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I finally have the cash to get a new PC, but I'm not sure where to start. I need just about everything at this point, so any thoughts? I have $1000 to spend but I'd prefer not to spend that much... more like $800.

Things I know I need:
- Monitor
- Keyboard
- Motherboard
- processor (want to get at least a decent quad core) (Prefer to get this comboed with motherboard)
- Ram
- Win 7 64-bit (unless I can get a REALLY persuasive argument for Win 8)
- Videocard
- 650w power supply

Things I'd like:
- Soundcard (Because Realtek audio is SHIT)
- web cam (don't need anything fancy)

Any advice?

Do you have anything you can reuse until you can finally upgrade? (keyboard, monitor, etc) Or are you looking for a drop-in replacement for your current setup?

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Do you have anything you can reuse until you can finally upgrade? (keyboard, monitor, etc) Or are you looking for a drop-in replacement for your current setup?

--Patrick

Click to expand...

My video card is still alright, so I can switch that over for now. I suppose my keyboard is fine but I'm going to need to get a modern one soon, as this one came off a Sony Viao and looks like shit.

Basically everything else needs to be upgraded though, especially the processor, motherboard, and monitor (a 15+ year old CRT which has started sparking AGAIN.)

Try to get a monitor with IPS. It'll cost extra, but it'll be worth it.

Everything else is really a budget decision. I'm not in a position to make specific recommendations, but the has well arch is out, so you can either get a really good last gen processor and motherboard for cheap, or try to get a lower end haswell for your budget.

If you're doing WoW, you'll want a lot of memory, but for most gaming you don't need to try to get 16GB of memory, and a lot of people are happy with 4, though it'd drive me crazy.

Keep your current video card and save up to replace it later so you can get a better machine now.

I definitely want at least 8 gigs. I don't do WoW, but I do play Secret World.

I would recommend 8GB at a minimum.
Even if you only use a 32-bit OS (or apps) to start with, you'll want that expansion room waiting for you when you upgrade.

--Patrick

I would seriously wait on the video card. AMD might just force Nvidia to become competitive again soon.

I always check out these guys first: http://techreport.com/review/25250/system-guide-current

It's their current system guide, and has a number of different cost brackets, more than one of which is within your means.

As for the Windows 8 or not, I'd say this: if you're willing to download web browsers, image editors, or pretty much anything not already built-in to the system (steam, any games whatsoever), then you're probably fine downloading and installing a 3rd-party start menu: http://www.classicshell.net/

Then you have the ability to do anything with the "new UI" if you WISH to, but if you want to be in windows-7 land 99% of the time (or more, like I am) then you're good. Boots directly to desktop. But if for some reason there's this really killer new-UI-only app, you can get that too.

Frank said:

I would seriously wait on the video card. AMD might just force Nvidia to become competitive again soon.

Click to expand...

AMD's newest card series (the R2xx series) is mainly a rebadge of the older 7xxx series with some tweaks. The only cards with any sort of actual new architecture are the 290-series parts, and the official reviews for those haven't come out yet.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

AMD's newest card series (the R2xx series) is mainly a rebadge of the older 7xxx series with some tweaks. The only cards with any sort of actual new architecture are the 290-series parts, and the official reviews for those haven't come out yet.

--Patrick

Click to expand...

Those are what I was referring to.

However, that 280X (I think) is 100 bucks cheaper than it's nearest Nvidia equivalent.

The 280x is a rebadged 7970. The 270x is a rebadged 7870. Not sure about the rest.

--Patrick

http://anandtech.com/show/7457/the-radeon-r9-290x-review

So the 290x is a fire breathing monster, both in performance and in heat production. Outperforms the Titan at higher resolutions and costs roughly half as much. But holy shit does it produce heat.

Ordered my parts.

- Intel Core i5 4430 (4 x 3.2GHz CPU - 6MB Cache +1150MHz Graphics) (CPU)
- Asus Z87-K (motherboard)
- Acer G236HLBbd (Monitor) (Got this $100 off on the Newegg Columbus Day sale)
- Seagate Barracuda 2TB HD (Data Drive)
- Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 2.5" 120 SATA III (Solid State drive)
- CORSAIR Vengeance 8gb RAM
- CORSAIR CX600M 600W (Power Supply)
- Windows 8 Professional 64-bit

All in all spent a little over $1000. I'm going to stick with my video card for awhile. I can get something great in Spring 2014 instead.

Frank said:

So the 290x is a fire breathing monster, both in performance and in heat production.

Click to expand...

I think the biggest surprise from those graphs is just how good of a card the 5870 was.

--Patrick

AshburnerX said:

Ordered my parts.

- Intel Core i5 4430 (4 x 3.2GHz CPU - 6MB Cache +1150MHz Graphics) (CPU)
- Asus Z87-K (motherboard)
- Acer G236HLBbd (Monitor) (Got this $100 off on the Newegg Columbus Day sale)
- Seagate Barracuda 2TB HD (Data Drive)
- Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD120BW 2.5" 120 SATA III (Solid State drive)
- CORSAIR Vengeance 8gb RAM
- CORSAIR CX600M 600W (Power Supply)
- Windows 8 Professional 64-bit

All in all spent a little over $1000. I'm going to stick with my video card for awhile. I can get something great in Spring 2014 instead.

Click to expand...

If you can grab it, you may as well go to 8.1 immediately. And of course, http://classicshell.net ASAP.

Eriol said:

If you can grab it, you may as well go to 8.1 immediately. And of course, http://classicshell.net ASAP.

Click to expand...

Oh, right. 8.1 is finally good enough that it is worth considering, in my opinion.

--Patrick

Nope. I had half this stuff by Friday of last week so I'm just sitting on a box. I'm just waiting on the processor and motherboard combo, which I had assembled and with some deluxe cooling options. Unfortunately FedEX stopped giving me updates on it's progress Tuesday and i have no idea where it is right now.