Computer Parts

[phill]

So, it has been a while since I last looked at buying computer parts, I think the 8800gt had just been released, and I'm looking for comments on the list I put together based on a few review sites, customer reviews on newegg, and the deals a local store has currently.

Intel Core™ i5 Processor 750

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

Mushkin XP3-10666 Blackline

eVGA e-GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Not looking for a power house of a machine, this is overkill considering what the old computer did but since the current sales lets me get this for $500 it should cover what is needed with a little room to expand.

[Nabeel Ansari]

So, it has been a while since I last looked at buying computer parts, I think the 8800gt had just been released, and I'm looking for comments on the list I put together based on a few review sites, customer reviews on newegg, and the deals a local store has currently.

Intel Core™ i5 Processor 750

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

Mushkin XP3-10666 Blackline

eVGA e-GeForce GTS 250 512MB

Not looking for a power house of a machine, this is overkill considering what the old computer did but since the current sales lets me get this for $500 it should cover what is needed with a little room to expand.

First of all, why are you only upgrading four parts of your computer? If your machine is as old as you say it is, shouldn't you also be looking at hard drives, optical drives, and cases? I'm not saying you have to, but surely such an old machine has a small hard drive.

And how much RAM is this going to have? I would recommend at least 3 GB or so.

[phill]

Old is relative when it comes to computer, the case is a decade old, maybe a little more, the rest(hd, mobo, mem, video, etc) is only four years old. The computer is only being replaced because the motherboard is toast, power issues took the psu and board out (and maybe cpu and memory) and it's not worth it to hunt down replacement parts. Case is fine, as is the optical drive, and the hard drive will last until SSD come down in price. The memory is 2x2gb which is more then enough for Win7 and the couple of applications/games that will be run on this computer.

Not really worried about meeting system requirements for anything, I'm more interested in if these are solid pieces of hardware. I have read good things about all of them, but I like to double check before spending $500 when my current income isn't so high.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Old is relative when it comes to computer, the case is a decade old, maybe a little more, the rest(hd, mobo, mem, video, etc) is only four years old. The computer is only being replaced because the motherboard is toast, power issues took the psu and board out (and maybe cpu and memory) and it's not worth it to hunt down replacement parts. Case is fine, as is the optical drive, and the hard drive will last until SSD come down in price. The memory is 2x2gb which is more then enough for Win7 and the couple of applications/games that will be run on this computer.

Not really worried about meeting system requirements for anything, I'm more interested in if these are solid pieces of hardware. I have read good things about all of them, but I like to double check before spending $500 when my current income isn't so high.

Yeah, EVGA is pretty legit, Intel is probably your best bet at processors, not sure about your RAM (there's a guy around here called "the prophet" who can give you better advice about that brand) and I don't think GIGABYTE is so bad for motherboards.

Also, what PSU are you buying, and can your case accommodate your motherboard?

[phill]

Case I'm not worried about, the mounting points should be there and even if they are not, I can put them in. Sheet metal is easy enough to work with, well it is for me, don't know about the rest of you. The PSU is a good one, enough to power all this, but I can't for the life of me remember who makes it....it's just not the one with the modular cables that I wanted. And prophet usually makes it into threads like this eventually, see what he has to say when he does.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Case I'm not worried about, the mounting points should be there and even if they are not, I can put them in. Sheet metal is easy enough to work with, well it is for me, don't know about the rest of you. The PSU is a good one, enough to power all this, but I can't for the life of me remember who makes it....it's just not the one with the modular cables that I wanted. And prophet usually makes it into threads like this eventually, see what he has to say when he does.

Okay, that's fine. If you're willing to engineer your own case it's not even an issue.

But yeah your computer looks good, I'd say it's a decent price.

[prophetik music]

First of all, why are you only upgrading four parts of your computer? If your machine is as old as you say it is, shouldn't you also be looking at hard drives, optical drives, and cases? I'm not saying you have to, but surely such an old machine has a small hard drive.

And how much RAM is this going to have? I would recommend at least 3 GB or so.

neblix, you don't know anything about computers. don't sound like you do. if phill already didn't know as much as he does about them (he's got me way beat in the software department), he might almost think you knew something and get worried or something. like, mounting points...do you even know when those standards came around? like 13 years ago, back when AT was being overworked and they needed a new design for a mobo. AT and ATX share four mounting points, regardless - that's enough for a computer that isn't being shuffled around a lot. phill and i go way back, i'll handle this

cases are cases. who gives a shit about them? just make sure your fans spin. my old computer was in an AT desktop case with a 486 sticker on the front. same thing with optical drives - as long as it works, don't complain. hard drives are fine as long as you keep track of how old they are and test them a lot.

in general, i'd say to go with the i7-860 before you go with an i5-anything. way better processor for only a few bucks more.

i'm not a fan of mushkin that much. if you want performance ram, just get g.skill ripjaws, they're a good balance of price and performance.

the GTS 250 is a very capable card. if you've got the money, spring for a core 216, as there's a huge increase in performance. also, how big's your screen (resolution)? if you're running something 1680x1050 or above, spend the extra five or ten bucks and get a 1gb card. big screen resolutions benefit from more vram more than they benefit from overclocking or anything else.

no mention of a power supply in there. use this to figure out how much wattage minimum you'll need, and this to find what you're looking for there. remember, the number the psu calculator puts out is how much wattage you need, not what the psu should be rated. if the psuc says 300w, you'd have to get a 400wpsu with 75% efficiency to meet the minimum standard (which probably wouldn't hold up under load or on boot too well). i have a core 216, an i7-860, 4gb of ram, one optical drive, a high-end motherboard, and four hard drives, and i have a seasonic x750 750w psu (which is a little big for what i've got). you could probably go 650 or so if you don't have a ton of hard drives or go with the 250.

[phill]

I have always thought about hunting down an old case with the turbo button just to make the girls swoon, but those old cases are damn ugly. I think neblix' was commenting on the mobo being a mATX board, which shouldn't be a problem either way since mATX and ATX share mounting points.

I did look at the i7-860, but it was a $100 more which couldn't be justified considering what this computer is going to be used for. The g.skill is the same price so I may take a look at that and I may bump the video card if there is a sale between now and when the computer is needed. Picked up a new PSU already, was hoping that the brown out followed by a surge only fried the PSU, but nooo, so got a 650w Cosair...I believe, I have a short memory some times and I can't remember for sure.

[Nabeel Ansari]

neblix, you don't know anything about computers. don't sound like you do.

Prophet, you don't know anything about me, don't sound like you do.

It's pathetic and immature and it's also annoying when you pretend that I'm some dumb teenager. Get a life.

I don't recommend going for a Core 216; my brother had a problem with his, RMA'd and then his second one died too.

He got an ATI card and his computer is fine. I normally don't recommend ATI, but I'm just going to play against prophet because he thinks he's god and he can deny any mention of me having any sort of knowledge whatsoever because I'm not old like him. xD

[prophetik music]

actually, tom's hardware has listed the core 216 as being one of the best price-to-performance ratio cards in recent memory, even after the big price drops on the 9600GT cards and the re-release of the G92 8800GT cards. also, since you're just making a blanket statement about graphics cards (which are made by various manufacturers that have nothing to do with nvidia's production lines, same as ATI cards), saying that you've had technical problems doesn't help much unless you give us a make and model number since they're all different. i have the evga stock-clock 216, and it's a monster for both overclocking and standard performance. not quite a 275, but way less in price.

tbh, ati's cards have been kicking ass on the hardware side for most of the last year or two. too bad their drivers suck donkey dick or i'd use them a lot more. not to mention it's rare to find an intel board with CrossFireX technology.

you can usually find 860s for around 250 or so. i'd almost suggest going less on the gfx card and better on the cpu, really.

mATX is compatible by default with ATX - it shares six mounting points between them (which was most of the point). interestingly enough, BTX and most of the other strange mobo layouts share enough that they could be considered compatible, as well (if i remember correctly).

[phill]

Ignoring the cat fight that's about to break out, I have looked at ATI cards, but as prophet said, the drivers suck something fierce, and it is literally the only reason I didn't pick something from the ATI product line. I dealt with the drivers in an office environment where requirements for what the drivers had to do were limited, and they still screwed that up half the time. I have heard that things are improving, perhaps because AMD is starting to dictate more of software process, but I think I will still give it sometime.

The 860s I can find are $300-$320 cdn which is annoying since our money is worth the same (more or less) as yours. I would consider driving south of the boarder (or order online) but I'm lazy, gas would negate the savings and I hate dealing with online ordering, shipping, and the occasional DOA. The i5 has a pretty good deal on it at the moment and I might be able to sweet talk my way into a better one, local shop can be pretty good that way.

Thanks for the input.

[prophetik music]

ati's got some third-party drivers (catalyst) that are ok, but i really just can't get into them.

oh, canada. missed that. the 750 might be your best bet =)