Looking to upgrade

yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
in Hardware
I think its time for me to upgrade my hardware as its about five years old and my wife has basically taken it over for work anyway. I currently have a home built machine, with 1 x AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor

1 x SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card


1 x OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR13334GK


1 x ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

and a 65W power supply. I see Newegg is selling DIY kits for pretty cheap, but I was wondering if you all have any recommendations, general or specific. I used to do some gaming on the PC, mostly play on the Xbox now. I do use photoshop and some other heavy Adobe programs, plus some home recording and a ton of web surfing. I listen to music and watch movies too.

Thanks for any info!

Comments

  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Well, you are a person who looks for decent value stuff. Lessee.... To be honest, with Adobe graphics software, right now it favors the latest Intel and nVidia stuff. So, it might not perform at full speed with AMD combos right now. That might change, and I kinda hope it does, but....

    As to Cheap DIY, Newegg cuts corners with real cheap kits. They are like anyone else in that way and have to be, though for kits they TRY to be competitive. ). Newegg's more expensive kits are probably the way to go if you really want to keep your new build 4-5 years (I do this, not criticizing).
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    Good stuff! Thanks!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    What's your budget?
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    I'd like to stay below 700 bucks.
  • RootWyrmRootWyrm Icrontian
    I would find another option for the memory. OCZ no longer makes or sells memory. So any currently sold OCZ memory is either not OCZ or old stock with potentially no warranty.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    G.Skill is reliable brand for memory.
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    Cool. Any recommendations for a mobo and processor?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Well, an i5 or i7 from Intel, with personal favorite for Adobe stuff being an i7. Mobo, a z77 chipset mobo from Gigabyte. Sandy Bridge i7 is what I run here, plenty good for Adobe stuff.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Oh, thought of one more major thing...

    OS, Windows probably given specs so far, but Windows 7 Pro, NOT Windows 8 for Photoshop. Adobe has not yet tuned their stuff fully for Windows 8.
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    Does that CPU need to be water cooled? How big a PS would I need?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    The Sandy Bridge i7 CPU is about 125 watts power need. Given a gaming video card, I would use at least a 750 Watt PSU. I would buy a 2600k Sandy Bridge, I live in Florida and slightly overclock the CPU in cooler season.

    Lets say you want 3 monitors, bigger PSU also needed because more power hungry GPU is being used.

    So, PSU wattage partly depends on video cards, which TR.com does well at evaluating.

    Also, a video card for motion video dev needs to be rad different (more powerful)than for static grapic dev, and CPU needs to be faster also for motion graphics work.

    My all-purpose except gaming laptop uses a i7 with an external 170 watt power brick. I usually use its built-in graphics. I use Corel AND Adobe products at the same time as it folds in winter.

    The 2600k is superior to the i7 in the laptop. It is both natively faster and also OCable some. OCable some on air cooling even. It is unlocked multiplier CPU. Being Sandy Bridge it is now discounted some, when 4-6 months from now they get more scarce price will go up a little likely.

    If you live in a climate where summer is hot, an-intended-to-be-OCable CPU has also been binned and tested to be more higher-heat stable at normal speed than a fixed multiplier (non-OCable) CPU can be. Intel guarantees it for 3 years-- they do not considewr some heating issues as much in warranty as they do the locked multiplier CPUs.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    i5 will be sufficient.

    no need for water cooling.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    What do you NOT need to buy? Monitor? Case? Hard drive? Anything you don't need to account for when I piece together the system?
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    edited December 2012
    Assume I'm starting from scratch. Would like to build an up to date, mid to higher performance machine with lots of storage. I don't overclock and do some home music recording and limited gaming. Would like to get a (only have room for one) 27" monitor too if I can do so economically. Revised budget of around $1000.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    That revised budget lets me reach well. For nVidia vs. Radeon, look at www.tr.com . That is tech report's site. For modern games, GPU needs to be somewhat better, for older games an older or lower price card will work.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2012
    I do not know where in the world you are, but if you are in the US I got an email today from a reputable reseller that is closing out an HP Compaq Elite 8300 desktop for about 65% of normal retail price:

    Link : http://www.pcmall.com/p/product~dpno~9392531~pdp.iaajbfi#activeTab=pdpOverview
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    I'm in the US and would love the info if possible. yossarian084@gmail.com
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    The link is to the machine offer.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2013
    Here is a Lenovo that would work well for you.

    Lenovo has some low-priced series desktops, but they are mostly i3 desktops and would not work well for Adobe stuff. The one I linked to is about at the top of your budget.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Here is a Dell XPS 8500. Look at these (the Dell and the other two I linked to) to get specs if you really want to build your own machine.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Here is a decent i5 builder's combo for you, but the total system cost will climb about 250-300 over your budget of $1,000.
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    The combo looks like a winner, but that is one ugly case! lol
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    OK. I have the case, an i5 processor, 16GB RAM, what is a good graphics card? I don't game all that much and my video needs are minimal. I'm thinking this will be sufficient: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121446
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2013
    If you don't game all that much, you'd get comparable performance at a cheaper price out of a Radeon HD 7770. Or superior performance with an HD 7850 at about the same price.

    Note: I work for AMD. Buy my stuff.
  • yossarian084yossarian084 Norwich, VT, USA Member
    Ha. Thanks for the info!
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