WD are like, the biggest hard drive manufacturing company there is. Their Caviar Black drives are like, the second best spinning drives after raptor drives. What’s wrong with WD?

Ok, This is what I’m currently looking at from Umart – Opinions??

Seagate SATAII NCQ 1TB 7200RPM 32mb Cache $63.00

Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A 4GB (2x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) DDR3 $77.00

Asus P7H55-M LGA1156 4DDR3 GLAN 1PCIEx16 mATX HDMI HD AUDIO $100.00

Intel Core i5 760 Processor LGA1156 2.8GHz 8MB Cache CPU $211.00

Asus EAH5770CU2DI-1GD5 HD5770 1G DVI VGA HDMI $169.00

Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A 4GB (2x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) DDR3 $77.00

Good price. Corsair and Kingston are definitely the top RAM manufacturers. Good choice.

Asus P7H55-M LGA1156 4DDR3 GLAN 1PCIEx16 mATX HDMI HD AUDIO $100.00

Standard motherboard. Good brand. Nothing wrong there. As you’re under budget, maybe consider a mobo with some USB 3.0 ports though.

Intel Core i5 760 Processor LGA1156 2.8GHz 8MB Cache CPU $211.00

Good choice. The extra 4MB Cache over the i5 650 makes up for the 400MHz speed loss. I’m unsure if Computer Alliance have it cheaper ( http://www.computeralliance.com.au/partsText.aspx , Ctrl + F, ‘760 ‘ and it should skip to it), because they have it listed as $199, then $209 right below. $12 isn’t much difference though.

Asus EAH5770CU2DI-1GD5 HD5770 1G DVI VGA HDMI $169.00

I prefer ATI to NVIDIA personally, and the 5770 is a great card, but given how much under-budget your suggested build is ($620 = $180 under budget which is super nice), I’d opt for a 6850 instead. At $220, it’s only $50 more, but it’s the latest tech, and is $50 less than a 5850, which it performs almost as well as (though reviews think that newer drivers should boost it up over the 5850 by the end of the year), while having better power management and being cooler, quieter and cheaper. I’m just a little worried that in 4 year’s time (which I think is how long you said you wanted it to last you), the difference between a 6850 and a 5770 will be a lot bigger than what it is today. It’s your call though, and unless you’re playing Crysis, or the latest and most intense games, on high resolutions, your eyes shouldn’t see too big a difference between the two. (What’s 15 to 20 frames difference when you’re getting 90 or 100 frames a second? Your screen still refreshes at 60Hz. I have no idea what the performance difference is between these cards though, so hopefully someone else will be able to help you decide, or I might go look into it).

$180 over budget – $50 graphics card change = $670 total cost, $130 under budget

$130 could get you a second lot of RAM for 2 x 2 x 2GB (8GB total, which would CERTAINLY last you quite a while)
If you aren’t lacking hard drive space now, you definitely shouldn’t get any spare hard drives. The drive you picked is nice.

Seagate SATAII NCQ 1TB 7200RPM 32mb Cache $63.00

I’m assuming that the 1TB Seagate drive you mentioned is a Barracuda 7200.12. Also, the UMart reviews for it suggest it is ([url] http://umart.com.au/pro/products_review … &sid=26597[/url]). According to benchmarks, it is only the tiniest bit slower than a WD Caviar Black, but that’s a $40+ price difference between the two! I cannot understand why. I wish I had a desktop so I could go get one though!

In conclusion, as you have $180 left over, get a better graphics card. I can’t think of a way to spend the $130 remaining in a way that will give you a performance increase. The only thing I can suggest is a more expensive motherboard like the dearest one I had in my initial post, because that comes with two USB 3.0 ports, which should hopefully be getting more popular in 4 years time. Even then, it is arguably excessive. If you take my suggestion on the graphics card, you’ll have an amazing build for $670. You might need a more powerful power supply than what is currently in your case though, depending on your what it is and what graphics card you get. Find out what it is and check back with us and we’ll help you out though =]

Thanks for all your help on this, much appreciated! :banana:

Sifnt go a SSD HDD……

Sifnt go a SSD HDD……

It’s like, $130 for the cheapest 60GB OCZ Vertex SSD. http://umart.com.au/newindex2.phtml?bid=4

SSD’s are crazy expensive. With the upcoming changes to the manufacturing of NAND memory though, they should be down to as low as 60% in two year’s time.

Screw upgrading your computer components……
All you need is to upgrade your case with this baby!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

That is one fine piece of computer engineering but I think Moz didn’t want to spend $800 just on a case though if he wins the Lotto he’ll be 1st in line! 😉

Cheers

i0n

That is just beautiful. I’m gonna get one.

That is just beautiful. I’m gonna get one.

You idiot lol.

Have a look at the suggestions, thats my thoughts. Intel is quicker, AMD is cheaper. Unless you’re going to use programmes that multi thread, dont worry about 8 gig of RAM or 64 bit OS. Unless you want to use your pc box for storage, one SSD (small) for booting the OS and games, and a 1.5tb hard drive for storage.

Thats my thoughts anyway.

Now you’ve spoilt my buzz by talking sense. I much prefer to just walk in to some place and throw money at the emaciated, spotty guy behind the counter then insist he carry my puchases out to my car.
If I inject sense into the equation it sucks the enjoyment out.

Have a look at the suggestions, thats my thoughts. Intel is quicker, AMD is cheaper. Unless you’re going to use programmes that multi thread, dont worry about 8 gig of RAM or 64 bit OS. Unless you want to use your pc box for storage, one SSD (small) for booting the OS and games, and a 1.5tb hard drive for storage.
Thats my thoughts anyway.

OP is on a budget of $800ish, no point going SSD as they’re still pricey and you get more bang for the buck if you grab one of those 10000rpm hdds from Seagate or WD.

Yeah. I wouldn’t really touch SSD’s on an $800 budget. A 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 will still be a big performance boost on what he has now, particularly coupled with 4GB ram, i5 760 and a 6850 (or even 5770, though seriously, 6850 = worth the extra $50).

Id personally (personally only) go a small ssd – but thats me. 500gig hard drive is fine at this point for simple use and not as a storage device. 30 gig ones are cheap.

And new or second hand? I haunt www.forums.overclockers.com.au and have picked some some absolute bargains from there.

Unless you’re going to use programmes that multi thread, dont worry about 8 gig of RAM or 64 bit OS.

Uumm, what? How does having more addressable memory have anything to do with the number of threads that can be run simultaneously?