royaleduke

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May 27, 2009
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Hello, Long time lurker and first time poster to Tom's Hardware. Just thought I'd ask you guys a few questions.

So, I should be ready to buy a new computer soon(3 or 4 months) and I was wondering what you guys think of this set up that I'll post specs for. Since my old(LOL CRAP) Dell PC died a fiery death about 8 months ago(I've been reduced to a 5-year-old craptop which is slowly dying)

So, for posterity here's my old PC(prepare for the lulz):

Hard Drive: 30gig HD with 25 gigs of available space

RAM: 1 gig DDRPC2700 split into two 512 sticks(Kingston Value ram LOL)

CPU: Intel Celeron III or something rather at 2.14GHZ

GPU: Radeon 9250 256mb PCI
A lone CD rom drive and Windows XP SP2

Alright...So I researched EVERYTHING to the point of utter exhaustion, hardware,operating system, monitor,etc. and I know DX11 cards are around the corner(couldn't care less tbh, it's going to be awhile before we'll need that kind of power) as well as some other things.

But, that said my old gaming(if you could call it that)computer lasted me for about 5 years before it died, mind you I couldn't play everything that I wanted or at the settings I would of preferred but...oh well. Now is the time to buy myself a true gaming computer, and so here are the new PC's specs:

New PC of Awesome:

Case: Cooler Master 932 HAF Full Tower

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-850TX 850w PSU

MB: EVGA E758-A1 X58 motherboard

HD: Two Seagate 1TB 7200.12 and a lone 500GB Seagate that a friend gave to me that he couldn't use.

RAM: G.Skill 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3 1600 kit

CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66GHZ

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P

GPU: HD4890 Crossfire or 285GTX SLI

Soundcard: X-FI Titanium Champion series Fatality edition

Speakers: Logitech G51's or Z-5500's

Monitor: 22'' Acer x223wbd 5ms monitor

Disk Drives: LG IDE DVD burner and Lite-on DVD/CD sata drive

Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech G11 keyboard and Logitech MX518 optical mouse

OS and Other software: Windows Vista 64-bit(or Windows 7) and about 5 or 6 games.

Grand total comes to about 2600-2700+ and some change, however I figure that will drop by about 150-250 or more by the time I have the money handy.

Aaaand... That about does it, since I have absolutely nothing to fall back on from the last computer(monitor, and pretty much all hardware FRIED) I am sparing no expense in a BANG for buck set-up of my dreams.

I plan on purchasing everything from newegg.com, and BTW I have also looked at a comparative AMD based build and the price difference is maybe...50-100 dollars, so I figure I'll probably just go with an i7 build.

Now, I don't feel any "How is this PC set up" thread is complete without this question: How big of a step up is this computer compared to my old one?

And before anyone asks...Yes I really DO need 2.5tb of space! :lol: Just so I can say I have that much... And I can honestly say that I won't need anything more than either 2 HD4890's or 2 285 GTX's for quite awhile. I'll probably wait until the intial rush of DX11 blows over and buy a couple when the prices are decreased.
 

jpdykes

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Looks solid.

I would head for a 24" screen, gives you native 1080p for HD.
Edit: You wouldn't need 2x 4890's for 22". One would probably do fine.

Unless you are doing some semi-pro sound work or are a big music lover then you probably won't need the sound card. The general advice from the forums is always try without then add if you need it.
 

tecmo34

Administrator
Moderator
I would recommend changing your monitor out for at least 24"+ monitor. Running a pair of the 4890's or GTX 285's is way over kill for a 22" monitor. Since you are going all out... why don't you upgrade to 12GB of memory instead of just 6GB?

Monitor Recommendations:
Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers - Retail ($349.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254026

ASUS VK266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail ($349.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236046

ASUS MK241H Black 24" 2ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor with 1.3M Pixel Webcam - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236033

SAMSUNG T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor - Retail ($319.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001280

Step Up: I see it similar to a 6th Grade basketball player going against Lebron James in a one on one game... The size of the Sun compared to a grain of sand.... Do you get my picture... :kaola: They are two different realms and have no comparison.
 

royaleduke

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May 27, 2009
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Ahh, Much thanks for the recommendations everyone! They have been taken into consideration!

Good to see the replies funnel in so fast as well, and it certainly seems I'll be getting my monies worth.

And thank you Tecmo for the step up comparison, it seems like my mind shall be hit with a Hydrogen Bomb as I power it on for the first time. :eek:
 

royaleduke

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May 27, 2009
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It seems like Asus has had a bad run with QC lately and as this is my first PC build(but certainly not my first time installing/removing a component from a computer) I want everything to go smoothly, I also don't really plan to OC to much, probably just a modest OC on the CPU but we'll see in time. That said, I am fully prepared for the worst but I pray that when the time comes for me to stop hovering my finger over the checkout button that I will not have to deal with RMA.