From a good read through the helpful advice on here I've come up with the following shopping list. I'd be grateful for any suggestions/tweaks, especially with regards to what graphics card I should get to run Windows 7s with all features (+will this help video editing or is quad core good enough that I don't need to worry about a powerful card?). I'll be using the pc for general surfing and office admin, amateur photo+video editing, watching movies and very occasional gaming. Am hoping for a very quiet system that will last me a few years.
- Antec Solo
- 450W Corsair VX Series PSU
- Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR, Intel P45 Express, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066, SATA RAID, ATX
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB Cache, 8x Ratio, 95W, Retail
- 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-6-6-18
- 1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ, OEM
- Graphics Card???
Will set up and run as stock before deciding on coolers/fans etc.
Thanks,
Matt
Rate my shopping list and help me pick graphics card
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
The minimums for Win7 are FX5200 (gag) on NVIDIA, and ~Radeon 9600 on ATI. IOW, just about any decent card should do the trick for Aero. The CPU is going to do the heavy lifting for video editing.
Personally, I'd probably go with an HD 5750 for a friend in a similar situation. For <$150 this will have lots of legs, is excellent for casual gaming, and although the cooler looks funky it apparently is quiet and effective.
FWIW, I would not build a quad-core C2D any longer. The i5-750 is currently available for only $150 at Micro Center, and excellent P55 boards are now about the same cost as your P45 choice (check out the P55M-UD4). The comparable cost, much lower idle power and terrific single-core or multi-threaded performance (stock & easily overclocked) of an i5-750 system seems like the sweet spot to me if you are building a new quad-core system from scratch. It also will give you the prospect of a speed bump in two or three years in the event that you need more CPU horsepower. The Q8400 is a good chip, but that is basically the end of the line for socket 775.
The two parts of the build that I would focus on first are the case and power supply. These should last you several generations. The Solo is a terrific choice, and the VX is good value. Personally I really prefer the modular supplies, since they reduce cable clutter in the case and simplify assembly, but that may not be important to you.
Personally, I'd probably go with an HD 5750 for a friend in a similar situation. For <$150 this will have lots of legs, is excellent for casual gaming, and although the cooler looks funky it apparently is quiet and effective.
FWIW, I would not build a quad-core C2D any longer. The i5-750 is currently available for only $150 at Micro Center, and excellent P55 boards are now about the same cost as your P45 choice (check out the P55M-UD4). The comparable cost, much lower idle power and terrific single-core or multi-threaded performance (stock & easily overclocked) of an i5-750 system seems like the sweet spot to me if you are building a new quad-core system from scratch. It also will give you the prospect of a speed bump in two or three years in the event that you need more CPU horsepower. The Q8400 is a good chip, but that is basically the end of the line for socket 775.
The two parts of the build that I would focus on first are the case and power supply. These should last you several generations. The Solo is a terrific choice, and the VX is good value. Personally I really prefer the modular supplies, since they reduce cable clutter in the case and simplify assembly, but that may not be important to you.
+1 on going with an i5 build. Close to price parity with your current build, less watts, more oomph, upgrade path.
video editing - some programs will make use of the gpu for acceleration, some won't. Over time, more will.
The HD 5750 is a nice choice if you do some gaming. Some aftermarket cooling solutions are starting to appear. Discussed in another thread here.
video editing - some programs will make use of the gpu for acceleration, some won't. Over time, more will.
The HD 5750 is a nice choice if you do some gaming. Some aftermarket cooling solutions are starting to appear. Discussed in another thread here.
he is in england, so pickup at microcenter is out, unfortunately 
because i would have said get the i7 920 for $199, the i5 has a great price/performance ratio, but it is a bit limited... 1366 socket is still the future of intel performance computing, although since he didn't mention overclocking, it might not be necessary.
x2 the 5750, but don't look for the video card to help much video editing, unless you are running premiere pro, which utilizes the gpu.
when you talk about editing video, you need to clarify whether it's hdv or avchd... the former is much easier for a computer to handle, while the latter requires as much cpu power as you can throw at it.
if you were planning on editing avchd, i'd say that you should overclock the cpu regardless of what it is... and in that case, the i7 would be a better choice, because of the issues with socket burn on the i5 platform.
i edit avchd with an overclocked q9400, gigabyte p45t-ud3lr mb, and it works pretty well with sony vegas, so check the pricing in your area.
i think that i would probably step the power supply a bit... are you on a budget?
because i would have said get the i7 920 for $199, the i5 has a great price/performance ratio, but it is a bit limited... 1366 socket is still the future of intel performance computing, although since he didn't mention overclocking, it might not be necessary.x2 the 5750, but don't look for the video card to help much video editing, unless you are running premiere pro, which utilizes the gpu.
when you talk about editing video, you need to clarify whether it's hdv or avchd... the former is much easier for a computer to handle, while the latter requires as much cpu power as you can throw at it.
if you were planning on editing avchd, i'd say that you should overclock the cpu regardless of what it is... and in that case, the i7 would be a better choice, because of the issues with socket burn on the i5 platform.
i edit avchd with an overclocked q9400, gigabyte p45t-ud3lr mb, and it works pretty well with sony vegas, so check the pricing in your area.
i think that i would probably step the power supply a bit... are you on a budget?
Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately the lower i5/i7 prices have yet to make it across the pond as there's still a fair bit of difference still in the UK. This being the case I stuck with list as it is, swapped the VX for an HX (Nexus is not readily available either) and found a good deal on a XFX HD 5750. Also thought I'd throw in a new optical drive, the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 + mounting kit and Scythe S-Flex 1200rpm. Now on to the build... (been a few years since the last one!)
