starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 ok so i was wondering...it usually is cheaper for me to build a system instead of a prebuilt one...but on newegg (only place i can purchase from online) its gotten more expensive with just a few parts needed for my build than it is to buy a cyberpower pc build already made..but i dont like buying towers prebuilt. whats the best advice? tower or build your own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 by the way im wanting as top of the line as i can get without blowing a hole in the bank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjageek Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 Really it depends on what you want and just how much you want to spend. Imho Dual Cores are still the way to go. The quads just don't have the software to really utilize all 4 cores. They even say with games the quads see a preformance loss compared to the dual cores. I will slap a new 2.9 dual core with 4 gig of matching ram and a nice surge protector and the total cost is about 160.00. Now if I would of spent the cash on the surge protector the first time I would not be doing this upgrade. With up upgrades and windows 7 think my box should be good to go for a couple two or three years. If I was gonna build I would go with a barebones setup. Something like to start out, http://www.cpusolutions.com/8004744cpu/customkititems.asp?kc=ANF2 Then add to it as money allowed. Just my 2 cents. With the upgrades and the Amount of time I have already had this box, I will probally get 7 or 8 years before its time for a new build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just- Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 Don't forget you want to be future prof, so buying just a dual core might not cut it if you don't want to a major upgrade (mother board and cpu) in 2 years time The price of Quad is not that bad i would go quad if i were you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coknuck Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 My Son bought a tower from http://www.ibuypower.com/ which is more than likely Cyberpower with a different name. He has not had a lick of problem with it in 3yrs. he's owned it. The warranty is pretty good also and they stand behind their product! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 yeah right now my pc i've built recently is a socket am2 board with a amd athlon 64x2 5600+ 2.8ghz overclocked to 3.1 but it also has an evga 7950GT 512mb pci express... but as far as my upgrading is concerned on this pc i would have to get a new board with a AM2+ slot and a pci express 2.0 slot. so all in all i'd rather just build a new one. because this computer is needed elsewhere so it would also be easier for me to have 2 towers. i currently have 2 towers but one is an emachines that is so old it seriously takes 10 minutes to boot up and thats after tweaking and adding ram and a new pci slot video card!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 ok that brings up a new question, what would be the best PCI express x16 card...not pcie 2.0 just normal pci e....wahts the best card out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 ok wow sorry to triple post or double post or whatever it is now...but i just read that pcie 2.0 cards are compatible with normal pcie ??? if so then what is a budget gaming card for cod 5 and so on that is way better than my 7950GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buntz Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 The best bang for a buck cards right now would be the ATI 4850. Newegg has the 4850 for under $150.00 or the Nvidia 260GTX, Newegg has the 260 for under $ 200.00. What is your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 anything under 300. would like under 250 if possible lets say...i would like the geforce 295 but jeeeez too much for a card almost 600!!! my 7950GT was top of the line when i bought it and it was only 300 i was thinking of the geforce 260. but not sure. also so it is true that pcie 2.0 is fine to put into a pcie x16 (not 2.0) slot??? edit woops, sorry. fixed the price range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buntz Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 Don't make the mistake that I did and buy a dual gpu card from Nvidia [ I have a 9800GX2 ] Nvidia give up on driver support too soon, mine was out dated in 3 months. It's a waste of money. Is that $400.00 for the whole computer. Along with the cpu / motherboard / video card what else do you need. Edit- Do you want to stay with AMD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 sorry, i meant its around 300 max for a pci express x16 card...well any video card that will run in a pci express x16 1.0 slot. and around 2500 max for a new build. and no as much as i like amd more..im going with intel on this next build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 ok as far as upgrading my amd system i'd need a new powersupply bigger than my 500 watt.. so here is what i thought for my upgrade on that... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152031 powersupply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370 graphics card This card will work on a pci express x16 10 slot even though its made for a 2.0 slot RIGHT???? that would make my price for the upgrading on my current system at around 260 bucks...not bad. and i'll probably keep my 2 gigs of ram and not upgrade as well as keeping my 2.8ghz dual core cpu. and as far as my new build i want to do im still looking and deciding parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buntz Posted March 20, 2009 CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 That should work fine . You will probably take a little hit in performance using it in a 1.0 PCI-E motherboard. As for power supply I like Corsair power supply. Here's one for $69.99 after rebates. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted March 20, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 20, 2009 very nice psu, not sure how i missed that. and how big of a performance hit? i knew there would be one but cant seem to find a decent explanation of how big it will be. i mean if its too big why would i upgrade that far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buntz Posted March 21, 2009 CID Share Posted March 21, 2009 I read somewhere it could be 1% to 5%. Some people say there is no performance hit at all,because most 1.0 PCI cards do not use all of the bandwidth that the 1.0 PCI slot had to offer. Your cpu will probably be your bottleneck not your video card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjageek Posted March 21, 2009 CID Share Posted March 21, 2009 I finally got off my lazy butt and looked into the hole dual core vs quad core. They way I am understanding it is this. If your into multi-tasking allot, Do a allot of video editing and ripping of dvd/Cds and or running dual monitors then go with a quad. If your just your average gammer, then Dual is the way to go. How much disposible cash you have is a biggie as well. Quads are super expensive compared to the duals. Speaking from experience with Video cards I found, With just a dual core and and cheep 8800gt card I can run Even Crysis full blast as well as microsoft filght simulator X with expansion pack. . With windows 7 heading our way, if that OS works out and I think it will, how big and bad a video card is will almost be a mute point. If you really want to spend 300 or more dollars on a video card thats cool, its your cash. IMHO a video card in the 150 range will be just fine. Windows 7 is supposed to utilize the cpu when the video card is unable to keep up. Again, from the way I understand things, the bottleneck (your computer gets slowwwww) is not in the cpu. Its more of a motherboard issue.. Some believe a quad will really speed up the average computer. I simply dont think it works that way. Its not the cpu thats the issue. Its manily the motherboard issue. Data can only tavel as fast as the motherboard can carry it. I am NOT so much a hardware geek. I am more software informed. Just started picking up info when the quad cores hit. I wanted to know is more better. Generally speaking Its not looking to good for the quads. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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