**New Build Guide**

[JClark1]

Hey there. I was looking through your guides and they look great.
I am wondering though if you could provide some insight as to a good CPU/MoBo and GPU config with Intel and Nvidia instead of AMD and ATI.

I've looked over the internet a little and can't really find a definitive answer to my question of: Go quad core? and then if you go quad core, do I go all the way and get an i7 or would the core 2 quad or an AMD quad be a better choice?

So you know, I play games, like fallout, crysis, assassin's creed, and will be playing a new mmo when it releases later this year.

I currently have an HP Pavillion a1750y desktop with 2 gigs of ram, an nvidia 9500GT graphics card and the CPU is 3ghz Pentium D.

And I am currently not happy with its multi-tasking ability and its performance with games is decent, but I'd like ti to be better.


sorry for the long post, but I try to be thorough.

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

edit: simply upgrading my current system isn't really an option cause in about a year and a half I'll be off to college and leaving this PC here for my parents.

 

[PokerDegenerate]

Well it depends on your budget honestly. you will get what you paid for of course. If you want a top of the line intel system the I7 is the way to go but if you are just looking for a good performer at a modest price you could go with a C2Q. A C2Q is going to handle anything you can throw at it but it just isn't going to perform "as well" as an I7.

Honestly if you are on a tight budget you will find AMD has the best bang for the buck and right now on NewEgg (if you are in the US or CA) U can get a Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition for only 189.99 with free shipping. It also has an 80 dollar savings on a combo deal with vista ultimate.

The Phenom II's are a great CPU and will keep up with if not beat the I7 in most games and is ALOT cheaper. As for your multitasking problem a quad core will definitely be beneficial for you.

Honestly though it is up to you whether you want to go with Intel or AMD both are going to do what you need them to do. The only difference is going to be how much money you are looking to spend in order to get that performance. AMD is going to be the best bang for the buck when comparing the Phenom II and the I7 because of the currently high costs for DDR3 ram and expensive Motherboards for the I7. But they are going to be a "little" more future proof. You could also go with the Tri-core AMD chips that have DDR3 capabilities as well if you want to get the more future proof technology but it is going to be more costly and you are currently not going to see much of a difference in the performance because the technology isn't fully utilized yet.

I hope I have answered all your questions/concerns

 

[JClark1]

Thanks for the reply!
I do, but I don't have the money to spend on an i7. I will have the money, but should allocate it to other things. I'm an intel person myself, but I may look into getting an AMD Quad core to save some money.

This might sound stupid, but you can use any video card you want with an AMD board, right? like I don't have to use ATI cards....

 

[PokerDegenerate]

Thanks for the reply!
I do, but I don't have the money to spend on an i7. I will have the money, but should allocate it to other things. I'm an intel person myself, but I may look into getting an AMD Quad core to save some money.

This might sound stupid, but you can use any video card you want with an AMD board, right? like I don't have to use ATI cards....

Yeah u can use either Nvidia or ATI it doesn't matter

 

[babalooo]

I thought many of you would find this review database useful when building a new pc - you don't need to search for them on google.

 

[ndatoxicity]

how do you hybrid crossfire?

 

[Holysky]

You have to have a Motherboard that has lets say, 8 series graphics (8600,8800gt, 8500GS) and it has to support Hybrid SLI

You run both 8 series graphics together and get a mild speed increase

 

[jdrum10j]

Hi there, great guide!

I'm looking to build a desktop to use for some recording in a home studio. The PC is for my brother and his budget is about $500 bucks. He has the monitor, OS, and peripherals taken care already.

I was wondering if your mid-range system would be able to handle the load of recording? I know his software and interfaces are only 32-bit compatible.

I've been looking around at parts, but figured I'd check here for some recommendations.
Thanks!

 

[Traver]

Hello,

I've been assembling a brand new PC (haven't ordered anything yet), and looking through your guide, it looks like I'm on the right track. However, since this is my very first time assembling one myself, I wouldn't mind getting all the help I can get. I saw a post further up where you said you could look at some stuff if we posted it, so here goes. I'm pretty much limited to items that overclockers.co.uk have in stock, because I can't find any other decently stocked companies that ship to Denmark.

These are the parts I've settled on for now:

Processor: Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe v2 Intel X58
RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3
Case: Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Case
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB
PSU: Corsair TX 750W ATX
Graphics card: Asus GeForce GTX 285 1024MB
DVD drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7200S 20x
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Monitor: Samsung SM2233BW 22"
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Fan(s): Akasa AK-191-SM

Some of the specific things I'm concerned about are:
- Compatability. Do all the things fit together, or do some have the wrong inputs/chips/whatever?
- Case size. Would all those things fit into that case, or would I need a full tower?
- Oversights. Have I missed some items that I need to build a PC?
- Quality. Are all the items at least decent quality?

Any help, thoughts or comments are very very appreciated!

 

[PokerDegenerate]

that is actually a REALLY nice build. The only thing I would change about it is the size of the hard drive. Unless you have other ones already. 80gb is going to fill up really quickly especially when you are putting the Operating system on it as well. Also what operating system are you going to be using?

That case will fit all of that in there