PCA Forums

The itch to upgrade from my trusty dell core 2 is getting worse....I specced out this system on the place FP got his. Just don't have the interest in building one anymore.

I have a copy of XP Pro - this is specced for Win7Pro but is there any real advantage?

USB3 - I assume that there will be drop in cards for this if it turns out to be useful

notes to myself. PS may be a little lite, but I'm going to drop in my 4870 and not have that many drives. I'm looking for a stable easy OC. This should OC easily to 3.4ghz + per reviews and is a quality board.


# *BASE_PRICE: [+709]
# CD: Lite-On IHOS 104 4X Blu-Ray Player [+35]
# CD2: (I have a 16x DVDRW to drop in)
# CAS: Apex Vortex 3620 Mid-Tower Gaming Case (Black Color)
# CASUPGRADE: None
# CS_FAN: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]
# CPU: AMD Phenom™II X4 955 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
# CARE1: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]
# FLOPPY: None
# FREEBIE_CU1: Three-Pack of Games Coupon - Dragon Rising, Grid, And Dirt
# FAN: Asetek LCLC 120 Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
# FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
# MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
# MULTIVIEW: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors
# MOTHERBOARD: Asus Crosshair III Formula AM3 DDR3 790FX CrossFire Chipset with Quad PCIE slot SATA RAID MB w/GbLAN [+145]
# MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Dominator [+39])
# NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
# OS: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional [+135] (64-bit Edition)
# POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies (XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power Supply)

# SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
# USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
# USBHD: None
# USBX: NZXT Internal USB 6-PORT Expansion Module [+19]
# VIDEO: None, or Onboard ATI Radeon 2100 based Integrated Graphics [-111]

# _PRICE: (+999)

This is the base build I am working from
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Mega_Special_I/


Thanks!

The build looks good. You may wish to check the 12V amperage against your Video card requirements to make sure it's enough. I would guess that it is.

Since you're going with a fresh system, go with 7 Pro 64. You can install the Virtual XP mode if you need to run any older apps. or hardware that only works under 32 bit.

Post Pics and benchmarks once you get it. It should be a sweet system.

That's the same base PSU that came with my rig and I wasn't too impressed with it. It has enough amperage (barely), but it's cheaply constructed and very light on the 12volt rails for a so-called 600 watt PS. I'd be concerned about power spikes under heavy load if you put a serious video card in there for gaming. I looked around and it sells for $26 mailorder which tells you how cheap it is: http://www.buyxg.com/store/item.aspx?id=3587&catid=142

I just replaced mine with something better and put that one on the shelf as a spare for clients. It just made me a little nervous. I've had cheap PSUs kill a system with spikes.

If money's really tight it'll work but if you can spare it, upgrade to a name brand PSU like that CoolerMaster 600 for another $73, or you can upgrade it later.

XP Pro will work just fine if you don't care about DX 10 and don't want to spend the money on Win7, but if you want to have access to all 4Gb of RAM you should go with Win7 x64.

He could also get a copy of XP64bit to take advantage of the ram, could he not?

Yeah, but having used XP x64 myself for the past 2 years I wouldn't recommend it. Microsoft never properly supported it and it's a pain to use. Lots of driver and software issues. Better off with Win7 x64

What no floppy? Guess I'm the only one that uses them anymore. Gonna try to load Win7 from floppy

I say go for Win7 Pro 64bit & get it over with like Err said. Then if you want to upgrade the ram, you will see it. Also, most anything coming out is designed with Win7 in mind (drivers & games in particular) so that's another thing to consider. XP mode works great for me so far (only needed it for one program as of yet).

Ditto FP on the PSU. It's a cheapie. If their upgrade prices are too high, it's not too hard to find a deal from another distributer (usually about $60-90 for a decent one) & just ship the computer with the cheapie. Funny though, swap too many other things & you may as well build one.

Figured that clicking 60 was worth buying a nice system.


* CD: LG 22X DVD±/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive (BLACK COLOR)
* CD2: None
* CAS: Apevia X-Dreamer 3 Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ Side-Panel Window & Temperature Display [+13] (Black Color with Black Ring & Blue LED Fan)
* CS_FAN: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9]
* CPU: AMD Phenom™II X4 965 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology [+20]
* CARE1: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]
* FLOPPY: None
* FAN: Asetek LCLC 120 Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
* FREEBIE_RM: None
* FREEGAME_VC02: None
* FA_HDD: None
* FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
* HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
* HDD2: None
* IEEE_CARD: None
* KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
* MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
* MULTIVIEW: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors
* MOTHERBOARD: Asus Crosshair III Formula AM3 DDR3 790FX CrossFire Chipset with Quad PCIE slot SATA RAID MB w/GbLAN [+139]
* MEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module [+135] (Corsair or Major Brand)
* MODEM: None
* NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
* OS: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional [+135] (64-bit Edition)
* POWERSUPPLY: Corsair Power Supplies [+75] (* 750 Watts CMPSU-750TX - Quad SLI Ready [+8])
* RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
* SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
* SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
* SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers
* USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
* VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB DDR2 PCI-Express DVI-I & TVO [-76] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
VC_PHYSX: None
* WNC: None

I got the video card for another rig, I'm going to drop in my 1GB 4870 when it gets here, wanted it ready to roll. When I have some $$ I'll either add a second 4870 in XF or get a DX 11 card.

came in at $1165 shipped, which is a little more than I wanted to pay but WTH. About 1/2 the price of a P-166 system I bought 15 years ago

It should be a monster. :lol

Oooh, fancy cooling. That Radeon hd4350 is actually a great card for HTPC use. Can output 1080p video smoothly. That's what I'm using right now. It'll so older games (most anything before Crysis came out) at lower resolutions. The ram upgrade pricing wasn't all that bad for what you got. You'll be glad you went with that power supply. You'll be able to move that along for a few systems.

Cyberpower couldn't seem to handle the idea of having the system shipped to my office. After four days of emails, calls to the bank, etc., and having the shipping date pushed out 2 weeks further (to mid-march ), I just canceled the order. I was having to do WAY too much work for a high ticket item. (and it made me concerned about service down the road.)

When I buy from Dell, the box is generally in my hand within 3 days. They don't care that it is my office. YMMV

BTW I have EVERYTHING shipped to my office since my home is 25 miles from my office and I'm not about to take a day off work to wait for anything.

My first desktop PC was from Cyber Power.. I'm still just not turned off on building my own though. Fixing to build another one when tax money comes in. Should be my first XFire rig But, when I ordered from CP when I bought mine, they were still a really small company and got my stuff out pretty quick. Sorry yours didn't go so well.

eGo

My experiences with smaller companies is that they can't handle shipping to anywhere but the credit card's billing address. Literally, I've had to ship stuff that was for my work to my home just to get some stuff delivered (I get reimbursed). This is after them even after they called up there (without my knowledge) & verified I worked there. They even had my boss fax letterhead to them. I would have canceled if they weren't also the cheapest by about 30%.

not really that hard to build iy yourself I reckon - and if one piece goes south, then you can just send it back. total price on this build is about the same - $1,120.41 - but I snuck in a ssd boot drive

This case is way cool big fans on the front and back and 2 on the top - I've always like lian li cases.

1 LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811112239
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$30.00 Instant

$129.99
$99.99

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131363
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy

-$10.00 Instant

$188.99
$178.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139006
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$20.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card17-139-006

$139.99
$119.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231277
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy



$209.98
($104.99 each)

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGMBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103727
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy



$179.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116758
Return Policy: Software Return Policy



$139.99

this is AT pick
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835233003
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


$10.00 Mail-in Rebate35-233-003

$39.66


OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227393
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy

If you want a Dell rig in the same class, look at the Dell Studio XPS 8100. I was looking at it long and hard before buying from CyberPower: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops ... 00-anav1~~

I've never had a company have an issue with a different shipping and billing address. That's pretty common nowadays. I have everything shipped to my mailing address which is mail box in a UPS Store, but that's my billing address also. I have nothing mailed to my house because I'm in a rural area and mail "disappears" out there.

UPS Store signs for all my packages and holds them for me, and calls me to let me know when something big comes in. I use it as my business address as well

the Dell specs out at about 950 with 7 pro and 8 GB ddr1333. The cons are no OC capability, no ddr 1600 and no x-fire. Not a bad rig though. I should be able to get the Phenom to 4.0+ with no problems, so it will be a faster rig.

Don't stress on the RAM speed too much. Most of the benchmarks I've seen say that it doesn't make too large of an overall difference.