Full system update for my freelance graphics buisness

[casecutter]

Sorry for the long delay. Here is what I would suggest:

CPU - Q6600 - $255 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

MOBO - ASUS P5E-VM HDMI - $130 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131237

Quite possibly the best MATX motherboard ever and it has the extra onboard video you need for HTPC use. Also could take 45nm processors for an upgrade path.

Memory - 2X2GB PC2-6400 - PQI Turbo - $68.99 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141337

Gives you upgrade path to 8GB and it is plenty fast too.

Video card - ASUS 3450 256MB - $50 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121230

Again, plenty fast for your needs and more outputs for future HDTV use. You can easily run 3+ monitors with this card and the onboard video. Yes you can run both at the same time.

Power supply - Silverstone ST50EF - $70 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256037

Extrememly strong for 500W and it is 80%+ efficient and is one of the most efficient units out there. I used one for an overclocked Q6600 system running SLI, although that was pushing it hard. Will pay for itself with energy savings in a few years time.

That is $575 without shipping/taxes so far. That case you picked is a pretty good budget case and I would go with that one myself. That would still bring you to $575+$80=$654 without shipping/taxes. That brings you to $700 or just over after shipping is added in and you would have a real powerhouse that not only would blow your mind now, it would also be extemely powerful enough a few years from now and you could even overclock it to when you actually need more power to squeeze a few more years out of it. This system would play Blue-ray movies @ 1080P without breaking a sweat while doing other work too. This is the way to spend $700 and get every pennies worth.

[dcbryan]

Hey Casecutter, that looks like an awesome setup. Thanks for the time you spent on it. I think it's got everything I need and in my price range.

One thing, that video card is out of stock. I'll probably be waiting a couple of week before I order this, but if the card is not back in stock, would this GeForce 8500GT be a good alternative? Or was there something about ATI cards that you like?

Thanks again for your help, this'll be my first Intel system since the 700mhz Celeron I had a decade ago.

[casecutter]

Low end ATI cards like the HD3450 and 2400/2600pro/XT are capable of accelerating 1080p video while the low end Nvidia cards struggle. You could go for any brand HD3450 and be happy. I have on in my wife's PC and it is a great little card (I have the HIS passive card). Otherwise, since the motherboard video CAN do 1080p, you can go with the 8500GT if need be.

[dcbryan]

Alright, if that ASUS 3450 256MB is still out of stock when I'm ordering, then I think I'll go with this SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3450. Thanks again for the help casecutter and everyone else, I'm glad I took the time to post here.

[casecutter]

Anytime!

[kraze]

wow casecutter, from reading the entire thread, pretty impressive analysis you did there.


i have similar goals to dcbryan... so if i may request a review of a good setup? however, there's a pretty killer computer store by my place that seems to have comparable if not lower pricing than newegg (and then i can easily return defected/unwanted stuff). btw they have the Q6600 for $199.

if someone could take a glance at the following specials and align them with similar specs/brands/pricing as the ones selected for dcbryan to see if it's worth just buying from there, it would be much appreciated ;p

http://microcenter.com/specials/catalogs/


mix and match (like buy case, cpu from microcenter and the rest from newegg)? otherwise, one can never fail with new egg ;x

HARD DRIVE

what about hard drive options? for best performance, would it be wise to select 2 harddrives? one good primary one (e.g. sufficient sized WD sata 10,000RPM with a large sized 7,200rpm? to save all the junk, old work, music, etc. on)

again, THX for any help!