Finally upgrading!

[KALSTER]

So, the time has FINALLY come for a substantial upgrade.

I will be upgrading to:

AMD Phenom II x4 925
Biostar TA790GX A3+
4GB DDRIII ram
Sony 24x DVD/RW (will be selling the POS Samsung with my old system).
Coolermaster Hyper TX3
Coolermaster RC 600 Gladiator

The CPU:

I initially wanted to go straight for an i5 system, but in the end I figured that I wouldn't gain much gaming performance over the Phenoms and don't really do much AVI coding and such. The 925 is the slowest Phenom II x4, but I think I should be able to easily clock it to 3.0GHz+ should the need ever arise (don't think it will happen soon). I will save close to R500 with this choice.

The Motherboard:

For the i5 I would have gotten an ASUS P7P55D board for around R1400, but with this system I am getting the Biostar TA790GX A3+ I have been recommending to a lot of other people. I can get it for just over R800, so I save about another R600 with that.

The RAM:

I am a bit torn with this. On the one side I am thinking of getting cheap as dirt Zeppelin DDR3 1600 ram (R980 incl shipping for 2 x 2GB), while on the other I would like a brand with a bit more of a reputation. The Zeppelin's do come with a lifetime guarantee though and I will probably never need to overclock them to above their already rated 1600mhz speeds.

The Hyper TX3 is cheap and effective, the Sony is faster, better and newer than the Samsung and the Gladiator RC 600 is cheap and effective as well.

Yay!

[Molean]

Seems quite noice....are you keeping your current gfx? If not, your new CPU will definitely pump some more juice into it...

[KALSTER]

Seems quite noice....are you keeping your current gfx? If not, your new CPU will definitely pump some more juice into it...

Sure will. Can't wait for the extra gaming performance. I will eventually possibly get a second 4850 for Crossfire performance that surpasses that of a GTX280. Pretty cool.

[StarBound]

Forget the 2nd 4850. Just get a 5850. Dont they go for R2500-3000 now?

[KALSTER]

Forget the 2nd 4850. Just get a 5850. Dont they go for R2500-3000 now?

I am bound by my budget unfortunately, so I won't be able to afford one right now. I might just sell my current card to help fund what will probably be one of those ATI's in the hopefully near future, come to think of it. I am still restricted to a 17" CRT, so the 4850 should still be able to offer enough grunt to play the latest games with my current upgrade to boot. I have been able to play nearly everything at max with VSync enabled up until now, even with my current RAM and CPU. I might try and weasel a 19" or a 22" out somewhere before upgrading the GPU then.

[ADV4NCED]

holy crap, this 5850 is going cheap - http://www.wootware.co.za/vtx3d-radeon- ... etail.html

[KALSTER]

Wow, that IS cheap.

[Ratwiz]

Hey ADV4NCED, thanks for linking to us.

We're distributing the VTX 3D graphics cards in SA, so this gives us the opportunity to effectively offer wholesale prices to end-users while still being able to make a profit. We've sold a fair share of VTX 3D graphics cards and we have only had positive feedback from customers.

These are all based off the reference design from ATi and each card has a 2-year warranty. VTX 3D is part of TUL Corporation (PowerColor). The only downside could be that there are no games included in the bundle.

Sorry for the OT post. I noticed that we were getting some traffic from this thread. Your proposed setup looks good KALSTER .

[vayron]

pixit.co.za 422.95 2gb ddr3 corsair vat incl

[ADV4NCED]

Hey ADV4NCED, thanks for linking to us.

We're distributing the VTX 3D graphics cards in SA, so this gives us the opportunity to effectively offer wholesale prices to end-users while still being able to make a profit. We've sold a fair share of VTX 3D graphics cards and we have only had positive feedback from customers.

These are all based off the reference design from ATi and each card has a 2-year warranty. VTX 3D is part of TUL Corporation (PowerColor). The only downside could be that there are no games included in the bundle.

Sorry for the OT post. I noticed that we were getting some traffic from this thread. Your proposed setup looks good KALSTER .

Cool Ratwiz....so wheres my royalties at yo ?

[OT]If you guys had some AS5 or MX-3 thermal paste, I would have placed my next order with you, cause your prices are pretty good[/OT]

[Ratwiz]

[OT]If you guys had some AS5 or MX-3 thermal paste, I would have placed my next order with you, cause your prices are pretty good[/OT]

I've PM'ed ya.

[KALSTER]

Ok, final system. All paid for and expecting the parts between Monday and Tuesday.

Amd Phenom II 925 2.8Ghz
2x 2Gb Zeppelin DDR3 1600 Ram
Biostar TA890GXE motherboard with AMD 6 core support and Sata3 (only 1x PCI-E port though ).
Cipherwave 1.5TB external HDD with USB2 and eSata connectivity.
LG W2343T-PF 23" LCD 1920x1080, with D-Sub and DVI-D.
LG 24x DVD/RW

Now I am POOR again. Will see how my current GPU performs with the new specs and resolution. Maybe I'll sell my soul to the imaginary devil for a 5850 at some point.

[Molean]

Ok, final system. All paid for and expecting the parts between Monday and Tuesday.

Amd Phenom II 925 2.8Ghz
2x 2Gb Zeppelin DDR3 1600 Ram
Biostar TA890GXE motherboard with AMD 6 core support and Sata3 (only 1x PCI-E port though ).
Cipherwave 1.5TB external HDD with USB2 and eSata connectivity.
LG W2343T-PF 23" LCD 1920x1080, with D-Sub and DVI-D.
LG 24x DVD/RW

Now I am POOR again. Will see how my current GPU performs with the new specs and resolution. Maybe I'll sell my soul to the imaginary devil for a 5850 at some point.

Gratz! Let us know how it performs....If you're gonna be selling your soul for a GFX card, you might aswell go for the 5970.....*chortle*

[SilverBack]

Where you getting the mobo from? Not many place selling Biostar...

[KALSTER]

Where you getting the mobo from? Not many place selling Biostar...

From myself, KALSTER Computers.

[DeathStrike]

congrats. i am about to upgrade my HDD space.. i want to buy a 1TB HDD. but i am worried i don't have enough power.. i have a 350W power supply. is that enough for two HDDs and the specs in my sig? (Asus P5KPL-CM motherboard, 2 GIG RAM, Q6600 @ 2.88GHz , GeForce 8600GT, 500 GB HDD) plus a SATA DVD writer. oh and there is a tv card in the pc also.

[KALSTER]

What brand and model PSU do you have? The Q6600 uses more than 100W under load AFAIK. The brand and model can make quite a huge difference...

[ryanrich]

If you have a good branded 350W you should be fine. Your system as is should be using around 285W and with 2 HDD's should be using just over 300W at 90% load...

[DeathStrike]

hmm. i will have to check. got it with the computer. let you guys know later. its probably not a great brand.

So lets say its the worst, would i the need to get new psu?

[ryanrich]

I wouldn't think so, it should work fine, a 2nd HDD won't add much load...

[DeathStrike]

ok. thanks. So i can finally order my HDD with piece of mind.

[KALSTER]

ok. thanks. So i can finally order my HDD with piece of mind.

No! Yes.

[Puento]

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