Help with buying a new computer

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I do not really know anything about AMD, but if you can point me at a CPU that is as powerful or close to as powerful as the i5 for less money I would very much appreciate it. And no, I do not have an OS disk, nor am I going to use Linux, One of the reasons I wanted that Cyber power was because it was only $745 WITH the OS included.
 
Once again, Intel fanboys would dispute this; but... an AMD Phenom II x4 955 @3.2ghz (faster than the i5 you selected, it was 3.1ghz) is only about $130 last I checked. Compared to the $245 that i5 was.

That's just an example for you.

It's sounding like you really are more comfortable buying a pre-built, which really as fine as long as you can justify the extra costs. Even though the sense of satisfaction of making your very own one of a kind PC is pretty bad ***.

You had also mentioned one of the reasons you wanted pre-built was the liquid cooling comes with it. You've been up front about what you want out of your PC, and liquid cooling is something you will NEVER need. I wouldn't even suggest a heat sink for something you're never going to OverClock. Those high end cooling options are for high end systems or people who want to push their components to the edge.

Also not sure why you selected 8GB of RAM? I mean don't get me wrong, that's a GREAT deal (80 bucks for 8GB) but it just doesn't match up with what you're saying you want to use your PC for. These higher component selections are why your prices are coming out higher.

I'm a hardcore gamer and get by on 4GB pretty smoothly.

Edit: Based on your descriptions of what you are using it for this is what I'd suggest for your main components-

AM3 motherboard
4-6GB DDR3 RAM
Phenom II x4 955 @3.2
Mid range GPU (Radeon 5000 series are under 100 these days I think)

That rig would be a beast for the things your wanting to and would need zero extra cooling options (unless you did want to OC). It may not max Crysis, but you'll be happy.
 
So, you are doing this in the US, right?
I have a list of parts that would be able to (almost) max Crysis at 30 fps on 1680x1050 resolution for less than ~$700, including the OS (~$600 for the stuff in the case and the case itself, $100 for the OS)(before taxes, after rebate and shipping).

The gaming one would be:
$60 1TB HDD
$48 4GB RAM
$60 case
$63 Corsair 600W PSU
$125 GTX 460 768MB
$115 Phenom II X4 955
$103 AM3 mobo (AM3 is what you need for the CPU there)
$24 CD/DVD drive
Oh, just saw that Windows 7 Home Premium is $95 right now.


Now, if you weren't gaming, you could get something a little less than that GTX 460 (for less).
For example, this GTS 250 for $60 after mail-in rebate. I think I saw a benchmark where one ran Crysis on high on 1680x1050 res at around 30 fps average, so I think it'll be good for Minecraft and WoW. :p
 
Once again, Intel fanboys would dispute this; but... an AMD Phenom II x4 955 @3.2ghz (faster than the i5 you selected, it was 3.1ghz) is only about $130 last I checked. Compared to the $245 that i5 was.

That's just an example for you.

It's sounding like you really are more comfortable buying a pre-built, which really as fine as long as you can justify the extra costs. Even though the sense of satisfaction of making your very own one of a kind PC is pretty bad ***.

You had also mentioned one of the reasons you wanted pre-built was the liquid cooling comes with it. You've been up front about what you want out of your PC, and liquid cooling is something you will NEVER need. I wouldn't even suggest a heat sink for something you're never going to OverClock. Those high end cooling options are for high end systems or people who want to push their components to the edge.

Also not sure why you selected 8GB of RAM? I mean don't get me wrong, that's a GREAT deal (80 bucks for 8GB) but it just doesn't match up with what you're saying you want to use your PC for. These higher component selections are why your prices are coming out higher.

I'm a hardcore gamer and get by on 4GB pretty smoothly.

Edit: Based on your descriptions of what you are using it for this is what I'd suggest for your main components-

AM3 motherboard
4-6GB DDR3 RAM
Phenom II x4 955 @3.2
Mid range GPU (Radeon 5000 series are under 100 these days I think)

That rig would be a beast for the things your wanting to and would need zero extra cooling options (unless you did want to OC). It may not max Crysis, but you'll be happy.

The reason I would like 8gb of ram is because I want this computer to last me a long time, and if I ever do want to play hardcore or do a lot of video and photo editing, I want it to be very quick about it. I dont want to have to one day say "Well, I think I should go out and buy a stick of ram". However, I agree 8gb is a ton, I would have done 6gb if they had a place for it, but unfortunately they dont. Regarding OC, I am not quite sure how to do it at this point, but I dont think I will ever truly need to, so yeah I most likely will not need a liquid cooling system. And I am a lot more comfortable buying a pre-built one rather than doing it from scratch. If you know a website that is cheaper or just better than Cyberpowerpc please tell me, but at the current moment, I think that one is going to be the one I get, or like you said, I might configure it and use a Phenom II x4 955 3.2 instead.
 
Also, is "Onboard ATI Radeon 2100 based Integrated Graphics" good enough or is it worth the extra $30 for "ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB DDR2 16X PCIe Video Card"?
 
The reason I would like 8gb of ram is because I want this computer to last me a long time, and if I ever do want to play hardcore or do a lot of video and photo editing, I want it to be very quick about it. I dont want to have to one day say "Well, I think I should go out and buy a stick of ram". However, I agree 8gb is a ton, I would have done 6gb if they had a place for it, but unfortunately they dont. Regarding OC, I am not quite sure how to do it at this point, but I dont think I will ever truly need to, so yeah I most likely will not need a liquid cooling system. And I am a lot more comfortable buying a pre-built one rather than doing it from scratch. If you know a website that is cheaper or just better than Cyberpowerpc please tell me, but at the current moment, I think that one is going to be the one I get, or like you said, I might configure it and use a Phenom II x4 955 3.2 instead.

Upgrading RAM at a later date is actually usually the smarter option. Also, when you speak of the PC lasting you a long time.... This is technology man, unfortunately the day after you buy something, it's better version comes out. So while your machine it self will last a long time if taken care of, the technology really is already out of date.

If you plan on doing a lot of video editing (we're talking hours of footage) then yes, 8GB would be smart.
 
Alright, how does this computer sound.

Case: Azza Orion Gaming Mid-Tower

CPU:AMD Phenomâ„¢II X4 955 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology

Motherboard:GigaByte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870/SB850 chipset DDR3 Ultra Durableâ„¢3 Socket AM3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 Audio, GBLAN, Support 6-core CPU, CPU Auto Unlocker, USB3.0, SATA-III, ON/OFF Charge for IPod, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1, & 3 PCI

RAM: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (I am probably also going to buy a $20 stick of 2gb ram and install it too)

Video card: ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB DDR2 16X PCIe Video Card

Power supply: 600 Watts - XtremeGear Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready

Hard drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

Optical drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive

OS:Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition

Total would be $636.
 
If you're just going to be playing WoW and Minecraft in terms of gaming? Sounds good to me.
 
If you're just going to be playing WoW and Minecraft in terms of gaming? Sounds good to me.

If I was at a later date maybe going to play something like CoD, would I just need to get a new video card? Or is this just the wrong system for that level of gaming?
 
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