So I got money from pretty much everyone this christmas, and being the geek that I am, the main thing I'm thinking about doing with it is giving my PC a long-needed upgrade. I've been really out of the loop when it comes to whats hot and whats not these days though, so I figured it might pay to tap the vast knowledge of the QGL group mind.

I pretty much need new cpu, mobo, ram and video card, cos all my current s*** is too old to play nice with any of the new stuff out there now. I'm looking at:

AMD 64 dual core AM2 cpu, prolly a 4200+
Gigabyte GA-M55S-S3 Mobo (this one)
1 gig (512 x 2) of dual channel DDR2 800mhz
Either a 7900gs or a 7950gt video card

I went gigabyte for the mobo, cos my current one is gigabyte and its been pretty solid for the 2 and a half years I've had it, and that specific board uses the Nforce 5 chipset so I just chose it cos its newer and shinier than boards using nforce 4 chipset, I dunno if theres a reason not to choose the nforce 5 chipset, I tend to often gravitate towards newer versions of stuff under the assumption it'll be better, but unfortunately, thats not sometimes the case.

Which video card I get really just depends on how much I end up spending on the other stuff, and how much real-world performance difference there is between the two.

So yeah, give me the feedback I so desperately crave! I feel lost in this big scary uncharted ocean of hardware I'm completely unfamiliar with :(

Go core2 for the cpu, they poop all over AMD.

RAM I'd also recommend dropping down to 667 and grabbing 2 gig if you can. You aint gonna see much diff with 800 unless you plan on overclocking or have a high end machine.

Just for some rough pricing I'm gonna grab the prices from CA - if you buy elsewhere then you'd be able to pay a small amount less but in turn get less on warranty periods.

Core2 6400 CPU - $349
Asus P5B mobo - $189 (however if u really must have gig - Gigabyte S775 GA-965P-S3 $169)
DDR2 2GB Corsair 667MHz PC5300 RAM Value Select Kit - $369 OR
DDR2 2GB Geil 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 Kit - $389 (I personally would spend the extra 20 bux for Geil)
BFG GeForce 7950GT 512MB PCIe Video Card - $495


What are you using to power all this PSU wise? Going for a big video upgrade you may need to think about upgrading the ol PSU too to cope with the higher load.


Roughly how much were you thinking of spending and I'll see what I can come up with.

last edited by rubba-chikin at 21:57:25 26/Dec/06

I'll have about $1100 to play with, could maybe squeeze that out to $1200 if it was required, I'd just have to put off a couple of the dvd purchases I had planned :P

I'm thinking I probably will go the 7900gs though, I was looking at the numbers and the 7950gt does have a significantly higher fill rate, which was starting to sway me, but I'm sure 6 months down the line, once I have a job and I've got myself settled, I'll be upgrading to a DX10 card anyway cos I want to play some with DX10 development, so its probably not worth spending the extra on a better card in the short term.

Edit: Oh, and I already have a decent power supply, one of the many dramas I had with my computer this past year was a blown power supply, so I replaced it with a Thermaltake 500watt one.

last edited by Khel at 22:09:17 26/Dec/06

AMD 64 dual core AM2 cpu, prolly a 4200+

No, no no! Buying AMD now is throwing money down the toilet.

Current generation Intels are cheaper, faster and run cooler than AMD. And yes, this is coming from an ex-AMD fanboy.

BFG GeForce 7950GT 512MB PCIe Video Card - $495

If you have a 19" LCD or similar size, I'd recommend saving $140 by buying the Leadtek 7950GT (256MB version) for $350-ish (MSY, Gamedude) which only has half the memory but almost no performance difference unless you run high resolutions (e.g. having a 22" LCD at 1600x1050 or higher).

I'm thinking I probably will go the 7900gs though

See above, a 7950GT can be bought for $350-ish, significantly faster than a 7900GS but not costing much more.

The rest of Rubba-chikin's opinions are alright, but if you get an Asus P5B you might have to buy a sound-card too as some of the onboard audio chips are faulty and cause crackled audio.

Also, I'd recommend G.Skill memory for the P5B series from ASUS. Better compatibility than Geil (you can read their forums for more info).

Also, Umart is cheaper but still has decent warranty.

last edited by parabol at 22:27:09 26/Dec/06

so I replaced it with a Thermaltake 500watt one.

That might cut it..

Barely


Agree with everything else that's been said tho

That might cut it..

Barely

You mean easily. It's at least a brand name.

I've got an E6600, 7950GT, etc with a 450W Antec PSU. No problems.

whatever you do - get it all from the same place

You mean easily. It's at least a brand name

parabol, Thermaltake psus aren't nearly what they used to be anymore :(

I just said that cause I'm not filled with awe over some of Thermaltake's PSU's of late
Tagan on the other hand....

From all the PSU returns lately Antec is easily on top. Thermaltake barely registers on the list at all.
Antec have really dropped the ball lately with their quality control :/ I distinctly remember not so long ago them being on top of the PSU world.

Khel if you are planning on getting a dx10 card in the not too distant future, maybe even consider a 7600GT to do you until then.
Buy the rest new and source a 7600gt second hand? That'd save some pennies and you might just be able to squeeze all that under $1.2k

get a gtx whatever you do.

Antec have really dropped the ball lately with their quality control :/ I distinctly remember not so long ago them being on top of the PSU world.

the same happened the Thermaltake.. hence krome don't want them anymore.

jesus - I know that Power gave up on Qgl, but doesn't he beat this stuff into you guys?


last edited by koopz at 00:45:53 27/Dec/06

The Antec 550 w I bought as a replacement for my old AGP box (P4 3.0 with a 7800 GS) makes chirruping noises - like a electronic fire alarm beep) every so often or whenever the PSU cable gets bumped - another PSU I'm beginning to have confidence issues with it as well as it's still not 12 months old

Current generation Intels are cheaper, faster and run cooler than AMD. And yes, this is coming from an ex-AMD fanboy.

Ah, see this is the sort of stuff I have trouble keeping up with. Seems the tables turn every couple of years :)

What is MSY like to deal with? I've never been there, but their website makes my eyes bleed and doesn't instill much confidence in me.

What is MSY like to deal with?

Seems you live in the suburb next to me ... bashed at maccas!

The closest branch to us (in Morningside) is awesome and usually lacking customers, so waiting isn't a problem. Don't be put off by the website .. I'm sure Sam Neil's character in Event Horizon was forced to look at the MSY website and went insane and scratched his eyes out, but that doesn't make it a crap store.

And yeah, The people have been overclocking E6300/6400s to 3GHz (from roughly ~2GHz) without much effort. So you can go that option with some fast ram.

If you want something fast at the safe stock speed, the E6600 would do, but you say you are on a smaller budget, so the E6400 is a good spot.


last edited by parabol at 01:34:00 27/Dec/06

what's the best brand of motherboard in terms of reliability/stability?

Yeah, I was reading up on the overclocking side of things, people seem to be getting pretty huge overclocks out of the E6300's and E6400's even just with the stock cooling. I'm not a huge overclocker, but if its as easy as it sounds to overclock them, it'd be worth a go. I don't think I've majorly overclocked anything since the days when I had a celeron 300a running at 450, but man that rocked so hard at the time.

At the moment I'm thinking:

Core 2 Duo E6400
Asus P5B mobo (seems to get a good wrap, and most of the overclocks I read about were using Asus boards)
2gig of Geil or Corsair
7600gt video card

Can get all that for about $1030 from MSY (who dont have the geil ram) or about $1050 from Gamedude (who have corsair or geil). I'd rather get it all from the one place, like koopz recommended, so I prolly wouldn't go to CA cos their price on the E6400 and the ram is a bit higher (sorry CA people, you know I still <3 you). And Umart is closed till after the new year.

Can get all that for about $1030 from MSY (who dont have the geil ram)

Corsair is in the catalog ... or do you mean it's not in stock currently or the wrong type/speed?

Yeah, they have the corsair, but they dont have the geil.

What the .. I have no idea what my point was .. maybe stay away from Gamedude because their lines are long, they are rude and if I got a dollar everytime someone whinged about Gamedude warranty policy ...

Anyway, careful with the Geil. I've read of people having troubles with particular models. Corsair just happens to be a brand that most can get working without issues on the P5B series.

Personally I went G.Skill memory for my P5B Deluxe (Umart which you say is closed), but Corsair would have been on the menu too.

last edited by parabol at 02:46:03 27/Dec/06

If you mind having virtually no warranty I'd stay away from a particular cheap retailer... I have helped out numerous unfortunate people with getting their PC's working again after dropping large sums of money on parts and having their warranties denied simply for opening the component packaging or even just removing the side panel from their case... even if the parts were DOA.

the same happened the Thermaltake.. hence krome don't want them anymore.

Still right now I'd take a Thermaltake over Antec in an instant :P So many dead 350 and 500 units coming back and the 350's with intel boards make caps inside scream their nuts off for whatever reason. As mentioned above already if you want something decent Tagan or e-power would be my recommendation as it is a rarity to see those come back.

Looking to upgrade myself around July.
I like to keep on top and know what brands and products are consistently getting the best reviews. To me Antec always seemed to be the best brand in Case and PSUs. I love my Antec tower but I’ve had problems with my 400w Neo power. It blew under warranty and was replaced only to pop again 6months later. If thermaltake isn’t #1 either, then what is left?
Also what companies are giving Asus a run for their money?

what is MSY?

I am somewhat biased as I work with PC components almost everyday and its limited to what brands CA uses in particular.

It can change very quickly though, for example Geil DDR was great bang for buck RAM seemed pretty solid compared to a lot of other stuff and didn't fail that often. However I have seen the Geil DDR2 stuff dish out a fair bit of BS. Whether its just flat out faulty or has incompatibility issues - its still given me a lot more trouble than the old DDR stuff ever did.

If you go bottom rung pay the extra 10-15 for Twinmos anything below that is utter poo and not worth touching.

G.Skill has given a lot of headaches with incompatibility issues. In some large orders I have seen sets of RAM fail EVERY time in one particular model board but the same set of RAM works flawlessly in the EXACT SAME model board sitting next to it. Changing the RAM out to some other brand on both boards gave no problems.

Geil I would rate easily over G.Skill, but the DDR2 stuff hasn't been perfect either. Usually though its just straight up faulty RAM.
Corsair I have seen next to none so I can't really comment on that, other than the higher end stuff seems overpriced.
Have to say 2 gig kit of 667 or 800 Geil again depending on ur budget.

CPU - you'd be crazy to buy an AMD right now. Core2 is just much better value for money with the performance you get outta them.
Best value for money atm either the 6400 or 6600 depending on ur budget.

Mainboards seem pretty consistant over all the brands we use, if you buy bottom of the rung - do not expect miracles... it will work and do basic s*** and thats about it. If you want a gaming machine you cannot throw the smallest amount of cash at it possible and expect it to be anything short of dissapointing. I see this a fair bit, POS system with a mid to high end card in it - HUGE waste of money. I see a lot of Asus and have been fairly impressed with some of the mid-high end boards.
Intel boards for basic desktop use is fine, avoid these for performance machines. They have dissapointed me... even when a videocard is slapped in according to windows the shared video RAM is still not released. :/
Right now value for money board would be the Asus P5B imo - great performer and relitively cheap.

Videocards - the diff between brands performance wise is negligible from what I have seen. I'd avoid any of the silencer cards though with passive cooling. They do seem pretty balls and a more come back than actively cooled cards easily.

HDD's - seagate do seem more reliable, we sell heaps more seagates and get more western digitals back that have failed. That said I own a 200g WD and 300g sea, and I prefer the WD as it is much quiter than my seagate.
320g Seagate you just can't go past atm, so cheap.

Case and PSU - while Antec have been making decent cases their PSU's have left a lot to be desired. SO so many back lately.
As my last post said - Tagan or E-Power/TopPower

/post... damn that took a while however I hope it helps some of you guys looking to buy new bits.

last edited by rubba-chikin at 10:38:26 27/Dec/06

is this umart CoreDuo deal any good?


http://www.umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=2


Umart Core2Duo 19
Internet Price: $1499.00
Retail Price: $1509.00
Stock level: >10 (Plenty of Stock)
Model #: QN4486

Place Order :





Average rating out of 0 voters Write a Review>>

Product Details
Product Name: Umart Core2Duo 19
Warranty: 12 mths
Manufactures: Umart
Weight(kg): 0
Product link:

Product Description:

Intel ATX E6400 CORE 2 DUO /2.13GHz / 1066FSB
Intel P965/1066FSB/LGA775/DDR2 800/PCI-EX/1394/AUDIO/ATX
DDR2 1024MB (2X512Mb,1G Kit) PC4300 DDR2 RAM Kingmax/Kingston
Seagate SATAII NCQ 250GB 7200RPM 16mb Cache
Nvidia 7300GT 256M PCI-E
Acer AL1916ES slv/blk 19inch LCD 8ms Monitor
Pioneer DVR-111DSV 16X DVD-/+R/RW Dual Layer(OEM Silver)(no software)
Thermaltake Matrix Aluminum badge with mesh panel Black with 430W PSU
PS II Keyboard Black
Deluxe Optical mouse
6-channel (5.1) on board audio
10/100/1000 LAN on board
One Year Warranty

I get all my gear from MSY at morningside. It is quicker to get to than Umart from the northside (not closer though).

parabol is right. I don't know how they survive with the lack of customers and their cheap prices. They must be doing something right, but from my time in computer retail I know there ain't no profit margin worth speaking of, so you've gotta do it all in volume.

MSY are great. Highly recommended. Better than umart for service and price, perhaps not quite as good in stock.

188 Thynne Road Morningside

thanks for that rubba-chikin, very informative.

it's been almost a year since I was the techo at global... its real interesting how things change.

i am surprised at how quickly how much i have lost in the hardware knowledge area.

Intel ATX E6400 CORE 2 DUO /2.13GHz / 1066FSB
Intel P965/1066FSB/LGA775/DDR2 800/PCI-EX/1394/AUDIO/ATX
DDR2 1024MB (2X512Mb,1G Kit) PC4300 DDR2 RAM Kingmax/Kingston
Seagate SATAII NCQ 250GB 7200RPM 16mb Cache
Nvidia 7300GT 256M PCI-E
Acer AL1916ES slv/blk 19inch LCD 8ms Monitor
Pioneer DVR-111DSV 16X DVD-/+R/RW Dual Layer(OEM Silver)(no software)
Thermaltake Matrix Aluminum badge with mesh panel Black with 430W PSU
PS II Keyboard Black
Deluxe Optical mouse
6-channel (5.1) on board audio
10/100/1000 LAN on board
One Year Warranty

Seeing you are on QGL I'm gonna assume you will wanna game on it -
Intel board = poo for gaming see my epic post
7300GT = ballbags low end crap


If you want a decent midrange gaming machine you are going to be looking at ~ 1.6k for a box ~2.5-3k for an entire setup. If you have something thats coping atm I'd probably hold off till the release of vista and the dx10 games. Hopefully that should bring some prices down of the latest gen stuff ie dx10 videocards.

MSY is alright for good prices but for the love of God if you aren't sure what you are doing www.google.com or ask on here or whatever but don't just guess at s*** when you are building a machine...

Have seen a few mega disaster builds lately where the customer has assembled their own system from parts and killed half the s*** they just bought due to thier own crapulence.

last edited by rubba-chikin at 12:42:36 27/Dec/06

I was scared to go to MSY at morningside because of the website www.msy.com.au but its actually not a bad joint. Although the last three times Ive been there the item I have asked for has been out of stock which s***ted me off.

I will stick with it because its like 1min drive but Id go umart at milton if it was closer.

jesus who have they got doing their website? a 5 year old?

I was scared to go to MSY at morningside because of the website www.msy.com.au

it's a shame that more IT Retailers don't put more effort into their web-presence, but lets face it - the payoff isn't really there. Now if *everything* was sold via eBay... that'd be different

*test*

last edited by koopz at 23:53:03 28/Dec/06

rofl so MSY is a real store? Whenever i clicked on that through staticice, i always thought i'd accidentally stumbled onto some wholesalers s***list or something and closed it hahahah

Wow that msy website is utter crap. It didn't even render properly for me in FF, bits of highlighting were missing from the big bold title.

Personally I go to umart, I just order the crap over the internet & go drive to milton on a thursday night after work & pick it up with minimal fuss.

hahaha @ msy website, wd

msy are the bomb. they have a great range and order in anything they don't stock. their warranty support is superb. also prices are rock bottom.

msy4lyfe

Everytime I visit msy web site I always think they're made the site really really really fugly on purpose so people call them up or go to their store instead. I mean seriously how crap is that site?

Ok, I got it mostly under budget in the end, went a little bit over, but nothing too drastic. I got the stuff from the Slacks Creek branch of MSY, cos the Morningside one wasn't open, and I figured anything I couldn't get I could jump over to Gamedude for since it was nearby. Apparently theres a shortage of the E6400 CPUs though, neither MSY or Gamedude had any in stock, so I bit the bullet and paid the extra for an E6600 and went the cheaper 7900gs option for video card instead of the Leadtek 7950, but I read some good things about the overclockability of the 7900gs, so I guess I can always pursue that avenue if I want to get a bit more out of it. So the final damage toll looks like:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - $445
Corsair 2gb ddr kit (667mhz) - $332
Asus P5B Mobo - $179
Gigabyte 256mb 7900gs - $279

Total = $1235

And yeah, contrary to the fantastically s*** website MSY has, I was impressed with their store, sales guys were helpful and really knew their s***, didn't have to wait long to get served, the prices were good, and they had a good range of stuff. Very nice, I like.

Thanks for all the advice, was much appreciated!

ffs someone tell them to get a better website seriously. It doesnt have to have fancy colours, just something better then current

So whats the verdict Khel? New setup poop all over what you had?