Yeah. I figure the $60 is worth it for the i5. Better for both gaming and Photoshop from what I've been reading. I also thought it was kind of funny that no matter what the Cyber Monday deals were, and no matter what site, getting what I wanted still cost less then trying to finagle a deal using stuff that was on sale. I will say that the 1gb nVidia card was a nice find compared to the 768mb card that sold out.
I agree. That's 2.5 nice steak dinners or 1.2 new videogames.
1.2 new as in new to me or new 'it just came out'? Because I can't think of a time in recent history I spent a whole $60 on a vidjer game. It's also .93 of a family dinner at Dinosaur Bar-B-Q which is still enough to feed a third world country. That being said, in the near future I'll be spending that much on DA2, but I blame Kate for that...
I agree. That's 2.5 nice steak dinners or 1.2 new videogames.
I really don't see how that turbo-boost feature is worth the money.
I wasn't focusing on the turbo-boost feature. I was looking more at the fact it was a quad core as opposed to a dual core, and was reviewed and explained as being faster in general. One of the reviews mentioned it was 'noticeably' faster with games that had all the graphics options on.
I'm doubtful about the effect in games (for a start, it depends on the game), but the i5-750 is definitely much faster than the i3-530 in some situations.
Remember when computer had turbo buttons? And little LED displays that showed the current speed of the processor so you could "see" the performance increase? those were the days.
I'm doubtful about the effect in games (for a start, it depends on the game), but the i5-750 is definitely much faster than the i3-530 in some situations.
It was noted that it would also show a significant difference in visual software like Photoshop.
After being Laptop exclusive for a very long time since I had neither time nor interest to build a new computer, I've now decided to actually make a new machine. Problem is, I haven't looked into hardware in a long time and I'm also under a somewhat tight budget constraint. Currently I got about 500€ at my disposal. I'll probably bypass the budget constraints by just waiting and saving up, but I really need some pointers on what to look into, what's good, what CPU socket should I go for, is there any new tech on the horizon or about to get cheaper I should wait for, etc.
I really haven't looked into it in a long time and buying a prebuild system is for suckers, but I just need to find a good starting point. I just want to have a machine that can handle current gen video games with some durability for the foreseeable future. I got a good case, mouse and keyboard, DVD-Drives/Writers and a spare hard drive I'm going to reuse. I also got an old monitor that still works fine, so it isn't a priority to be replaced. But I need new CPU, cooling for it, motherboard, memory, graphics card, power supply, another hard drive (probably going to build a RAID, so multiple cheap ones), and the board either needs to have wireless built into it or I got a wireless LAN card, but that shouldn't be that much of a problem. I also know that I'm not going to use AMD and I'll probably go for an nVidia graphics card.
Putting all of the stuff together I can do myself though, even if I haven't done so in a long time.
I didn't cannibalize anything from my old system except monitors and keyboard/mouse. DVD R/W drives are wicked cheap, so don't bother cannibalizing the old ones. New ones will be faster anyhow. My build was pretty awesome, you might want to check it out. it was a bit more expensive, at $750.
$750 is actually less than 600 €. Hah, you americans and your funny monopoly money J/K. I guess taxes will make up that difference :X
Anyway, is this the final list of yours? I guess mine will also be cheaper due to me reusing the old case, which is really good IMHO.
Also, should I go for a RAID or a single, big hard drive? Thinking it over, a RAID actually doesn't make that much sense to me anymore. I'm already surrounded by five external hard drives which serve as my backup data, containing all my music, anime, movies and whatnot. I was just interested in setting up a RAID since I had never done it before. But I now kinda realize that it doesn't really make much sense to build one nowadays for the private consumer. I guess it would be a different matter if I was running a web-server.
Edit: I just checked all the stuff out on an austrian electronics retail price comparison website (now that's a phrase) and everything off your list excluding the case and the DVD burner, but added in a 550W power supply, would run a minimum of 516,71 €. Of course this is not including shipping and the price is from multiple retailers combined rather than from a single retailer, but I think this would fall into my budgetary constraints. However, I did not see any cooling fans or any other coolant devices. Did I miss something?
That's my list with the exception of the processor. Mine is a 15 Quad Core, not the i3. My case came with a power supply and extra fan, the i5 processor came with heat sync, fan, and thermal compound already on it. I didn't raid anything. Just stuck my extra 250 gb HD which was from my other computer in, made it a slave drive, and moved any files I needed over. raid can also be a giant pain in the ass. The system can run any current game at max res and max graphics settings smooth as glass. Also does wonders in Photoshop.
Basing it off your list, I got the following with prices from a local retailer. Some of it they'd have to order, but I could have the stuff within a week. I looked at some other mailorder retailers, but the savings on the product I'd get would usually be negated by the shipping costs. Other local retailers usually have identical prices, but I'd see where each component would be the cheapest and buy them accordingly.
I opted for a smaller hard drive because with my external drives I don't need that much space and 20€ in savings goes a long way, e.g. also affording me the wireless lan card at the bottom. I also don't have an optical drive in there. I'll reuse the one I have and if I want to upgrade I can do that on a later date. All prices above are in € and the grand total would be 565.15 €, or just about $740. I'll look into it a bit further over the course of the day.
I pointed out in both pots above that I got the i5 quad core instead of the i3 dual core. Not a major issue, but I can see downgrading if you want to save some cash. Something else to watch for is if your drive is a SATA drive or an IDE drive. My old drives were IDE and would have been a giant pain in the ass to install with the new motherboard. SATA = much easier to install physically.
I just realized that I can get the same motherboard from the same retailer for 9€ less. But yeah, I'll have to buy a SATA drive anyway apparently. I'll just buy a really cheap one for like 17€ or something. Still in budget. Unfortunately the i5 quad is not. I did look into it though, but no dice. The i3 dual should work fine.
Just returned from the retailer. Ordered the above, except also ordered a cheap Sony SATA DVD-Burner and with a better Power Supply. Now I the agonizing wait begins :X
OK, I got my parts. I assembled my PC and it seems to work and boot. Except I get no video output, neither on the onboard VGA, nor from the Graphics card. Trying some troubleshooting here. If somebody got a hint, I'd appreciate it.
OK, I got my parts. I assembled my PC and it seems to work and boot. Except I get no video output, neither on the onboard VGA, nor from the Graphics card. Trying some troubleshooting here. If somebody got a hint, I'd appreciate it.
Monitor is off or unplugged. Make sure you have all the additional power cables attached to the video card and motherboard.
No. The Monitor is on. The power button flashes, like it is plugged in but is getting no signal. When I unplug it I get a big message "No video input". There is no change on the monitor power button flashing regardless of whether the PC is running or not. And yes, I have additional power cables attached to the motherboard and video card. All power cable sockets I could find are plugged in with the appropriate cables.
Did just that, unplugged both SATA drives, removed graphics card and one stick of RAM, leaving the other. It booted then and got video of the onboard VGA. Shut it down, plugged in the SATA devices. Booted again. Currently installing windows.
Did just that, unplugged both SATA drives, removed graphics card and one stick of RAM, leaving the other. It booted then and got video of the onboard VGA. Shut it down, plugged in the SATA devices. Booted again. Currently installing windows.
I know that my problem with the screens not showing anything was that I had forgotten to plug in one molex cable. Check your plugs as well.
No, it's working fine now. Graphics card and all. Just screwed up with the RAM configuration and put one of the sticks in the wrong socket. Figured it out now and got the full 4 GB. Currently downloading my steam games to my spanking new PC. Yay.
Comments
I will say that the 1gb nVidia card was a nice find compared to the 768mb card that sold out.
That being said, in the near future I'll be spending that much on DA2, but I blame Kate for that...
I really haven't looked into it in a long time and buying a prebuild system is for suckers, but I just need to find a good starting point. I just want to have a machine that can handle current gen video games with some durability for the foreseeable future. I got a good case, mouse and keyboard, DVD-Drives/Writers and a spare hard drive I'm going to reuse. I also got an old monitor that still works fine, so it isn't a priority to be replaced. But I need new CPU, cooling for it, motherboard, memory, graphics card, power supply, another hard drive (probably going to build a RAID, so multiple cheap ones), and the board either needs to have wireless built into it or I got a wireless LAN card, but that shouldn't be that much of a problem. I also know that I'm not going to use AMD and I'll probably go for an nVidia graphics card.
Putting all of the stuff together I can do myself though, even if I haven't done so in a long time.
Help would be appreciated.
My build was pretty awesome, you might want to check it out. it was a bit more expensive, at $750.
J/K. I guess taxes will make up that difference :X
Anyway, is this the final list of yours? I guess mine will also be cheaper due to me reusing the old case, which is really good IMHO.
Also, should I go for a RAID or a single, big hard drive? Thinking it over, a RAID actually doesn't make that much sense to me anymore. I'm already surrounded by five external hard drives which serve as my backup data, containing all my music, anime, movies and whatnot. I was just interested in setting up a RAID since I had never done it before. But I now kinda realize that it doesn't really make much sense to build one nowadays for the private consumer. I guess it would be a different matter if I was running a web-server.
Edit: I just checked all the stuff out on an austrian electronics retail price comparison website (now that's a phrase) and everything off your list excluding the case and the DVD burner, but added in a 550W power supply, would run a minimum of 516,71 €. Of course this is not including shipping and the price is from multiple retailers combined rather than from a single retailer, but I think this would fall into my budgetary constraints. However, I did not see any cooling fans or any other coolant devices. Did I miss something?
My case came with a power supply and extra fan, the i5 processor came with heat sync, fan, and thermal compound already on it.
I didn't raid anything. Just stuck my extra 250 gb HD which was from my other computer in, made it a slave drive, and moved any files I needed over. raid can also be a giant pain in the ass.
The system can run any current game at max res and max graphics settings smooth as glass.
Also does wonders in Photoshop.
CPU: Intel Core i3-540, 2x 3.06GHz, boxed -- 96.35
MB: Asus P7H55-M Pro -- 85.5
GC: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked, 1024MB GDDR5, 2x DVI, -- 169.7
RAM: CORSAIR DDRAM3 4GB CL9 CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 -- 39.4
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB, SATA II -- 37.85
PS: UNIQ 550W Netzteil temperaturgeregelt (ATX 1.3) -- 28.9
OS: Microsoft: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit, DSP/SB, 1er Deutsch -- 85.4
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 GT (Sockel 775/1156) -- 6.8
WLAN: ASUS WL-PCI-G31, 54Mbps, PCI -- 15.25
I opted for a smaller hard drive because with my external drives I don't need that much space and 20€ in savings goes a long way, e.g. also affording me the wireless lan card at the bottom. I also don't have an optical drive in there. I'll reuse the one I have and if I want to upgrade I can do that on a later date. All prices above are in € and the grand total would be 565.15 €, or just about $740. I'll look into it a bit further over the course of the day.