Researching but not getting anywhere

Ok! haha sorry for the mess ups everyone.

I am in the market to build my first PC. I just graduated, got a job, and now I find myself with plenty of time to indulge in the things that I am most interested in in hopes to really push what I know to the limit and expand on it. Let me start off by stating I am a complete Noob in hardware knowledge.

For this first build of mine I have set a $1500 budget but I've been told from a friend who has been helping me understand some of this stuff that my budget allows me to build a 'beast' of a computer that would be overkill. I have been told that the best thing to attempt to do is to make sure your PC will be used to its potential, instead of having far more potential than you will ever use.

So, I turn to you all for insight on what CPU would be best for me. I am having trouble understanding all the specs associated with the CPU's I have been researching. You probably all need to know what I am interested in and what I will be using the PC for which is Gaming (FPS, WoW, Rift) and Web & App design/programming with Adobe CS5 (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, After Effects). Also, I really want to learn some Development things where I'll be running a duel boot of Win 7 and Linux. I would say that as of right now I am a beginner in these subjects but I want to learn and expand on these things and I don't want to be held back by my PC.

Like I said I am a Noob therefore I am finding it hard to understand what is an obnoxious setup compared to a setup that will allow me to do exactly what I want with out wasting power. I want my PC to run anything I could throw at it from this present time and hopefully anything else that will come out in the next year or two. I'd like this to last up to or exceed 4 years without needing major upgrades.

I simply would just like to better understand this stuff so that I can choose my Motherboard which is what I am told you should always start off choosing. I've been looking at motherboards that have up to 3 slots for video cards and up to 4 slots for memory. I've been told it would be a great setup to run 2 NVIDIA GeForce 460's and up to 16gb of ram... I don't know if this information is useful for you guys but thats just some insight as to the direction I am headed.

What I have been looking at are the AMD's Phenom II x6 and x4, as well as Intel's i7 and i5 products. I would love some insight into these because a lot of what I see in the differences between x6 to x4 or i7 to i5 doesn't seem to be like much, other than prices. Each series has different products that seem to be similar to another series' products such as AMD's Phenom II x6 1090T and the x4 955 or Intel's i7-2600K Sandy Bridge and i5-2500K Sandy Bridge. So, whats your take on this? Thanks in advance.

mlm2588 said:

Just posted a similar thread under the Intel CPU topic and its only fair that I do the same under AMD CPUs...

I am in the market to build my first PC; I just graduated, got a job, and now I want to continue my hobbies and really try to make something out of them. So, my budget is $1500 but I don't want a PC that will be overkill. I have a friend that has been helping me and one of the things he has said is that I don't want to go nuts on buying hardware that I won't use to it's potential for a good long while. I'd like my build to last up to or more than 4 years. Essentially, I want my PC to run anything I throw at it, at this present time, flawlessly with breathing room so that I will still be able to run the software and games I like that will likely come out in the next few years.

Things that I will be doing with this PC are:
Gaming - FPS, WoW, Rift, etc.
Adobe CS5 - Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, After Effects
Web Design
Programming - Duel boot between Win 7 and Linux, App development, possibly even gaming

Any insight would be wonderful on which is the most practical and modest CPU to purchase for these types of things. I've been looking at the AMD Phenom II x6 Thuban 1090T, 1055T, and the 1100T. I am leaning towards the 1090T but like I said, I'm not understanding how these three match up to what I want to use them for. I've even considered going to the x4, but again I am a noob so I don't understand what is practical for what I plan to use it for. Once I figure this out I can start researching the motherboard I'll be buying to go with it.

Thanks all in advance.

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The proper place would be general CPU. By posting there you will get a clear pictue. One thread, one question not 2 threads and one question.

MLm,

Moved your thread to here as Archer suggested. He's correct, you'll get better coverage in this area.

RT

PS: Sent you a PM with your deleted text if you wish to add to your post.

What you actually need to consider is core usage. In daily use I really don't seee much diffrence between a dual and a quad Intel or AMD. For games it is a system wide thing and for most everything you have described I think just about any of the types processors you have listed would do fine. Speed will be more important for you than 6 cores though so I would look at the 1090 from AMD or a i5 2500 or i7 2600 (you may not see a lot of gain from the 2600) from Intel. The games will benefit most from the hightr clock speeds and the Intel processors have a bit of an advantage in performance per clock.

If you intend to do a lot of work with the Adobe CS5 suite, I'd recommend two things: plenty memory, and a good display, preferably an IPS panel monitor.

I use my PC for my work (photography) and I have two 24" NEC displays, each one costing more than my entire PC, but well worth it.

I recommend a quad core cpu, specifically the Intel 2600k, with 8GB of memory (more if any application you want to run, needs it). The board will have two banks of memory, with each bank holding two sticks of memory.

Your board will have 4 slots for the memory. You want to get 4 GB sticks for two of those slots, in the memory. Leaving two slots empty and available for future upgrades, if needed. If you were to get the 2 GB sticks (very common), then all your memory slots would be full (2 x 4 = 8 GB), and you'd have no space left for an upgrade. Real rookie mistake unless you're sure you'll NEVER need more memory.

This cpu uses substantially less power than any of the i7 920, 940, 950, 9XX series of cpu, but gives the same or better performance (it has the same basic architecture), and being unlocked (the k specifies it is unlocked), it can easily be ramped up in speed, if you would like to. The BIOS on the Asus boards for this cpu, has a built in feature to assist you in basic overclocking, plus the default speed of 3.4 GHz makes it already a power house, when needed. It also has simple settings in the Asus BIOS and in Windows and Linux, for further power savings.

I see a real advantage with choosing a quad core cpu, rather than a single or dual core one. On the other hand, I don't see any advantage with getting a hex core cpu. Oh, I could find something like Folding At Home, that could use a hex core to the fullest, but I wouldn't choose a cpu based solely on it being able to donate faster, to research.

If you search through this forum, you'll see a LOT of threads recommending the 2500, 2600, 2500k or 2600k. Especially the 2600k. IMO, there's a very good reason for that. A 2600k will provide all the PC processing power you need, for at least 5 years, and it is a good value for the money, now.

I can't comment on the AMD line of cpu's, because they don't have the same processing efficiency per cpu cycle, and they can't work at all well with the Intel floating point library, which I sometimes have to use.

+1 for the 2600k...I hear most will do 4g on air

Wait till bulldozer.

However:

2600k
8gb ddr3 1600
sli gtx 560s
sli board
1'000'000 1tb drives in raid-1.

+1 for 2600k

Look at my sig for my $1600 build with 2600k. That includes the copy of windows 7 that i dont even use.

Also I would not get 2 geforce whatevers. I would just get one nice card, try that out, and get another one later if you really want to. gtx 570 good choice. I love mine.

\dev\goat said:

+1 for 2600k

Look at my sig for my $1600 build with 2600k. That includes the copy of windows 7 that i dont even use.

Also I would not get 2 geforce whatevers. I would just get one nice card, try that out, and get another one later if you really want to. gtx 570 good choice. I love mine.

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I could use the Win7