Nearly two years ago, I pretty much built myself a whole new computer upgrading from an AMD Athlon 4000+ socket 939 system to a C2D e2160 cpu OC'd to 3ghz. I'm not totally comfortable with overclocking and I figured I'd replace the cpu at some point, but I've stuck with it thus far because it helped me get more bang for my buck.
As nice as the Intel i7 reviews look, I just can't afford to spend so much money to change the CPU and motherboard again (as well as DDR3 ram) so the easiest thing to do would be to upgrade what I already have and then see how the market is later. My motherboard (GA-p35-ds3p revision 2.0) supports the newer core 2 duo and quad CPU's with a bios update and since I'd rather not mess around with overclocking (or at least not as much as I am right now), I think either the e8400 (3ghz) or q9550 (2.83ghz) would be two good choices. The q9550 costs $62 more than the e8400 (at current newegg prices), but I'm thinking the quad-core would be more useful in the long run to extend the usefullness of the hardware. In games however, they seem to perform simiarly since no games (or at least only a handful) currently support quad-core.
Moving on, something I'd really like to replace is my monitor. As much as I love playing games on this 19" CRT, I could really do without this mamoth sitting on my desk. When I bought it back in like 2004/5, it was nice and cheap and most importantly, quick movements were nice and smooth and it didn't strain my eyes like LCD's can do with stuff like ghosting. I've grown tired of how much this thing weighs, the heat it puts out (though it's great in the winter), and it's large size. While looking at LCD's recently, I'm thinking that a LCD that has a response time of 2ms might be enough to let me comfortably use it. Not only that, but one with HDCP and an HDMI port would be great for plugging in my PS3 since I happened to luck out in choosing an apartment (furnished with a crappy, but large, HDTV) and that lease is coming to an end soon.
So anyway, here's the list of what I'm currently looking at. This is just planning right now so prices and selection could change.
CPU - Either the Intel e8400 ($167.99) or q9550 ($229.99)
Ram - I currently use Patriot 2x1gb DDR2 800 ($19.99 after MIR) and I might buy another set to max out my memory for 32-bit windows or I'm thinking I should get some faster G.SKILL 2x2gb DDR2 1066 ram ($54.99 after MIR).
Monitor - Some suggestions here would be lovely. This would be my first LCD monitor so I want to make sure that it's not going to bother my eyes. I've already visited a local Best Buy to see some their display models, but this is probably the area where I'm the most uncertain and will want to visit many local stores. Some conditions here are that it has to have a 2ms response time, be over 20", support 1920x1080 and HDCP, and an HDMI port would be welcome. Some monitors I've found online are,
- Logitech W2353V-PF 23" 2ms 1080p HDCP HDMI 50000:1 ($219.99)
- Acer H243Hbmid 24" 2ms 1920x1080 HDCP HDMI 40000:1 ($229.99)
- Asus VW246H 24" 2ms 1920x1080 HDCP HDMI 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) ($229.99)
- Dell SX2210 21.5" 2ms 1920x1080 HDCP HDMI 50000:1 ($209.99) - has a webcam and microphone built in.
GPU - Right now I have the EVGA 8800gt 512mb superclocked and I think this will suffice for right now unless I pick up a new monitor. Whenever that happens, I'm thinking the EVGA GTX Core 216 superclocked ($174.99 after MIR) would be a good replacement for higher resolution usage. With the announcement of new generation GPU's coming out around the time of Windows 7 launch, waiting would be the best strategy right now.
Power Supply - Right now I have a Thermaltake 500w power supply. If I eventually upgrade the GPU, I don't think this power supply will be up to the task. I've found the Corsair 750w power supply ($99.99 after MIR) and I think 750 watts should be okay. I haven't researched the variety of available power supplies to see other options so this is another area I'm a little unsure of.
Again, this is still in the planning stages. I want to keep my eyes open to the possibilities early so I can note changes in price and such.
Thank you for your feedback.
