New Computer
 

I'm looking into building my own computer, since the one I've got right now is an HP computer that I've slowly upgraded so it could handle more than it should. :P

What parts I have right now are the generic parts I don't really need advice with.
Case, power supply, processor, video card, hard drive

What I really need help finding are a motherboard that goes well with an i5, and 6GB of RAM to go with it. It's possible that I won't be buying a new power supply as the one I have in here is more powerful.

If I don't go with the i5, I'd probably go with something like this. Better price, more powerful. Only thing it lacks that the i5 does take advantage is the dynamic overclocking to fit work loads. Would I really notice any performance problems if I have an Nvidia graphics card and an AMD CPU?

Re: New Computer
 

Either of these should do you pretty well:

Newegg.com - MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - MSI P55-GD80 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

After reading a some reviews on these new MSI boards i'm impressed. They outperform the competing boards in the same price range most of the time, and use less power. The only downside is they lack a BIOS backup feature (the G65 does at least, not sure on the GD80).

Re: New Computer
 

Since Lynnfield uses dual-channel RAM, you want either 4GB or 8GB. You don't need any fabulously expensive RAM, most DDR3-1600 kits will do.

In almost every single benchmark or performance indicator you care to name, the Core i5 750 is faster than the Phenom II X4 955. It's certainly more efficient, uses less power, and uses a more efficient architecture than the Phenom II.

As for Turbo Boost, I would much rather have a permanent overclock and turn Turbo Boost off than leave it at stock with Turbo Boost on. It will certainly give better performance, but depending on the voltages and clocks you settle with, it will use a little or a lot more power.

Re: New Computer
 

Alright, can someone link me to some decent (preferably cheap) RAM kits?

@ Mr. Pedantic: I'm not very hardware literate, so it wouldn't bother me if I had a more power CPU than a more efficient CPU, sin I could save quite a bit more on the Phenom II.

EDIT: What's better, and Nvidia GTX260 or an ATI HD 5770?

Re: New Computer
 

AnandTech: Intel's Core i7 870 & i5 750, Lynnfield: Harder, Better, Faster Stronger

There is no situation where the Phenom II uses less than 40W more than the Core i5. That's about $20 a year, absolute minimum, much, much more if your CPU spends any time idle.

I like G.Skill, but Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, Mushkin, Patriot, OCZ, etc all offer very good, reliable RAM.

For example: Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Desktop Memory

Performance-wise, a GTX260 is better, especially the BFG one you have, which may perform almost the same as a GTX275/HD4890. However, the 5770 offers DirectX11 support, Eyefinity, etc. which may/may not be worthwhile to you. If you don't find your current 260 intolerable, I would stick with the card you have.

Re: New Computer
 

Scratch all that, I'll probably go with the GTX260 and the AMD Phenom II X4, seeing as from what I was told, the HD 5770 isn't JA compatible. :/ It needs to be JA compatible.

Re: New Computer
 

A Phenom II should do you just fine if your main purpose is gaming. If you don't want to spend that much on a i5/i7 setup, its the next best option since socket 775 is dead now. Though your rot really going to be saving that much. At the resolutions most people game at (1280x1024 and higher) the difference between the 955 or 965 and the i5-750 is about 1-7fps most of the time.

That said though, the i5 is a lot faster at other things like multi media encoding, photoshop, ect... and does use a good bit less power. Read some reviews and decide if the difference is big enough to justify the extra cost of the i5 first.

Here's some links to a few reviews on gaming performance:
Core i5 750 - Core i7 860 and 870 processor review
AnandTech: Intel's Core i7 870 & i5 750, Lynnfield: Harder, Better, Faster Stronger
Intel Core i5 750 Processor Review - TechSpot

If you do decide to go AMD, i say get these:

Newegg.com - MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

JA compatible?

Re: New Computer
 

Jedi Academy. Older game and I'm not ready to leave it yet, so I don't want to get a graphics card that, for whatever reason, doesn't run it.

Re: New Computer
 

Good man.

Re: New Computer
 

Can't let go of the classics. lol

Re: New Computer
 

I don't see why the 5770 wouldn't run Jedi academy. Where did you hear that?

Re: New Computer
 

On IRC, didn't save the chatlogs. D:

Re: New Computer
 

I recommend you double check that information before making such a decision then. IRC is probably not the most reliable source of information, and it DOES make little sense.

Re: New Computer
 

:Puzzled:

JA is a game from 2003. If someone told you (over IRC, no less) that JA doesn't work with a 5770, it's most likely due to something they individually did wrong.

Re: New Computer
 

Well, I'd have to find someone I know that has one and plays JA. :/ Not really all that common, since Jedi Academy is a 6 year old game. A lot of people I know that start to upgrade their systems forget that rush you get when you play an old game that you love, and go on to play the more advanced intense action games.

What I need this computer to do, is handle my habits, which are a blend of light gaming and a lot of multimedia art: Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere, Sony Vegas, 3ds Max (2008 and 9), and the games I play on a daily basis (usually just JA and TF2). Also, if I plan to make videos for other games in the future I would like to be able to, if necessary, use FRAPs. I don't think I'll be leaving the source platform, and most source games have build in demo/recording commands.

With that being said, I need a good video card, a good CPU, a motherboard that holds them together and allows them to run at their full, and a lot of RAM. Don't want to botch this one up. D:

Re: New Computer
 

It depends on how much you will be using the multimedia programs. If you use them fairly regularly, then the only change I would recommend is a change from the Core i5 750 to maybe the Core i7 860. The larger number of cores would do these applications good. If you have the money for a Core i5/i7 computer, I would definitely not recommend a Phenom II setup. Otherwise, what we have recommended would be ideal for those tasks. Your OC'd 260 will handle those games with ease, and so will a 5770. Since you already have the 260, and you aren't using any DX11 effects, the only possible thing that would compel you to buy a 5770 is lower power cost (which can be quite significant) or Eyefinity (which may be a real boost to productivity if you like multitasking and using said multimedia programs). If those don't really appeal to you, then I'd stay with the 260.

Re: New Computer
 

I don't really plan on overclocking at all. I'm not very hardware savvy, and I don't want to completely destroy a $150+ piece of hardware before I even get to use it.

Anyways, if the i5 drops heavily in price I'll go with that and probably and ASUS motherboard. As for the graphics card, if the 260 is still there on Newegg when I plan to buy all of this I'll buy it, but if not I'll go with the 4890 (possibly the 5770 if I can figure out if it runs JA or not), or I'll see what people think of the Nvidia 300 series.

I would love to keep this under $800 (currently at $770, I think), but if I have to I'll dig out the extra cash.

Anyways, final build. This is a total of 777 dollars (not including the money I get back after mail and rebate and the prices will probably drop from now and the time I decide to buy this).

Motherboard
Memory
Processor
Video Card
HardDrive
Case