cologsx

hey all,

It's time for the family computer to be upgraded so we've got $1,000 USD to work with on this one. Usage will continue to be 75% web surfing/ms office and 25% counter strike source. I'm thinking something along the lines of a Phenom II 965 (125W) / SSD (64 or 128) / gtx 260 / 4-6 gigs of ram. Please make some suggestions and leave head room for everything else. I'm mostly interested in your opinions on mobo, cpu, ssd and ram. The rest I can figure out depending on the amount of money left over.

Thanks!

[Updated List]
GPU: eVGA GeForce GTS 250 512MB - $135
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (125w) - $200
Mobo: MSI 790FX-GD70 - $165
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2x2gb (7-7-6-18) - $130
SSD: Intel X25-M Mainstream G2 80gb - $290

dixson01974

Sound good but one thing. What os are you planning to use and DDR2 or DDR3?

oliverw92

I would go amd on that budget like you said. Doubt you could fit an i5 rig into that, and if you did it wouldnt be great. I am no expert on amd, so i will give some advice on other stuff:

OCZ Vertex or Crucial SSD - They are identical tbh. OCZ just get driver updates out more frequently.

GFX - ATi is wise to go for if you are on an average budget. 4890 would do nicely, or even a 5770.

Case - Can't beat a haf 932 tbh in your situation

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cologsx

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Definitely DDR3. I'll get a cheaper video card if it comes down to it. We want this bad boy to boot up and load browser windows and office apps as fast as possible.

I haven't decided if I'm going to re-use XP or buy Windows7. We'll figure that out later but eventually windows7 will be on this.

cologsx

I'm starting to have doubts about going SSD. 370 bucks for 128gb and I'm not sure my dad will actually appreciate the small gain in performance when loading IE and MS Word.

hmmm