Okay - so I 've narrowed it down. NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com/) has some great prices on a great system so here is what I have come up with. Feel free to critique or comment?
AMD 1100T CPU - $194.68 - (6 core, AM3 socket)
Asus M5A88-M MOBO - $109.99 - onboard 4650 graphics (can upgrade to faster card later)
Raidmax RX-650 SS - power supply. $49.99 - Modular and cheap and 650 watts for SLI
Kingston Hyper X memory - 8 gb - $48.99
Case - Rosewill Challenger - comes with 2x120MM fans installed! $50.00 and free ship
Hard Drive - Seagate ST500DM002 500GB, 6.0 bus $44
My own operating system (Windows 7)
My spare DVD drive (Lightscribe)
My 300 GB old slow HD (for data backup)
Total of $497.65 shipped. I think there may be some coupon savings involved, so I might be able to get Arctic Silver thermal paste thrown in and keep the whole shooting match under $500.
Not bad for the fastest AMD processor out there! What do you think?
Ketchup Chips - the random musings of a transplanted Canadian living the dream in the USA
Showing posts with label AMD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMD. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
New Computer Blues - AMD, Intel, Gigatbyte, and NewEgg Oh My!
Sheesh - I need a new computer - the core of this one is 5 years old now, and is getting really slow and quirky. I've been looking at systems online and I am going to build my own. The real test is getting enough of a processor to give you cutting edge for a few years and then another couple of years at half speed. I like the AMD line and Intel seems to have some more cost effective CPUs that get the job done. If you aren't up on this stuff - you can now get a "six core" CPU - essentially putting 6 CPUs into one processor.
Motherboards are the platform on which everything rides, so you have to get a good one. Integrated video only adds a few bucks, but lets you coast a couple months before you have to commit to a kick ass video card. Nowadays - you need a super good power supply like 600 or 700 watts to get the job done, and they aren't cheap, and you need at least 4 gigs of ddr 3 memory. I have a Windows 7 disk from one of the kids computers and hard drives and DVD drives from my old rig.
All in all CPU is $250, motherboard is $100, power supply is $100 and memory is $80, putting a pretty good solution in place for about $530. Next upgrade is a super video card - another $190 or so into the pot.
There are two great websites for making your decisions on all this stuff - feel free to putz about - -
http://www.pricewatch.com/ (cheapest and best raw hardware supplies)
http://www.tomshardware.com/ (great articles, advice and how-to's on building your own rig)
http://www.newegg.com/ (great hardware specials and some cool add-ons like cases and fans and stuff)
I now return you to your regularly scheduled life....
Motherboards are the platform on which everything rides, so you have to get a good one. Integrated video only adds a few bucks, but lets you coast a couple months before you have to commit to a kick ass video card. Nowadays - you need a super good power supply like 600 or 700 watts to get the job done, and they aren't cheap, and you need at least 4 gigs of ddr 3 memory. I have a Windows 7 disk from one of the kids computers and hard drives and DVD drives from my old rig.
All in all CPU is $250, motherboard is $100, power supply is $100 and memory is $80, putting a pretty good solution in place for about $530. Next upgrade is a super video card - another $190 or so into the pot.
There are two great websites for making your decisions on all this stuff - feel free to putz about - -
http://www.pricewatch.com/ (cheapest and best raw hardware supplies)
http://www.tomshardware.com/ (great articles, advice and how-to's on building your own rig)
http://www.newegg.com/ (great hardware specials and some cool add-ons like cases and fans and stuff)
I now return you to your regularly scheduled life....
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