Hi guys, I've been thinking of changing my PC to current standards because mine was far too old already and its time to be changed.
I plan to DIY it from scratch with a budget of about $800.
A little background about what I do will probably give u guys out there a little idea on what i plan to do with it.
I play games like WoW, CS, L4D, Dota, just to name a few. I'm quite an avid gamer but not an hardcore one. I don't go after for high-end graphics but just request for a smooth gameplay. I do extremely basic photo editing and I like to multi-task.
I've searched around and came up with a few specs to look out for, and hopefully can get some help from forumners.
SPECS:
Motherboard: I seriously do not know which to choose. The range of motherboards are way too daunting and is probably the most stressful component of all. Can anyone recommend me something for this?
But im currently looking at the ASUS P5QL-E P43 motherboard. GOod choice?
Processor: Im aiming for Core 2 Duo 7400. Don't see the need for a higher end core 2 duo or a low end core 2 quad like the 8200.
For the chosen motherboard and processor bundled is about $350.
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD4670 or slightly high. 512MB or 1GB?(1gb about $120)
Hard disk: Just a regular one, about 320gb SATA (abt $75)
RAM: 3gb or 4GB (abt $80)
DVD Drive - Regular one will do. Will pick up any from SIM LIM.(abt $60)
Casing and Power Supply will just pick any too. Not very much interested. $100 should settle it.
So total is about $785.
Any recommendations on where to improve? Do help soon guys! hoping to get everything set up by this weekend.
Also, since im building everything from scratch. Would it be wise to go to a reasonably priced shop @ simlim like fuwell or bizgram and get them to build it for me? Any recommendations on that?
Rgds
Part One:
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Motherboard:
Looks like you are interested in intel chipsets. For easier understanding, lets split them into X, P
Asus P5QLE-P43 is a good choice. It is actually a P43 chipset from intel, but built by asus.
P43s have only one slot of pci express 2.0 x16 slot for graphics card.
Since you are not those who play very demanding games, this board should do you fine. I will prefer gigabyte EP-43 because of it's Ultra durable 3 technology. The mobo actually uses 2 oz of copper, facilitating heat dissipitation.
PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) 2.0 x16
PCI express x16 is actually the slot in ur motherboard(mobo for shortform) that u plug in your graphics card. Since you have an older pc, the slot on the motherboard(mobo) could be pci express 1.0, or even AGP(accelerated graphics port) 8x.
The difference between the 2.0 and 1.0 is the about of bandwidth it supports. For eg, the 2.0 means it can take 8mb of data per sec, and the 1.0 can only take 4mb of data per sec
The X16 is the speed
There is also another version called P45.
P45 generally have 2 pci express slots for you to crossfire.
To crossfire means to run 2 ATI graphics card of the same series simultaneously. When running 2 NVIDIA graphics card together, it is called SLI.
AND
Intel chipsets will only support the use of 2 ATI Graphics card[Graphics processing unit(shortform is gpu)]. HOWEVER, the X58 supports SLI
Now for the X series. They are mobo like X38, X48. THe main difference when comparing these board to the p45 is as follows:
When running one gpu on the P45 and on the X38/x48, the gpu will run at x16 speed
WHEN running TWO gpu on the p45 mobo, both card will run at x8 speed EACH. But when running TWO gpu on the x38/x48 mobo, both card will run at both X16 speed
The X58 only supports core i7, and only supports DDR3 ram.
For a gaming pc, we tend to choose mobo that does not comes with onboard graphics, there are also intel chipsets with onboard graphics(but the intel integrated graphics is only good for really light games and office work) Those with nvidia/ati integrated graphics can play some games, but the results are not as fast as those using a dedicated graphics card
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Part 2:
Processor. C2D 7400 is good enough, it runs at 2.8 ghz, 3mb L2 cache, 1066 mhz of front side busThe diff between 7400 and 8400 is just the fsb is being made to 1333(if i remember correctly), the l2 is higher, and the fsb is higher
But if you do not really need the extra stuff, 7400 is enough.
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Part 3:
GPU for $120 is around that performance, dont really remember anything about the benchmarks.
Hdd, a hitachi 320gb should cost you $72 liddat, if you are looking for normal hdd, it will be fine, unless you are going for the western digital raptor.
The diff is just how fast it spins. 3.5"(the one in ur pc) spins at 7200rpm, the raptor spins at 10,000 rpm
THe 2.5"(in the laptop of usb powered hdd), spins at 5400rpm
4gb of value Rams should cost around $76 if there is not much fluctuation
I used to work as a techician at simlim, but stopped after going to poly. Actually it will be better if you choose the cheapest and built them yourself
If you want to be safe, you can go to those big shops like fuwell bizgram, bell, video pro, etc....THere is also shops that does not include gst in some of their parts
Thanks for the introduction and the recommendations.
Other than heat dissipation on the EP-43 and the Asus P43, whats the difference in terms of performance or features?
For the speccific difference must see which model
| GA-EP43C-DS3 | GA-EP43-DS3LR | GA-EP43T-UD3L |
| GA-EP43-UD3L | GA-EP43-US3L | GA-P43-ES3G |
| GA-EP43-DS3R | GA-EP43-DS3 | GA-EP43-DS3L |
| GA-EP43-S3L |
These are the p43s from gigabyte, if u wan the mobo with 2oz of copper, u need to choose the one with endind -UD3.... It stands for Ultra Durable 3. The technology to use 2oz of copper, solid caps etc....
http://sg.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=710
You can go to the 2 websites and see the difference, or search the mobo on the net to see some reviews
Refer to post - http://sgforums.com/forums/2250/topics/365489?page=1#post_9195906
Either one will be locked.
Er, lock the other one.
Copy pasted from the other thread,
It would be wise to go to shops which, yes, are reasonably priced like Fuwell, Best Price, Bell Systems etc. You can ask Pillow for his opinions, but these are those I trust (and visit) the most.
Do you want to go for AMD instead of Intel? Cause I've been testing out this Phenom II 940 rig, and works pretty good. 3.0GHz, add ~$50 for an ASUS mobo and the CPU. Quad-cores are pretty good at multitasking, which my C2Ds (Both laptop and desktop CPUs) seem to lack.
The mobo is pretty good, judging by reviews.
The videocard, I'm not too attracted to the 4600 series, a bit underpowered, to me, but it will do very well for regular gaming on the games you mentioned. Go for the 512MB version, since 1GB on anything less than a 9800/GTS250/HD4850/HD4770 is a waste.
For RAM, try to get a Dual-channel kit. They will cost about the same, depending on the brand.
Warning: DO NOT USE THE PSU THAT CAME WITH YOUR CASE.
These are, more often than not, weak PSUs that aren't rated properly. They could also be generic PSUs, so watch out. Should they overload, they may, or more like will, damage your PC and take some components with them.