No Newegg for me...Building help.

Hey folks,

Hope all of you are well. Before I begin...if I don't quickly respond to my posts, it is because of work and Real Life (I wish I could petition the Devs, heh). In addition, I have literally spent weeks learning how to make a computer of which I am still digesting. Sorry for Noobish questions.

Let me say this twice: Do YOU really know how fortunate you are to have Newegg? Do YOU really know...?

I live in a country without it or anything of its like. So finding quality parts without massive mark up is very much a struggle. I was hoping to build my very first computer, however, dramatic price differences may create another reality. The following:

Amd phenom II x4 955BE (for OC'ing), Asus M4a88td-v evo/usb 3, Gigabyte Radeon 6850, 4 Gigs of G. Skill ram, PSU Corsair HX750W 80plus, WD 1TB, a LG ODD and Cooler Master case CM690 with OEM-Windows 7 64 bit. And toss in a cooling fan.

Newegg total is roughly $1000.00. BUT where I live it'll cost close to $1,400. (Comparison example Gigabyte card on Newegg is about $187, BUT here about $245-80.)

**So what to do now? Backup, what would be the (minimal) gaming specs I could get by on for a year or two? Details:

1. AMD CPU to last and to help with burning home videos as well as streaming videos. (AMD is a tad cheaper here).

2. A GPU that can handle COX definitely. And perhaps manage more intense things like a FPS such as CoD or so. Screen resolution beyond 1024 x 768 would be gravy. As for frames per second, try to be smooth.

3. RAM-will DDR2 RAM still be useful for a while? DDR3 gets pricy for here. As for RAM timing...something that'll work.

Thanks in advance...

Well, from looking at your list of parts, there really doesn't seem to be anything that I'd say needs much tweaking. Pretty much everything that you've listed is decent quality.

Power supply: One suggestion that I can make is that if you're not planning on adding a second graphics card into your system down the line then you don't really need a Corsair HX750 power supply. You could scale back to a HX650 to save a bit of money. If you go with the TX power supplies instead of the HX, you'll get the same quality of PSU for even less, but that won't be modular. I'm guessing that if a HX750 costs about the equivalent of $250 US in your country, a TX650 would probably cost about $170, which is not an inconsiderable savings.

DDR2 RAM: the motherboard you're looking it at is a socket AM3, which does not support DDR2.

Graphics card: The Radeon HD 6850 that you're looking at should play CoH quite smoothly at high setting on resolutions up to 1680x1050.

CPU: The 955BE is the perfect CPU for an AMD set up where you're planning on overclocking.

RAM: G.Skill is my brand of choice for RAM, so that looks like a great choice to me. I try to go for the Ripjaws series when I can as I prefer the heatspreaders on those RAM sticks.

Case: The CM690 is an awesome case; again, my brand of choice here too. With the exception of a side panel fan for the graphics card, it should come with all the fans you need. And a side panel fan is really optional and shouldn't make too huge a difference if you skip it.

One thing you didn't mention is the CPU heatsink that you're planning on getting. You don't want to go with just the stock cooler if you're planning on taking that CPU over 3.4Ghz. A very good heatsink that shouldn't cost too much is the Cooler Master V6. I like the V6 because in addition to doing a great job, it is a total solution right out of the box, as opposed to others in its price range or higher which often don't come with any fans at all. If you're planning on something even higher end, then a Thermaltake Frio or Corsair H50/H70 are awesome cooling solutions. Be warned about the Corsair H70 though: it can get crazy loud.

Anyway, as I said, all your choices look pretty solid to me. Good luck.

Wait... is that list the one you're building now, or the parts you have, or ... The AMD 6850 is one of the newest cards they have out. It's (IIRC) running better than my HD 5770. And my 5770 more than handles COH.

The board, per newegg, lists itself as taking DDR3 2000(O.C.) / 1333 / 1066... so DDR2 will not physically fit. Borrowing from Wikipedia's commons for an illustration:



Note the keying slot.

DDR3 will come down in price. DDR2 will eventually rise as it becomes rarer. That said, with enough RAM, you probably won't have to worry about it 'til you're looking at an overall upgrade. (8 Gb? Yeah. Probably set for a while.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

Well DDR2 and DDR3 is pretty much the same here in the states with DDR3 actually a little cheaper in some cases. I'm comparing DDR2-800 Cas 5 to DDR3-1333 Cas 9.

AMD's socket AM3 CPUs support either DDR2 or DDR3 but it's to allow backward compatibility with socket AM2+ motherboards.

Hey folks,

Thanks for replies. Any further input would be greatly appreciated.

I notice from replies that some misunderstandings seem to have come about. My apologies. I should've stated more clearly that I was looking for a backup plan to what I had originally wanted (which I am about to just tough it and bitterly swallow the $1400).

My alternative plan will cost roughly $850-$1000 which doesn't even seem worth it. And I am listing the cheapest, reasonable items I can find/negotiate...

So is this system even worth buying for its "markup"?

1. CPU: Phenom II x3 720be ($120-150) OR Athlon II x3 445 Lana ($110) The 720 is my first choice, if I get "lucky" can have 4th core. Plus O.C. from 2.8ghz to 3.7ghz with just stock and case fans.

2. GPU: 1 GB HD 5670 ($130-$160)

If you want to future-proof yourself for the next 3 to 5 years, grab the DDR3 RAM and AM3 Motherboard/CPU.

If you're just looking for either something to give you a quick cheap experience with building or a short term fix, go the cheaper option.

I've got a 6 core 3.2GHz CPU that I often max out and 8GB of RAM that I often use 5GB to 7GB of (sure, I'm probably the general exception..).

For most people the 3 cores is likely to be sustainable for another 2 or 3 years. For gamers and other high-end users (video editing, photoshop, etc) you'll want 4 cores at least. Similar situation with RAM. Either lots of slower RAM (my 8GB of DDR2 800) or decent chunks of faster RAM (eg. 4GB of DDR3 1333).

Quote:

Originally Posted by McNum Between the Loyalists and Resistance, I'd be tempted to support Praetorian Hamidon. One side uses mind police and will "disappear" you and the other uses poison gas and bombs on civilians. Hamidon? He'll just have a tree eat you. Much simpler. If we're all going to be oppressed and/or killed by someone, it might as well be the walking trees. At least they don't speak in annoying code or doublespeak. They just devour you.

If it were me, I'd spend a little bit more to get a computer that you didn't have to go upgrade for a while, since paying more is what you're stuck with. You might as well get quality rather than pay more for something you're not happy with.