# Need Help. New System. AMD X6 1055T, Crosshair IV



## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

Hey guys,
 I use to really be in to building computers when I was a teenager. I have done about a weeks worth of research. Its alot since I just lost my job and all I have to do is research. My computer crashed and I have been using a friends, but its POS and I just want to get it out of my house. I need a computer so I can find a new job. I need my Microsoft Office to edit my resume.

His is almost comparable to what I have minus the fact that his graphics card is horrible, 500mbs of ram, and onboard audio, Windows 2000. I cant put Microsoft Office 2003 on here since his is Windows 2000. I tried. His PC sucks

My old Setup:
MSI KT333 Board
AMD Athlon @ 1.1ghz I believe
1.5 ghz of DDR333
Geforce 2 GTX (32 mb)
Soundblaster Live

I currently have 25mb down / 25mb up Verizon FIOS. Im obviously not utilizing it well. 

I have not gamed in a long time, but I got out of it a long time ago because my computer was outdated by new games that were coming out. Im sure Ill get back into it, but my primary uses will be for the following:

Photoshop
Excel
Web Browsing
Downloading Music
Gaming (Im not into any of the World of Warcraft games. Im into racing, first person shooter etc...)

Anyway, this is what I have compiled for my new system. I am on a budget. I have already exceeded that. Credit cards do help.

CPU: AMD X6 1055T ($190)

MOBO: Asus Crosshair IV 890FX w/ Xfire technology & SATA III($225) 

GFXCard: XFS HD 5830 ($215)

Memory: 4 GB of G. Skill DDR 1600 ($109.99)

HD: Western Digital SATA 6Gb/sec 1TB Caviar Black ($104.99) Is SATA III worth it on this board?

CPU Cooler: GELID Solutions Tranquillo CC-TranQ-01-A 120mm Hydro Dynamic CPU Cooler ($39.99)  This was suggested on another thread

Case: I really really want the Thermaltake Spedo VI90001W2Z. ($179.99) I just cant spend that much on a case, especially if it doesnt come with a power supply
NZXT Apollo. Had good reviews.

Power Supply: Help? Im thinking I need atleast a 550-600 watt? 

Thanks guys!


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## Fourstaff (May 13, 2010)

Drop your graphics card to 5770, the 5830 is not worth it. Also, get a coolermaster hyper 212 plus for cooling, its cheaper and works well. Get a quality 550w power supply (that's all you need, even if you go for 5850). Get corsair if possible for psu, don't go cheap on psu. Also, look at cheap cases such at the Antec 300.


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## Hellfire (May 13, 2010)

What Fourstaff said but I'd get a smaller HDD for OS and a larger one for storage, the Ram, how much ram are you getting for that price?


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## 1nf3rn0x (May 13, 2010)

*New Budget Gaming Rig for a friend.*

Sorry:S Musta not pressed new thread:S


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## brandonwh64 (May 13, 2010)

Yea like some others said, the 5830 is junk! get a reference 5850 and be done with it


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## Fourstaff (May 13, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> Yea like some others said, the 5830 is junk! get a reference 5850 and be done with it



OP is not working now, so I would refrain suggesting expensive toys.


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## brandonwh64 (May 13, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> OP is not working now, so I would refrain suggesting expensive toys.



Its better to get it now then regret it later.


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## assaulter_99 (May 13, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> Yea like some others said, the 5830 is junk! get a reference 5850 and be done with it



Hm if the 5830 is junk, so the 5770 fares worst! lol. Anyways, it aint such a bad card, its just the pricing that kills it off. 



brandonwh64 said:


> Its better to get it now then regret it later.



Thats better! lol. Yeah if you can dish some more cash in it man, just get it, its so much worth it. I just said earlier in another thread, the 5770 is a great card, but when real dx11 games come around, don't expect it to rape em". Try to save some cash on other hardware, like brandon said, you won't regret it. The gpu is a hardware you really dont want to neglect.


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## Black Haru (May 13, 2010)

Hellfire said:


> What Fourstaff said but I'd get a smaller HDD for OS and a larger one for storage, the Ram, how much ram are you getting for that price?



if it's the RAM I'm thinking of (off newegg) it's 4 gigs 

and yes, two hard drives is faster.


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## brandonwh64 (May 13, 2010)

assaulter_99 said:


> Hm if the 5830 is junk, so the 5770 fares worst! lol. Anyways, it aint such a bad card, its just the pricing that kills it off.



Its not that its a bad card per se but its like it doesnt belong cause its not a 5850 and its not a 5770 and for a little bit more money you can just go ahead and get the 5850 with the more shaders and voltage control


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## assaulter_99 (May 13, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> Its not that its a bad card per se but its like it doesnt belong cause its not a 5850 and its not a 5770 and for a little bit more money you can just go ahead and get the 5850 with the more shaders and voltage control



Definitively. Its like a lil orphan amongst these cards. Anyways I would go 5770 only if its temporary, wait for some time, save till I get another and cf em if you feel that the powa isnt enough (cheap and performs really well looking at benchies) But you know what its like, it doesn't work well sometimes. So a 5850 for $250+ (prices are just bouncy these days) is a better buy all round.


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## JrRacinFan (May 13, 2010)

I say drop the CH4 and grab up an Asrock Extreme
ASRock 890GX Extreme3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/...

Only saying that since you mentioned budget.


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## mordant80 (May 13, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> I say drop the CH4 and grab up an Asrock Extreme
> ASRock 890GX Extreme3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/...
> 
> Only saying that since you mentioned budget.



That's a good choice..  I picked up the ASRock 890FX DELUXE3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB ... though.

It's a little more than what Jr linked and a good bit less than the Crosshair IV with the same 890FX chipset of the Crosshair IV


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## BraveSoul (May 13, 2010)

mobo+cpu - excelent board with good reviews, combo
G.SKILL Ripjaws - great reviews, tighter timings
definitely get 5850 it will prove itself in the long run + there is room for crossfire
i agree with Fourstaff on the Antec 300 case, not as expensive, good design and air flow. check out Antec600black looks cool similar price
as for the PSU, so many to choose from but a few stand out like Rosewill and Antec with good reviews and wattage ratings
_____________________________





Antec1200 filter project


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

Thanks for all of the help guys. You guys are awesome. I really kinda had my mind set on the Crosshair IV board. I kinda fell in love with it. It looks super sexy. But of course, looks should not be my primary concern and its not, it marks up with performance. I read a review with the other board you mentioned and they are about equal. That $95 Price difference sure is looking mighty sexy too. 

Sorry I didnt mention, buy yes, 4gigs of G Skill DDR

As for opting for the 5850, Im not sure if I can justify going from $215 to $320 Buy It Now from Ebay. Do you guys know of a cheaper price for the 5850? I was even considering dropping down to the 5770 or even the 5750, Geforce 260 or 285


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

BraveSoul said:


> mobo+cpu - excelent board with good reviews, combo
> G.SKILL Ripjaws - great reviews, tighter timings
> definitely get 5850 it will prove itself in the long run + there is room for crossfire
> i agree with Fourstaff on the Antec 300 case, not as expensive, good design and air flow. check out Antec600black looks cool similar price
> ...




That MOBO and CPU Combo saves me $10 so thanks for that! 

I was really hoping to go with the reputable Asus board.


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## NdMk2o1o (May 13, 2010)

A 5830 is not worth its price for the performance, if you have the budget get a 5850, if not get a 5770 they are no slouch and perform on par with 4890/275


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## eidairaman1 (May 13, 2010)

NdMk2o1o said:


> A 5830 is not worth its price for the performance, if you have the budget get a 5850, if not get a 5770 they are no slouch and perform on par with 4890/275



I suspect when the goofed stock of 5830s leaves better revisions will launch.


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

My dad let me borrow this set up, but he forgot the power supply. Im not sure if he will let me have the tower, but I cant figure out what the heck this tower is. I searched all over this tower and could not find out who makes it so I could look it up. Does anyone recognize this? Would this work? I am wanting to do some overclocking on that 1055T. All that I found was an big circled "E" stamped on the bottom. 

It has a front LED what looks to be 120mm fan on the bottom behind the front USB ports.

Top vent for a fan, maybe an 80mm fan

Two places for 80mm fans in the rear

One side 80mm fan

See pics. Sorry for a bit of the overflash. My Samsung Omnia II with 5mp camera has a pretty bright LED Flash. Dropped it down to 3mp.


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

NdMk2o1o said:


> A 5830 is not worth its price for the performance, if you have the budget get a 5850, if not get a 5770 they are no slouch and perform on par with 4890/275



Isnt the 5850 much pricier than the 5830? I dont know if I have that in my budget


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## assaulter_99 (May 13, 2010)

JSampson said:


> Isnt the 5850 much pricier than the 5830? I dont know if I have that in my budget



Yes sir it is. Like $50 more. Anyways, you can just try and use that case for the time being. Or you could forget the cpu cooler, for the time being at least. That would buy you some time to save some cash, put it where its really needed. And for the case, you'll hardly find a big name one that comes bundled with a psu. Afaik just generic cases come with shitty frying-hardware psu's, so I wouldn't trust em.


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

Hellfire said:


> What Fourstaff said but I'd get a smaller HDD for OS and a larger one for storage, the Ram, how much ram are you getting for that price?



Should I get two 500 gigs Western Digital SATA III instead of the one 1TB Western Digital SATA III?

I have two of ATA drives laying around from my old set up. 80gb, 160gb, both are 7200rpm. Should I use that in my set up?


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

Also, I forgot to ask. I know the Crosshair IV has onboard video. How good is this onboard video? Would it be worth the cost savings to go with their onboard video until I can get enough funds for a better Graphics Card?

Lastly, I have ready a little bit on the Crossfire technology which is to my understanding, that you can run two GFX cards to enhance your gaming performance, but I thought I read that if you have a GFX card, it will work in correlation with the onboard graphics, is that correct or am I confused?


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## El_Mayo (May 13, 2010)

I have an HD 5770

It's great.

1000/1250... stock voltage!


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## BraveSoul (May 13, 2010)

JSampson said:


> As for opting for the 5850, Im not sure if I can justify going from $215 to $320 Buy It Now from Ebay. Do you guys know of a cheaper price for the 5850? I was even considering dropping down to the 5770 or even the 5750, Geforce 260 or 285


didn't you say you like racing games, im playing Need For Speed Shift right now, and ill tell u if the frames were any slower i would be very pissed, because the game looks amazing, and 5850 handles it well. it is worth every penny, man i would ditch the aftermarket cpu cooler and even borrow money to make sure gaming department is taken care of 

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Antec1200 filter project


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

BraveSoul said:


> didn't you say you like racing games, im playing Need For Speed Shift right now, and ill tell u if the frames were any slower i would be very pissed, because the game looks amazing, and 5850 handles it well. it is worth every penny, man i would ditch the aftermarket cpu cooler and even borrow money to make sure gaming department is taken care of
> 
> _____________________________
> http://stats.free-dc.org/cpidtagb.php?cpid=59693a2ed1d0ab4f24e571d332537dfb&theme=9&cols=1
> Antec1200 filter project




Sounds like a good plan. I will take your advice on that.

Here's the deal. I am borrowing my mother's credit card to do all of this. No, Im not spoiled or anything cause I have to pay her back by July. I just have to give my friends desktop back to him next week, but I need to continue looking for jobs and I need a computer to do that. 

I just have a budget. If I dont, then she gets the computer, cause she needs a computer or she will just sell it to pay the card back off.


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## JSampson (May 13, 2010)

Ok, so I am going to take ya'lls advice and go with the 5850 and drop the CPU Cooler. Would the Rosewill RCX-Z300 92mm Ball CPU Cooler be better than the stock CPU Cooler for $14.99? Rosewill RCX-Z300 92mm Ball CPU Cooler 

Now which one? I really like the Saphire 5850. The cheapest I have found on the intenet stores is $339.99 on Tigerdirect. 

I have found the following on Ebay: 

ATI Brand ATI Radeon: $289 = Free Shipping
PowerColor ATI Radeon: $299 + Free Shipping    This is already OC'd to 760Mhz. But Ill be OCing anyway so this shouldnt matter, right?
Sapphire ATI Radeon: $299 + Free Shipping
MSI ATI Radeon: $310 + $15 Shipping

Here are the following findings on newegg.com
Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desk...


Let me know if the link above does not work.
Any brand better than the others? Any worse than the others? I remember when buying my Geforce 2, the Leadtek Geforce 2 GTS was the best one out of all of the Geforce 2's.

Thanks again guys. Im getting closer to making my purchases! I forgot how much fun this was.


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## BraveSoul (May 14, 2010)

i like the Gigabyte one on newegg, its factory overclocked and runs cooler
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Antec1200 filter project


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

After doing further research, it looks like Ill need to upgrade my Windows from XP to Windows 7 to get full potential of my setup, is this correct fellas?


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## Mussels (May 14, 2010)

JSampson said:


> After doing further research, it looks like Ill need to upgrade my Windows from XP to Windows 7 to get full potential of my setup, is this correct fellas?



yeah... XP has been dead for years.


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## codyjansen (May 14, 2010)

JSampson said:


> After doing further research, it looks like Ill need to upgrade my Windows from XP to Windows 7 to get full potential of my setup, is this correct fellas?



DX 11 FTW


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

Dang... Are all prices for Windows 7 the same or are there cheaper places to buy? Maybe a combo of Windows 7 with any of the components I am building my system you have came across?


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## Mussels (May 14, 2010)

JSampson said:


> Dang... Are all prices for Windows 7 the same or are there cheaper places to buy? Maybe a combo of Windows 7 with any of the components I am building my system you have came across?



look for OEM versions, they tend to be cheaper. Also, stick with home premium or pro (google for the differences)


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## Fourstaff (May 14, 2010)

Mussels said:


> look for OEM versions, they tend to be cheaper. Also, stick with home premium or pro (google for the differences)



Or if you are a student, they offer discounts the last time I checked. Dunno whether its still up.


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

Regarding my HDD setup. I picked the Western Digital SATA 6Gb/sec 1TB Caviar Black ($104.99) but then found the SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache. 

I was given advice in this thread to find a lower storage HDD for running my windows. So hear is my other question. Should I get two 500's and Raid them? I have RAID capabilities on my old MSI board and was really enthused about it, but never utilized it. I am already over my budget so I gotta figure something out. I can deal with 1 500gb drive and then add on another. I have several regular ATA/133 HDD lying around. 

Lastly, I stumbled on something I havent figured out the difference on. I am researching on the board in the Motherboard selection on this site, but whats the difference between the Asus Crosshair IV Formula and Crosshair IV Extreme? They look a little different but im frazzled.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I really appreciate ya'lls help. Like I said earlier in another reply, Im getting closer and closer to buying everything.


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

Mussels said:


> look for OEM versions, they tend to be cheaper. Also, stick with home premium or pro (google for the differences)


I actually just did that. Premium and Pro will allow me to run XP software which is something I will need. 



Fourstaff said:


> Or if you are a student, they offer discounts the last time I checked. Dunno whether its still up.


I am actually looking at taking some Supervisor and Manager classes in June. Thanks for the idea


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## lilkiduno (May 14, 2010)

With Budget in mind I would suggest one of these two cases, Decent prices and Airflow. I personaly have used both of them. Although I don't know if they would fit a Sexy 5850 inside! haha
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Com...
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC...
PSU:OCZ $70, free shipping, $25 dollar MIR and did i mention it's modular?
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V S...


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

lilkiduno said:


> With Budget in mind I would suggest one of these two cases, Decent prices and Airflow. I personaly have used both of them. Although I don't know if they would fit a Sexy 5850 inside! haha
> Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Com...
> Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC...
> PSU:OCZ $70, free shipping, $25 dollar MIR and did i mention it's modular?
> OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V S...



Hey, thanks for all of that! Definately keeping my budget in mind. I am looking for a case that has some Plexi on the side to show my sexy set up, but those towers are nice. I really like the black painted internal casing of these towers. Plus the power supply on the bottom is something I have been looking for. 

I may still have to go with a tower that my dad let me borrow in the mean time. Its a top mounted PSU, can that PSU be mounted upside down? (120mm top mounted fan on the PSU)
I know thats not a good idea cause that would just blow hot hair onto my CPU and internals and heat rises.


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

So I just priced everything and I am a bit over my budget. Here is what I compiled

AMD Phenom X6 1055T: $190 from ewiz.com

Crosshair IV Formula:  $225 from amazon.com @ buy.com

Sapphire Toxic: $349 from Ewiz

Bgears BG01183 b-Tarantula 550W SLI/CrossFire: $39.99 (w/ $10 mail in rebate) zipzoomfly.com

Corsair XMS PC12800 RAM - 4GB, (2x2GB), DDR3, 1600MHz: $99.99 tigerdirect.com

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb: 89.99 + Free Ship   newegg.com -
I was really hoping for an SATA III Drive like the WD Caviar Black SATA III
Western Digital WD5001AALS Caviar Black 500Gb: $59.95
HELP?

Total
$993.97 with the Samsung F3

I need to be around the $800 mark.
This is without a new case, fans, and CPU Cooler
Is it REALLY worth the extra $ to go with the 5850 although I have now fell in love with the Sapphire Toxic 5850?
This also doesnt include Windows 7 Professional but I hope my dad (IT) with that. 

I will be searching the classifieds for all of the above equipment.


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## JrRacinFan (May 14, 2010)

If you can't get the video card there's always later once you get more spending budget. I *HIGHLY* suggest you not skimp on power supply, just think one day while your gaming it goes poof and take's all your hardware with it.

 Oh and unless you're going to be into benching and heavy overclocking I really don't think you should get the CH4, the board and budget don't mix, and also drop down to a 5770. 

Sorry I just don't see it happenning with that kind of budget. $1000 yes, $800 no.

This I do see happenning though. Overbudget by the cost of a dvd burner:

PSU+CPU (Getting psu almost half price)
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

Mobo+GPU
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

HDD+Case (Getting case half price)
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

Ram:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

DVD Burner:
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R D...


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## JSampson (May 14, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> If you can't get the video card there's always later once you get more spending budget. I *HIGHLY* suggest you not skimp on power supply, just think one day while your gaming it goes poof and take's all your hardware with it.
> 
> Oh and unless you're going to be into benching and heavy overclocking I really don't think you should get the CH4, the board and budget don't mix, and also drop down to a 5770.
> 
> ...




I already have a DVD Burner along with a CD RW 52x. 

I will be overclocking my card, cpu, and memory so that is one reason why I picked the Crosshair IV. 

Im not going to skimp on my PSU, but I found a great deal on a nice one that was recommended to me.


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## JSampson (May 20, 2010)

Hey guys. One more question and Im ready to make my purchase. I am looking to buy a WiFi night vision CCVT camera to watch my driveway. $37k truck and a $12k motorcycle with a crazy ex gf who got back with her ex husband and guess what? He knows where I live now. So is there anything I need in order to record up 58 hours of surveillance onto my hard drive? I am ok with making it into a seperate drive from anything else. Exclusive surveillance drive only. Does the Crosshair IV come with the required hardware? I have read that I need a TV Capture Card. Could all of this be included on my Crosshair IV or my ATI 5850 or 5770? Thanks guys!


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## JrRacinFan (May 20, 2010)

Any links to the camera? I beleive all you would need is a wireless G router.

EDIT:

Something like this?
http://bestgiftsaround.com/Skynet-One-IP-Security-Camera-WIFI-DVR-Night-Vision-P879774.aspx

I work in the security and alarm monitoring business, and that would be one of the cheap simple easy solutions rather than setting up a dedicated DVR.


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## Hellfire (May 20, 2010)

If it is something your worried about I'd recommend a separate DVR recorder, If you use your current PC it means it will stop recording every time you turn it off or stop recording.

Something basic like a 4channel DVR recorder with a 500gig harddrive will offer days and days of recording. We use a 16channel with a 1TB drive at work and get 14days continuous loop out of 1TB (basically it keeps looping keeping 14days worth,

Any half decent coax cable will do, to view it all you need to do is log into the DVR (via IP Address) and you can even then have remote access IE if your at work you can view it via remote log on.


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## i3uu (May 20, 2010)

I'm actually looking for something similar to you   But I have a few suggestions/comments:

Since you said you are out of a job, I personally would suggest NOT buying a higher end build because you will drain your bank(this is assuming that you will not have a job in the near future and that you do not have a high budget as of now).

I noticed that you said you mostly want to do normal stuff/gaming.  Not really video encoding and other things that require multiple cores for performance.  Since this is the case, I would highly suggest getting either a dual core OR this: 
AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cach...

That amd x3 ^ (with the right motherboard) can actually be unlocked to allow it to have 4 cores instead of 3 which is an awesome amount of bang for your buck!

But if you insist on the powerful X6 and if you feel like you have the money for it, look at this combo: Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...
I'm looking at it right now and it seems pretty nice. ~$600+GPU+dvd drive+whatever else you want.

Or, i'm actually looking to sell my pc I built last year that is awesome for gaming.  Check my system specs for information.  I'd sell it all minus the 1tb hdd and the gfx card.

But in any case, good luck with your build and make sure you do all the research you need!


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## El_Mayo (May 20, 2010)

i3uu said:


> I'm actually looking for something similar to you   But I have a few suggestions/comments:
> 
> Since you said you are out of a job, I personally would suggest NOT buying a higher end build because you will drain your bank(this is assuming that you will not have a job in the near future and that you do not have a high budget as of now).
> 
> ...



I have the AMD X3 425

It's alright... but not really great for HIGH END gaming

I'd get AT LEAST a 720BE the unlock that

or a Phenom II X4 925


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