Tight budget advice?

[Approach_Medium]

Hi;
My budget for a new system is pretty thin, so I have to compromise. For one, I am keeping my current BFG NVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB card.
I will be replacing pretty much everything else.

The most I can possibly consider is the Intel i5 2500 and an MSI P67 MOBO with 8Gigs DDR3 RAM.
I will need also to replace the HDD. I will probably go with a 1TB SATA3, but thinking about two 1TB set up as RAID 0.

I could save about $100 if I go with the i5 2400 instead of the 2500, but concerned whether or not there might be a significant performance hit with TS12 on the 2400 compared to the 2500.
Considering that I will still be using the GeForce 9800, maybe that will be my bottleneck, so perhaps the i5 2500 is overkill.

I have read a thread here on SSD drives, and that they improve Trainz performance drastically, but I cannot afford an SSD drive today. Perhaps later, I can upgrade the video card and get an SSD drive at that time (when they will be much cheaper).
Will I gain anything by going with the two HDD's configured as RAID 0?
So, here is what the new system will be:

Intel core i5 2400 or 2500 (also considering an AMD Phenom IV, but probably stick with Intel)
MSI P67 (not sure which one) MOBO
8Gigs DDR3 RAM
BFG GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB video running a Samsung 2494HS monitor @ 1920 X 1080
1TB SATA3 Hard Drive (with 32MB cache) or 2x 1TB configured as RAID 0
PSU: Minimum 500W, but most likely 650W

I figure that even if I go with the i5 2400 now, I can always upgrade to an i7 later, since all of the MOBO choices I have seen will take any Intel core up to i7, and up to 32GB DDR3.

Any advice?

Thanks

FW

 

[Euphod]

I often use this site:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

to get an idea of where different pieces of hardware lay on the price to performance line. It may help you too.
If you buy an unlocked version of of the i5 2400, you may be able to push it up to the locked performance of the i5 2500. Buy as much power supply as you can afford, minimum should be 650W. I would avoid the 500W. Keep in mind that the SS drives have not seen the price increase the older drives have, due to them not being manufactured in the same area, so they can actually be a value right now.

 

[RRSignal]

Right now, the 2500 is the same price as the 2400 after rebate at Tigerdirect. I wouldn't bother with an unlocked CPU, since you'll need to accommodate for better cooling, etc., and while that's not necessarily expensive, I generally don't recommend that for "budget" builds. Get a big power supply. Forget the 500W. You'll need 750W or better if you want to reasonably futureproof your system; the 570 and 580 cards call for a minimum wattage of around 600W and those are really low-ball estimates that don't take into account most power supplies output much less than their quoted ratings. I wouldn't bother with a RAID 0 setup at this point; run with a 1Tb for awhile and, once you've saved up some money, splurge for the SSD.

I advise against buying systems with the intention of upgrading the CPU later. Usually, it's better and more economical to do it right the first time. Since you have the money for a second HDD, you probably have enough to get the i7 now.

 

[Euphod]

While I don't generally recommend over clocking for everyone, SOME CPUs can be tweaked and remain on stock cooling. Others cannot.

 

[lewisner]

I would say lose the extra HDD and invest the money in a more up to date graphics card, because 512Mb is nothing nowadays. I know many people here hate ebay but if you are careful and patient you can get "nearly new" graphics cards for much less than the list price.

 

[Approach_Medium]

Thanks for the advice guys;
I am going to have to do this in "steps" as far as keeping my old graphics card for now. Also, if I wait a year to upgrade graphics and add an SSD drive, they will both cost me at least 20% less, or I will be able to afford more.
Oh, btw; did I tell you what I am running TS12 on now?
P4 @ 3.4Ghz w ThermalRight heatsink & 120mm fan
Asus P5AD2-E Premium
3Gigs DDR2 RAM @ 533Mhz
BFG NVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB
Antec 550W True Power
Antec tower case w 120mm rear, 90mm front cooling fans

This system was put together 7yrs ago!!

FW

 

[Euphod]

Yeah, I have an old system as well, but my P.4 system I gave to my son.

 

[johnwhelan]

The motherboard , power supply etc look reasonable. Have a look at Tomshardware.com but I might be inclined to go with upgrading the cpu, either a
[h=1]Intel Pentium E6600 Wolfdale 3.06GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80571E6600 or a
[/h][h=1]Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80569Q9550 look like possible fits. The thing to watch for is the power requirements, the latest cpus use smaller dies which use less power.
[/h]The memory you can only go to 4 gigs but Trainz can only use 4 gigs anyway, the operating system should be happy in .5 gigs so I'd go 4 gigs of memory and a 64 bit operating system. The video card doesn't look terrible to me.

It depends a bit how much you want to spend. You should be able to get away with recycling the operating system or upgrading to Win 7 that should give you better drivers to squeeze a bit more performance out of the existing hardware.

Cheerio John

 

[Approach_Medium]

Problem is, this MOBO seems to be going... I had a serious issue back in Dec, then again a couple of weeks ago. It refused to boot the OS, which is Win 7 Ultimate 32bit. I re-flashed the BIOS, and so far everything is fine for two weeks. So I wouldn't want to keep the same MOBO, and besides, it cannot take a dual core CPU, at least that's what I am lead to believe.
I think I am pushing it to keep a system for so long, and could surely use the power of the i5 2500 and faster memory bus.

I would also be updating to Win 7 64bit. I already have the upgrade; just have to install it when I get the system for it.

FW

 

[johnwhelan]

Problem is, this MOBO seems to be going... I had a serious issue back in Dec, then again a couple of weeks ago. It refused to boot the OS, which is Win 7 Ultimate 32bit. I re-flashed the BIOS, and so far everything is fine for two weeks. So I wouldn't want to keep the same MOBO, and besides, it cannot take a dual core CPU, at least that's what I am lead to believe.
I think I am pushing it to keep a system for so long, and could surely use the power of the i5 2500 and faster memory bus.

I would also be updating to Win 7 64bit. I already have the upgrade; just have to install it when I get the system for it.

FW

Double check but I think you'll find it will take either of the two cpus specified. One is a dual core. If its not booting its usually the hard disk. It's a gamble but the dual core cpu would be a fairly cheap upgrade. Those specific cpus were brought out by Intel to offer an upgrade path to pentium whatevers thus gaining more cash for Intel.

The other way to approach it has how much cash do you have floating around then see where best to spend it.

Anyway you have the cash and the computer so its yours to play with.

Cheerio John

 

[clam1952]

Double check but I think you'll find it will take either of the two cpus specified. One is a dual core. If its not booting its usually the hard disk. It's a gamble but the dual core cpu would be a fairly cheap upgrade. Those specific cpus were brought out by Intel to offer an upgrade path to pentium whatevers thus gaining more cash for Intel.

The other way to approach it has how much cash do you have floating around then see where best to spend it.

Anyway you have the cash and the computer so its yours to play with.

Cheerio John

There is bios update for newer CPU's which may be required, I was having a look to see if there was an update to maybe increase the memory above 4GB, unlikely and seems not anyway.

Personally I always go for AMD as it's a cheaper way of getting a reasonable processor, if you can live without having the latest greatest and most expensive, especially when you get a 50% off bundle deal.