+1,000,000,000,000
+1,000,000,000,000
New guy here. My first build was a AMD k6 350.
There are alot of good suggestions in this thread.
I want to second the idea that you find out what it is you want to do with the machine prior to making a decision. You can do much with the budget you put forth if you play your cards right. You can build or buy a nice machine for what your top budget is. Also, it was mentioned that if you were keeping your existing monitor and other high end peripherials that would save you some cash. Mice and Keyboards are cheap as are the vast majority of printers.
So, the question is, What do you want to do with your machine? Gamer? Home theater PC? Email and internet? Small business?
Are you replacing your monitor(s) etc?
There are alot of good suggestions in this thread.
I want to second the idea that you find out what it is you want to do with the machine prior to making a decision. You can do much with the budget you put forth if you play your cards right. You can build or buy a nice machine for what your top budget is. Also, it was mentioned that if you were keeping your existing monitor and other high end peripherials that would save you some cash. Mice and Keyboards are cheap as are the vast majority of printers.
So, the question is, What do you want to do with your machine? Gamer? Home theater PC? Email and internet? Small business?
Are you replacing your monitor(s) etc?
The RAM (bare min of 4gb) and processor are the MOST important in any basic build. If you are in to any sort of media then definitely upgrade the graphics card next and you can always get hard drive space but a min of 250gb is a good place to start.
I build all my computers for home and our business, and if you are going to have someone build one for you I suggest a Cooler Master case. I have built dozens using these cases with good results every time. Not as fancy as some brands but always good airflow and easy to work with. Here is a good example,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215
I also like Gigabyte motherboards and the Intel i5 or i7 processors. Ram depends on if you are planning to use 32 or 64bit OS. If you want to stick with 32 bit because of older programs that may not run well on 64 bit, you only need 3gb ram. If going with 64 bit OS then you want 4gb or better.
I know of several people that have had problems using the 1TB or larger drives as their main drive. Even some with the 500gb and above drives. Might think of a 320gb main with a 1tb for storage.
Out of that 1k you probably need to allow some for upgrading software. Some of your old programs may not run well on a newer OS depending on what you are running now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119215
I also like Gigabyte motherboards and the Intel i5 or i7 processors. Ram depends on if you are planning to use 32 or 64bit OS. If you want to stick with 32 bit because of older programs that may not run well on 64 bit, you only need 3gb ram. If going with 64 bit OS then you want 4gb or better.
I know of several people that have had problems using the 1TB or larger drives as their main drive. Even some with the 500gb and above drives. Might think of a 320gb main with a 1tb for storage.
Out of that 1k you probably need to allow some for upgrading software. Some of your old programs may not run well on a newer OS depending on what you are running now.
If you think you need 4G ram or more, you have to use Win 7 64 bit. The 32 bit version will not recognize that much.
Gotta know how many slots for ram you have for future upgrade to avoid replacing existing ram and paying more.
I found four Gigs to be plenty for everything I do, or 2Gigs in my 32 bit Win 7s.
Gotta know how many slots for ram you have for future upgrade to avoid replacing existing ram and paying more.
I found four Gigs to be plenty for everything I do, or 2Gigs in my 32 bit Win 7s.
Here are a couple other good sites you might want to check.
www.anandtech.com
www.tomshardware.com
They have lots of good articles, and their message boards are filled with threads of people asking about builds. I would just find a build with a similar budget to what you are going for, and then just copy that. Buy everything from www.newegg.com.
Alternately, you can just buy an already assembled PC from one of the big names (Dell, HP), and just swap in a new video card and power supply if necessary.
www.anandtech.com
www.tomshardware.com
They have lots of good articles, and their message boards are filled with threads of people asking about builds. I would just find a build with a similar budget to what you are going for, and then just copy that. Buy everything from www.newegg.com.
Alternately, you can just buy an already assembled PC from one of the big names (Dell, HP), and just swap in a new video card and power supply if necessary.
That's a really good point that I sometimes forget to stop and think of. I have a MSDN license so I don't have to do things like buy an operating system. That is one advantage of buying from a company like Dell. The other thing I thought of is that depending on the hardware, if you are expecting a super quiet system, then you might have better luck with a store bought since they tend to put an emphasis on that.
If you still want to build, here's another option case wise that I like (which is why I bought it, and have used in a few other builds as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1204035&cm_re=nmediapc-_-11-204-035-_-Product
I have both and love each of them for different reasons
The MSI Military grade boards are built like tanks ! I bought one very recently with an Phenom 2 555 Black edition. the 555 is the same processor as the 955 but AMD locked two of the cores. The MSI board unlocked them so now it is essentially the same. Its been running for about a month clocked to 4 Ghz without a hint of issue .
I think my total shipped for the board, CPU, 4 Gb of ram, and a Asus video card was just under 250
Yup yup! I had to RMA 2 seperate ASUS boards before I went with the MSI. The first one had it's integrated sound fail and the second had it's USB 3.0 fail. ASUS told my it was my problem and that it was the technology or OS I was using.
Oddly, when I put the MSI board into the same hardware (not reinstalling the OS...just a driver refresh) everything has worked perfect!
I tested with the 555 just like you, but the one that I got ran unstable when unlocked. Then again, even without the other 2 cores the 555 ran a 7.0 on the Windows 7 Winsat test. But for anyone that "needs" the extra horsepower i say pay the extra $40 for the 955.
Oddly, when I put the MSI board into the same hardware (not reinstalling the OS...just a driver refresh) everything has worked perfect!
I tested with the 555 just like you, but the one that I got ran unstable when unlocked. Then again, even without the other 2 cores the 555 ran a 7.0 on the Windows 7 Winsat test. But for anyone that "needs" the extra horsepower i say pay the extra $40 for the 955.
