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April 09 build - realistic expactations?
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emugamer
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9. October 2008 @ 12:42 |
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Well, I didn't see how my question fit into any of the sticky categories, so I thought I would start a new thread. This is not a request for specific components, but rather a request as to what I should be watching out for and what I may want to wait for.
I'm looking to build a rig in the March-April 09 timeframe. I'd like to spend between $1,200 - $1,500 max on it. I have a case already. I started buying big ticket items this year, like a huge full tower Coolermaster case (that I am currently using for my existing older setup), a decent 22" monitor with HDMI-in, plenty of HDD storage (I have TB's floating around the house for various reasons). The only advice I am looking for is mobo, processor, video card and OS, and what direction they are headed in the next 5-6 months. I can figure out the rest once those items are taken care of.
What I want to do -
Mainly, I want to be able to process and edit HD video, as well as do some blu ray authoring. My collection of 1080p family movies that I've been shooting with my Vixia HF-10 is growing and I want to eventually be able to compile, edit and author them to blu ray to give to family members. I also want to be able to rip my blu ray movie collection for use with my Popcorn Hour. I've never been a fan of any disc format and have always found ways to convert to digital and stream. I'm sure that the cost of a bluray burner will go down in that time, and regardless of any drop in bluray media, it would still be worth it for me for what I want to do.
I would like to experiment with gaming. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I would like to be able to try out any game out there and not be limited by my specs (at least for a couple of years).
Are my PC needs realistic? What are the hardware/software limitations with what I want to do?
Appreciate any feedback!
Thanks in advance.
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AfterDawn Addict
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10. October 2008 @ 09:04 |
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The PC hardware market changes too fast. Your needs are certainly realistic, but which components are worth buying will change completely by the time you come to build your system. Ask again nearer the time :)
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emugamer
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10. October 2008 @ 10:05 |
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Thanks for the advice sammorris. Will do!
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spamual
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13. October 2008 @ 16:40 |
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youd ideally want a 24" and i7 with a P55 chipset, 3*2GB of DDR3
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emugamer
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13. October 2008 @ 17:52 |
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Thanks spamual. Not sure I want to wait that long though. Looks like Q3-Q4 09 before we see P55 and 8 cores. And then what software will be available that would utilize that processing power and justify the pricetag? At least from what I've read. If you have other sources, let me know. Not sure about upgrading to a 24". I'd rather put the $$$ toward high quality components. I guess if I end up giving my wife my current build, I can give her this 22" monitor and got to 24", but I don't see the need right now. I have a 26" LCD HDTV and will be getting a 46" Plasma sometime in 09. I'm more of a console gamer, so a larger PC monitor would just be a luxury rather than a necessity. And with my HDMI-in, it suits me very well right now. I may try to dabble in overclocking, but not for gaming. It would mainly be for handling full 1080p HD video.
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. October 2008 @ 19:11 |
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1080p video will obviouslt display on a 24" PC monitor... :)
but all you need to play it on an external screen like a full size HDTV is a HD graphics card, and a cheapy HD4550 will do that job fine for 50 dollars.
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emugamer
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13. October 2008 @ 19:43 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
1080p video will obviouslt display on a 24" PC monitor... :)
but all you need to play it on an external screen like a full size HDTV is a HD graphics card, and a cheapy HD4550 will do that job fine for 50 dollars.
Yeah, even though my max res now is 1680x1050, I don't mind. I'm not looking to really watch anything on it for any period of time. I can always minimize the video to fit in the screen. 22" is large enough for me to use as a work space to edit and author HD content....but it would be a nice luxury to have a 24" eventually ;) I will not be outputting to a TV from my PC. I will have a 1TB HDD in my Popcorn Hour and transfer my 1080p rips to play locally off that device. But good to know that all I would need is a cheap video card if I ever wanted to!
Thanks for the input guys! Much appreciated!
So if I wanted to spec out a mobo, CPU and video card now, what would be my best bet? P45? How about video card? Should I consider 2 cheaper video cards for SLI, or get a single more powerful video card? Any links to a top of the line mobo on newegg that you can post?
It seems like the nVidia 9 series cards actually seem relatively cheap, but from what I've read, they are not much more powerful than the higher quality 8 series cards.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. October 2008 @ 19:48
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spamual
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13. October 2008 @ 20:01 |
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4 series ati are the way to go with their AVIVO with 7.1 HDMI surround sound
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AfterDawn Addict
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14. October 2008 @ 07:36 |
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SLi is never the way to go, especially not with cheap cards, as one $100 card will beat two $60 cards every time. The Radeon HD4000 series has better HD playback than nvidia's cards.
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emugamer
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18. November 2008 @ 12:43 |
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Ok, well I came across some extra funds and I thought I wold revisit this now because I am in the market for my new rig. It's been a while (approximately 4 years) since I built one and I haven't kept up with all the changes since then, except for most basic stuff on video cards, processors, mobo's.
My first question is what should I be looking for in a motherboard. I want high quality and one that is upgradeable and it has to be Intel. I'm looking for support for a quad core processor.
My second question (which may be related to the 1st one) is 64 bit OS or 32 bit OS? 64 bit will alow me to use more RAM, and I know there may be other hardware compatibility isses, as well as software. Remember that my main function will be processing full 1080p video (which I know is also partially dependant on the video card).
How close are we to a shift in technology where the existing high-end mobo's, processors, ram, video cards etc.. will be upgraded to new ones with higher specs? Depending on what is coming down the pipe, would it be a good idea to hold off just a little while longer?
Originally posted by spamual:
youd ideally want a 24" and i7 with a P55 chipset, 3*2GB of DDR3
Do you know if there are there upgrades in the near future to the P55 chipset?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. November 2008 @ 12:44
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spamual
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18. November 2008 @ 12:49 |
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well i7 came out yesterday, its an encoders heaven :D
64bit vista has been better then XP ever was for me since july 07 :D
(though i wont guarranty that for you, and my software luck is of handed by my HW woes...)
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. November 2008 @ 14:43 |
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Vista 64 generally works OK, but does have some software incompatibility issues, so you'll need to check if all the programs you use will work with it. Give us your total budget and we'll design a system for you.
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emugamer
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18. November 2008 @ 15:19 |
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Thanks guys. $1,500. Although, I may try to justify a little more depending on how much increased performance it would get me.
I already have a Coolermaster full tower ATX form factor, so space is not an issue.
I already have a 22" monitor that I am happy with. I won't be using my PC to actually watch movies. Resizing a 1080p image to fit in a 1680x1050 screen for editing is not a problem. I may upgrade to a 24" LCD in a year or 2.
I don't care for RAID right now, but a mobo with RAID would not hurt to look into. I never bought into it in the past since the importance of my data never justified spending money on space that I won't use. I have backups upon backups on DVD's and numerous HDD's in enclosures scattered about. In the past 10 years, I've never had a HDD fail - even with PC's I've had on 24/7 for a couple of years. So my primary HDD will be 500GB and I'll throw in a secondary 500GB. For ripping blurays, I have TB's of storage and use an external media tank to watch them. I store all of my HD home video on DVD-9's right now, and in the future, plan on using bluray to store them (if the price gets a little more reasonable). In summary, this PC will not be used to store important data. It will be a workhorse (and occasional game station ;), whose data will continuously be transferred to other media.
I would like a video card that is HDCP compliant and would allow for a lossless signal to a HDTV. Is this realistic? Someone told me that most TV's have a PC input limit of 1080i. I will be getting a new 46" Plasma next year some time, probably one of the Panasonics. I'm still doing the research.
So, what I need:
mobo
processor
ram
video card
I can spec out the power supply with those items.
Also, any suggestions in terms of non-stock CPU cooling would be much appreciated. Any other suggestions and/or corrections will be much appreciated.
Thanks!
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emugamer
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18. November 2008 @ 15:31 |
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Actually, let me revise my budget. I want to be inthe $1,200 range, but will entertain up to $1,500. And like I mentioned, it would depend on the ratio of performance to cost increase. How much performance would I really be getting for an extra $300. In the end, it may be worth it.
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AfterDawn Addict
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19. November 2008 @ 05:22 |
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emugamer
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20. November 2008 @ 11:52 |
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Great. Thanks for the recommendations. I "wish listed" it and am using it as a base system. I've been creating other wish lists building off that one to see what the cost would be for more. It's a great comparison. I may have more questions shortly!
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emugamer
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21. November 2008 @ 08:44 |
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Senior Member
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21. November 2008 @ 10:53 |
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GAMING COMPUTER - Intel q9550 @ 3.4ghz | EVGA GTX 260 core 216 | Gigabyte ds3l | 6gb Gskill DDR2 800 ram | Silverstone 700 watt psu | WD 640gb hdd | Seagate 300gb hdd | LG dvd burner | Samsung dvd burner | Antec p182 case | logitech 2.1 speakers | logitech g11 keyboard | Samsung 25.5in 1900x1200 monitor | 19in 1440x900 secondary monitor | Windows 7 64bit | SERVER - Gigabyte 785g motherboard | AMD Phenom 9650 | 6gb ram | three 1.5tb hdd | Seagate 1tb hdd | WD 750gb hdd | two 300gb hdd | Maxtor 200gb hdd | Ark rackmount case | CentOS 5.5
Steam name = "krj15489" alias = Jordan-k
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AfterDawn Addict
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21. November 2008 @ 12:06 |
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Agreed on all those changes, especially the power supply and RAM. Raidmax PSUs are terrible.
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emugamer
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21. November 2008 @ 12:40 |
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Any thoughts on Blu Ray burners? I found 2 - LG 6X. 25GB media 2X is only $7.99. 4X is $10.99. 50GB media is ridiculous. 25GB is reasonable for what I want to do.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136155
What are the chances the price will come down soon? I guess I could wait if it was expected for the price to come down soon. $1,129 is pretty good for everything else in my cart.
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AfterDawn Addict
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21. November 2008 @ 12:42 |
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The price of bluray drives quartered after HD-DVD disappeared. it might go down a bit later on, but probably not by much.
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emugamer
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3. December 2008 @ 09:37 |
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I can't seem to find anywhere if it's best to install DDR3 memory in pairs. I'm trying to figure out if I should wait until DDR3 RAM comes down in price and then get 4 - 2GB modules (2-2GB modules list for $180). I read somewhere a long time ago that all DDR memory should be installed in pairs to get the most out of the RAM speed.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 3. December 2008 @ 09:38
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Senior Member
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3. December 2008 @ 10:06 |
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core i7 uses triple channel memory so it is best to use 3 sticks. 3x2gb. ram prices have dropped a little bit. a 6gb ddr3 1333 set is about $180. i would not wait till memory prices drop to build because you will always be waiting. just build when you need the computer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161303
GAMING COMPUTER - Intel q9550 @ 3.4ghz | EVGA GTX 260 core 216 | Gigabyte ds3l | 6gb Gskill DDR2 800 ram | Silverstone 700 watt psu | WD 640gb hdd | Seagate 300gb hdd | LG dvd burner | Samsung dvd burner | Antec p182 case | logitech 2.1 speakers | logitech g11 keyboard | Samsung 25.5in 1900x1200 monitor | 19in 1440x900 secondary monitor | Windows 7 64bit | SERVER - Gigabyte 785g motherboard | AMD Phenom 9650 | 6gb ram | three 1.5tb hdd | Seagate 1tb hdd | WD 750gb hdd | two 300gb hdd | Maxtor 200gb hdd | Ark rackmount case | CentOS 5.5
Steam name = "krj15489" alias = Jordan-k
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AfterDawn Addict
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3. December 2008 @ 14:22 |
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i7's memory performance is better than core 2s even with pairs, but it's vastly better if you use trios.
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emugamer
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3. December 2008 @ 15:00 |
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Great. Thanks for the added info guys. I'm getting closer and closer!
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