About me and What I'm looking for
- From California USA
- Gaming is probably my first priority, I've never overclocked before so unless its a simple standard Id probablyrather just settle for something a bit quieter and cooler, my room gets hot enough as is lol
- My steam profile if you're curious about specific games I own http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198030704971/games?tab=all#0|10
- I also have a tendency to have way too many browser windows and tabs open so I definitely intend to upgrade my RAM
- I also use dual monitors a lot so if anything just so I have one with junk like skype or if I'm reading something while watching a youtube video its pretty convenient
- Another thing I'd like it to be able to do is emulate PS1 / PS2, like I have my old one sitting on my desk but it'd be nice to throw it in the closest and clear up some desk space. At the moment I can run games somewhat decently but it's fairly obvious my machine is a little under powered for the task especially with PS2 games
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Current Set-up: Primarily a prebuilt machine I got in Best Buy a few years back (3-4 years
ago)
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02053862&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0002#N101
Only changes I've made are:
- Changed the PSU: CX600M
- Added a GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4670
Current Monitors:
- 1920x1080 - - - http://store.vizio.com/vl260m.html
- 1280x1024 - - - http://prf.icecat.biz/?shopname=openIcecat-url;smi=product;vendor=Viewsonic;prod_id=VS10781;lang=en
The HDD, OS and peripherals Im just gunna use from my old PC since I'm comfortable with them
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Parts I specifically want to upgrade with :
- GPU : HIS RAdeon HD 7870 GHz Edition
- Case : NZXT Phantom ATX Full tower case
- PSU : if its sufficient carry over the CX600M for awhile but if I have to Ill upgrade it
I really like the look of the Phantom (even if its a little pricey for my build lol) and the HIS Radeon is really reasonable for my budget even if I were to eventually grab another one to run in crossfire. So it'll take a fair bit to convince me away from these two
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I mainly need help in choosing a :
- Motherboard - something that will at least support 2 of the 7870s and maybe a audio card
- CPU - similar to above
- RAM (aiming for around 16GB total)
- Audio card - a low priority but would be a nice addition
I don't exactly have a specific budget but the main point is building it around a similar
level of quality to the 7870 so I can get the most out of it, while at the same time not
being unnecessarily strong relative to it, if that makes sense.
I'll be able to put most all of my relatively low income into this project but I expect to
be able to have it done in at least a month or 2.
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Ideally I'd like to be able to upgrade it piece by piece with except probably doing the motherboard and CPU at the same time for simplicity sake. If my current specs can support it Id like to be able to upgrade it in this order
GPU -> Case -> CPU + MOtherboard -> RAM -> Audio Card -> x-star monitor
One of my main concerns is if my current cpu/motherboard will be able to use the 7870 decently enough to build it in that order so hopefully I'd be able to enjoy what Ive spent my hard earned money on while I work on the rest. If that wont work I could settle for essentially building a seperate machine and just holding onto the parts until I get it all or something.
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Anyways thanks for reading my long ass plan I tried to organize it as best I can but yeah lol. Any input will be greatly appreciated ~