motherboard, CPU, RAM bundle

ok, Im looking for a good bundle of these mentioned in the header. I have a sony Vaio RB38G. I would like to get a bundle for faster processing for video editing, also to be able to play some games easier. I want to be able to keep the vaio specs as far as size, even though I would like to upgrade the PSU and video card with these. Would anyone have any good suggestions for this? Pleas help if possible

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/sony-vaio-rb38g-p4/4507-3118_7-31256859.html

this is the specs for the sony vaio, I have maxed out RAM on windows OS 7. I have looked at some bundles but couldnt tell you which would be a great upgrade. Anyone help, please? Also PSU suggestions would be great.

 

I see plenty of views, but no responses at all? I have been looking at bundles, but couldnt tell you if any of them would fit into the sony vaio case, I couldnt tell you if there are compatibilty issues. I have also been looking a PSUs, bu again, I couldnt tell you if it would be worth it with any of the bundles, or what would be a best fit with any ofthe bundles. Then there is the graphics cards, but I couldnt tell you which would be the best bundle with the best PSU with the best graphics card at all. :confused

 

Strange people usually jump on these threads:confused

How much you wanna spend loki and are you in the US or UK? For reference Loki want's a cpu upgrade for work related tasks.

This is a baseline to give you an idea of how much performance to expect your cpu scores 431 in passmarks cpu test.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+4+3.40GHz

This is a basic I5 combo which is one of best value work cpu's IMO at the moment and what I would aim for,I'm not sure if this is a good deal though as I don't live in the US.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1102266

This cpu scores 6494 so it has roughly 15 times the raw performance of your current cpu.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2500K+@+3.30GHz

 

I want it to do faster processing for video editing, be able play games with no problem, I E games of like up to PS2 emulator, Wii emulator. The problem Im having looking at these bundles is..... are they compatible with this computer. Will it fit the case, what should I upgrade the PSU to, are there any extras I should add into the mix to make sure it is completely running smoothly. Also upgrading the graphics card to a little bit of more of todays standards. I would have to get these parts at seperate times if at all. Like bundle in a shot, then PSU in another shot and so on, spread it out a little. Thank you for th reply rikky, no one is answering any of my questions on any boards i have posted to.

 

So, http://www.outletpc.com/motherboard-combos-motherboard-cpu-bundles-with-memory.html, of these choices, what looks like they could be a good deal? Also, maybe something alittle on the cheaper side, or more bang for the buck.

 

Like I said post how much you want to spend in total,for everything,motherboard,cpu,ram,psu,I would spend the bulk of your money on these then worry about a video card later.

No one can really show you deals or recommend products until they know which price range to look in,any of the deals you buy on that page will still be a huge step up from what you have, I can't help you with the price of them because I live in the UK so have no idea of US pricing and I can't tell you if that store is reputable or not.

Yes everything is compatible with your case it's ATX.

 

well, its still a help and a step in the right direction. Im basically just looking at all these bundles, PSUs, the bundles, Video cards, then looking at the various prices until I think I see the best deal. If I bought one of the bundles first. Could the 305 w PSU handle it until I could save up for a newer more powerful one? Also, I was looking at a WD 3TB internal Hard Drive and read where people were having problems with their computer being able to read it correctly. Would mine be able to read it correctly? Its a Western Digital Cavier Green 3 TB internal hard drive. This was another question I was having.

 

If you have windows 7 it can use all 3TB.

The 300w power supply should be able to power a new cpu but it's closer than I'd like. I would upgrade your power supply as well but if your on a tight budget and want to leach the most from your system you can try it and see if your power supply overheats, just don't put anything but the most basic video card in there.

It's impossible to know exactly how much actual power a power supply can handle that's why we always recommend lots of headroom.

 

another question I have is, what about the BIOS? How would installing any of these things, motherboard, CPU, PSU, RAM affect theBIOS? It has the original BIOS from sony. There is an update on sony support, yet it is for windows vista, not windows 7. Im looking at the bundls and the i5 looks like it could be great, but they are sort of expensive. I think the i3 or the AMD in the lower price range would be more my speed. Would these be any kind of upgrade to my existing set up? Also, would the AMD be able to fit? Though the i3 looks like the direction Im leaning towards

 

lol, yeah. nevermind. from what Ive read, the BIOS should be working out of thebox. my bad

 

toki5,
From the pics of your Vaio I could find online it looks like you have to have a microATX (mATX) form factor motherboard to fit in the Sony case. A standard size ATX form factor board will be too long.

Also you were asked where you are located (USA, UK, EU?) and what your budget is.

If in the US, Newegg.com always has great CPU/motherboard combo deals. 8Gb of DDR3-1333 memory is usually around $30. Also if a MicroCenter store is near you you can get an i5-3570k and a Z77 chipset motherboard for a great combo deal. I would say around $275 gets you a quad core cpu (either AMD or Intel), decent mATX motherboard and 8Gb of memory. A decent 500 watt PSU will run you $40-$50.

Sam

 

Agreed I couldn't find the motherboard size either but pre builts are often micro ATX.

This isn't a major problem though in my opinion it's counter intuitive but the case is probably the least costly of the parts,you can pick up a used full atx case for next to nothing,they practically give them away at computer stores so you should be able to find one for $10-$20.

You could just get a micro atx motherboard but this will limit your options considerably,to check which you have you can use a tape measure to measure your motherboard.

There are only two sizes really atx and micro atx,here are the measurements.

http://superuser.com/questions/484306/is-the-case-big-enough

 

thanks for thereply guys. I appreciate it, Ill have to look into the size of the case.

 

Ok, I have come to a decision. The max out price range would be 150 dollars for the bundle for a mATX case guess. That way I could do the PSU, the max out RAM, I could possibly the hard drive. So if you could give me my best options in you opinion in that price range would b greatly appreciated. Also, I would like to know based off of suggestions are there any other things i would need to know compatibility wise, or just any ohter things i would need to know in general. thanks again.

 

That's actually lower than the absolute minimum I would set which is $200 for the cpu,motherboard and ram. Your options will be limited but still whatever you get will still be 5-6 times more powerful than the fastest cpu your old system could handle.

I would actually choose a micro ATX motherboard at this price range and wait until you see a really good bargain rather than buy straight away, I would also use your current power supply as cpu's in this price range will probably use less power than your p4 prescott.

If you mean all 5 components including psu and hard drive for $150 you won't do it IMO,at least not new.

 

I was just talking about the motherboard, CPU, Ram bundle, which if it were gotten from new egg, I would have to be the RAM seperate it seems. It just seem to me like that price range would be alot better, plus I could possibly get the hard drive plus the bundle all in one shot. Also this would be a first time installation for me on these parts, so Im really scared of it a little. But on the other hand I have had no problems as far as getting other things done on it. So....... is there anything you could recommend in that price range? 200 does seem a little steep to me, if I could do all that, I would do the new cas, bundle, graphics card n so on in one shot, but at least with this I could speed up the current set up on a budget. Everything is just so slow to process. It is kind of annoying.

 

Rikky is going to be more help than me on specifics but I just wanted to mention that tigerdirect has some of the best deals on combos. Here there are two AMD athalon kits including case for $140. Atalon may not be enough for your games but the benchmark is much better than your current CPU (enough to make a considerable difference). Yours. Athalon 640

As far as CPU bench tests and what you need for gaming I can't tell you what will do.

You can also check their motherboard/CPU combos. I think you will probably top out at an AMD Phenom CPU/MB combo with $150 limit. This passmark page will give you a rough idea of how any CPU you find in a bundle scores.

 

I saw this in the combo section-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Combo...1136560&cm_sp=DIY_PC_Combos-_-1136560-_-Combo

So that includes a case,power supply,motherboard, A2 quad core cpu and 4gb of memory.

The only downside really is the power supply which is only a cheap 400w,you could put a video card in there but not one that requires it's own power supply.

That cpu scores 3,365 in passmark so is about 7 times more powerful as your current cpu.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The performance improvement is still significant but again on US pricing I'm no help.

EDIT the deal sach posted is practically the same but better psu so tiger direct looks the better deal,you won't get a better cpu for that price anyway.

 

Also 8gig of ram with the tiger direct deal too.

You will have to have $200 in the bank for the tiger direct deal though then get a $65 rebate, don't ask me how rebates work we don't have them in the UK.

In the rebate information though it says the rebate may be paid with a pre paid reward card and not cash and you will have to apply for each rebate separately so definitely inquire with tiger direct before purchasing,it also says 2 rebates per person but will have to apply for 4 rebates so I don't know how that works.

Anyone who's dealt with tiger direct's rebate system is free to step in:-D

 

ok, i went in and measured the motherboard. I hope this helps at ll. It looked to be about 9 1/2 inches long and wide. thanks for the suggestions. I will lok at them. You said i could keep the graphicscard I have now, which is kind of what i was thinking of trying to do until a later time. Kind of trying to just fcus on speed atm.

 

Micro ATX. So you'll need a micro ATX motherboard or a full ATX case, yes you can re-use your video card.

 

ok, i would like to just try to keep in this case. I hope Im not making a mistake with that idea. Im a little scared, like i said as i ahve never installed anything like this before. Speed is my main concern atm though. so a bundle, motherboard, CPU, I will try to buy the max out RAM for whatever bundle I may choose. Also, if possible I will try to keep this PSU atm, but will try to upgrade at a later time, but for cost just the motherboard bundle atm would be the best option for me. It would be a toss up between PSU and graphicfs caard for a later purchase.

 

well i looked at your suggestin or this combo, or i looked at the motherboard, yet one review i read says it cant support dual moniters. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Combo...1136560&cm_sp=DIY_PC_Combos-_-1136560-_-Combo this is the one you posted. I want to be able to have dual moniter so i can play video games on my television. i have the television hood up to the vga on the computer right now. so that is a must. thanks

 

The motherboard has an onboard video output that only supports one monitor but you won't be using it.

Your monitors will connect to your video card, your using the same video card which supports dual monitors.

Unless I'm missing something?

 

Again, I'm no expert on building systems but in your price range AMD is going to give you the most bang for the buck. The AMD Athlon II X4 640 Quad Core Processor seems to be the one they are giving deals on. It retails at Newegg, Tigerdirect and OutletPC for ~$80. Any bundle deal you find is going to be on the other components.

Here you get a motherboard, RAM and AMD 640 but it is $135 (out of pocket) with $40 rebates which may be some type of pre-paid credit cards.

Rikky's link to Newegg gets you the same but with a case and 400 watt PSU for $139 and possibly a $10 rebate which is on a pre-paid card. The case and PSU are not particularly good quality but they are basically free in the deal.

I think Rikky's link is a good one. It lets you keep your current PC running while building the new one. I just don't think you can beat the performance increase in your price range. An AMD Phenom II chip would be the next step up but they are generally 125watts and would require a different motherboard and there don't seem to be any deals on them currently.

Now, on the Graphics issue it looks like that MSI motherboard has two outputs, one vga and one DVI, if you connect the TV by VGA then if your monitor is DVI you should be able to connect both to onboard graphics. I believe it should display on dual monitors.

You didn't say if you currently are using a graphics card but the review you were reading said that you can't use both onboard graphics and a video card at the same time. The MSI responder said there may be a way to change that in the BIOS settings. I don't know if that is true but it may be a possibility. When you eventually get a graphics card it will have more than one output and should support dual monitors.

Rikky this is the review:

@Rikky, I get squirreled up when reading various specs so I hope you will set me straight when I get things wrong or ignore something obvious. I only responded to this thread to mention TigerDirect has some good deals but when you pointed out that most of them are because of various rebates, I remembered why I always ended up buying from Newegg. I'm hoping you will continue to help in this thread (I'm just thinking that the AMD 640 seems to be the best deal in his price range as to improving performance). Thanks.

 

I called goodwill. They are selling cases for 10 and up with motherboard already included. So with that, I might just see if any of the cases have a motherboard compatible with any of the better chips and run from there. That would be a lot cheaper for me. Then i could splurge on the graphics card. Or if worst comes to worst, then the case itself is like 10 dollars, so I would get the case from them since its only 10 dollars.

 

lol, ok. with a 200 dollar max limit, which would be better processer wise, the link you showed or this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Combo...1056111&cm_sp=DIY_PC_Combos-_-1056111-_-Combo it looks like the PSU is better, but processer wise, which could be the best for 200 dollar max limit?

 

The processor is very marginally better with benchmarks for the AMD 640 of 3365 and that A6 is 3419. Only a few points difference.

Your newest link is a better overall machine. Better case and better power supply and the motherboard supports the newest SATA 6GB and USB 3.0. If you look closely you are paying about $100 for the case and power supply about half the overall price. It's a fine choice if you can stretch to $200.

 

thats what i was thinking. I saw it was a cooler master, but theprocesser and motherboard are my biggest concern. I want to make sure those are the best I can do in that price range, then try to get the better stuff like PSU, graphics card later. But if i could get the better stuff in one shot would be the best. But yeah, that did look better to me, Im just not sure though.

 

could you give me your suggestion on what you think would be the best deal from that site on those combo deals? remember though, I would like the processer to be the main priority

 

I was looking at Tiger Direct's barebone systems about a month ago. I got cold feet though and didn't buy anything.

It seems that at least one of the systems I was seriously considering is now 'not available'. Not sure if that means it won't be back or what though.

I was pouring over all the finer details of all the components, glad I did because little differences could end up being pretty important. Also the reviews often brought up some of shortcomings found in each of the packages.

The various rebates might be a pain to deal with as well.

 

I was looking at that too. Also, it looks as though the dual cores seem to be better than the quad core from what I have been reading as far as speed. I just want to be sure it will be good to go on gaming, working on video editing, music editing, n so on. I think I will look at the ATX cases at the goodwill. They will have the motherboards already in them. If I can find one there, it will already have the board plus CPU in it, for pretty cheap. Wost come to worst, I could just get the bare bones case with PSU. Get the motherboard, CPU combowith RAM, then try to max out the RAM later, or try to get everything else up to snuff for the board and CPU later.

 

In looking through TD's barebone systems, I'm thinking systems that were there earlier today are now gone.

They must be selling quite a few. I hope they restock those lower end packages be cause that's my price point.

 

In looking through TD's barebone systems, I'm thinking systems that were there earlier today are now gone.

They must be selling quite a few. I hope they restock those lower end packages because that's my price point.

 

I would be careful with those refund promises too. Ive seen some that wouldnt actually get to you until it is time to upgrade again, if it gets there at alll.

 

I googled them out of interest and most of them are legalised scams, especially at tiger direct.

Ignore the rebate price and look at the pre rebate price, apply for the rebate but don't expect to get it.

If it were me I wouldn't even shop there but it seems most US stores do them.

 

I highly doubt that they are legalized scams. I haven't ever applied for a rebate from TigerDirect, but the rebate process, in general, works just fine. The only thing to be aware of is that you need to follow the instructions on the rebate exactly. If you forget to send one piece of information, send it too late, or don't fill something out properly they might reject it. Usually they give you a chance to remedy it, but typically you have to log onto their website to see if it was accepted.

To conclude, you can count on the rebates, just make sure to follow the instructions and send them in on time.

P.S. Make sure the hardware works before you send the rebate in. Most of the time the store won't accept returns if you cut the UPC out of the box.

 

I've been on Tiger Direct all weekend looking for a low price desktop for emergency use when my notebook fails.

I did find what they called a Rebate Center...seemed legitimate and actually helpful.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/rebates/index.asp?

 

Well the rebate in question is for 4 rebates for 4 products which would all be applied for separately, the first problem with this is you can only apply for 2 rebates per customer on tiger direct.

The second problem is it's stated clearly next to the rebate, the rebate does not have to be paid in cash and can be paid as a voucher, this pricks my ears ears up again because this is what phony competitions do.

The third thing that bothers me are the shear number of negative reviews,complaints and even legal action against tiger direct and it's rebate subsidiary, you will not find single good review or happy customer in the first couple of dozen pages of google results when googling 'tiger direct rebates'.

My initial post was a little broad, not all rebates are scams I also don't have the experience one way or the other to back any POV up either so I won't post again on the matter.

Nice to see you again Wyatt

 

I have to agree with Rikky. It's that rebates, now, can come in the form of vouchers/prepaid cards instead of cash/check that bothers me. If you are on a tight budget then waiting 12 weeks and not actually getting your cash back is not a great bargain.

I have shopped at tigerdirect's site but actually buy from Newegg, Ebay or Amazon for most computer parts. One reason I shop tigerdirect's site is that they are the same as CompUSA, so if you have a Compusa near you then you could pick your stuff up at the store if you needed it right away. Again, I always end up at a newegg or amazon when ordering online but if i needed something cheap like a DVDROM I would probably pick it up at Compusa store.

Back on topic, I didn't see any great Cyber Monday deals for CPU, MB and RAM today.

 

me either. I think I have narrowed down the search to an athlon 2 or a phenom 2. Now if I could just figure out the boards. Also, tiger direct is joining with compusa from what i have seen on compusa s site. Again, they seem kind of high priced at that.

 

Yes those are the two best choices. Phenoms are your best <$100 choice. It is very easy to creep up in price and very hard to stay within budget.

You do get an improvement over the Atalon 640 which everyone seems to be pushing in their combo packs. But there aren't very many sales on Phenom II because they are popular because of their good value. I did see tigerdirect has a straight $89 on the Phemom II 965 which is a good deal but you can usually find them other places for $99 most of the time.

Just remember you are getting up on price. ~$90-99 for processor, ~$50 for a board, ~$25-30 for some RAM and you are at $170+ using your old case.

 

hrmmm. well, I know Im getting up there in the price range. Im just trying to look at something that would be good in the long run and not dissapointing. Its all just window shopping right now anyways. For the moment, I still have to figure out which board would be best with the phenom 2. Im also looking at all the prices around on singles, to see if I could get all the parts seperately for cheaper, then I would have to figure out which RAM to get after that is settled. lol

 

I don't know a whole lot about specifics on motherboards but say you have decided on an AMD chip for an AM3/AM3 socket, somewhere off this list where you compromise between benchmark scores and price (a quick glance down the left gives you approx. good retail price).

Then you know you need a motherboard with an AM3 socket. I believe Athalon chips are generally 95w and Phenom are generally 125w so you have to make sure you get a board that will support 125w if you go Phenom. Then you can probably compromise on whether the board is SATA 3gb or SATA 6gb and also whether it is USB 2.0 or 3.0. You might be able to find a deal on a board that gives you the faster speeds but you can probably live without them if necessary and may find a real bargain on an older board. The rest of the specifications on motherboards are a little above my head so if you narrow down some choices, I'm sure Rikky will have a look.

 

I have been looking at different boards, I dont really know. Im trying to figure out what is best for that chip, yet Im not really too concernd with gaming, just enough to be compatible with todays gaming standards if wanted it to be. What is the difference in USB?

 

alright, how would a core 2 quad core be compared to the pentium 4 that I have now? I think I may hav fuond one with a few other parts for a pretty good deal, and i think that would probably be a decent choice for my needs until I could save up for other things. It just sounds like more of a deal to me. Plus it would give me a chance to sav for other things incrementally.

 

We could be looking cpu's up forever for you.:confused

Go passmarks website and look for the cpu your interested in then compare it with yours, the passmark score will give you an idea of the performance increase.

It's usually best to wait until you have the money also and are ready to buy or any advice or recommendations will be useless in a couple of months and we'll have to do this all again.

 

lol, Im sorry Rikky. I really do appreciate the help though. It has lead me to some directions to at least get abettter idea.

 

You have to remember your Pentium has a 431 benchmark so almost anything will be an improvement. But a core 2 quad core would be a different socket type (LGA 775) and still need a different motherboard.

It looks to me that those will benchmark at about 3000-3400 so not bad and only slightly lower than the AMD 640 that was part of the original bundles you were looking at. So it depends on how good the deal.

Also they are no longer making chips for that socket type so whatever you get will be the limit for that motherboard. You won't be able to upgrade the CPU except with old chips that will top out at a 5000 benchmark.