New computer building time. So, this is what I will likely order within the next week or so. I could probably save cash by just cannibalizing one of the media harddrive and PSU (it's nice and fairly new) out of my current system, but I want it to remain functional for future use. Actually, there's one thing that I will likely cannibalize out of my old machine: the sound card. Onboard sound is pretty good nowadays, but I like my X-Fi. Well okay, I like the knobs and shit on the front panel...
| Component | Item | Price |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-860 | $289.99 |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P LGA 1156 | $169.99 |
| Memory | G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 | $89.99 |
| Graphics | DIAMOND 5870PE51G Radeon HD 5870 | $399.99 |
| Storage | Primary: WD VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM | $229.99 |
| Data: WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM | $109.99 |
|
| Optical: SAMSUNG SH-S223B | $30.99 | |
| PSU | CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W | $99.99 |
| Case | Antec P183 | $139.99 |
| Cooling | CPU: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 | $29.98 |
| Fans: Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm x3 | $26.97 ($8.99x3) | |
| Sound | Onboard | $0 |
|
Total: |
$1617.86 |
|
I know that the i5-750 is the current supposed sweet spot in terms of performance vs price. But, for not really that much more, the i7-860 offers a good boost in performance with hyperthreading, a faster turbo boost, etc.
Still a bit torn on whether or not I really want to go SSD for my primary HDD. The speed would be nice for the OS and WoW, but I still don't think that it justifies the extra cost. so instead, I'll probably just go with a 300GB Western Digital VeliciRaptor for the primary drive and a 1TB Cavalier for my data.
Comments (2)
I found myself going back to this post to see what cpu speed you went for. Are you running on stock settings too?
I am thinking of doing the same, but going AMD. Need a smoother PC for HD Video Editing.
The only thing is.. it won't be a simple motherboard/cpu upgrade because my HD's and DVD drives are IDE. Would a simple SATA2IDE Adaptor work and get the same performance? I plan to get an external Hard drive Enclosure to convert my internal ide hard drive to an external usb drive if I have to purchase a new HD.
Most important question: How much are you looking to spend total?
If you are going for a super budget machine, AMD has a couple of pretty decent chips for under $100. Otherwise, I would go with Intel (specifically core i5). They have been beating AMD in terms of performance per price for....years.
If you are building a new machine you may as well just get a new HDD since they are cheap. You can get a 1TB WD Caviar Black SATA drive for like, under $90. External enclosures should be pretty cheap, I have a couple laying around here for my old drives lol.
I'll try to find more current price/performance PC building guides to send your way.
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