Good day everyone.
Well I have reached the point with my old machine where I am fed up with it's performance. I am still running a single core 3800+ with a 7900GT for graphics. Needless to say, coupled to a 27 inch monitor running at 1920 resolution, I can't play even old games on medium settings.
I have come up with a budget system right now, all I can afford, and I think it offers a lot of options for the future. However, I have been out of the hardware loop for a good 2 years now. I have spent the last month catching up on information. I am going to explain my specs, and my reasons for them, and hopefully some hardcore hardware gurus can help me confirm I am making the right choices.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHZ
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
RAM: Corsair XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600
VIDEO CARD: MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II OC
CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850
Now, the first thing that jumps out is yes, I am thinking of diving right into the 990FX chipset. This way, I am ready to upgrade anytime once the upcoming Bulldozer series is released from AMD. Also, with this motherboard, I can run a SLI Nvidia setup with a AMD CPU, something that hasn't been possible in the past.
The CPU has very good overclocking ability, so I hear, and I see no point in buying a 6 core CPU right now, when the 8 core Bulldozers are just around the corner. This 955 is a steal of a deal at $100 including the HSF. Not to mention, virtually nothing available can take advantage of 6 cores, and I do not do ANY video editing.
The video card is not entirely what I want, I wanted a GTX580, but it simply is not in the cards. For a price jump of $175 more to get into a GTX580, I have heard it is not worth it. The GTX570 can overclock to near 580 speeds, and 2 GTX 570's give almost identical performance to a GTX580 SLI setup, for half the price. In the near future, probably 4 months or so, I can buy another GTX 570 and SLI that setup, and be good for a few years to come.
The power supply is big enough that I can SLI any Nvidia cards out there, since I have no interest in ever running more than 2 graphics cards at once.
The case is huge, and easy to build in. While expensive, I think the case is one that is worth keeping for years to come. I know I will always be able to handle bigger motherboards, and bigger video cards down the road, let's face it, hardware is not shrinking.
All in all, I just want to play current and future games for at least the next year or two. I cannot stand lag and turned down graphics, it just ruins the game play experience. I do not edit video, use photoshop to create digital art, or anything of that sort. This is strictly for watching movies, listening to music, browsing, and playing games.
Does it sound like this is a good way to go?
Well I have reached the point with my old machine where I am fed up with it's performance. I am still running a single core 3800+ with a 7900GT for graphics. Needless to say, coupled to a 27 inch monitor running at 1920 resolution, I can't play even old games on medium settings.
I have come up with a budget system right now, all I can afford, and I think it offers a lot of options for the future. However, I have been out of the hardware loop for a good 2 years now. I have spent the last month catching up on information. I am going to explain my specs, and my reasons for them, and hopefully some hardcore hardware gurus can help me confirm I am making the right choices.
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHZ
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
RAM: Corsair XMS3 CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600
VIDEO CARD: MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II OC
CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
PSU: Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850
Now, the first thing that jumps out is yes, I am thinking of diving right into the 990FX chipset. This way, I am ready to upgrade anytime once the upcoming Bulldozer series is released from AMD. Also, with this motherboard, I can run a SLI Nvidia setup with a AMD CPU, something that hasn't been possible in the past.
The CPU has very good overclocking ability, so I hear, and I see no point in buying a 6 core CPU right now, when the 8 core Bulldozers are just around the corner. This 955 is a steal of a deal at $100 including the HSF. Not to mention, virtually nothing available can take advantage of 6 cores, and I do not do ANY video editing.
The video card is not entirely what I want, I wanted a GTX580, but it simply is not in the cards. For a price jump of $175 more to get into a GTX580, I have heard it is not worth it. The GTX570 can overclock to near 580 speeds, and 2 GTX 570's give almost identical performance to a GTX580 SLI setup, for half the price. In the near future, probably 4 months or so, I can buy another GTX 570 and SLI that setup, and be good for a few years to come.
The power supply is big enough that I can SLI any Nvidia cards out there, since I have no interest in ever running more than 2 graphics cards at once.
The case is huge, and easy to build in. While expensive, I think the case is one that is worth keeping for years to come. I know I will always be able to handle bigger motherboards, and bigger video cards down the road, let's face it, hardware is not shrinking.
All in all, I just want to play current and future games for at least the next year or two. I cannot stand lag and turned down graphics, it just ruins the game play experience. I do not edit video, use photoshop to create digital art, or anything of that sort. This is strictly for watching movies, listening to music, browsing, and playing games.
Does it sound like this is a good way to go?
