It is time to upgrade - Help/Suggestions requested

[Tac]

Its been years since I built my last PC and I'm out of touch with today's tech so I'd like to ask for a few pointers here.

I currently have an AMD 64bit 4400 dual core with 4gigs of ram and an Nvidia Geforce 7800 256ram which runs all the games I play (EVE, AH, WW2OL, FFXI) ok on medium or low settings ... but it is time to upgrade & give my old innards to my 12 year old cousin who'se crappy laptop barely runs the Sims.

I'm looking for a motherboard/cpu/ram combo as well as a new video card. Not looking for top-top of the line stuff (too much $$) but something in between. My current system is 5 years old and I'd like to upgrade it to be about 1 year old or 6 months old at least.

So far, here's what I've been looking into. Bear in mind I'm only looking for AMD based system and I do have a preference for ASUS mobos/vid cards (never ever failed me I love 'em).

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type    AM3
CPU Type    Phenom II / Athlon II / Sempron 100 Series
FSB    2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s)
Chipsets
North Bridge    AMD 785G
South Bridge    AMD SB710
Memory
Number of Memory Slots    4×240pin
Memory Standard    DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Maximum Memory Supported    16GB
Channel Supported    Dual Channel
Expansion Slots
PCI Express 2.0 x16    2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (blue @ x16 mode,gray @ x4 mode)
PCI Express x1    1
PCI Slots    3
Storage Devices
PATA    1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
SATA 3Gb/s    5
SATA RAID    0/1/10/JBOD
Onboard Video
Onboard Video Chipset    ATI Radeon HD 4200 GPU
SidePort Memory - onboard 128MB DDR3 1333 memory
Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset    VIA VT1708S
Audio Channels    8 Channels
Onboard LAN
LAN Chipset    Realtek RTL8112L
Max LAN Speed    10/100/1000Mbps
Rear Panel Ports
PS/2    1
Video Ports    D-Sub + DVI
HDMI    1 x HDMI
USB 1.1/2.0    6 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394    1 x IEEE 1394a
eSATA    1 x eSATA 3Gb/s
S/PDIF Out    1 x Optical
Audio Ports    6 Ports

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945WFGIBOX
CPU Socket Type
CPU Socket Type    Socket AM3
Tech Spec
Core    Deneb
Multi-Core    Quad-Core
Name    Phenom II X4 945
Operating Frequency    3.0GHz
Hyper Transports    4000MHz
L2 Cache    4 x 512KB
L3 Cache    6MB
Manufacturing Tech    45 nm
64 bit Support    Yes
Hyper-Transport Support    Yes
Virtualization Technology Support    Yes
Voltage    0.85V - 1.425V
Thermal Design Power    95W
Cooling Device    Heatsink and Fan included


Vid Card: Money is an issue hence I cannot afford an Nvidia GTX 295 (500 bucks geez) so I'm looking for something in the $100~low200'ish range. Definetely will be an Nvidia though.

Been looking at either:

Model
Brand    BFG Tech
Model    BFGEGTX260MC896OCXDE
Interface
Interface    PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer    NVIDIA
GPU    GeForce GTX 260
Core Clock    655MHz
Shader Clock    1404MHz
Stream Processors    216 Processor Cores
Memory
Memory Clock    2250MHz
Memory Size    896MB
Memory Interface    448-bit
Memory Type    GDDR3
3D API
DirectX    DirectX 10
OpenGL    OpenGL 2.1
Ports
DVI    2 x DVI
General
RAMDAC    400 MHz
Max Resolution    2560 x 1600
SLI Support    Yes, 2-Way & 3-Way
Cooler    With Fan
System Requirements    525W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 38A or more
Power Connector    2 x 6 Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported    Yes
HDCP Ready    Yes
  
-or-

Model
Brand    BFG Tech
Model    BFGEGTX275896OCE
Interface
Interface    PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer    NVIDIA
GPU    GeForce GTX 275
Core Clock    648MHz (vs. 633MHz standard)
Shader Clock    1440MHz (vs. 1404MHz standard)
Stream Processors    240 Processor Cores
Memory
Memory Clock    2304MHz (vs. 2268MHz standard)
Memory Size    896MB
Memory Interface    448-bit
Memory Type    GDDR3
3D API
DirectX    DirectX 10
OpenGL    OpenGL 2.1
Ports
DVI    2 x DVI
General
RAMDAC    400 MHz
Max Resolution    2560 x 1600
SLI Support    3-Way SLI
Cooler    With Fan
System Requirements    575W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 42A or more
Dual-Link DVI Supported    Yes
HDCP Ready    Yes

(not exactly sure which is better.. the first one has 216 processor cores the 2nd one has 240 proc. cores.. yet the first one runs at a clock of 10mhz higher. I'm leaning towards the more cores vs the 10mhz higher clock speed... anyone know which is better? price is about the same for both cards).

Model
Brand    GIGABYTE
Model    GV-N26SO-896I
Interface
Interface    PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer    NVIDIA
GPU    GeForce GTX 260
Core Clock    680MHz
Shader Clock    1466MHz
Stream Processors    216 Processor Cores
Memory
Memory Clock    2500MHz
Memory Size    896MB
Memory Interface    448-bit
Memory Type    GDDR3
3D API
DirectX    DirectX 10
OpenGL    OpenGL 2.1
Ports
HDMI    1 x HDMI
D-SUB    1 x D-SUB
DVI    1 x DVI
General
RAMDAC    400 MHz
Max Resolution    2560 x 1600
SLI Support    3-Way SLI
Cooler    With Fan
System Requirements    Minimum 550W or greater system power supply
Power Connector    2 x 6 Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported    Yes
HDCP Ready    Yes

Ive never had a gygabite vid card but I have had 2 BFG's and they're rock solid.


Suggestions between these two options appreciated. (or alternatives)

[denniswilha]

Look at this one and also they have many more that are quiet impressive and very well priced.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5395929&Sku=I455-93700

[Tac]

thnx but the specs on that isnt what im looking for. Its intel.. plus the vid card is 1 or 2 generations below the mid-range one i was looking at. I will browse the components on that site to compare them with newegg though, might save a few bucks. thnx.

[4deck]

Im also making a new system. I'm using Newegg for all the parts right now. Creat an account if you dont have one, and you can create wish lists. Also they have excellent specs/Pics so you can visualize everything in the case, with demensions.

Good luck. I've been at mine for over 3 days.

[Tac]

yeah newegg's website seems to be a pain to use.. ugh.

now trying to find out just which ram works with that asus mobo .. it says 'Memory Standard     DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333(O.C.)/1066' but exactly what overclocked ram means nowadays is beyond me. Not even Crucial's website can spot a ram set for this mobo.

I'd forgotten how much aspirin these upgrades make me consume 

[Bronk]

Vid card... can't go wrong with a ATI 5770 IMO.

[gyrene81]

DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800

That just means the standard memory bus speeds without overclocking the system will run 800/1066/1333 memory...but you can get as high as 1800 if you overclock the system so the higher speed memory is actually working at the higher speeds....in a simplified manner of speaking. There would be some settings in the bios to tweak for higher speed memory. To be safe I would probably just use 1066 or 1333 RAM.

If you're going with an AMD setup, I wouldn't run an NVidia video card...especially a BFGTech...you're gonna get more bang for the buck if you grab an ATI card.

[Tac]

If you're going with an AMD setup, I wouldn't run an NVidia video card...especially a BFGTech...you're gonna get more bang for the buck if you grab an ATI card.

er.. why?


As for the ram.. which should I be searching for? I dont have a clue how to overclock things nor do I care. I know I change my pc every 5 to 6 years so I dont care about squeezing a 10%~20% performance with a risk of burning the whole thing.

[Dragon]

Look at this one and also they have many more that are quiet impressive and very well priced.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5395929&Sku=I455-93700

No.  As much as I like some things from IBuy, that's junk.

[TequilaChaser]

er.. why?

AMD owns /is ATI  and your North & South Bridge on your ASUS MoBo is AMD.....

just works a lot better with ATI ( well some think this way )

[Tac]

AMD owns /is ATI  and your North & South Bridge on your ASUS MoBo is AMD.....

just works a lot better with ATI ( well some think this way )

amd owns ati? cripes when did that happen O.o .

does make sense though. Ill look at ATI cards as well then. *looks at aspirin bottle* aya yay...

[cattb]

The motherboard manufacturer should have a list of recommended RAM( on thier web site). QVL I think it is. The one thing I would really watch and look for is the voltage of the RAM recommended.
I have not looked at ddr3 to close but I know ddr2 RAM does have different recommended voltages.
Last note, if your going to get some expensive RAM with extra cooling, make sure your going to have enough room in build.Some of the RAM is very tall and could get in the way of a after market heatsink/fan.  example

This link to ASUS

http://support.asus.com/download/download_item_ftype.aspx?f_type=34&slanguage=en-us&model=M4A785TD-V EVO

looks like memory is between 1.5 and 2.0 volts. I myself would use that as a guideline.
I am not a system builder just do my own building and repair. I post this for your review and hope it helps.

[38ruk]

The motherboard you listed has onboard video just a heads up ... I almost did the same thing before someone caught it .

I just built an amd system with an AMD 550 Black and Gigabyte board . I had to RMA the Asus board which was almost identical to the one you listed but without onboard video ... It wouldn't post. Right now it's overclocked from 3100mhz to 3850mhz without much trouble at all . I'm pleased ...great bang for the buck.  I almost completely overlooked AMD in favor of intel this time around till i did some research .... I thought AMD was down and out but was surprised to see how competitive they are in the mid range cpu's.   

[humble]

The 550 black is a surprisingly good value chip (as is the 720). Both will give you more then reasonable performance. When I had to RMF my 6600 under warranty I ended up building out a 720 black box as a work station. I happened to be in Fries and they had a NV 250 on an endcap priced at $59.99?? Called over a sales guy and said somebody goofed and you need to pull those before somebody gets tweaked....long story short the store manger let me buy one for $60. System has 4G of DDR3 (1600) on XP (SP3) and maxes out AH even with roughly 80 processes running including all kinds of stuff skuzzy hates. I don't turn anything off at all including AV. Now my system is correctly tuned and configured so my "background" CPU use is always under 2% and the 3rd core handles things that would probably impact AH in my 6600. I liked it (720) so much I built out a 550 black box for my wife...it has 3 cores unlocked (4th is unlockable but not stable under stress)...

[denniswilha]

No.  As much as I like some things from IBuy, that's junk.

Seriously, an i5 750 junk?  stop smoking crack!!!