Rebuilding System from Scratch

[jahnri]

Current System:
AMD 64 +3200 OCed to about 4ghz
2gb Ram PC3200
Windows XP on a Ancient 60bg HD
ATI x1800XL 512mb GPU
PSU:Reliable 650watt
Case: Server Case, serious fan system, HUGE, great for upgrades

Planned Build:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo e8500 3.16ghz $181.00
MOBO: Gigabyte EP45T-UD3P $139.00
Ram: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $81.00
Fan: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V $40.00

Generally I was curious if anyone could recommend a better build for about 460 bucks? Ill be replaced my GPU later so no worries on that. I would prefer a ATI Mobo though so I can use what I have. Its a beautiful old lady, still runs Fallout3 like a champ. So what are your guys and gals recommendations?

 

[Helloworld_98]

Anything 775 based at the moment is pointless, drop the E8500 and mobo for a 720 BE and a mobo with a 790 chipset and a better cooler if possible.

 

[chjade84]

I built a similar system and it works wonderfully.

CPU: E8500 - $189 @ newegg
MOBO: ASUS P5Q-E - $144 @ newegg
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $53 @ newegg
FAN: ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler - ~$40 @ newegg (currently out of stock)

The fan works very well. OC'ed to 4GHz 30c idle and 45-50c under load.

Your system looks very nice too. You really can't go wrong as long as your parts are compatible and you don't go for the cheap stuff.

 

[jahnri]

I don't understand why someone would say using 775 is pointless. Its at its pinnacle and for the price outperforms the AMD in all tests.

I dont plan on upgrading for another 2 years in anycase. Which is why I mite get a Intel C2d Q9550. In which case I at least have a quad core for if I do multitask. Which I dont. Which is the main reason I went for a DUO core such as the E8500. Pricewise if I went for a quad and used amd Id end up paying more in the long run.
Any good reasons to use AMD I dont know about?

 

[fatcat]

The system you put together is pretty decent and you shouldn't have any problems running pretty much anything you want for the next couple of years. As far as gaming is concerned, only a handful of games are using 4 cores despite the fact that quads have been around for last 2 or 3 years. the gaming market seems a bit slow to pick up on that.

 

[Dekasav]

I didn't think the Athlon 64's made it over 3.5Ghz.... Watercooled, crazy volts, or just lucky?

Or am I missing a piece of my tech history?

 

[croc]

I've never heard of a 'reliable' PSU brand...

I'm not fond if the xigmateks,there are better out there, but for that price it will more than do.

Re-using your XP? It's retail, right? OEM will not work, you are changing out too much of the system.

 

[jahnri]

Very astute observation Dekasav! I was using a pretty crazy setup. No watercooling though. Just a extreme aircooling rig with a similar system to the Xigy. Shamefully old and unable to be used on a e8500 though.

Good to hear everyone likes the e8500. I had a feeling it was stable enough for my needs.
Any recommendations as to which other CPU coolers I should use besides the Xigy Croc?

A note on the older system, I was a bit lucky and I have a wicked cooling system, which unfortunately wont work on the e8500. I never press it much above 3.6ghz. 4ghz was just a peak I hit once and ran for a few hours. The AMD64 +3200 was a beautiful cpu for the time :lol:

Oh and as for the OS .. not to worry , switching the HD and OS out with Vista 64bit. A friend has a copy of Vista laying around unused I can use. As for a HD, so cheap these days I didnt even list it as a part.

Keep up the great advice guys, any alternative setups is welcome!

 

[Helloworld_98]

I was talking about the Phenom II's, the AM3 one's? no?

Well their owning the E8xxx series left and right in multithreaded tasks and their cheaper, also buying an am3 board will allow you to upgrade later on since 775's will be discontinued in august.

Also Clock speed doesn't matter, it's about FSB and architecture. Hence why a 2ghz athlon 64 was equal to a 3.2ghz pentium 4.

 

[Why_Me]

Current System:
AMD 64 +3200 OCed to about 4ghz
2gb Ram PC3200
Windows XP on a Ancient 60bg HD
ATI x1800XL 512mb GPU
PSU:Reliable 650watt
Case: Server Case, serious fan system, HUGE, great for upgrades

Planned Build:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo e8500 3.16ghz $181.00
MOBO: Gigabyte EP45T-UD3P $139.00
Ram: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $81.00
Fan: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V $40.00

Generally I was curious if anyone could recommend a better build for about 460 bucks? Ill be replaced my GPU later so no worries on that. I would prefer a ATI Mobo though so I can use what I have. Its a beautiful old lady, still runs Fallout3 like a champ. So what are your guys and gals recommendations?

-1 on all the posters above for not pointing out the obvious. Ok here we go... by the numbers.....

1) CPU....the E8500 in my eyes is a rip off. The E8400 is cheaper and clocks like a champ. In fact if you give the E8400 a nice mild "bump" (9 x 400) it puts it at 3.6GHz @ 1600 fsb and this is a mild overclock for that cpu. In other words...save your money.

2) Motherboard...if you don't plan on running Crossfire and not blowing your money on DDR3 unless your going to run an i7 rig with an X58 board than the one down below would be the obvious choice. That and it's an overclocking beast.

3) Memory... DDR2 800 low latency ftw. Cheap, fast, and overclocks like a beast. The price on that Gskill down below is a steal ...not to mention free shipping.

4) With the money you saved on this, take a serious look at that 4870 vid card posted below. It's at a great price right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 $114.99 ($99.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate)
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail / 2 oz copper PCB + Easy Tune 6 for OC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 $164.99 Free Shipping*
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233026 $26.99
XIGMATEK nepartak - s983 92mm HYPRO Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $8.49
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 $44.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Total: $367.44 (not including shipping and rebates)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810 $164.99 ($149.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

 

[Why_Me]

I was talking about the Phenom II's, the AM3 one's? no?

Well their owning the E8xxx series left and right in multithreaded tasks and their cheaper, also buying an am3 board will allow you to upgrade later on since 775's will be discontinued in august.

Also Clock speed doesn't matter, it's about FSB and architecture. Hence why a 2ghz athlon 64 was equal to a 3.2ghz pentium 4.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3512&p=1 <--- Reasons why "not" to go with AMD.

 

[jahnri]

First off, thank you Why_me! You've helped me a ton!
I actually was considering the e8400 for that reason. Im not exactly familiar with the cpu since I've been working on AMD's all this time. What I do know is its easily OCed to 3.2. Basically making it more then equal to the e8500.

Im curious why you didnt go with the DDR2 900. Its basically 4 bucks more. Is it simply no faster? I tend to agree my build was a bit pricey. I just liked having 3rd generation ram because I know with that mobo I can upgrade to DDR3 1600+ or above at some point and once programmers start taking advantage of ddr3 I think Id be kicking myself for ddr2. Mind you am I wrong?

Love the heat sink recommendation!

Id actually like a competitive AMD build from Hello. Im always listening to both sides of the debate. Oh and lastly as for the GPU, Im waiting a few months for that. My old one will do the job for now.

 

[Why_Me]

First off, thank you Why_me! You've helped me a ton!
I actually was considering the e8400 for that reason. Im not exactly familiar with the cpu since I've been working on AMD's all this time. What I do know is its easily OCed to 3.2. Basically making it more then equal to the e8500.

Im curious why you didnt go with the DDR2 900. Its basically 4 bucks more. Is it simply no faster? I tend to agree my build was a bit pricey. I just liked having 3rd generation ram because I know with that mobo I can upgrade to DDR3 1600+ or above at some point and once programmers start taking advantage of ddr3 I think Id be kicking myself for ddr2. Mind you am I wrong?

Love the heat sink recommendation!

Id actually like a competitive AMD build from Hello. Im always listening to both sides of the debate. Oh and lastly as for the GPU, Im waiting a few months for that. My old one will do the job for now.

By the time DDR3 becomes a fad, you will be able to purchase an affordable i7 build. i7 is where it's at, but they tend to be spendy.

I used AMD for years...they were cheap and overclocked like champs. Well Intel turned the tables on that. Now when you overclock an Intel, it eats up the AMD. Head to head...Intel is like light years ahead of AMD right now. I'm sure that will change, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

DDR2 800 does just about anything you want it to do. You can run it at 1100, 1200, etc....it's flexible. Take that E8400 and clock it to 3.6 and that ram clock right along with it. 400 ftw.

 

[jahnri]

My Pc is complete! Turns out I was able to land a awesome deal on a AMD build which is as follows:
CPU: AMD Phenom2 X3 720BE
Motherboard: ASUS 780GX, had no plans to crossfire
Ram: 4gb Patriot DDR3 1600MHZ Cas latency 7
Video Card: Asus DK/TOP 4870 512mb OCed
Case: Modified Antec 300
The reason I got such a deal is a pile of rebats on Newegg! YAY NEWEGG!
All and all after combos it came to 520 bucks. A few less then the e8500 build and plenty of overclock headroom. TO Top it off, my CPU had the unlockable 4th core! HUZZAH! So I ended up with a quad core for basically the cost of a duo!
Oh to top it all off , due to a mistake with shipping, newegg gave me 40 dollars credit. Ill be grabbing a new Powersupply. This new system is amazing because of how quiet it ended up being. Theres no sound at all almost. Plus its running alot cooler then I expected. Not to mention the CPU is sucking way less juice then I expected. Anycase thanks for all the advice!
P.S. I ended up building the E8400 build for a friend. Works wonders!