Building a Computer, Recommendations?

[Cronky]

Okay Think-tank, show me what you know...

I shorted out my Motherboard recently. Instead of just buying the same 4-5 year old motherboard so that I can use the same parts I thought I might just look in to getting some new stush. Research has left me clueless though. I have no clue what the difference is between Intel's series of numbers and AMD's use of Multipliers. I can't wrap my head around what a Sandy/Ivy bridge is either, and if it's important.

I'm trying to not spend more than about 500 dollars on this initial rebuild, which seems plausible with what I have already. Less would be better if the performance/price is good enough. I do plan on re-using most of components listed below, but I will also upgrade them eventually and do not want what I buy now to hamper my possibility to upgrade in the future.

Re-useable Components:
-500w PSU
-nvidia 8800GTX
-1920x1080 Monitor (Also a 1440x900 monitor)
-Mouse/keyboard (USB)
-Mid-sized case (could use a new one regardless. Air Flow sucks and Front panel USBs broken)
-1TB SATA2 WD Hard Drive
-DVD R/W drive
-2x2GB DDR2 sticks of RAM (I believe 1033mhz)
-Windows Professional x64

I also don't mean to say that none of the things above couldn't be upgraded if they fell within the price point, but that that's what I have. I want to buy, right now, the bare bones of what I need to get myself a computer to play on again. I know that I can't just go with the cheapest stuff and not expect complications in the future. I wouldn't mind getting a good Motherboard and a cheapy processor if it made sense to wait for prices to go down though.

What would you guys recommend? What you you also recommend I wait to upgrade till later?

[frvge]

At least a DDR3 compatible mobo and 8GB of RAM.
8800GTX is ok, but IMO the newer cards are better while producing less noise.

My 8800GT or GS is reallly loud, and my 7970 is silent, except for the first 5 secs.

[Cronky]

Too true. I assumed DDR3 RAM was pretty standard now. Also the 8800GTX is a bit old for today, but it still works so I'm trying to avoid buying a new video card for now. Figuring out what kind of Motherboard to get would be helpful.

Is there a noticable difference between AMD and Intel?

It seems as if AMD is usually cheaper. Is it worth buying AMD for it's cheaper price, or is there a specific reason (Gaming or Program-wise) that Intel should be preferred?

[frvge]

If you want bang-for-buck: AMD is _usually_ your best bet. For best performance, Intel, but that'll cost you. Not always tho.

I want to double my amount of cores each time I upgrade (every 3-4 years), and since Intel doesn't use 'real' cores but hyperthreading, I'm with AMD currently (real octocore yay).

[Cronky]

Is octo-core actually useful though? I heard that more cores doesn't necessarily lead to better performance mainly because programs have to be built to use those cores. So 8 cores would mean nothing if all your programs only utilize 2. Is that still true to this day?

[frvge]

Yes. However, I sometimes do some video and lighting of maps. AFAIK, it should help there. If you don't, a quad is good.

[knooger]

First of all if you want to use few years old PSU then what's brand and Amperage of it?

About CPUs power

http://www.purepc.pl/procesory/test_amd_fx8150_bulldozer_kontra_intel_sandy_bridge?page=0,7

DDR3 is a MUST! Some decent 2x4GB 1333-1600mhz memory will be enought ( in games u will have no difference at all between 1333 and 1866 or more ).
G.SKILL Ripjaws are $47 on newegg.

I would go for i5 - maybe even Sandy Bridge - they are so powerfull especially when u get *K version which is easy to overclock.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/ComboDeals.aspx?ComboStoreID=1&name=CPUs-Motherboards

I never have used Biostar motherboard, they are not popular in Trolland but friends who had contact with them said they are solid. Just read some reviews if you will think about them.

Remember you don't have to use brand new hardware :)

[Cronky]

You say you'd go for an i5, maybe even a Sandy Bridge, but what is Sandy Bridge? What is Ivy bridge? Why pick 1 over the other? Why not AMDs stush? I know I can look it up, but I might as well ask someone who might explain it in normal speak.

I'm trying to think this through and finding it fairly hard to judge what I should try to find first...

-Should I start with the CPU? Should I go for CPU based on computing power within certain programs? Should I be looking for a specific amount of Cores? Or focusing more on Ghz?

-Should I start with the Motherboard? What's important to look for in a Motherboard for someone who only plans on gaming/drawing/animation? In other words, someone who isn't planning on messing with the computer (other than general maintenance) when it gets set up.

DDR3 seems pretty standard now, but how much RAM is a good amount? I know Frvge said 8, but is 8 the most I'll need for what I will be doing?

Taking in all this, what size Power Supply will I need? Assuming I will eventually upgrade the Video Card/add hard drive(s), get another 1080p monitor, etc?

I don't plan on overclocking anything, mainly because I've already broken enough technology, and I don't trust myself enough not to screw that up. I do plan on upgrading some components when I get the money, but I'm not trying to make a powerhouse machine.

[VaNilla]

As far as the RAM goes 8GB is a nice amount to have, as it improves performance in just about every program. It wont go out of date for a while either, so you'll have a nice overhead in terms of value. I've been using 6GB in my system for 2 years, and I can run BF3 at max settings with 60-100fps. However, I wish I had more RAM for video editing; 6GB is pretty low for programs such as Premiere Pro and Photoshop. I'd pick 12GB max, 6GB minimum. If you do any video/photo editing I'd go with 12GB, 8GB if you want great all around performance, and 6GB if you want to keep costs down.

[Cronky]

Sounds good. When I get the other pieces of this puzzle together I will definitely plan on getting 8-12GB of RAM.

Do you (or anyone) know of a benefit or non-benefit of getting RAM in any specific size? Like 4x2GB versus 2x4GB? I know that you should get the RAM together for best compatibility, but is there anything good or bad about different size configurations?

--------------------

What I still need to figure out:

-Motherboard (AMD or Intel?) (Socket Type?) (Sandy Bridge?) (Features?)
-CPU (AMD or Intel?) (#of Cores?) (Ghz?)
-Power Supply (500+?)
-Case

[DreadStunLock]

I would make an assumption that 4x2GB is better?

Because if a program needs 2.5GB and you have 2x4GB RAM, it wold use the whole of first one and then skip onto the next one? Whereas if you have 2 chips, it wouldn't need to? I don't know how to explain the skip part, but yeah, work with it. xD

[knooger]

Dual channel =  example.: 2x4GB, 4x1GB , Triple channel = example.: 3x2GB, 3x4GB etc.

Memory sticks nowadays have 64bit bus, if you are using Dual channel then u 64x2=128bit bus it's increasing performance in some situations during work with certain data.
Triple Channel ( intel i7 uses it ) multiply 64x3 which makes 192bit bus. So, Dreadstunlock you can see computer sees memory like 1 stick it does not matter for him where he stores data, anyways data inside memory is 0 or 1 and voltage decides if it's 1 or 0.
There is no big difference in performance between Triple and dual channel but I feel i7 processors are not avaliable for you anyways (price).

Friend (Graphic designer) was upgrading his motherboard + CPU lately and after a while he decided to buy i5. These processors are quad core and their performance is very high. Look into link to the test from my first post in this topic, and look on Adobe Photoshop test. He said he's happy with their speed in games.


I suggest you to buy Intel i5 2400 ( or i5 2500K ( letter K means it has unlocked multiplier so it's VERY easy to overclock and get even more performance :) )
Motherboard can be ASRock P67 PRO3 ( newest B3 revision ) or something else with socket 1155 based on P67 or Z77 chipset.

I believe you want to change your Graphics card sooner or later - so PSU should has some known BRAND ( XFX, Seasonic, Corsair, Enermax, BeQuiet, Antec... ) about 600W.
Dreadstunlock can say if he's happy with his Corsair ( I believe he is and I can say I'm happy with mine ) and 7 years warranty ! :)

If you case is ok with ATX standards they u can still use it, just be sure motherboard will fit inside :P

[Cronky]

Alright. Thanks Knooger (and everyone else) for both taking the time to reply and to do so with so much info. You have convinced me that the i5 2500k will be my best bet within my price range. I'm looking into Motherboards right now to see what kind of prices I'll be going for.

From my experience it seems like the 8800 series Video card I have currently hasn't lost it's touch too much in all these years (yes I had to downgrade a few of the newest games, but never TOO much). Is there a similar card now a days? I see new cards from nvidia and amd coming out, what seems like, monthly. I know it can't be worth it to upgrade your card that often, but what would you guys say is the latest major card to come out that would last as long as my 8800GTX has?

Also what is the process for Overclocking processors? Mainly is it easy? It is prone to failure? Obviously if you push something to much it'll break, but it that line that you shouldn't cross clear? Is the benefit worth the risk when first purchasing, or is this something that is better done year(s) down the line when you want to keep up? I always see cooling systems attached to stuff talking about overclocking. Is a liquid cooling system pretty much mandatory if you were to overclock your CPU?

Is there any other stuff that anyone would recommend?

::EDIT::

Would it be worth it when buying a new case (and Motherboard) to get one that has front panel USB3.0 support? (This is aside from back panel USB3.0, which is easier to come by)

[DreadStunLock]

I believe you want to change your Graphics card sooner or later - so PSU should has some known BRAND ( XFX, Seasonic, Corsair, Enermax, BeQuiet, Antec... ) about 600W.
Dreadstunlock can say if he's happy with his Corsair ( I believe he is and I can say I'm happy with mine ) and 7 years warranty ! :)

Ooooooh, you bet your momma's ass I am happy with it, 1200W Corsair PSU is a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabe!

P.S: I disabled 2 additional fans (buttons on the motherboard) on my GPU and CPU, now it's only the PSU that has the fans running, with Max graphics BF3 on full load, I get 59C temperature, it's absolutely silent!

[knooger]

Cronky, don't be so afraid of overclocking - with this architecture it's nothing complicated all you will have to do is to read some articles about it :)
For bigger clocks you would need better heatsink for CPU ( Air Cooling not Water Cooling :) )
IMO it's worth to overclock especially if you are rendering a lot so it takes just less time. If you will have enought power with stock settings then you can do it later when you will feel that u want more power. It's hard to break something ( unless you will put very high voltage ). If you gonna hold your CPU temperature under 80*C it will be all ok ;)

About motherboards - look on some forums like overclock.net and see what they are suggesting to other people. If you buy case i think it's worth to have this USB 3.0 on front panel - it's compatibile with older USB standards so np :P Get case with air filters!

If you go for overclocking you would like to buy better cooling for CPU there are many models on the market.
Zalman Performa, Zalman CNPS10X FLEX ( WARNING NO FANS INCLUDED ),  Thermalright HR-02 (rev 2), SilentiumPC Fortis HE1225 and much more.
Be sure it gonna fit into your case and your RAM sticks will be not too high.

Because this is how big Thermalright HR-02 Macho is:

My Zalman CNPS10X FLEX is smaller but it keep my CPU cold without problems with one silent fan. :)

Oh, if you want to increase your system speed get SSD! These drives are very very fast. Frvge can say something more about this I believe :P
I even think you would be more happy from i5 2400 + motherboard ( idk what model you want to get ) and Crucial M4 128GB instead of i5 2500K and overclocking.
You will use SSD as your system + most used software and HDD for storage :P All matter from prices and money.


I kinda feel like I'm brainwashing you now :(

@Dreadstunlock
OMG, so you have bought this second graphic card or third already?