major revamp needed

[chrism]

Ok so i need some major upgrades. This system has been lent to me by a friend as my other system has been damaged in floods and is dead.
430 w psu.
4 gb 1333 ram.
Core duo T 2600.
Gigabyte g41m combo.
Nvidia 8600 gt.
1 tb wd black.
Unknown case.

He has stated that i may pull it apart and do whatever i want with it till i get a new system and it is up and running, so i am looking at upgrading piece by piece. (ie buy 1 part 1 week and the next week buy another part ect ect.) The reason i am doing it this way is because i have just finished uni.( and i am poor i dont have the budget upfront). The overall budget is $1500 Australian, I am looking for advice on the build and how to start it. (ie should i buy a video card first install it and then in 2 weeks time get ram ect). I am also asking for help with the best hardware configurations this rig will be for both gaming and editing.

This post has been edited for claraffication.

EDITED

thank you in advance for your assistance

 

[alpenwasser]

What do you need the system for? Office work, gaming, computing, media PC, home server etc.? Do you wish to keep the case or the PSU? Do you intend to watercool (or maybe upgrade at some point in the future to watercooling)? Are you going to overclock?

To be perfectly honest, I would recommend waiting until you have all the money, buy everything and then put your new rig together. Except RAM, I would buy some DDR3 asap since prices are rising rapidly.

Of course you can stagger the build if you really wish. In that case, I would buy the RAM first, as mentioned, then probably PSU (if needed/desired, I would recommend it if you don't have a high quality one yet) and case (if needed/desired). After that, mainboard and CPU. GPU probably last, to be honest, you can still run your current card in your new M/B and get the system up and running (you're gonna need to reinstall OS anyway).

As for specific parts, I will give you some first recommendations on what I recently bought and what has been working well for myself. Also, I'm basing my budget on the prices where I live (taking into account the currency conversion rate between CHF and AUD of course), so if prices are different where you live you might want/need to change some things.

• CPU: intel i5 3570k (overclockable)
• MB: MSI Z77A-GD55 (I have also had good experiences with Asus boards, haven't had a Gigabyte yet).
• RAM: Some >= 2133 RAM kit, 2 x 8 GB or 2 x 4 GB, Corsair or Kingston probably. Depending on what latency you want, prices can go quite high, I usually go for something reasonable (not very low latency, but higher bandwidth).
• GPU: You might be able to squeeze a GTX670 or 7970 in there (at least with the prices here), otherwise a 660 Ti or a 7950 (I'm basing my classifications based on my prices here, not necessarily on direct performance comparisons/similarities).
• SSD: Something ~ 250 GB by Samsung, Corsair, Intel or Kingston. If you don't need much application storage you can also go for a 120 Gig model, this is for you to know (120 Gigs is enough for me, for example).
• HDD: I haven't included one since I don't know if you need one.
• Case: Whatever you like that can fit a standard ATX M/B, the graphics card of the length you choose and is within your price range.
• PSU: ~600 W to 700 W, Corsair or Seasonic make some very good units that are reasonably priced.
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14, NZXT Havik are my suggestions as a start.

This comes pretty much exactly to 1500 AUD where I live. For those components where I wasn't specific here I picked a specific example in the middle of the price range that meets that criteria I've mentioned.

Your needs and preferences (or prices) might still demand some changes of course, but it should provide a starting point for further discussion. Most effective way to shave off some bucks here is probably a slower GPU.

EDIT: Regarding graphics cards, this thread might also be of interest to you./EDIT

 

[Master&Puppet]

As above except we really need to know what you are going to use it for before advising components. It changes the weighting on the spending.

 

[alpenwasser]

As above except we really need to know what you are going to use it for before advising components. It changes the weighting on the spending.

Yeah, exactly. Hence the "starting point for discussion" disclaimer

 

[chrism]

ummm ok in the last line of the post i stated that i will be using the computer for both gaming and editing.... so games i am into are the C.O.D series and i want to play crysis 3 ect. would like to be editing some videos and photos and am messing around with some music programs as well any other information you need i will be happy to provide and i will possibly be looking at overclocking

 

[alpenwasser]

ummm ok in the last line of the post i stated that i will be using the computer for both gaming and editing.... so games i am into are the C.O.D series and i want to play crysis 3 ect. would like to be editing some videos and photos and am messing around with some music programs as well

Ah bloody hell you did indeed, apologies. That's what happens with too little punctuation, I overlook stuff (and I don't seem to be the only one). Good punctuation actually does improve readability, it's why it was invented in the first place .

Anyway, back to what actually matters: For gaming I think the setup I've proposed is not a bad start. I'm not an expert on editing software, but from what I know an i7 (the 3770k probably) could come in handy for that (eight threads over the i5's four).

Having read through the thread I linked in my first answers "EDIT", I would recommend a 7950 for price/performance, unless you need CUDA.

EDIT: Both the Noctua NH-D14 and the NZXT Havik will be good enough to get decent overclocks out of your system, provided you have good case ventilation./EDIT

 

[Master&Puppet]

It still depends on the balance between gaming and editing really. It sounds like you will be mostly gaming in which case the i5 3570k with a good GPU is your answer. If you are just playing around with editing then the i5 isn't going to 'struggle' when compared to the i7. However if you see editing as a big part of your life in the future then you'll need more power.