Help me buy a computer

I used to be okay with this stuff but all the new processors and marketing names are confusing. Here's what I have priced out. I do a bit of image editing, a tiny bit of sound and video editing, watch movies, and might play TF2.

Cooler Master Sileo 500 Silent Mid-Tower Case w/ 500W Power Supply
AMD Phenom™ II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz w/ 8MB Cache (Retail Box, Socket AM3)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H w/ Radeon HD 4250, DualDDR3 1666, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 2GB)
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
Asus DRW-24B1ST 24x DVD-RW Drive, SATA, Black, OEM
Asus PCE-N13 Wireless N PCI-E Adapter

Click to expand...

This comes out to around $750 CAD. Is this going to be okay? Am I making any obvious mistakes? Anything that is going to be replaced by a new version immediately?

All computers are out of date in 3 years.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later. I AGREE

TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags.

Cooler Master Sileo 500 Silent Mid-Tower Case w/ 500W Power Supply
AMD Phenomâ„¢ II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz w/ 8MB Cache (Retail Box, Socket AM3)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H w/ Radeon HD 4250, DualDDR3 1666, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 2GB)
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
Asus DRW-24B1ST 24x DVD-RW Drive, SATA, Black, OEM
Asus PCE-N13 Wireless N PCI-E Adapter

3.4 gig processor and 4gb ddr3 ram is way more than enough for image editing and movie watching... unless you're watching 4 movies and editing 5 photos at the same time.

where are you buying this guy from?

That had ought to be sufficient for your needs. Maybe consider jumping up to 6 or 8 GB of memory, as that seems to be the standard for desktops nowadays. 965 black edition is a monster processor, and can easily be overclocked if you have a halfway decent heatsink on it, in case you needed anymore juice. Radeon 4250 isn't much of a graphics card at all, but it doesn't sound like you need anything too great. At least consider upgrading to something up in the 5000 range, depending on price. Anything 57xx is a nice card that can be found at a pretty good price. The Caviar Black drive is solid, as long as you don't want super fast boot times. If you did, the new Seagate Momentus XT is an awesome hybrid drive that will give you a nice increase there.

Again, all of these things are just little things that are most likely unimportant, but should be thought about. It is totally fine as you have it sitting.

Originally Posted by deranged

Click to expand...

3.4 gig processor and 4gb ddr3 ram is way more than enough for image editing and movie watching... unless you're watching 4 movies and editing 5 photos at the same time.

where are you buying this guy from?

memoryexpress.com

Originally Posted by bearsfan172

Click to expand...

That had ought to be sufficient for your needs. Maybe consider jumping up to 6 or 8 GB of memory, as that seems to be the standard for desktops nowadays. 965 black edition is a monster processor, and can easily be overclocked if you have a halfway decent heatsink on it, in case you needed anymore juice. Radeon 4250 isn't much of a graphics card at all, but it doesn't sound like you need anything too great. At least consider upgrading to something up in the 5000 range, depending on price. Anything 57xx is a nice card that can be found at a pretty good price. The Caviar Black drive is solid, as long as you don't want super fast boot times. If you did, the new Seagate Momentus XT is an awesome hybrid drive that will give you a nice increase there.

Again, all of these things are just little things that are most likely unimportant, but should be thought about. It is totally fine as you have it sitting.

Thanks. I might drop the processor down a bit then, and add a bit more RAM. I figure I can add a better graphics card later if necessary.

What operating system? Windows XP will only see 3.2GB RAM

Originally Posted by bearsfan172

Click to expand...

Radeon 4250 isn't much of a graphics card at all, but it doesn't sound like you need anything too great. At least consider upgrading to something up in the 5000 range, depending on price. Anything 57xx is a nice card that can be found at a pretty good price.

Agree, I'd ditch the Radeon 4250 in favor of a budget-line Radeon 5-series card. With most (if not all) the Radeon 5-series you get DirectX11 support so you'll be future-proof for a little while longer. You can get a Powercolor Radeon 5570 for $70 USD shipped from Amazon. I can't imagine you'd be saving that much more money by going with the Radeon 4250.

If you have the means I think the Radeon 5770 is the sweet spot in price/performance in video cards nowadays. $150 USD gets you a damn good card. I have a Radeon 5850 myself but it's not a good bargain at $260 USD.

Originally Posted by willpower

Click to expand...

What operating system? Windows XP will only see 3.2GB RAM

Damn. I was planning to use XP.

Originally Posted by unjung

Click to expand...

Damn. I was planning to use XP.

AMD already has X6 (6 core processors) out starting at $201 CAD, however the processor speed is slower so you won't get any utility out of the extra 2 cores unless you do some serious work. Better to go with 3 or 4 cores at higher speeds.

I say drop the processor down to something like the 720 X3 (overclocks well and has a chance to unlock a free 4th core, though not guaranteed), keep the ram at 4gb, you will RARELY ever need more than that (max I ever really use is around 3gb).

The mobo comes with the HD 4250 integrated. It will probably play TF2, but not very well. Since you plan on only using XP (no DX10 or DX11) there's no point in getting a latest gen video card. Also I prefer Asus over Gigabyte or Biostar for mobos. Just a personal preference really.

Also, I believe newegg.ca has lower prices than most. I configured your build (x4 955) plus a midrange HD 5670 video card (would handle TF2 with ease), and much better ram (4gb Gskill Ripjaw DDR3 1600) for around $640. Leaves you $110 for a case and PSU.

I'd spend a bit more money on Ram. That Kingston ValueRAM stuff is garbage.

Also, I wouldn't go with Gigabyte motherboard .. or take a REALLY HARD look at the motherboard layout. I have ran across a few Gigabyte motherboards, that you can't install aftermarket video cards without blocking out some/all of the SATA ports and other key ports on the board.

Also .. that motherboard I think is mATX .. while your case is ATX. Why go with the small motherboard+standard case?
And .. just a preference thing, but Antec cases rock ****, and could definitely get one cheaper then that Cooler Master.

Since you priced in CAD .. if you aren't already .. www.ncix.com .. some of the best prices/shipping on the interwebs for PC components in Canada.

Here is what I recently built off Newegg for 500 dollars including rebates (not counting monitor and input devices which I already had):


Hardware:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz Quad-Core
Mainboard: GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3
Video: ASUS EN9500GT GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb
DVD: LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.
Chassis: Antec 300 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Cooling: Enzotech MST-88 C1100 MOSFET copper heatsink
Input: Microsoft Intellimouse, IBM Model M keyboard - DOM 1984, WACOM Graphire 3 tablet
Monitor: 17" LCD

Operating Systems:

Windows 7, 64 bit
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, 64 bit

Why would you get more ram? XP 32bit only uses 3.something and XP64 is garbage. Vista will run fine with what you have already and Windows7 should fly. Besides, you have no use for more than 4GB of ram, it's a big misconception and people tend to overdo it.

Your build is fine, I didn't see a video card though - but if you don't plan on playing much, who cares.

*edit* just saw radeon - you're set.

4 gigs is suiting me just fine. Even with DeVeDe open converting xvid to DVD, playing an xvid video, browser open with 7 tabs open, multiple terminal sessions open, and some other crap I can't remember offhand, my ram usage never went past 2 gigs.

I'd get more than 4 if I was virtualizing, but I dual boot and see no need.

Appreciate the help guys.

If I want to run Windows 7 once it's better supported, do I have a reasonable setup with some minor tweaks (e.g. the processor, the case)?