Advice needed: building my own PC

[Junk E-mail]

Haven't done this in a while, need advice on what's the best bang for the buck and what works well together.

Looking to spend under 1k in total. I plan to use the PC mostly for low end gaming (not really a fan of all the super new stuff) and software development (so plenty of RAM and multiple cores would probably be helpful). I already got some parts that I see no reason to replace, and I am more than capable of putting all this stuff together myself.

What I already have and don't feel like replacing:

- Flatscreen
- Keyboard, Mouse
- Speaker system
- DVD Writer
- Hard drives (got 1 TB, more than enough for me)

What I think I need:

- Mainboard
- Soundcard, Networkcard - these probably come built in on any mainboard in reasonable quality for what I need
- RAM
- CPU
- GFX Card(s)
- Fans
- Case (nothing too big, this can be really cheap as it's just going to disappear somewhere near my feet anyways)
- PSU
- Possibly a small, fast HDD for use as boot/system/swap drive.

Do you think I missed anything ? What would you recommend as parts ? Can you explain your recommendations ?

 

[coldsleep]

i even offered alternative and even stated that if he will not overclock, Phenom II X6 is faster and a much much better choice than Core i5 750

Except that it isn't. The 1055T X6 is great at multi-threaded apps, but worse than the i5-750 at mixed/poorly-threaded workloads, which is what most computer usage (including all the software development I've seen over the past 10+ years) turns out to be.

so tell me now, what is your valid point?
that my claims is of massive power consumption of Phenom II is a lie?
that SSD's are *** and sould not be considered?
that GPU is more important than SSD for work purposes?
that Seasonic doesnt made PSU's for corsair and antec?
that Phenom II is faster even when both Core i5 750 and Phenom II X6 1055T is overclocked?

1) No one is arguing that the Phenom II X6 doesn't consume more power...more cores are generally going to consume more power. What I don't understand is why you're so focused on power consumption. Very few machines run at 100% load for very long. Most of the time, a standard desktop will be running at 20% CPU utilization or less. It will certainly spike to 100% from time to time, but that isn't a typical usage pattern. Power consumption for graphics cards is a little more valid, as they're likely to run at load for a longer duration than the system processor...but it's still not the be-all, end-all.

2) SSDs are great. I love mine. But they're not worth sacrificing the rest of your build in order to purchase one, which you have to do if your budget is $1000. Assuming you spend $150-200 on CPU, $100 on 4 GB of RAM ($200 if 8 GB), $150ish on mobo, $100 on OS, $50 on a 500 GB 7200 rpm HDD, $100-200 on a GPU (depending on preference), $75-100 on a PSU, and say, $50-100 on a case...that's between $800-1000, give or take. Any reasonable SSD is $200+. (I'll note that I personally feel that anything under 80 GB is lacking, because SSD speed is directly proportional to the size of the storage. The 60 GB Vertex 2 you linked isn't going to be able to achieve the speeds indicated in the charts you linked.)

3) Depending on the type of work being done, the GPU could be more important. It doesn't appear to be in this case, of course. An SSD will save seconds on some tasks, but it's not going to provide the performance that you could get by putting that money into other parts.

4) Semantics. "Most" vs. "some".

5) I'm not sure I understand your use of "faster". If you mean which one can achieve a higher clock speed, it's all up to the individual chip. In general, the i5-750 tends to achieve higher clock speeds. If you mean "provides more processing power," then it depends on the workload...as has been mentioned frequently above.

 

[raclimja]

Except that it isn't. The 1055T X6 is great at multi-threaded apps, but worse than the i5-750 at mixed/poorly-threaded workloads, which is what most computer usage (including all the software development I've seen over the past 10+ years) turns out to be.



1) No one is arguing that the Phenom II X6 doesn't consume more power...more cores are generally going to consume more power. What I don't understand is why you're so focused on power consumption. Very few machines run at 100% load for very long. Most of the time, a standard desktop will be running at 20% CPU utilization. It will certainly spike to 100%, but that isn't a typical usage pattern.

where not talking about "standard desktop that idles 20% cpu"

were talking about a computer that will handle, software development

2) SSDs are great. I love mine. But they're not worth sacrificing the rest of your build in order to purchase one, which you have to do if your budget is $1000. Assuming you spend $150-200 on CPU, $100 on RAM, $150ish on mobo, $100 on OS, $50 on a 500 GB 7200 rpm HDD, $100-200 on a GPU (depending on preference), $75-100 on a PSU, and say, $50-100 on a case...that's between $800-1000, give or take.

what do you mean exactly by sacrificing? so your saying all the parts i included is "junk" and will not function as it supposed to be?

Any reasonable SSD is $200+. (I'll note that I personally feel that anything under 80 GB is lacking, because SSD speed is directly proportional to the size of the storage.

i challenge you to prove it on a drive using sandforce controller A.K.A OCZ Vertex 2 60GB

The 60 GB Vertex 2 you linked isn't going to be able to achieve the speeds indicated in the charts you linked.)

since when? what scenario?

3) Depending on the type of work being done, the GPU could be more important. It doesn't appear to be in this case,

so why are you insisting a gaming gpu on a work computer? and since when GT 240 is not enough for low end gaming?


just for your info, most work computer uses IGP

of course. An SSD will save seconds on some tasks, but it's not going to provide the performance that you could get by putting that money into other parts.

have you encountered scenarios where your are

video editing and saving a raw file at the same time?

burning a disk and surfing the web at the same time at the same time?

scanning computer for viruses/malware/spyware while gaming at the same time?

switching from a heavy texture application to adobe photoshop at the same time?

copying files while installing software at the same time?


also can u define to me what is your meaning of multitasking?

4) Semantics. "Most" vs. "some".

5) I'm not sure I understand your use of "faster". If you mean which one can achieve a higher clock speed, it's all up to the individual chip. In general, the i5-750 tends to achieve higher clock speeds. If you mean "provides more processing power," then it depends on the workload...as has been mentioned frequently above.

faster = can process a task at less time given

 

[buwish]

I think the subject has been hashed out as much as can be.