First build in a while...Looking for some help

[Azwethinkweiz]

Alright, so my last build was about 6 years ago (long gone now) and I've been out of the loop so long and forgotten a lot so I'm looking for some help from you guys.

I'm currently using a Gateway 5200x that I think is about 4 years old and was given to me a year ago when my Dad decided to buy a Mac. Well this thing is a turd, and can't run much of anything, and the BIOS on this motherboard is worthless so OCing the 3.0ghz P4 isn't even an option to squeeze what I can out of it.

I've got an Asus EN9600GT that I recently bought to replace an ATI Radeon X800Pro I had sitting around from my first build, and it helped a little but the CPU bottleknecks everything.

My main intentions are going to be WoW a few nights a week running 25man raids, running Fruity Loops 8 and probably picking up a FPS now that I'll have a computer capable of running one.

Okay, now that I'm done rambling...Here's what I've put together on Newegg after trying to catch up on all the newer hardware.

E8400 and a Gigabyte P45 ATX Motherboard

Antec 900 Case and Antec Truepower 650w PSU
(I'd like to keep the Antec 900 case, I helped a friend set up his and liked it a lot)

Zalman CNPS9700

Ram is something I'm having a hard time deciding on, I plan to OC but I'm unsure of whether I should go with DDR2 800 or 1066.

4GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066 with a ram cooler.

Hard Drive

Adding Vista Home Premium, a side fan for the Antec 900, some Arctic Silver 5 and a DVD-Rom drive, It totaled at $814.88.

To me, this seems like a lot of money (Adding the $100 9600gt I recently bought) for a computer that is using year old hardware. I'm not in a position where I can spend the difference to jump up to the i7. Would I notice a huge loss in performance by stepping down and overclocking an E5200/5300?

I know theres a lot of questions there, but any help would be appreciated...Thanks guys.

 

[A-Dub]

If you are set on that case then you are going to have to save money on the cpu/mobo. You could save a bit by going with an AMD setup. The phenom 3 720 is a bit less and has similar performance. The AMD 7850 will save you quite a bit but with a bit of a performance hit. You could also go with a Sunbeam cpu cooler and save a few bucks.

 

[A-Dub]

Here's some links for you:
AMD phenom 2 720 combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190738

AMD 7850 cpu (black edition, overclocks nicely):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103678

IMO, the 650 watt power supply is more than you need, but will leave room for future upgrades. The $40 off from the combo deal is nice, but if you are on a tight budget you could get a different case and step down to a 500 watt psu.

 

[baditude_df]

The Mobo and the CPU you've chosen are decent.

Grab the Antec 300 instead of the 900 and save a few bucks. It's a better case IMO, only no side window.

Yateloon fans from Petra's Tech Shop are cheap and perform well.

Ram? Whatever, DDR2 is pretty inexpensive nowadays.
I just can't see how all of that comes out to over 900 bucks though. Is that including the graphics card?

Try something more like this:



Personally for a build like that, I would prefer the HX520 since it's plenty powerful for a build like this and is semi modular. But the TX720 is such a good value and allows for future GFX upgrades/HDD additions/WC Pump etc. later on.

Add ~$100 for shipping and fans and crap and you should still come in at well less than $900.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

That's my bad. Total with the build in my origional post was just over $800, I had an extra Antec 900 case in my cart that I didn't remove after adding that bundle with the Truepower PSU...That would have been interesting showing up at my door lol.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

Here's some links for you:
AMD phenom 2 720 combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.190738

Man, that Phenom II x3 720 combo looks like a hell of a deal. Mixed reviews on the MB but its a tough one to pass up...

 

[A-Dub]

Man, that Phenom II x3 720 combo looks like a hell of a deal. Mixed reviews on the MB but its a tough one to pass up...

You could also check newegg for the M4A78T-E motherboard, they have open box one's for around $95. I've bought two of them, haven't had a problem with either build.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

Well, between the Phenom II x3 720 at $139, and the Asus M4A78T-E at $139, that'd keep my pricing up at around the cost of the E8400 build in my origional post. I think I'm going to go for the Biostar/PIIx3 720 combo for $208 because it'll save me about $80 after the mail in rebate.

I think I'm gonna go with this build.

Phenom IIx3 720 and Biostar TFORCE TA790GX

Xigmatec Dark Knight

Antec 900 with 650 Truepower PSU (Not modular, but with the cable management plan I have it wont be an issue on the 900, plus the larger PSU will allow for future upgrades)

4 GB OCZ Platinum series DDR2 1066 (comes with a cooler and is the same price as without after Mail-in-rebate.)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Total after Vista Premium and a couple other things, it'll be $745. ($705 after MIR if they actually work) Seems like a pretty decent build for the price.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

Ordered everything last night...Took some of your recommendations and chose a little better motherboard than the Biostar.

AMD Phenom II x 3 and GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P

Antec 900 and 650 Truepower from above post.

4GB OCZ Platinum DDR21066

Same HD as above.

I went with a Coolit Systems A.L.C. after reading some reviews. I know it's not the best liquid cooling solution but it performed better than most of the top end air coolers, and wasn't much more. Plus I figure if it can cool an i7 better than almost all air coolers, it can handle this 95W AMD.

After the DVD-ROM drive, Vista Premium, and shipping, It came up to $784. Adding the 9600GT I bought about 2 months ago...Its a pretty decent build for under $900.

Thanks for pointing out that PIIx3 720, I hadn't seen it before and it really helped out.

 

[Junglebizz]

Let me know how that OCZ ram works on your motherboard. I just built a system using the same CPU/Motherboard but I went with G.Skill ram because of some reviews saying that OCZ and Gigabyte motherboards had issues.

Also out of curiosity, why did you get the 500GB AALS hard drive when the 640 AALS hard drive is the same price and performs better?

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

Oh well. I didn't see the 640 for the same price. The 500gb HD has been in my cart for like a week now. Storage size wasn't a huge concern, I'm keeping the PC I'm on now for storage, my new HD will only hold my OS and progams/games. I just couldn't justify the price of a 74gb raptor.

I saw a couple reviews saying people had issues with OCZ and the Gigabyte but I'm sure more than a few people have used the combination. Seems to me more like isolated incidents, so I went with the OCZ. If I have issues I can always switch to another memory.