Pages: 1 2

 

2006-05-15 21:44:12
siciliano732
Member
+202|6648|New York
alright....so i have a Intel 2.4 Ghz processor with a whatever motherboard, 1 GB of Ram, GeForce 5500 gfx card....

im pretty much building a came machine with these following components.....any input?

- Asus A8n-VM motherboard
- Athlon 84 3500+ 3.2 Ghz processor
- Corsair dual channel unbuffered RAM (2 GB)
- NVidia OR XFX GeForce 6800 GT graphics card
- Thermaltake 430W Dual Bridge power source
- and a whatever case and using the onboard sound card for now....

i have a very limited budget, i am workin over the summer while im home from college and cant spend that much but i dont want to screw myself over concerning my computer...ive been using the computer i have now for 4 years and i need to upgrade...it plays bf2 on all low setting and im content but....i want to upgrade like i said....

....any input of what to get, what not to get, what to look into....keeping in mind im on a limited budget and that im not looking for like an amazing gaming machine but a gaming machine that will have NO problems playin bf2 and so i can put all my settings on high without any problems....Let me know! Im veryin interested in your input, this has been a process of researching stuff since September or October of 05, i just want to make sure i make the right choices.
2006-05-15 21:45:30
THA
im a fucking .....well not now
+609|6770|AUS, Canberra

siciliano732 wrote:

any input?
yes i recomend a keyboard and mouse.
2006-05-15 21:45:34
Ditsch
Need another Monster
+3|6592|Chandler, Arizona
How much exactly are you willing to spend?
2006-05-15 22:03:42
Janus67
Tech God
+86|6594|Ohio, USA
I really need to know your budget.

first of all, don't get a cheap power supply (look at offerings for less than $100 from Antec, OCZ, Fortron/FSP-Group, Sparkle). If you want a case/power supply combo, the best one (arguably) is the Antec Sonata II (comes with a 480W Antec Truepower power supply).
for the motherboard, if you want Asus, get the A8N-E.
For the graphics card, try to save up and get a 7600gt or 7900gt if you can swing it.
Get the 3700+ San Diego instead of the 3500+ Venice
The ram should be fine.
2006-05-15 22:10:45
siciliano732
Member
+202|6648|New York

Janus67 wrote:

I really need to know your budget.

first of all, don't get a cheap power supply (look at offerings for less than $100 from Antec, OCZ, Fortron/FSP-Group, Sparkle). If you want a case/power supply combo, the best one (arguably) is the Antec Sonata II (comes with a 480W Antec Truepower power supply).
for the motherboard, if you want Asus, get the A8N-E.
For the graphics card, try to save up and get a 7600gt or 7900gt if you can swing it.
Get the 3700+ San Diego instead of the 3500+ Venice
The ram should be fine.
im tryin to spend anywhere from 500-600 AT MOST....

i will def look into your suggestions....i want a good machine you know...i dont need anything AMAZING like alienware but....i want a good machine that is fast and can run bf2 on high....bf2 is the only game i play and maybe alittle oldschool cs or source once in a blue moon....

any good sites besides newegg, tigerdirect, and pricewatch?
2006-05-15 22:17:05
[TPG]Skitz
Member
+2|6650
please get a better video card than the 6800....that thing is allready dated.  unless you don't plan on buying games in the future, upgrade there first

What Janus said about the 3700...The San Diego core is badass.  it's what I run in my machine, OC's like a dream, and plays games (along with my ATI X850 XT PE) fluidly.   I'd say the extra few dollars is worth the 3700+

Last edited by [TPG]Skitz (2006-05-15 22:18:38)

2006-05-15 22:19:18
siciliano732
Member
+202|6648|New York
alright....i dunno, im just tryin to get a good card and i can upgrade in the future....but i want to stay within a budget but be able to play my settings on high becuase i play on low now.....its frustrating

this stuff isnt easy....and im not very computer savvy

PS....im lookin into, and actually have looked alittle into the 3700 and 3800

Last edited by siciliano732 (2006-05-15 22:20:19)

2006-05-16 01:37:35
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6715
i reccomend the 7600gt over the 6800gt...
https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png
2006-05-16 01:43:43
0akleaves
Member
+183|6613|Newcastle UK
yeah ninja recomended the 7600gt for me and it works like a dream defo worth what i paid for it
You have to learn the rules of the game and then you have to play better than anyone else.
2006-05-16 01:57:50
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6715
if u got more money to spend and willing to pay for the most bang for the buck card, get the 7900gt, i sold my old 7800gtx got a 7900gt, added a zalman vf900cu, overclocks from 450 core to 570, 1.32 ghz ram to 1.54!!!
https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png
2006-05-16 03:14:17
.ACB|_Cutthroat1
No place like 127.0.0.1
+76|6695|Gold Coast,QLD,Australia
STFU ABOUT THAT EFFING COOLER >.<
/end rage
2006-05-16 03:21:12
0akleaves
Member
+183|6613|Newcastle UK

.ACB|_Cutthroat1 wrote:

STFU ABOUT THAT EFFING COOLER >.<
/end rage
lol
You have to learn the rules of the game and then you have to play better than anyone else.
2006-05-16 05:19:13
Janus67
Tech God
+86|6594|Ohio, USA

siciliano732 wrote:

Janus67 wrote:

I really need to know your budget.

first of all, don't get a cheap power supply (look at offerings for less than $100 from Antec, OCZ, Fortron/FSP-Group, Sparkle). If you want a case/power supply combo, the best one (arguably) is the Antec Sonata II (comes with a 480W Antec Truepower power supply).
for the motherboard, if you want Asus, get the A8N-E.
For the graphics card, try to save up and get a 7600gt or 7900gt if you can swing it.
Get the 3700+ San Diego instead of the 3500+ Venice
The ram should be fine.
im tryin to spend anywhere from 500-600 AT MOST....

i will def look into your suggestions....i want a good machine you know...i dont need anything AMAZING like alienware but....i want a good machine that is fast and can run bf2 on high....bf2 is the only game i play and maybe alittle oldschool cs or source once in a blue moon....

any good sites besides newegg, tigerdirect, and pricewatch?
Asus A8N-E - $93

OCZ 2x1GB - $139 (after MIR)

3700+ San Diego $235

Antec sonata II - $100

eVGA 7600gt - $169 (after MIR)

= $667 shipping not included.  So if you can save up an extra $100 you would get some excellent performance for the dollar.  If you have to, take a look at the 3200+ Venice (socket 939) and save a little bit.
2006-05-16 09:42:04
slo5oh
Member
+28|6660
You can't do it for $500.

edit... maybe for $600
CPU
opteron 146 (most are able to overclock to 2.75Ghz or better) $160
DFI ultra D (non-sli, about $120) or I'm running an ECS KN1 SLI Lite ($99 from fry's/outpost)
2 gig kit of ddr500 ($160 to $180), and that's 2 1 gig sticks (newegg deals)
That leaves about $200 for a video card.  If you wait and watch you should be able to get a high end 6800, but I recommend you wait and get a 7900gt (have seen them as low as $270)
That's reusing your case, hard drive, CD/DVD roms, etc...
Fry's has a nice antec case with PS on sale this week for under $30 after a mail in rebate.

You can save money by getting the ECS board from newegg... they are DIRT cheap right now ($59).
If that's still too much money for you, then maybe you should look at building your system off a $79 fry's special semperon 3100 with an ecs nforce motherboard.  The chip will overclock to 2.25Ghz on a bone stock HSF (it can go farther, but the bios only supports 250Mhz fsb). They've been switching between the nforce3 and nforce4 boards.  You'll want an nforce4 board since it has PCI-e instead of the AGP that the nforce3 board comes with.

Last edited by slo5oh (2006-05-16 10:07:51)

2006-05-16 15:27:17
Janus67
Tech God
+86|6594|Ohio, USA

slo5oh wrote:

You can't do it for $500.

edit... maybe for $600
CPU
opteron 146 (most are able to overclock to 2.75Ghz or better) $160
DFI ultra D (non-sli, about $120) or I'm running an ECS KN1 SLI Lite ($99 from fry's/outpost)
2 gig kit of ddr500 ($160 to $180), and that's 2 1 gig sticks (newegg deals)
That leaves about $200 for a video card.  If you wait and watch you should be able to get a high end 6800, but I recommend you wait and get a 7900gt (have seen them as low as $270)
That's reusing your case, hard drive, CD/DVD roms, etc...
Fry's has a nice antec case with PS on sale this week for under $30 after a mail in rebate.

You can save money by getting the ECS board from newegg... they are DIRT cheap right now ($59).
If that's still too much money for you, then maybe you should look at building your system off a $79 fry's special semperon 3100 with an ecs nforce motherboard.  The chip will overclock to 2.25Ghz on a bone stock HSF (it can go farther, but the bios only supports 250Mhz fsb). They've been switching between the nforce3 and nforce4 boards.  You'll want an nforce4 board since it has PCI-e instead of the AGP that the nforce3 board comes with.
the only thing I disagree about with this post is the ECS motherboard, I have read and heard a complete mix-bag of results regarding ECS boards.  Seeing how they make some PCChips boards (god awful quality) to Abit boards (middle of hte road to decent).  I also wouldn't really think of getting the semperon as it is a bit of a hand-me-down A64, but if worse comes to worse you can handle that.
2006-05-16 15:32:01
CommieChipmunk
Member
+488|6569|Portland, OR, USA
I would recomend not going for XFX because i've heard pleanty of bad things about them.  For your gfx card get a eVGA, they have an awesome step up program, and for ram, Corsair is generally over priced.. there is an awesome deal on newegg for patriot ram 2 gb (1x 2 sticks with 1gb each) for only 129 after mail in rebate.. PC 3200 2-3-2-5, best ram i've ever owned..
2006-05-16 17:52:48
siciliano732
Member
+202|6648|New York
im def lookin into all this stuff fellas...thank you for your input...feel free to keep discussing, it just sucks cuz i never knew how hard almost it could be to choose stuff to build a new computer....there is so much to take into account.
2006-05-16 18:13:41
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6715
asus boards are great when they are the first revision, but after 2nd rev... they suck ass coz rev 1 is made in taiwan (high quality parts) rev 2 made in china i guess... well gigabyte boards are really awsome, u should take a look at them
https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png
2006-05-16 21:09:02
jaymz9350
Member
+54|6576
if you want to save a little epox makes very good boards.  they have some of the best overclockability (next to dfi)  and range from about $65-$135 depending on what features you want
2006-05-16 21:11:01
stryyker
bad touch
+1,682|6719|California

up the PSU to 500W, and get a 7600GT
2006-05-16 21:20:30
Marlboroman82
Personal philosophy: Clothing optional.
+1,022|6622|Camp XRay

yea i would def go with a 7600 at the least because you it is a little more future proof. also make sense to go on and get a pci express card instead of a agp card if that is what the 6800 is. anyways just my opinion. fiance doesn't know it yet bu i am purchasing a new mobo and 7900 this week. so if you guys don't see me playing anymore it's because she probably killed me for spending more money on my computer.
https://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l250/marlboroman82/Untitled-8.png
2006-05-16 23:32:54
slo5oh
Member
+28|6660

Janus67 wrote:

slo5oh wrote:

You can't do it for $500.

edit... maybe for $600
CPU
opteron 146 (most are able to overclock to 2.75Ghz or better) $160
DFI ultra D (non-sli, about $120) or I'm running an ECS KN1 SLI Lite ($99 from fry's/outpost)
2 gig kit of ddr500 ($160 to $180), and that's 2 1 gig sticks (newegg deals)
That leaves about $200 for a video card.  If you wait and watch you should be able to get a high end 6800, but I recommend you wait and get a 7900gt (have seen them as low as $270)
That's reusing your case, hard drive, CD/DVD roms, etc...
Fry's has a nice antec case with PS on sale this week for under $30 after a mail in rebate.

You can save money by getting the ECS board from newegg... they are DIRT cheap right now ($59).
If that's still too much money for you, then maybe you should look at building your system off a $79 fry's special semperon 3100 with an ecs nforce motherboard.  The chip will overclock to 2.25Ghz on a bone stock HSF (it can go farther, but the bios only supports 250Mhz fsb). They've been switching between the nforce3 and nforce4 boards.  You'll want an nforce4 board since it has PCI-e instead of the AGP that the nforce3 board comes with.
the only thing I disagree about with this post is the ECS motherboard, I have read and heard a complete mix-bag of results regarding ECS boards.  Seeing how they make some PCChips boards (god awful quality) to Abit boards (middle of hte road to decent).  I also wouldn't really think of getting the semperon as it is a bit of a hand-me-down A64, but if worse comes to worse you can handle that.
I've read the same things about ECS.  While I totally agree that their support sucks, I think they're trying to get a small bite of the "high end" market with their "extreme" series motherboards and I have yet to see one of their nforce motherboards that was not very well built.  I have 3 ECS mobos in my house right now... I'm currently building another nf3/semp 3100 for the teenage son of a friend and have another nf4/3100 that I'm debating on what to do with.  For the price, I feel you just can't go wrong.  Of course for another $100ish you can steup up to a 939 board with an opty 146 (like I said above) and smoke all the jerks paying top dollar for a new FX series chip. 

The guy said he's only got about $500 to spend... I'm trying to be realistic here for him.  Those semperon 3100 chips are rock solid overclockers... that's why I recommend them.  I read this article a while back http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di … 00-oc.html on OCing and was disgusted to find that an $80 motherboard/CPU combo could perform nearly as well as my almost $300 a64 3500.
2006-05-17 01:43:19
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|6715
if they have lower cache = more OC head room
https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png
2006-05-17 19:04:01
siciliano732
Member
+202|6648|New York

slo5oh wrote:

Janus67 wrote:

slo5oh wrote:

You can't do it for $500.

edit... maybe for $600
CPU
opteron 146 (most are able to overclock to 2.75Ghz or better) $160
DFI ultra D (non-sli, about $120) or I'm running an ECS KN1 SLI Lite ($99 from fry's/outpost)
2 gig kit of ddr500 ($160 to $180), and that's 2 1 gig sticks (newegg deals)
That leaves about $200 for a video card.  If you wait and watch you should be able to get a high end 6800, but I recommend you wait and get a 7900gt (have seen them as low as $270)
That's reusing your case, hard drive, CD/DVD roms, etc...
Fry's has a nice antec case with PS on sale this week for under $30 after a mail in rebate.

You can save money by getting the ECS board from newegg... they are DIRT cheap right now ($59).
If that's still too much money for you, then maybe you should look at building your system off a $79 fry's special semperon 3100 with an ecs nforce motherboard.  The chip will overclock to 2.25Ghz on a bone stock HSF (it can go farther, but the bios only supports 250Mhz fsb). They've been switching between the nforce3 and nforce4 boards.  You'll want an nforce4 board since it has PCI-e instead of the AGP that the nforce3 board comes with.
the only thing I disagree about with this post is the ECS motherboard, I have read and heard a complete mix-bag of results regarding ECS boards.  Seeing how they make some PCChips boards (god awful quality) to Abit boards (middle of hte road to decent).  I also wouldn't really think of getting the semperon as it is a bit of a hand-me-down A64, but if worse comes to worse you can handle that.
I've read the same things about ECS.  While I totally agree that their support sucks, I think they're trying to get a small bite of the "high end" market with their "extreme" series motherboards and I have yet to see one of their nforce motherboards that was not very well built.  I have 3 ECS mobos in my house right now... I'm currently building another nf3/semp 3100 for the teenage son of a friend and have another nf4/3100 that I'm debating on what to do with.  For the price, I feel you just can't go wrong.  Of course for another $100ish you can steup up to a 939 board with an opty 146 (like I said above) and smoke all the jerks paying top dollar for a new FX series chip. 

The guy said he's only got about $500 to spend... I'm trying to be realistic here for him.  Those semperon 3100 chips are rock solid overclockers... that's why I recommend them.  I read this article a while back http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di … 00-oc.html on OCing and was disgusted to find that an $80 motherboard/CPU combo could perform nearly as well as my almost $300 a64 3500.
thank you....yea i mean ideal price range would be $500 - $600....i pay $30,000 a year for college so im really tryin to save some money and pay for school so i dont have as much loans coming out....plus im spending next semester in Philly so im goin to need money to enjoy  myself...im def shoppin around...and have been for about a month now....probably wont start purchasing stuff for another week or 2 atleast....so i have some time to keep shoppin around....so if you guys find any great deals on good stuff....PLEASE LET ME KNOW....im tryin to get the most bang for my buck....
2006-05-18 12:49:50
slo5oh
Member
+28|6660

siciliano732 wrote:

thank you....yea i mean ideal price range would be $500 - $600....i pay $30,000 a year for college so im really tryin to save some money and pay for school so i dont have as much loans coming out....plus im spending next semester in Philly so im goin to need money to enjoy  myself...im def shoppin around...and have been for about a month now....probably wont start purchasing stuff for another week or 2 atleast....so i have some time to keep shoppin around....so if you guys find any great deals on good stuff....PLEASE LET ME KNOW....im tryin to get the most bang for my buck....
fatwallet.com my friend. 
If you have patience you can build a screamer for 8 to 900... or at least a good system for 5 to 600.
check the $1000 Maximum PC thread in here for my rig specs.

Last edited by slo5oh (2006-05-18 15:58:50)

 

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