense.
What to get for storage depends greatly on how much capacity you need. If 120 GB is enough for you, then get a good ~120 GB SSD and no hard drive. If you need 1 TB, then you'll have to go with a hard drive and no SSD on your budget.
Awww heres the man i was looking for.. Always great advice Quizz.. This set up is going to cost me $800, which includes him putting it together and warrantying it and willing to upgrade it when the time comes (since i can't really do the work myself.) Maybe i can get him to show me how he puts the rig together in the first place so i can gain a little bit more knowledge myself..
Yeah i think he got the AMD CPU because of my AMD GPU + that motherboard he had (which is the one you said it was, i must've read off the box wrong last night.) And no i don't plan on going crossfire/sli.. And i imagine since he's going to warranty the computer he dosn't wanna overclock it and void any manufacture warranties and it's not something im going to seek out and do myself (unless i possibley buy a CPU cooler later down the road.)
When he comes over tonight im going to bring up a SSD.. He told me when he started this that he dosn't usually build gameing machines and this is his first one hes done in a long time; so I'll see if maybe he has one of those lieing around that we could use instead.. Either way, i'm not TOO worried about the HD as I don't mind longer boot times (this computer is veeeeeery long to do anything and i've sort of gotten used to it.) I don't think ill need much storage since ill be downloading movies/music on this rig and going to try and just keep that other machine for gameing purposes/frapsing/ and possibley photoshopping (i like to think i can graphic design :P) but i might just leave photoshop/illustrator on this machine since its already here.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
Think someone may have already said it - but buy lots of ram, stupidly cheap, would advise 8gb but take 16 if your mobo can cope. Im buying 16gb after xmas for a future build - it has pretty much halfed in price in 2/3months