Hey guys! I'm trying to build a new computer but have been WAY out of the loop. I'm a college student so my budget is pretty slim.
Currently I'm running Windows 7/Ubuntu on a 3.0GHZ Athlon X2 250 with 800mhz DDR2 RAM, brand new SATA drives (1 160gb, 1 320gb) and Radeon 3870. I'm selling this rig to my dad for a few bills as it's quite old except for the processor. I'm keeping my hard drives and CD ROM and taking the PSU I let him borrow (650W Cooler Master) back.
I've already got a power supply, CD rom drive, harddrives.
I use my computer for:
HD video
Music listening
GIS applications (which run pretty slow, currently) (ArcGIS 10 and QGIS)
Office tasks and schoolwork
Photoshop/various movie editing software
Streaming live television (I've got a brand new Hauppage tuner)
I use a 32" Samsung TV with 1360x768 resolution.
Basically, since the Athlon X2 was "new hotness" when I built this one, I have no idea how current hardware compares to my current rig. Is an upgrade to a Phenom system (X6 or a higher clocked X4) going to make a noticeable improvement in speed?
What would you guys recommend for a system great for multitasking? Has Intel made competent, competitively priced processors yet? Can you recommend a few builds from 400-800$ not including the hardware I've already got? Either way, I've had a nightmarish experience with Nvidia so I'm definitely not budging on ATI.
Thank you all so much!
-JM
Currently I'm running Windows 7/Ubuntu on a 3.0GHZ Athlon X2 250 with 800mhz DDR2 RAM, brand new SATA drives (1 160gb, 1 320gb) and Radeon 3870. I'm selling this rig to my dad for a few bills as it's quite old except for the processor. I'm keeping my hard drives and CD ROM and taking the PSU I let him borrow (650W Cooler Master) back.
I've already got a power supply, CD rom drive, harddrives.
I use my computer for:
HD video
Music listening
GIS applications (which run pretty slow, currently) (ArcGIS 10 and QGIS)
Office tasks and schoolwork
Photoshop/various movie editing software
Streaming live television (I've got a brand new Hauppage tuner)
I use a 32" Samsung TV with 1360x768 resolution.
Basically, since the Athlon X2 was "new hotness" when I built this one, I have no idea how current hardware compares to my current rig. Is an upgrade to a Phenom system (X6 or a higher clocked X4) going to make a noticeable improvement in speed?
What would you guys recommend for a system great for multitasking? Has Intel made competent, competitively priced processors yet? Can you recommend a few builds from 400-800$ not including the hardware I've already got? Either way, I've had a nightmarish experience with Nvidia so I'm definitely not budging on ATI.
Thank you all so much!
-JM