# Can you guys review this build



## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Hey guys, 

First up, I have no idea about computers from the technical side of things. My budget is around $2500 Australian dollars, and I plan to use the computer for gaming (FPS), video editing(messing around with WMM) and just general surfing the web, word processing ect. I want the computer to be fast, I hate how slow my laptop is when Im multi tasking!

Anyhoo, I went down to the local shop and they had some gaming set ups they sell for $2500 cash...heres the stats, could someone tell me if Im getting ripped?

System includes:
22 inch LCD widescreen monitor
thermaltake armour case
9550+ phenom quad core AM2 CPU
4Gb DDR2 Ram
500Gb SATA Hard Drive
9800GTX 512Mb DDR3 Graphics card (he said theres a new one out that will replace this one)
DVD burner, Gigabit network
G15Logitech Gaming Keyboard + G5 logitech Gaming Mouse
X540 5 piece 5.1 logitech speaker set.
Windows vista ultimate edition.

Is that any good


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

thats 
$2,017.32 USD 

you can build an i7 rig for that much!


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## WhiteLotus (Jun 4, 2009)

I don't know what the Australian prices are like, but you could build that for a fair bit less over here. I would think they are getting a little carried away with the price. I'll shoot Mussels and Trip a message - they are both from Australia and can give you better advice.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

i would think that shop is ripping people off

it sounds like a $750 rig to me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107862


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

AromaticFosho said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> First up, I have no idea about computers from the technical side of things. My budget is around $2500 Australian dollars, and I plan to use the computer for gaming (FPS), video editing(messing around with WMM) and just general surfing the web, word processing ect. I want the computer to be fast, I hate how slow my laptop is when Im multi tasking!
> 
> ...



hello to another aussie.

www.staticice.com.au

your #1 search indexer for prices on PC hardware in AU.

www.itestate.com.au
Cheap hardware, shipping is $33 per box, so bulk buy to save the money. dont make small orders.

www.pccasegear.com.au - not the cheapest, but fast and reliable. Good place to get the hard to find items/premium stuff.

With the monitor, i'll just say this: get samsung. not all monitors are made equal, samsung are nearly always the best so its a safer bet there. Look at the ones on pccasegear, they have good prices atm (i got my 23.6" there for $400 2-3 months ago)

For $2K, you could get my PC, minus the HDTV.

Where are you located? if you're near me or trip, we can help out easier.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Thanks guys I really appreciate the help!

Im near brisbane, the shop was in ipswich and was quite a dingy little shop so I kind of expected it to be a rip off.


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

You can also try Scorptec wich is in Victoria.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

well i'm a little bored, so i'll make you up a PC shopping cart from a NSW store (itestate)


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Thanks man you rock!


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Where abouts are you Aromatic? If you can tell us wich state it would make it abit easier for me and Mussels.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Im near Ipswich, which is about 40 minutes out of brisbane in QLD


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## WhiteLotus (Jun 4, 2009)

AromaticFosho said:


> Thanks guys I really appreciate the help!
> 
> Im near brisbane, the shop was in ipswich and was quite a dingy little shop so I kind of expected it to be a rip off.



He's in brissy


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Just one thing the G5 mouse may be hard to come by from what ive heard whats in shops is all there is now. =/


Ahhh so i suppose youd be happy with last nights state of origin match.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Nah not really, Im actually from NSW near Byron bay. Out of around 15 people at the bbq last night I was the only NSW supporter. 

It wasnt pretty haha.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

thats $2500 worth. Just add a Corsair 750W PSU from PCcasegear.

Obviously, to get the budget lower you just need to remove a few things, drop to 3GB of ram, DVD instead of blu ray, 500GB instead of 1TB.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

he can also save $150 by going with win 7


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Man, seriously, I cant thank you enough. 

I really appreciate it

Now, how hard is it to put computers together? haha


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

i'm pretty sure i could copy my PC (drop it back to socket 775) and cut another $500 off it.

Most of the hardware in that PC is stuff that i have myself. the case was something of a random choice, as they didnt have any antecs. (and i'm a big fan of the older antec cases)


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Id stick with the 4 gig of ram especially as youd be getting Vista.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Cutting $500 would be very good!


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

AromaticFosho said:


> Now, how hard is it to put computers together? haha



ever play with lego?


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Im the man at lego!


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

No PSU, no OS.

Grab the windows 7 RC1 and wait out til 7 is final, its better than vista.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_354&products_id=6227

Grab this PSU.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

for gaming and surfing the web he can get the 720 be or a 940 with an am2+ board


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

i edited the above post, removed the duplicate ram and OS.


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Msy is another place trying. Looks like theres a few stores in sunny queensland.


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Yeah man, if you're willing to do a build or live in a city with another TPU member from Aus, i reckon any of us will gladly help you do the build.

2500 Aussie dollars will get you an i7 beast. (aka, the best of the best, too fast for what you need, but we all want it ahahahah)


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

wolf said:


> Yeah man, if you're willing to do a build or live in a city with another TPU member from Aus, i reckon any of us will gladly help you do the build.
> 
> 2500 Aussie dollars will get you an i7 beast.



and $2K gets you a very decent 775 system.


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> and $2K gets you a very decent 775 system.



oh hell yes.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

its been lost on page 1 by now, but i posted a cheaper 775 system there for him. OCable, crossfire possible, 1080P screen, mouse and keyboard he wanted.


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## ShadowFold (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> http://img.techpowerup.org/090604/$2k worth184.png
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Aww they have 4770's in stock in AU? I couldn't find one for the life of me over here in the states  Everything there looks awesome, specially that P5Q.. Mmm


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Aww they have 4770's in stock in AU? I couldn't find one for the life of me over here in the states  Everything there looks awesome, specially that P5Q.. Mmm



here you go shadow

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00275G13G/?tag=tec06d-20


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> its been lost on page 1 by now, but i posted a cheaper 775 system there for him. OCable, crossfire possible, 1080P screen, mouse and keyboard he wanted.



i noticed, i also noticed its a heap better than the store quote he got 



ShadowFold said:


> Aww they have 4770's in stock in AU? I couldn't find one for the life of me over here in the states  Everything there looks awesome, specially that P5Q.. Mmm



yeah man strangely we actually dont have to wait long, I had a GTX295 less than 2 weeks after international relsease day, we got 4890's, 4770's and GTX275's very fast too, and i remember mentioning the new AMD Athlon II X2 and Phenom II X2, which we had in stock days before the international release, and put on sale that day.


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## ShadowFold (Jun 4, 2009)

Assassin48 said:


> here you go shadow
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00275G13G/?tag=tec06d-20



Little late now, got an ASUS TOP 4850 for 104$ on newegg a few days ago  Thanks for lookin tho.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

the video cards the only thing i'm unsure about. sure, the 4770 is great value for money. but its only 512MB on a 1080P screen

Edit: we also had the new thermalright sub brand cogage for sale, before it even hit TPU news.


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> the video cards the only thing i'm unsure about. sure, the 4770 is great value for money. but its only 512MB on a 1080P screen



for him i would consider GTX260/48701gb to me a minimum if he wants to game well on 1080.


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## ShadowFold (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> the video cards the only thing i'm unsure about. sure, the 4770 is great value for money. but its only 512MB on a 1080P screen



Perfectly fine, I run 512mb 4830's in Crossfire on my HTPC and it plays everything to the max.


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Perfectly fine, I run 512mb 4830's in Crossfire on my HTPC and it plays everything to the max.



consider that 512mb is borderline for full hi-def + AA, and i imagine he will want it to last 1-2+ years.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

alright so up the card to a 4870/4890 1GB. i can vouch for a single 4870 being enough.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

i run 2 4870x2 on a 21.5" 1680x1050

Mussels its never enough and you know it!


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Assassin48 said:


> i run 2 4870x2 on a 21.5" 1680x1050



im all about memory, i run GTX260+ 1792mb SLi  thinking of TRi....


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Oh and the guy at the shop told me the system he was selling was only 2% worse than an i7 system.

Im thinking the $1600 system looks the goods + the power supply, so around $1800-$1900...So keen on this now...haha


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

omg, that CPU pales in comparison to the MIGHT of the i7, and even most socket 775 quads will whip the phenom 9550 he pencilled in.


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

i7 utterly destroys 775. it beats it to death with a shovel, blends it, snorts it, shits it out and then eats it again for breakfast.
You dont want to know what it does to AM2+/AM3 chips that arent overclocked.
The downside is that i7 is expensive, hot, and chews a looot of power. Oh and not many GAMES benefit from it yet - its faster at everything else (3D rendering, video encoding, etc)

Everyone here wants an i7. we just know its not the most efficient choice, when we can get 80% of the performance for 50% of the price - money that could be spent on a bigger screen, or another video card.

Assasin: ram isnt additive in SLI or crossfire.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

wolf said:


> im all about memory, i run GTX260+ 1792mb SLi  thinking of TRi....



4gb of GDDR5 + 8gb of 1066 = 

Phenom 9500 2% slower then an i7 
HAHAHAHAHA  more like 200000000% slower


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## WhiteLotus (Jun 4, 2009)

Your second build Mussels is the one i would go for.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

you can always find deals on the internet i got 

i7 920 + UD5 = $380 
still the 920 was used but the ud5 was new 

and my 
955 + msi gd70 = $480
granted i bought that new 

plus i had the rest of the parts from my 940 rig already

sorry for getting off topic a little


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Assassin48 said:


> 4gb of GDDR5 + 8gb of 1066 =
> 
> Phenom 9500 2% slower then an i7
> HAHAHAHAHA  more like 200000000% slower



yeah right now im 3584mb of GDDR3 and 8192mb of 1066 to 

64-bit OS quickly becomes a necessity.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

wolf said:


> yeah right now im 3584mb of GDDR3 and 8192mb of 1066 to
> 
> 64-bit OS quickly becomes a necessity.



true true true 

so when i use 32 bit how much memory am i using?

mines GDDR5 ! i win


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

guys: enough with the ram stuff. its not helping this thread.


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## wolf (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> guys: enough with the ram stuff. its not helping this thread.



i was thinking that myself, thanks for the kick.

honestly i think for this user a 775 system will be better, easily a huge amount of power, and savings to boot, sub $2000 and its way better than the 1st Post quote.


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Aww they have 4770's in stock in AU? I couldn't find one for the life of me over here in the states  Everything there looks awesome, specially that P5Q.. Mmm



Thats cus Australia is awesome sorry guys someone had to say it.


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## Assassin48 (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels said:


> guys: enough with the ram stuff. its not helping this thread.



sorry 

OP which system you choosing i7 or 775?

either way have fun building it just a few suggestions
1. Take your time
2. lay everything out
3. do some cable management while your installing parts 
4. Overclock that chip/gpu
5. post some benches


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

i'd be leaving it for a week or two at least to check for faulty parts, before ANY overclocking is done.

Benchmarks and tests are a great idea, simply because if something changes in 6 months time - you've got a record of what your PC was, and how it performed permanently stored on the internet, where you can access it from any PC.


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 4, 2009)

all I'm gonna say is listen carefully to what Mussels and Triprift are saying, they definently know there shit when it comes to building a computer.


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Cheers Bs i was also gonna say have a look at the smaller computer stores nearby you may just pick up a gem at a great price.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Um I think Ill definately take Mussels advice on number 2, price is perfect as 2.5k was stretch.

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

And as for the build, I think a family friend is a computer guy so maybe I can take all the parts to him and watch him do it/ get him to help me.


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## Triprift (Jun 4, 2009)

Excellent good choice dont forget to post pics of your new build and dont forget the benchies.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 4, 2009)

Definately, just one more question, with the video card whats the difference between the 
        06860        VGA (ATI) 4870 1GB Amaze 	        $259		
	06512	VGA (ATI) 4870 1GB Sapphire 	$299		
	06760	VGA (ATI) 4890 1GB Gigabyte 	$389	
	06721	VGA (ATI) 4890 1GB Sapphire         $333

Which one is the best suited to the other components?


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## Mussels (Jun 4, 2009)

the difference is what comes in the box usually. performace wise, they're all 100% identical - so go the cheapest, or the one with the best warranty.


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## JessicaD (Jun 4, 2009)

Mussels,

I agree -- Windows 7RC is out and is very stable. In comparrison to Windows Vista it offers advanced security, increased performance, enhanced speed and more. For more information and direct access to the download center, head on over to Microsoft Springboard.

http://tinyurl.com/832nco

Jessica
Microsoft Springboard / TechNet 
v-jedeen@microsoft.com


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## WhiteLotus (Jun 4, 2009)

Glad atomic took on board all the advice, and also wow to the number of people offering it. Props people!

And also, a microsoft rep commented. For a first thread(?) this went rather well, i hope it attracts you to stay around longer.


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## wolf (Jun 5, 2009)

AromaticFosho said:


> Definately, just one more question, with the video card whats the difference between the
> * 06860        VGA (ATI) 4870 1GB Amaze 	        $259*
> 06512	VGA (ATI) 4870 1GB Sapphire 	$299
> 06760	VGA (ATI) 4890 1GB Gigabyte 	$389
> ...



the cheapest of either card is the go here.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 5, 2009)

Thanks for the help guys, Ill definately be lurking round here trying to acquaint myself with the lingo.

Can't wait to get the computer now! Going to be saaaahweet 

Also, added it all up with speakers, PSU and the video card, going to be $2061.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 5, 2009)

One more question guys...

Just pulled apart the office computer, seen the heat sink, do I have to buy one separately or does the CPU come with a stock one


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## bpgt64 (Jun 5, 2009)

Imo, Cheaper case...Antec 300 or 900.  Window's 7 RC is good for a year, so yea.  Does Phenom 9550 mean a Phenom X4 II 955?


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## Mussels (Jun 5, 2009)

no phenom 9550 would be a phenom 1 model.


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## AromaticFosho (Jun 5, 2009)

Im not really sure, what I wrote is whats on the pamphlet detailing the computers features.


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## Mussels (Jun 5, 2009)

the pamphlet said a 9550, not a phenom II 955.

That means its an original phenom, not the phenom II - and PI has nothing on P II.

 PII draws equal with many intels, PI does not.


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