Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P AMD 760G mATX Motherboard, AMD Phenom II X6 1045T CPU, 8GB (2x4GB), 1TB Toshiba HDD, HEC 485W PSU, Diablotek Case & More $222 After $95 Rebate

Quote from brkak132 : I was thinking he was talking about a free OS like Ubuntu. I didn't even know you could still hack Windows

google "slic 2.1"

you may be surprised what you find

Quote from brkak132 : Tempted to buy this, but not sure what to do about OS. What would you recommend?

The best deal right now is buying Windows 8 upgrade for $40 (download only, no DVD). From a computer with Vista/Win7, you go to microsoft's webpage and buy the upgrade. It's an upgrade with a key, but if you can get your hands on an original install DVD (you can download the image file and burn to a DVD if you know where to look)... then you can fresh install using the key. It never checks to see if you have a previous windows version.

windows 8 is very odd... but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. plus there are tools to make it seem like windows 7.

also you can get a free key to upgrade windows 8 to windows media center

I think these offers are over at end of January

Would this be a good setup for my Mom who mainly works with Microsoft Office and surfs the web? Someone said this thing would be loud and a power drain. Her current system is a Core 2 duo E6550 2.33Ghz/3GB ram/250GB HD. Her HD is loud and starting to make clicking noises like the drive is failing. Is her tower worth anything?

Quote from brkak132 : I was thinking he was talking about a free OS like Ubuntu. I didn't even know you could still hack Windows

Ya, I guess he could've been. Windows is incredibly easy to install...

Quote from tinymonkeyt : This sounds like a great deal, thanks OP. I'm just new to all this computer building business (have been doing research though!) and would this be a good idea to buy and add a 7850 video card and use it as a budget gaming setup? Or just go about my own way of obtaining each part individually? I have to admit that the 5 rebates are a big turn off for me though :/ Didn't even have to do rebates until I started buying computer parts..

I'd think this PSU should be able to handle your 7850. I actually have the 7850, great card. I got the 1gb ghost edition from xfx, this may use less power than then 256bit versions (so it may depend on which you have). However I'd give that card a shot in this build, manufacturer probably recommend PSUs between 450w-550w or 500w to 600w for the card. If your PSU blows, go with a 650w for around $60 off newegg or tigerdirect.

Quote from IM_ALL_IN : Would this be a good setup for my Mom who mainly works with Microsoft Office and surfs the web? Someone said this thing would be loud and a power drain. Her current system is a Core 2 duo E6550 2.33Ghz/3GB ram/250GB HD. Her HD is loud and starting to make clicking noises like the drive is failing. Is her tower worth anything Ya, I guess he could've been. Windows is incredibly easy to install...

This system would be very very sufficient for your mother. Her old build wont get much at all though. Maybe part is out for less than $100 and keep your monitor. Keep the disc drive, it will work with this build. Also a good speed boost would be to install the OS and programs on an SSD, you can probably catch one within the next month on SD here for around $60-70 (120gb capacity). This will store OS and programs, your 1TB hard drive can be used for files, movies,music. If you do that, have 8gb of ram, 6 core processor, ssd and 1tb of storage to work with, mom wont need a pc for a long long time.

Quote from the_d_mann1 : Anyone with a quick opinion on this? If I buy the kit and put an older 512mb Geforce 9600GT into it, will I get a noticeable improvement over the existing system? I currently have: Core2 Quad Q8200 G31 mobo (SATA 3.0G) Geforce 512mb 9600GT

Yes, you will notice the SLIGHT improvement.
If you're fine with your day-to-day performance of your computer, you're far better off grabbing a Radeon HD 7850 for ~$140-160. The IPC (Instructions Per Clock) of the Phenom II isn't that much better than the 45nm Core 2 Duos.

Many people here will tell you that you're gonna bottle neck the 7850. I'm here to tell you they're probably right, but if your CPU bottle necks you to ~60FPS, that means you can still max your card's settings and get nice visuals. Sure it won't be 110FPS nice visuals, but who needs 110FPS unless you have a high refresh rate? Just make sure the games you play are CPU bottlenecked at playable speeds.

Also, make sure you have at least 8GB of RAM now a days. Very few games/applications take more than 4GB, but 8GB makes Windows buttery smooth.

The benchmarks below show the original Phenom II X4 920/940 against your Q8200.

The Phenom X4 920 compares to the X6 1055T in the following ways:
X6 uses DDR3, so about ~20% more memory bandwidth, or roughly ~5-7% real life performance advantage
X6 is slightly more optimized IPC, approx 3% flat increase.
X6 has two more cores, but none of those game benchmarks use more than ~2-3 cores
X6 is now 3 years old in Architecture, so generally games have been more optimized for Phenom than those benchmarks show.
So depending on the game, add about ~10-15% performance on top of those Phenom II 920/940 PER CLOCK.


The following
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/...html#sect0
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cpu/a...charts/ut3.png
http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/cpu/a...charts/l4d.png

Quote from brkak132 : I was thinking he was talking about a free OS like Ubuntu. I didn't even know you could still hack Windows

daz.....

But for real, depending on your needs, Linux can be great!

Quote from the_d_mann1 : If I don't have access to a microcenter, there's no CPU/board deal that will likely beat this correct? Probably jumping on the TD deal unless there's a good argument to wait for more newegg deals. Anyone with a quick opinion on this? If I buy the kit and put an older 512mb Geforce 9600GT into it, will I get a noticeable improvement over the existing system? I currently have: Core2 Quad Q8200 G31 mobo (SATA 3.0G) Geforce 512mb 9600GT Windows 7 32bit Been having issues getting an SSD to work on the G31 (part of the reason I'm considering scrapping it) Will my windows 7, 32 bit be a bottleneck to the new system? In other words, do I clearly need 64 bit to give it full potential?

The processor scores double on the Passmark test. There's one big plus right there. I have a Q8200, and I have to say it's pretty slow for a quad core. It also runs very hot. I've also build a machine with the 1045t and that runs much lower temps and seems to perform way better from just a basic usage standpoint. Plus you're probably on DDR2 with that CPU. The different between DDR2 and DDR3 is pretty big.

If you decided to upgrade the GPU in the $100 range, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, the GTS 450 or GTX 650 (if you don't run multiple 1080p screens) would make this a solid gaming rig at this price range.

tldr; Yes this will yield you a pretty big performance increase overall.

Quote from Steaktaco : Does this thing have instructions on how to put it together? I've never built a computer from scratch. Do I need a degree in rocket science?

Only if you intend to assemble it in space.

Quote from biomekanik : You still need to buy an operating system, like Windows 8, to complete it. Correct?

If you don't already have a copy and you intend to use Windows on it.

Quote from the_d_mann1 : Super helpful, thanks!! So thoughts on whether Windows 7 64bit or Win8 at around $100 is a must?

You should be able to pick up a windows oem copy for ~$80 or pro for ~$110. Wait for a newegg sale.

Quote from IM_ALL_IN : Would this be a good setup for my Mom who mainly works with Microsoft Office and surfs the web? Someone said this thing would be loud and a power drain. Her current system is a Core 2 duo E6550 2.33Ghz/3GB ram/250GB HD. Her HD is loud and starting to make clicking noises like the drive is failing. Is her tower worth anything? Ya, I guess he could've been. Windows is incredibly easy to install...

I would not recommend this for your mum. I bought this machine for myself so I'm not biased against it. You would be much better off buying your mum a cheap Sandy or Ivy bridge Intel system. It will be quieter, more energy efficient and much faster in single threaded execution.

I got an ECS H61 board and G850 for $110 earlier this year, and even a processor like the G530 and G620 would have superior graphical performance to this TD deal. I've seen small form factor case, PSU and boards go for ~$100, to which you would need to add a processor ($50), 4GB DDR3 Ram ($30?) and an SSD ($80).

That said, are you sure that her current machine is a write off. Windows 8 is light on resources and you can buy minty fresh SSD to breathe new life into her computer.

Quote from viciousthomas : A strong HTPC yes, power efficient, no. This processor + a good GPU would make a very good budget Steam Big Picture box.

how well would this handle streaming hdtv? Would it also be able to play encoded h.264?

I'm debating on if its worth considering this or to go i3.

Quote from scotthall3411 : how well would this handle streaming hdtv? Would it also be able to play encoded h.264? I'm debating on if its worth considering this or to go i3.

Well then the choice is clear, go for the slick deal.

If anyone is worried about putting together a PC-
I just put together my first one 2 weeks ago.
While I am very technical, I am ZERO hands on.

I followed NewEggTv's videos on youtube for putting together a PC.

It all went very well and was a nice project.

Quote from scotthall3411 : how well would this handle streaming hdtv? Would it also be able to play encoded h.264? I'm debating on if its worth considering this or to go i3.

Quote from TH0R : Well then the choice is clear, go for the slick deal.

I disagree. This system will be unable to perform hardware accelerated decode of H264 or VC-1 content. It will probably be able to decode such content in software using the CPU, but will require far more power (and therefore noise) to achieve the same output as an i3 (or lower) processor using QuickSync for hardware accelerated decode.

This IS a great deal, there is no doubt about that, but it is a dreadful basis for a HTPC.