Hey all,

I recently have been looking to upgrade my 13 inch Dell Studio XPS laptop with a desktop. I would like to keep this build around $700 - $800 maximum with as much bang for my buck as possible without sacrificing quality.

What I would like to do with it is as follows:
-Quality music and video (1080p) playback
-Photoshop and After Effects
-Video editing for YouTube videos
-Gaming

The build is what I have as follows:


Case: Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $94.99
CPU & MB: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX; MSI 870A-G54 Socket AM3 870 ATX Motherboard - $239.98
http://www.microcenter.com/spe...s/AMDbundlePROMO.html

***I want to upgrade the MB to a 890FX but I also don't want to spend so much when I may replace it for the AM3+ socket MB later on. This is probably where I am most confused after how many reviews I have read***

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity - $259.99 (after rebate)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH - $109.99
PSU: XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - $109.99 (after rebate)
CPU Cooler: Scythe MUGEN-2 Rev. B cooler - $34.99
HDD 1 (Personal Data 1st HDD - RAID 1 config): SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $59.99
http://www.microcenter.com/sin...ml?product_id=0340562
HDD 2 (Personal Data 2nd HDD - RAID 1 config): SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $59.99
http://www.microcenter.com/sin...ml?product_id=0340562
HDD 3 (OS Data): OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $104.99 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16820227550
Optical Drive: [not sure yet]

I want to slim this build down a bit in price so I need your help. If you have any suggestions or alternatives I am open to hearing them.

-Hack Attack Central-

one thing I see that you can drop is the SSD. I know they're fast and sexy, but so are WD Velociraptors and for $10 less you can get a 150gb Velociraptor.

you can also buy a cheaper PSU. The XFX you have selected is excellent, but your system would be fine with a 600 or 650w PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371021 Antec True Power New 650w $80 and free shipping.

also, a 4 gigabyte RAM kit will cut another 40 or 50 bucks off your bottom line.

-------------------------
Rig 1: AM2 X2 4850e--MSI K9N Neo V3--2x1gb Mushkin DDR2 800--Sapphire HD4830--Corsair VX450--Acer H213H-Win XP
Rig 2:Athlon X2 7850 Kuma--Biostar 780L--2x1gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800--Asus Formula HD4770--Corsair VX450--LG Flatron W2252TQ-Win 7 32-bit Premium
Capitalism rocks!

What do you suggest I should do with the motherboard. The motherboard is where I am having issues. I am really not too sure what to get or what user's experiences have been with the boards in the 890FX series.

I would suggest going to review sites like HardOCP, Hardware Secrets, Hardware Canucks, Bjorn3d, Guru3d, and to a lesser extent, Tom's and Anandtech/DailyTech. Odds are, the board you are considering has been reviewed, somewhere.

You can get a lot of insight from direct user experiences, but professional reviews, when done right, will give you an even better understanding because they are done in a controlled environment.

-------------------------
Rig 1: AM2 X2 4850e--MSI K9N Neo V3--2x1gb Mushkin DDR2 800--Sapphire HD4830--Corsair VX450--Acer H213H-Win XP
Rig 2:Athlon X2 7850 Kuma--Biostar 780L--2x1gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800--Asus Formula HD4770--Corsair VX450--LG Flatron W2252TQ-Win 7 32-bit Premium
Capitalism rocks!

That's an excellent price on the XFX 850W PSU, would be great for future upgrades.

-------------------------
Phenom II X6 1100T B.E.@ 4.26GHz
Corsair H70 Core Hydro
ASUS Crosshair V Formula
2x4GB G.Skill RipjawsX@ 1894MHz, 9-10-9-28
SLI: 2x EVGA GTX 570's@ 902/1804/2032
Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Corsair HX850W Modular
Cooler Master HAF 922
2x Win 7 Home Premium (x64)

Keep the SSD... there is not one single upgrade you can do for your computer, to increase speed and performance, better than an SSD. HDD's, no matter how fast, pale in comparison.

QB

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

---

The MONSTER HTPC

---

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 C2 (140W).||.Cooler: Corsair H80i
MB: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7.||.RAM: 8 GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 2000MHz (7-10-8-27-1T)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932.||.PSU: Corsair HX750
GPU:HIS IceQ 5 Radeon HD 5770 Turbo 1GB.||.Audio: Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro w/ Logitech Z-5300e (5.1, 280W-RMS)
Drive: 2xKingston SSD 40GB RAID0.||.Storage: 6TB (4x500GB Caviar Black RAID0, 2TB Hitachi & 2TB Caviar Green)

stay with 870 board, as you are planning on upgrading it later this year, so no point in getting 890FX. The big difference between 890FX and 870 is pci-e lane count.
My MSI 890FXA-GD70 has like 5-6 pci-e x16-x8 slots. No need for that if you only use one GPU.

Yeah just looked back on Newegg recently, and that 850W I have suggested just sold out there. May find it at Microcenter but I will have to search. The 750W version is $99.99 after rebate on Newegg btw. Anyone know which 870 board I should go with, if I were to wait for the AM3+ boards. Like what should be the next best option for the money. Eventually I would like to crossfire, but I think I could wait until the AM3+ sockets for that to happen. Overclocking is important though. Any other suggestions to narrow this build down a bit in price that wasn't already mentioned?

That MSI board you selected originally look Ok.

Here are my thoughts.... that case has next to no cooling. I would not be throwing close to $100 at it. Secondly the RAM you have selected will not give you much room for OC'ing since you have said that is important. Also if you are going to be jumping on the AM3+ ride when it arrives you should spend as little as possible on a MB.

QB

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

---

The MONSTER HTPC

---

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 C2 (140W).||.Cooler: Corsair H80i
MB: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7.||.RAM: 8 GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 2000MHz (7-10-8-27-1T)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932.||.PSU: Corsair HX750
GPU:HIS IceQ 5 Radeon HD 5770 Turbo 1GB.||.Audio: Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro w/ Logitech Z-5300e (5.1, 280W-RMS)
Drive: 2xKingston SSD 40GB RAID0.||.Storage: 6TB (4x500GB Caviar Black RAID0, 2TB Hitachi & 2TB Caviar Green)

He is buying BE CPU, so there is no point in overclocking RAM, unless we are talking about timings and stuff.
Just set the dividers and you are good to go

Any case suggestions instead? I originally had gone with the Antec 900 Hundred at $100 but I was suggested by someone on Tom's to go with the Antec Solo for its sound-dampening capabilities I guess. I am not really sold right now on the MSI I have in that combo suggested by another person on Tom's. Seems kind of weak for features compared to the AsRock and Gigabyte around the same price range. Any thoughts about what the best possible MB is for around $100 give or take with the most amount of features and easiest OC considering this will be my first time performing it. Like to get around 4.0 Ghz or above on the OC if I can. Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Thanks and keep up the good work .

To be a little more specific on the case. I need the case to have the airflow but also need it to keep the components as whisper quiet as possible.

what features are you looking at from motherboard?
That MSi board has: USB 3, SATA III, 2 pci-e slots, OCing BIOS.

Edit: for case, I always gone for Cooler Master or Antec cases. They have very quiet case fans. I am sure there are loads of other great case companies, but those two I used myself.

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X6@3.9ghz<>MSI 890FXA-GD70
8Gb OCZ 1600Mhz cas 7 RAM<>AMD Radeon HD6970
300Gb WD Velociraptor<>2.5Tb HDDs
CM Cosmos S<>Custom cheap watercooling
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit<>32'' 1080p TV

<retracted>

-------------------------
The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.


Edited: 02/09/2011 at 02:47 PM by Canis-X

Here is a good case that I personally would throw $100 at

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

It's no HAF 932, but I think it's a decent little brother.

QB

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

---

The MONSTER HTPC

---

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 C2 (140W).||.Cooler: Corsair H80i
MB: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7.||.RAM: 8 GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3 2000MHz (7-10-8-27-1T)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932.||.PSU: Corsair HX750
GPU:HIS IceQ 5 Radeon HD 5770 Turbo 1GB.||.Audio: Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro w/ Logitech Z-5300e (5.1, 280W-RMS)
Drive: 2xKingston SSD 40GB RAID0.||.Storage: 6TB (4x500GB Caviar Black RAID0, 2TB Hitachi & 2TB Caviar Green)

muziqaz: Not planning on Crossfire for right now until I a.) need it or b.) until after the AM3+ socket and BD come out --- prime maybe for a next upgrade. It really has more to depend on whether I need it or not. So at the moment no because I do not have the money unless its a really good deal. All those above are important except the 2 pci-e slots considering I won't be CF right now and I think I am okay with that as I am still gaining traction of this world under my feet. I just looked at the MSi and noticed that comparatively speaking, the amount of ports was lacking compared to the price range.

Also about case, which do you guys prefer. I kind of liked the Antec 900 or 1200 myself.

Canis-X: I definitely know how you feel about people with inflated egos in general. Believe me I do not like them either. I do not know am3+ personally or on this forum to make that type of judgment as to whether he is or not (as I am not saying he is or he isn't either way). Anyway, any suggestions about my thread.

Canis-X, I know this is not the place, but am3+ = me.
I did not come to this forum to be the coolest guy in the streets. I came here just to help out. I have been in forums scene(if you can call it that way) for quite some time. You need to see what I am running? search semiaccurate, amdzone forums for my nickname. You need proof of stability of my system, search xs forums for my nickname, and have a look at foldingforum.org for my nickname(beta testers section if you can get access to it) also folding stats at Stanford website and/or extremeoc website for my contribution with my computers. I do not consider myself a OC kiddie looking for that last mhz for some suicide screenshot, but I OC my PCs if possible. I would say sensible OCer.
Regarding arguing, I do not consider it as arguing. It is more like a discussion from which you, me and other might learn something. If it looks like I am forcing something upon someone, this is not the case and it was not my intentions by far. When I right something, it is just my suggestion, no one is asking topic authors to go and get what I said straight away. This is forum, and other can suggest what they want, and I don't recall myself saying that someone is dead wrong and that their suggestion suck, pick mine. That would be egoistical, but I don't consider myself having inflated ego, otherwise I wouldn't be suggesting anything in any of the forums, just would be filling numerous superpi runs at some forums and telling everyone that they suck

Now, you asked me to stop suggesting OCZ memory, fair enough, I won't do it again. No need to be upset and invade some one elses thread

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X6@3.9ghz<>MSI 890FXA-GD70
8Gb OCZ 1600Mhz cas 7 RAM<>AMD Radeon HD6970
300Gb WD Velociraptor<>2.5Tb HDDs
CM Cosmos S<>Custom cheap watercooling
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit<>32'' 1080p TV

@hackattackcentral, I just checked, your bundle is gone
have a look at newegg.com with price range of $75-100, ATX, Socket AM3.
What about this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128451 basic, though I am not sure about OCing, but what motherboard does not come with OCing section in their bios these days? That should carry you over till you get Bulldozer system

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X6@3.9ghz<>MSI 890FXA-GD70
8Gb OCZ 1600Mhz cas 7 RAM<>AMD Radeon HD6970
300Gb WD Velociraptor<>2.5Tb HDDs
CM Cosmos S<>Custom cheap watercooling
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit<>32'' 1080p TV

@muziqaz: Yeah probably won't be getting Bulldozer right away until it comes down in price. I will be looking to upgrade my MB to AM3+ I can tell you that if I decide to go with this build . Let me take a quick look and then I will put up a couple and see what you guys think. Also I noticed in your siggy, you have a MSI 890FXA-GD70. Just off topic, may I know how that is treating you.

Why exactly are you holding out for an AM3+ motherboard? Do you intend on going with a BullDozer CPU? If so, then I would start buying some of your components now, such has HDD and/or SDD, power supply, case, GPU(s) and OS. I would hold off on the RAM, motherboard and CPU until BullDozer comes out. That is if you are a patient person. I wouldn't piece a comp together now that you intend on upgrading in a few short months, unless you have money to burn.

-------------------------
The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.