Hey building a new rig - need a bit of help - haven't even thought about computer parts in about 3 years so I'm a little out of touch

My main priorities are 64 bit PS, After Effects, CoD4, tf2, css etc
I want to be able to render in AE and PS really quickly and just have a lot of serious hardware to backup my needs.

• Intel S1156 Core i5 650 3.5Ghz (good/bad?)
  
• ASUS S1156 P7P55 LX CORE mobo (just want on board sound and suitable chip/ram)
  
• DDR3 6GB G.Skill 1600mhz PC12800 (want atleast 6/8Gb for win 7 64 bit - please recommend better kit)
  
• 500Gb WD 7200rpm (not really fussed, atleast 500gb)
  
• Gigabyte 9500GT 1gb (this is where I am struggling, dont know anything about cards)
  
• antec 900
  
• corsair TX750 750w psu
  

Max budget $1000 - dont need OS, monitor, k+m


Thanks loads.

Edited once, 15/3/10 - 7:40pm.

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Or you could just help here. That's advice you'd give if the OP only said "Help me buy a new PC" with nothing else.

750W is overkill for a single graphics card rig like this. A quality brand 500-600W is good enough.

RAM kit you've got there will be fine but it's more aimed towards i7 builds with triple channel memory, but that's not important - 6GB is good.

Don't get a 9500GT for your graphics card, it's very low end. Radeon 4850s and 4770s are around $130, and Geforce GTS 250s are around the same mark.

Any ideas where you want to buy it from?

Cheers Nuss,

Ok, the card was really cheap so I'm not surprised

Thanks for the heads up with the PSU, and I am thinking of getting some RAM which better complements my i5 - 4GB Corsair 1600mhz PC12800 do you think that will suffice?
(I am no longer aiming for the larger ram for 64 bit windows)

And I'm buying from a local shop called Computer Alliance (in Bris) just because they're cool guys. and im getting a good deal.

www.computeralliance.com.au/Systems.aspx

On the Video Card drop down it has the list of available cards, again I am a total noob when it comes to cards, I just assume the more ram it has the better? Don't laugh, I'm a network person, I know very little with Gfx Cards They didn't have the one you recomended or I just can't see it. New rig below:

• Intel S1156 Core i5 750 2.66Ghz Quad Core CPU Bundle Price $299
  
• Gigabyte S1156 GA-P55M-UD2 Core i5 Motherboard $127 (All good? Correct chipset!)
  
• DDR3 4GB Corsair 1600Mhz PC12800 Ram Core i5 Kit $229 (Definitely want cheaper RAM)
  
• 500GB WD AADS 7200rpm SATA HDD $79
  
• ASUS ATI 5450 1G PCIe $99 (good/bad? nice price )
  
• OCZ 600W ModXstream PS $120
  
• Pioneer DRV-218L 22x DVD DL Burner SATA Black $45
  

$1012 <Not including warranty

For the graphics cards the best way to tell their performance level is to look at the second number of their model name. Higher number means higher performance. That HD5450 there is an entry-level card. Not suited to gaming at all. It's actually a pretty horrible price

Just to throw it out there, have you considered an AMD build? Their prices would make it a bit easier to get it within the budget.

This is what I'd do:

• AMD Phenom II X4 945
  
• Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H
  
• G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
  
• 500GB WD AADS
  
• Gigabyte HD5770 1GB
  
• Coolermaster RC-690
  
• OCZ 600W ModXStream
  
• Pioneer DRV-218L
  

Unfortunately that site doesn't offer full size AMD motherboards. You save around $100 going from the Intel Core i5 build to this one, so you can spend a bit more for the graphics card. This build comes out at $1073, so just drop the graphics card down until it fits the budget.

this is a great system. if your looking to go a bit further, maybe upgrade the ram to 6GB, and an i7 or AMD 965 instead of the 945. its not that much more for a little more grunt. It will better in the long run, being able to run the latest games on it and saving you having to upgrade in the near future.

Yep recommend AMD for Rendering, nothing wrong with that at all.

Antec 300 (anything with enough airflow and space for your video card tbh)
Corsair 550w
Gigabyte/ASUS P55 board
Intel i5 750
4gb Branded ddr3 (as long as it runs the fsb speed you want it doesn't matter)
ATI 5770
Seagate Cuda/WD Black 1tb drive
Sony DVDRW

Should come in at about 1000 bucks

By the way, that Computer Alliance site is ******* terrible to use. When you go in there, slap the ****stick that designed it.

Thank you all for your advice, it's really helped a lot.

Okay. Tell us where you got/are getting it from, tell us what you're now going to actually purchase.