Rebuild of current system, help needed

djshowdowndjshowdown London
edited October 2009 in Hardware
My current system is as follows and has served me well, by todays standards it is struggling though and I need to upgrade it!

3.0 GHZ P4 CPU WITH HT TECHNOLOGY
1GB OF PC3200 RAM(UPGRADE SOON)
RADEON X1650 PRO, AGP
1 x 80GB SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE HARD DRIVE
2 x 500gb SAMSUNG SPINPOINT T166 SATA HARD DRIVES
NEC ND 4550 DVD-R/RW
EDIROL DA-2496 SOUND CARD WITH BREAKOUT BOX
SAMSUNG 152V TFT MONITOR(UPGRADE SOON)
INTEL D875PBZ MOTHERBOARD
HARD DRIVE SILENCING ENCLOSURES
OCZ STEALTH X-STREAM 600W PSU

Now the ide hard drive is getting replaced tomorrow because it has already conked out (AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH) but other than that the drives are cool.

The parts I want to change/upgrade are
*CPU
*Ram
*Graphics Card (I'm not unhappy with it but I HAVE to upgrade this because newer mobo's won't support it right?)
*Motherboard

Also not listed but I need a new case! Something more functional than pretty but would be nice if it was a beauty too :)

The psu I'm quite happy with and its pretty new so no need to change that.

Monitor I can live with but I can update that later anyway so thats fine.

Dvd rw is ok, could do with an upgrade but again, can upgrade later so not fussed about that.

If I have missed anything so far let me know.


Now here is where I'm lost, last time I schooled myself on processors was when I bought my laptop and core 2 duo was all the rage, needless to say it was a while ago.

I want to run 64bit Windows 7 when it comes out. I make music so my pc needs to be quick as possible. Ram of course is vital to me for music making too. Graphics card doesn't need to be anything special because I don't game, I would use my old one if I could!

So yeah, basically, help me spend my money!

Please use component examples from uk websites if possible just to save my poor brain from having to convert from dollars to sterling, its been a long week!

Muchos gracias!

Comments

  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    I know it was a bit long winded but please help!
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited October 2009
    It would probably be helpful if you gave us an idea of your budget. It's kind of hard to make recommendations when we don't know how much money you have available to spend.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    The budget is flexible but if we use £350 as a ballpark figure without the case, any ideas?
  • shackwrrrshackwrrr Lima, oh
    edited October 2009
    id splurge for something like this

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5223968&CatId=3361

    comes to about 480 pounds so not that much over your budget.

    takes care of everything you need with 4gb of ram and a good video card too.

    only problem i see is that mobo doesent have IDE support so you would have to upgrade your dvd burner or get an adapter card.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited October 2009
    My suggestion would be something along these lines.

    Motherboard
    Processor
    Memory
    Video Card

    That would put you at £335.75 if you ordered it today. If you were willing to spend a bit extra, I'd say up the video card to a 4770 instead of the 4750. Of course, that's just my opinion there, I'm sure eleventy billion people will tell me why I'm wrong.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    Thanks for your suggestions guys any chance you could tell me why you landed on those particular components?

    And Ardichoke, thats why we are here dude, to debate stuff like this. I always come here for advice regarding components because the people on this forum are passionate and will give you good reasons for their suggestions. Thanks dude!

    Any other suggestions people? Please bare in mind I'm in UK.

    Many thanks
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited October 2009
    That particular motherboard is supposed to be a rock solid board. The Ultra Durable line of Gigabyte boards are pretty awesome. What I've read about that specific UD board has said it's the creme de la creme. I went with the Phenom II because you're not looking to spend a lot of money. That should give you a good performance per dollar spent ratio. Another person on the forums, lordbean I believe it was, actually was able to unlock the 4th core in his Phenom II X3, that's not a guaranteed situation but there is a chance you will be able to turn that X3 into an X4 plus the chips are generally good overclockers especially in that board. As for the memory, I honestly just looked on the site for the 4G dual channel DDR3 kit that had the best specs and was the fastest the board supports. No specific reason I chose that particular brand really, feel free to tweak there. The card I was just trying to get you as good of a performer as I could with the remaining money. Asus generally makes good cards (IMO) and that particular one is on sale for a good price so that's the one I linked you to.
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited October 2009
    Yes, I did successfully turn a Phenom II x3 into an x4 on my MA790X board. The CPU has tested fully stable running four cores overclocked a decent bit (3.37GHz). Ended up being a pretty good buy.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    Cool cool, thanks for the suggestions.

    Now lets take in to account I'm an Intel snob, yes I know its wrong but I'm stuck in my ways and am prepared to pay the money!

    Any suggestions then?
  • edited October 2009
    Change your mind :)

    Seriously, if you are not going to spring for Core iX series, I agree with the others.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    Lol I figured that might be the response but I just can't bring myself to buy AMD. Ridiculous I know.

    I have put together this little system, tell me what you guys think or what you might change if you were me!

    Motherboard
    Ram
    CPU
    Graphics Card
    Case


    Also, bang for buck, what is the best Core iX processor at the moment?

    I may just have to melt the credit card for this one!

    I do apologize for not disclosing my Intel snobbery earlier.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited October 2009
    Well... I'm out of this conversation then. I know how to build on a budget but I don't know about or care about the i7 line because I refuse to pay Intel's bleeding edge tax.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    This is so difficult!

    I want this system to be future proof. I bought my current system about 6 years ago when it was top of the range. I would like this to last me about as long without a major overhaul. With that in mind, should I go for i7?
  • edited October 2009
    I tried to pick the components from the same place and save your credit card from melting. My Asrock motherboard choice can raise some people's hair but this motherboard has very good reviews and saves you almost £50.

    If you will not overclock, you don't need a better cooler than the stock cooler in the CPU package. I would also choose Core i7 920 and go with Socket 1366 platform.

    I have upgraded the graphics card and gave you another option for upgrading further since you mentioned about not upgrading several years.

    I added a PSU, since you will need one :)

    You can choose the HD, and optical drive. The case choice is good.

    MB: ASROCK X58 Deluxe Intel X58 Socket 1366 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
    RAM: OCZ 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 Obsidian Triple Channel Memory Kit CL9(9-9-9-24) 1.65V
    GPU: (Budget choice) PowerColor HD 5770 1GB GDDR5, Dual DVI HDMIDisplayPort Out PCI-E Graphics Card
    GPU: (Performance choice) Gigabyte HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card
    PSU: Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2009
    It gets good reviews because ASROCK boards never die on the test bench. They die 6 months out when their budget components die off.
  • edited October 2009
    I used two Asrock 939Dual-VSTA boards for more than one year with heavy overclocking and sold them later. I would buy Asrock again. Sure, ASUS, Gigabyte are better.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited October 2009
    I currently have the following
    http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_600w_stealthxstream_power_supply

    Will that not be sufficient?
  • edited October 2009
    djshowdown wrote:

    That should be sufficient.
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