Wanting to upgrade my computer

I have been out of the tech news loop for a while, and after purchasing Warhammer online amongst other things, I am looking to update my rig. I would like some recommendations as to what to buy in the following areas:

  1. CPU (prefer AMD but will go with Intel if AMD has the digital herpes or something)

  2. Motherboard - does not NEED to have SLI but can

  3. Video Card - I have heard a bit about NVidia 260 saying they run Warhammer sweet - I will not be running 2 x SLI, I want a card that can run WAR without

  4. RAM, 4GB+ - need to know a safe brand that will not burn a hole in my pocket.

  5. Power Supply to run all of the above…

I will be keeping my old hard drives, and all peripherals because they are pretty recent.

I have a budget of about 20-25k to work with and would appreciate any info anyone can give especially on price, last generation stuff that has been seen cheap etc…

Ok, I’d wait a couple of weeks, as Intel is about to drop prices on a fair few CPUs by then.
I wouldn’t bother with AMD if you’re serious about playing the latest games.
SLI, well, Nvidia is on the way out of the chipset business, so I’d go with something that supports CrossFire, but that’s just me.

But if you’re in a hurry, let’s see what I can suggest…

Processor: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 00&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0J&ROWNO=1

Motherboard: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 7&ROWNO=11
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 17&ROWNO=6
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 01&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 1&ROWNO=20
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 05&ROWNO=2
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 02&ROWNO=9
It all comes down to which brand and what features you’re looking for. All of those boards support CrossFire and DDR2 memory.

If you really want AMD, then get the fastest they have, as you’ll manage to fit that into your budget: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0N&ROWNO=6

Motherboards for AMD would be something like: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 1P&ROWNO=2
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0S&ROWNO=2
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 1&ROWNO=13
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 05&ROWNO=8
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0Q&ROWNO=3

I wouldn’t bother with DDR3, at least not as of right now, as there’s no real benefit, at least not until Core i7 comes out some time early next month, but the new processors and motherboards will be expensive, not to mention the need for triple-channel memory.

As long as you’re running a 32-bit OS, you don’t need more than 4GB of RAM.
Some suggestions are: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=6
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=5
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 2&ROWNO=25

Graphics card, well, that’s generally a matter of how much you want to spend and personal preference, but at the moment, ATI is on top both in terms of performance and value. But I’ll suggest a couple of different options: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 32&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 32&ROWNO=5
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 34&ROWNO=1
or in the case of Nvidia: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 35&ROWNO=3

Power supply, you won’t need something silly for that, but I’d recommend buying a decent model, something like: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0Q&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 6&ROWNO=12
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 01&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0X&ROWNO=1

Sorry about all the links, but it makes it easier for me and you get an idea of what stuff costs. Remember that it’s cheaper to head down the computer market and pick this stuff, you might save a couple of thousand compared to the online prices. Hope it helps :smiley:

[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Ok, I’d wait a couple of weeks, as Intel is about to drop prices on a fair few CPUs by then.
I wouldn’t bother with AMD if you’re serious about playing the latest games.
SLI, well, Nvidia is on the way out of the chipset business, so I’d go with something that supports CrossFire, but that’s just me.

But if you’re in a hurry, let’s see what I can suggest…

Processor: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 00&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0J&ROWNO=1

Motherboard: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 7&ROWNO=11
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 17&ROWNO=6
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 01&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 1&ROWNO=20
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 05&ROWNO=2
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 02&ROWNO=9
It all comes down to which brand and what features you’re looking for. All of those boards support CrossFire and DDR2 memory.

I wouldn’t bother with DDR3, at least not as of right now, as there’s no real benefit, at least not until Core i7 comes out some time early next month, but the new processors and motherboards will be expensive, not to mention the need for triple-channel memory.

As long as you’re running a 32-bit OS, you don’t need more than 4GB of RAM.
Some suggestions are: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=6
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 22&ROWNO=5
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 2&ROWNO=25

Graphics card, well, that’s generally a matter of how much you want to spend and personal preference, but at the moment, ATI is on top both in terms of performance and value. But I’ll suggest a couple of different options: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 32&ROWNO=1
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 32&ROWNO=5
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 34&ROWNO=1
or in the case of Nvidia: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 35&ROWNO=3

Power supply, you won’t need something silly for that, but I’d recommend buying a decent model, something like: shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0Q&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 6&ROWNO=12
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 01&ROWNO=4
or shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … 0X&ROWNO=1

Sorry about all the links, but it makes it easier for me and you get an idea of what stuff costs. Remember that it’s cheaper to head down the computer market and pick this stuff, you might save a couple of thousand compared to the online prices. Hope it helps :smiley:[/quote]

Thanks a lot man, I’ll check this out when I peel my eyes open in the morning. It’s exactly what I need… :slight_smile:

Just updated it with a few AMD options :smiley:

I am also in the process of upgrading my computer, so I am for once pretty up to date on the latest stuff. AMD does have digital herpes. All my previous computers were AMD because they were cheaper and more powerful, but at the moment, they don’t seem to have anything to compete with Intel. So I’m looking at getting an intel. With an Intel board.
I’m considering future expansion, I’m going to get a cheap E7200 for now, but I can still replace it with some mad quad core in the future. Socket 775 seems to have a longer future than AM2. P45 board with 2 crossfire sockets, but just get 1 ATI 3870 for now.
If you want to use SLI you need an nvidia motherboard. But I hear Nvidia boards aren’t so good and they get hot.

In a nutshell: Intel CPU, Intel motherboard, ATI Graphics (That’s only for possible future crossfire, if you only wanted one card, Nvidia would be just as good)

That’s what I’ve found out, correct me if I’m wrong. You may be able to afford better stuff than me.

it might cost a little more, but I like the small footprint of a Shuttle XPC, and I like building and modding. They have a lot of SATA systems.

but their models are Intel-heavy (mine is an older AMD Athlon)

Ram: If you’re not hardcore, trendy with copper heatsinks attached to ram guy (then maybe Corsair is good for you), I would just go for plain vanilla Kingstom ram. They are cheap, and dependable. (They do have a “gamer’s line”, but I have had no problem with their basic products).

I tend to move alot, so a small computer is heaven.

Where the current generation of multicore processors is concerned, AMD doesn’t compare favorably. From what I read, the only reason to go AMD is price. Intel is better for performance.

Prices are quite low for hardware these days. Recently, I was able to DIY build a decent new system for 24 k. Specs: Intel q6600 core2 quad, 4 gigs RAM, Geforce 8600gts video card.

When you say Intel is dropping prices soon, is this everywhere except Taiwan? Do you have any more info on this, like by how much? Is that when Nehelem comes out?

[quote]As long as you’re running a 32-bit OS, you don’t need more than 4GB of RAM.[/quote]If you’re running a 32-bit Windows, you can only use about 3.5GB. The rest is wasted. A 64 bit OS can use all the memory that currents boards can hold.

You can use 4GB, nothing is wasted, it just doesn’t show up on some systems, some only display 3GB or 3.2GB, but it can still be used.

Shuttle will be going out of business soon, so don’t bother with them, they’ve had just about nothing new in the last six months and are now going after the super budget Atom market.

Intel is going to lower its prices on several CPUs in a couple of weeks and will have some new Core 2 stuff next month as well with further price drops and no, it has nothing to do with Core i7/Bloomfield/Nehalem. They do this regularly and the price drop does come to Taiwan, it just seem to take slightly longer to reach the island. Supposedly Thailand is cheap for processors, or so I’ve been told.

The Core i7 platform is going to be way overpriced, motherboard are going for US$3-400 easily, processors are starting at about US$300 and you need triple-channel DDR3 memory which will be a premium to start with. Besides, the platform has a lot of limitations as to what kind of DDR3 memory you can use with it and so far there’s not enough details available about how well it will perform and overclock (for those concerned about that).

If you want something small, pick up a decent mATX board, there are some really good ones now and DFI even has a P45 model which can take a pair of graphics cards in CrossFire which is really neat if you want a small but powerful gaming system.

wow, i had no idea about shuttle going out of business. haven’t been keeping up with the news.

what about SFF brands in general?

Too bad about Shuttle.
I absolutely love my xpc, and it’s a few years old now.

Thanks for telling me about the upcoming price drops, I can wait till then, get something cheaper or better. Would you happen to have a link to a news story about the new chips? I can’t find anything.

On the Asus website it says: “When installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, Windows® 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Hence, a total installed memory of less than 3GB is recommended.”

Windows 32 uses the top half GB or so for hardware access, and its address bus can’t access more than 4GB (32 bits=2^32=4GB)

If you install 4GB you’ll get more memory than with 2GB, just not the full 4GB

I think I found it, they’re releasing an E7400 on the 19th. They say that’s going to push down the price of the E7300 which not many places in Taiwan list. Maybe they’re phasing it out?
That is the range of CPU I was looking for, so I’ll still wait and see.

fudzilla.com/index.php?optio … &Itemid=35 - October 19th

The Q8200, Q6600, E7300, E2220 and E2200 are all set to drop and the E7400 will launch

fudzilla.com/index.php?optio … &Itemid=35 - November 30th

Q8300, E5300 and Celeron E1500 launch

With regards to the 4GB limit, Windows XP is limited to 3-3.5GB, but Vista can do 4GB - msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx
So ok, you got a bit of a point there, but you’ll most likely get slightly worse performance going for 3x1GB than 4x1GB or 2x2GB, but I guess you could go with 2x1GB and 2x512MB, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

And with regards to Shuttle, well, we’ll see, but if you look at all their “new” products, they’re pretty much re-hashing old stuff, their “latest” model is a cut-down version of their last P35 model and the rest of their line up consists of Atom based machines, anyone interested? Besides, they’re over priced and their R&D is really slow and they’ve lost most of their good staff, which to me sounds like they’re not going to be around for too much longer. I thought they would’ve pull the plug this year just like Abit is about to do, but I guess there’s still enough market for them somewhere in the world.

There are no other small form factor makers any more, as you can’t survive by selling 1,000 units or less a month. It was a fad and it was over two or even three years ago when everyone except Shuttle pulled out. Over the past two years Shuttle hasn’t really been doing too well and they’ve restructured part of their business and seem to be trying to branch out with weird surveillance PCs and a bunch of other low power/noise solutions that are over priced and under specified.

These days you either go mini-ITX and I almost dare not say, but Intel has a really sweet board intel.com/products/desktop/m … erview.htm although you can’t fit a graphics card to it, but since it takes Core 2 Duo processors, two sticks of DDR2 memory and has a PCIe x1 slot as well as DVI and HDMI output, it looks like a really sweet HTPC board, or you go mATX and there’s a whole bunch of great mATX boards out there now.

If you’re an AMD fan, then there’s this bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/0 … herboard/1 which has a full x16 PCIe slot, but the downside apart from the CPU is the fact that it has two SO-DIMM slots (laptop memory). Also mini-ITX cases are still quite expensive and you won’t find that many with a spare expansion slot.

I was hoping for AMD’s DTX standard as it allowed for two slots, but it never took off so I guess that’s not going to happen. Apart from that there isn’t much choice when it comes to smaller systems, but maybe there will be some changes at Shuttle before they’re gone, or someone else will take over that market space. Personally I miss the Biostar iDEQ systems, much better than Shuttle ever was imho.

I was going to get a Ideq way back when they were one of the first to come out with 2 5 1/4 bays (with the door), but the idiots at guanghua kept trying to hose me, so I went with a better deal from a Shuttle dealer. A oldie, but goodie SN42G, still going strong. too bad about biostar.

seems like in the states though, there’s still a sizable market of modders who love the Shuttle stuff. don’t know the scene now though. maybe they went the way u said…

XP 64 bit will also do more than 4GB, in fact almost all 64 bit OS’s will overcome the 4GB size limitation.

Well, they’re not that expensive in the US, but they’re super expensive in Europe and no-one really buys them any more there and from what I’ve seen, they mostly sell the old crap models here for way more than they’re worth. They’re about the same price in Europe in Europe as they are in Dollars in the US, so spending 35-40% for something that’s already quite expensive…
It’s actually their German offices fault as they decided to hike the prices up in Europe and now the company is going down the toilet.
How many of you would get this? eu.shuttle.com/en/DesktopDefault … ead-14897/
It’s US$192+tax and shipping in the US and €208+shipping in Europe…
And why do you need a built in 7in LCD display in the front of your Shuttle?
eu.shuttle.com/en/desktopdefault … ead-14870/
And then it’s the K45 which doesn’t have any drive bays and only a single expansion slot eu.shuttle.com/en/desktopdefault … ead-14663/
Sure, they’ve still got some high-end models with the Intel X48 chipset etc, but these are insanely expensive and no matter how much I like the size, I wouldn’t spend that kind of money on it. The SX48P2 Deluxe Prima costs US$487.91 or €489.10, that’s a lot of money to pay for a motherboard, case, 450W PSU, WiFi card and fingerprint reader, no?

Aye, the E7300 has dropped from $4250 to $3850
the E7200 is still $3750

The names are not easy to decode but they do make series, the E7XXX AFAIK are all 3MB cache and 1066MHz FSB
E7200: 2.53GHz
E7300: 2.66GHz
E7400: 2.8Ghz

At just $100 more the E7300 is a no-brainer now. I wonder if the E7200 will drop in price because the price is so close?

Here’s a list of all the official price reductions techpowerup.com/img/08-10-21/intel1.png
Shuttle might still be along for a wee bit longer, they were showing off an X58 (next generation Intel chipset) based motherboard at IDF this week, but don’t expect it to be out any time soon knowing how slow Shuttle is to get products to market.

Thanks to Mr Ma I can get my upgrade this Chinese New Year. I’m going for an E7300, 2.66Ghz, 1006Mhz FSB, 3MB cache.
So I was originally thinking that 1066MHz RAM would work well with that because it would be in sync with the CPU. But all premade systems here use 800MHz RAM, even top end 4-core systems. I know that 800MHz is the official top speed of DDR2 but motherboards support higher, and faster RAM is made. Is there a good reason to not go faster than 800? Is 800 enough? Is the extra cost not worth it?

I am looking at more techy sites, but they’re full of overclockers.