BF2S Forums Getting New Computer

No one?
Please Help...I'm not very good with computers but I am learning fast and have already learned alot about my PC from taking it apart and putting it back together.
Help...Anyone?
I'd Love you forever?

Last edited by MorbiD.ShoT (2006-04-24 16:33:31)

I just got myself the following:

Athlon 64 4800+ X2
BFG 512MB GeForce 7900 GTX
DFI Lanparty UT SLI-D
2x 1GB OCZ Gold PC4000
2x SATA 2 160GB hard drives (Maxtor 6V160E0)
Antec Truepower II (550W)

That little lot cost me back £1278.77. ($2,284.71) If you've already got a decent PSU (I decided to replace my current PSU for something rock solid like the truepower) then you can skip that. Same with hard drives, little point in you getting one if you already have a good one.

Essentially get processor, motherboard and new graphics card. (memory too if you feel the current mem needs replacing)

I'll give you an example of the power, I decided to give Mozilla Thunderbird a go earlier (still mulling it over) so I told it to import and convert my 867MB Outlook PST file (hard drive thrashing ahoy!) and decided to fire up BF2 in singleplayer mode, max settings (anti-aliasing etc) at 1280x1024 didn't even put a dent in the frame rate. It was 90+fps whilst it converted and imported my large PST file.

The moral of this story is dual core is very nice, it at least means unlike before where i'd close down all background applications like google desktop etc I now can just leave them all open without having to worry about my ingame framerate.

EDIT: Sorry, do you have a current machine upon which you're just replacing specific parts for? Or is it a new machine from the ground up?

Last edited by EvilMonkeySlayer (2006-04-24 16:39:58)

EvilMonkeySlayer wrote:

I just got myself the following:

Athlon 64 4800+ X2
BFG 512MB GeForce 7900 GTX
DFI Lanparty UT SLI-D
2x 1GB OCZ Gold PC4000
2x SATA 2 160GB hard drives (Maxtor 6V160E0)
Antec Truepower II (550W)

That little lot cost me back £1278.77. ($2,284.71) If you've already got a decent PSU (I decided to replace my current PSU for something rock solid like the truepower) then you can skip that. Same with hard drives, little point in you getting one if you already have a good one.

Essentially get processor, motherboard and new graphics card. (memory too if you feel the current mem needs replacing)

I'll give you an example of the power, I decided to give Mozilla Thunderbird a go earlier (still mulling it over) so I told it to import and convert my 867MB Outlook PST file (hard drive thrashing ahoy!) and decided to fire up BF2 in singleplayer mode, max settings (anti-aliasing etc) at 1280x1024 didn't even put a dent in the frame rate. It was 90+fps whilst it converted and imported my large PST file.

The moral of this story is dual core is very nice, it at least means unlike before where i'd close down all background applications like google desktop etc I now can just leave them all open without having to worry about my ingame framerate.

EDIT: Sorry, do you have a current machine upon which you're just replacing specific parts for? Or is it a new machine from the ground up?

Well...I have a computer in my room and let me tell you that PC is crap.
Seriously it can barely run bf1942 in low settings
512 mb ram
2.0 ghz
On board vid card
small case
no upgarable to past 512 ram not able to put vid card in because no AGP or pCI/PCI-e slot

horrendous...so if you think i can upgrade that then by all means
but if not, then help me out to build my own
thanks

Last edited by MorbiD.ShoT (2006-04-24 16:49:06)

2GB 2x1GB Corsair DDR400 2-3-3-6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6820145575
DFI Ultra-D 939 mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6813136152
AMD A64 3500+http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819103533
EVGA 7600GThttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814130284
Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM HDhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6822144160
Antec P180 Casehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6811129154
Antec NeoHE 550 Watt PSUhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6817103941

Total: $1008

Very nice unnamednewbie13 +1 karma.

I like how you concentrated on CPU and Video card, and ram, as they are the big time bottlenecks with high end games.


Techguy- 10k raptors are nice, but not worth the money IMO. Still +1 though.


And amen to the PSU recomendations. People love to skimp out with Hipros with flash lights that give out 30%.

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

edit = descriptive iteration

TechGuy has a decent list. Here's my recommendations (based on newegg/xoxide pricing), with a total of about ~$1070, allowing for variation:

Mainboard -
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (~$150) you don't need the a8n32 if you aren't SLI-ing

CPU -
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (2.2GHz, 90nm process, 1MB L2 cache) (~$230)
techguy's 3500+ cpu recommendation is only $30 cheaper, and only has 512KB of L2 cache...UGH. be careful with the 3500+ if you really want one. some places are still selling the 120nm.)

Memory -
OCZ 2x1GB (there are many choices, but I'll link to this one) (~$140, after the newegg-related $50 mail-in rebate) if you really don't want to risk not getting the mail-in rebate back, go for some higher-latency RAM, for about the same price. I recommend 2GB to everyone with Battlefield 2, and so does most everyone else; the memory techguy listed is of similar quality for a similar price. you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the two modules.

Video -
BFG GeForce 7900GT 256MB OC (~$330) just as many pipelines as a GTX, and not all that more expensive than cheaper cards; BFG ships them overclocked with a lifetime warranty and 24/7 customer service. the 7900GT is $130 more than the 7600GT, but is worth it for price/performance, as well as a longer tech life.

Sound -
onboard, if you don't want to spend ~$100 on a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

Storage -
WD Caviar SE16 250GB SATA300 7200RPM 16MB cache ($90) - excellent choice, at 36 cents per GB with 16MB cache. great bargain. Raptors are always nice, but load times aren't effected very much, and all you'll really get is bragging rights for being in the game about a second before everyone else...but memory/CPU can still bottleneck a Raptor to where a lesser computer will still load it fast. at $180 for 74GB, and $300 for 150GB, a Raptor is really more of a personal choice than anything, unless you do alot of image/video editing/compression. and then it's just a (much) cheaper version of the 15K SCSI.

Removable Media -
Basically, any old DVD writer and a floppy drive will be fine (~$70)

Chassis -
you can buy an ATX case for $20 anymore. just choose something that suits your tastes, so long as it has good airflow and is easy to take apart for maintainance

PSU -
alot of people skimp here and pick up something for $20 to $40 bucks. there's a reason why these are so cheap...

I recommend this Enermax or this Silverstone. 600W might be a bit overkill for this build, but 550W should handle fine.

UPS (uninterruptable power supply) -
This OPTI-UPS ($90) or a similar APC product will do.
in my opinion, this isn't really an option. you really should have one of these to clean out power from your wall. it can save your power supply and computer alot of grief. Alot of people live in places where power fluctuates now and then, even for brief moments of light flickering/dimming. Isn't it worth an extra $90 bucks to protect a ~$1000 investment?

TechGuy wrote:

Why not build your own? It's not that hard and you'll learn a lot.

You'll need:

Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Video card
DVD Burner
Hard Drive(s) (RAID 0)
Case
Good power supply(PSU)

I'll post an example list, I hope you speak newegg language.

RAID 0 seems to be popular around here. I don't know why, but it has very little benefit (especially with cheaper drives) and a single unit failure pretty much means the end of your data.

nice post, a couple things I will recommend:

fps/fortron (same thing) power supply: Fortron AX500 - this is an excelllent power supply that will give a strong current and very little change in voltage. 

Remember, the real benefit to a good power supply is not the number of Watts.  It is the number of Amps (look for a high number on the +12V rail, or dual +12V rails [read: 18+]).

Antec and Seasonic also make good power supplies.  OCZ's are nice.  Then you have the cream of the crop: PC Power and Cooling.

Besides that I pretty much agree with what you recommended (nice choice in CPU, RAM, and GFX btw).  One thing, I wouldn't necessarily get the SLI mobo since it isn't really necessary.  The Asus A8N-E ($85 from newegg I believe) would be sufficient.

Maj.Do wrote:

+1!!!!

also i never used a UPs. 
Is it the same as a power surge protector with batteries?

Sort of, I have a UPS too. If you have a line that doesn't give consistent power or you occasionally have brownouts (in my area we seem to have local brownouts once every six months or so, although occasionally it'll be more frequent) then a ups is great. It gives a consistent level of power and allows you to safely power down your pc incase of power failure.

For example, on mine i've set it up so that after 5 minutes with no power it shuts down the pc.

unnamednewbie13's list above is pretty much the best system you can buy for the cash you're limited too. It'll definitely give you decent performance in BF2, infact you should be able to run BF2 on all high settings with the graphics card mentioned.

stryyker wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

edit = descriptive iteration

TechGuy has a decent list. Here's my recommendations (based on newegg/xoxide pricing), with a total of about ~$1070, allowing for variation:

Mainboard -
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (~$150) you don't need the a8n32 if you aren't SLI-ing

CPU -
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (2.2GHz, 90nm process, 1MB L2 cache) (~$230)
techguy's 3500+ cpu recommendation is only $30 cheaper, and only has 512KB of L2 cache...UGH. be careful with the 3500+ if you really want one. some places are still selling the 120nm.)

Memory -
OCZ 2x1GB (there are many choices, but I'll link to this one) (~$140, after the newegg-related $50 mail-in rebate) if you really don't want to risk not getting the mail-in rebate back, go for some higher-latency RAM, for about the same price. I recommend 2GB to everyone with Battlefield 2, and so does most everyone else; the memory techguy listed is of similar quality for a similar price. you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the two modules.

Video -
BFG GeForce 7900GT 256MB OC (~$330) just as many pipelines as a GTX, and not all that more expensive than cheaper cards; BFG ships them overclocked with a lifetime warranty and 24/7 customer service. the 7900GT is $130 more than the 7600GT, but is worth it for price/performance, as well as a longer tech life.

Sound -
onboard, if you don't want to spend ~$100 on a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

Storage -
WD Caviar SE16 250GB SATA300 7200RPM 16MB cache ($90) - excellent choice, at 36 cents per GB with 16MB cache. great bargain. Raptors are always nice, but load times aren't effected very much, and all you'll really get is bragging rights for being in the game about a second before everyone else...but memory/CPU can still bottleneck a Raptor to where a lesser computer will still load it fast. at $180 for 74GB, and $300 for 150GB, a Raptor is really more of a personal choice than anything, unless you do alot of image/video editing/compression. and then it's just a (much) cheaper version of the 15K SCSI.

Removable Media -
Basically, any old DVD writer and a floppy drive will be fine (~$70)

Chassis -
you can buy an ATX case for $20 anymore. just choose something that suits your tastes, so long as it has good airflow and is easy to take apart for maintainance

PSU -
alot of people skimp here and pick up something for $20 to $40 bucks. there's a reason why these are so cheap...

I recommend this Enermax or this Silverstone. 600W might be a bit overkill for this build, but 550W should handle fine.

UPS (uninterruptable power supply) -
This OPTI-UPS ($90) or a similar APC product will do.
in my opinion, this isn't really an option. you really should have one of these to clean out power from your wall. it can save your power supply and computer alot of grief. Alot of people live in places where power fluctuates now and then, even for brief moments of light flickering/dimming. Isn't it worth an extra $90 bucks to protect a ~$1000 investment?

TechGuy wrote:

Why not build your own? It's not that hard and you'll learn a lot.

You'll need:

Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Video card
DVD Burner
Hard Drive(s) (RAID 0)
Case
Good power supply(PSU)

I'll post an example list, I hope you speak newegg language.

RAID 0 seems to be popular around here. I don't know why, but it has very little benefit (especially with cheaper drives) and a single unit failure pretty much means the end of your data.

all of what he said. you may want to wait, however, for Intel to show their new gaming lineup, that will drive prices down

there's always something better coming out that will srive prices down so if you wait for that you'll never get a new pc

Good points, slo5oh.

1. If you're going to recommend the Opteron route, be sure to mention that many of them are socket 940. It can be easy for someone new to CPU purchasing to confuse the two. The Opteron 146 S939, sans coupon, can still be upwards to $220.

2. DDR500 won't see too much of a performance boost over low latency DDR400. But if you are going to seriously overclock (especially with the Opteron route), the 500 is probably your best bet. And if you are overclocking, then DFI mainboards are the winners. Just keep in mind that while your bandwidth will be nominally increased, some manufacturers use the same chips for both DDR400/500, only tinkering with timings to allow it to run at its set retail speed.

However, most people (particularly those on a budget), are unwilling to sacrifice parts lifespan for a few percentage points, unless said parts have already had a good, long run.

3. Mail-in-rebates are always questionable. Never count on them one hundred percent if you're on a budget.

4. The WD Caviar RE 250GB SATA-300 16MB cache has a 5-year warranty also, even in its OEM format. Both WD and Seagate make excellent products, and I have used both. Warranty on hard drives is something to take seriously, as they have among the highest failure rates of computer hardware.

But between the WD and the Seagate Barracuda (7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM), you could buy two of the WD's for two-thirds the price of the Seagate, with the added security of your data being spread over a pair of drives rather than just one.

5. I always recommend at least a 450W-500W PSU to the do-it-yourself individual, because people who build computers are likely to tinker around and put more parts into them. Particularly in the case of a pair of fatty video cards into one motherboard, with the added power drain of near-maxed SATA and IDE capacity. You never want to hit your PSU's limitations, as undervoltage can be just as dangerous as a surge.

6. On UPS's, yes. APC is another excellent name brand. Let me add one more thing: never plug a power strip into a UPS for higher device capacity. And if your UPS comes with monitoring software (if it's good, it will have it), install it and leave it on.

Finally, allow me to recommend a solid reference for anyone thinking about building a system of their own:

Upgrading and Repairing PCs (17th Edition) is a series in a long list of iterations that has been used by private businesses, for personal use and for college coursework for years. It's latest edition as been published just this March, and is an excellent investment for $38 (normally $60). In it you'll find answers that would cost you $300 and weeks without your computer due to fruitless tech shop visits.

Thanks for the karma points, people. By far my most 'famous' post here.

slo5oh wrote:

unnamednewbe13,
great writeup, and I hope not to confuse our OP, but I had to add a little:
motherboard
just about any nforce4 board will do, if you don't know what you're doing a DFI like someone above recommended is your best bet (more common), but I've had good luck with a ECS KN1 SLI lite ($99 at fry's).  It comes with everything you'd want except (except maybe firewire, but that's more of a mac thing) built in.
CPU
buy an OPTERON.  146s go for about $150 to $160 (monarch comptuer with a coupon from fatwallet) and you can overclock them from 2Ghz up to 2.75 or better very easy.
ram/memory
2 gigs agreed, but while you can get a 2 gig kit of ddr400 for around $140 now, combined with the opteron CPU you'll want something faster... so spend another $40ish and get a 2 gig kit of ddr500.
video
agree, 7900GT, but you should be able to get one for under $300.  CC has a deal right now for $270 after a mail in rebate.
storeage, or Hard drive
WD makes nice drives, but I prefer seagate (5 year warranty on all of them OEM or boxed).
case
this is the box you have to look at... so look around and find something you like.  I love the different antec cases, super lanboy, sonata, sonata II.  Even the cheap low end ones are still well built and many come with more than enough power.  compussr has a good one on sale right now for $30 after mail in rebate (MIR)
powersupply
Unless you plan on having 4 harddrives 2 video cards and 2 opticals (cd/dvd drives) anything over a GOOD 350 is unnecessary.  I say a good 350 because there are cheap 500s that can't keep up with a good 350.  I'm currently running 2 HDDs with 2 opticals, my opteron 146 overclocked to 2.9Ghz (almost 70%), and a single 7800GT on a thermaltake 430, but I have run it on a 400 and know it will run on a antec 350 just fine.  Don't buy any of the older X-connect units, the cables are so stiff they won't bend.
optical drives
go to newegg after you decided or bought a case and buy 1 NEC DVD R/W and 1 DVD player in colors that match your case (nothing looks worse than a white or beige DVD in a black case)
UPS
I second what unnammed said, buy at least a low end UPS.  wallyworld sells a single computer user APC (#1 name for UPS) for under $40.  It's been enough for several client computers I've setup with 19" LCD and computer.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2006-05-04 17:39:12)

Stealth42o wrote:

If some guy says "Will take my 5 hours" he is FOS.  Find someone else.

...or he knows he's going to make alot of mistakes, in which case he shouldn't charge you extra anyway.

Jenspm wrote:

There are a lot of good ideas here! I have the same budjet, but I am getting kinda confused, there are so many diferent opinions! Is there anyone who could kinda make a summary that gives us a good computer that I can just order without looking at all the posts and ruining it by buying something that doesn't fit with the other stuff? I would like a wishlist from newegg... That would be nice.

Hey Jenspm I'm also planning to buy new computer parts (only CPU and motherboard, heres link to my thread: http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=22754&p=1 ), and I've read a lot of the posts in here and gotten many great advices..

Now, if I were to buy a new PC I would think just like you. So, since I've read many posts I can try to summarize what seems to me to be most popular (or highest in performance relative to prize..) among the three parts that are perhaps most difficult to choose:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (powerful (2.2GH) and with great potential for overclocking)
Motherboard: Asus (Best quality boards)
Video Card: 7000GT-series (7800GT most perhaps)

or

CPU: Opteron 146 (Less powerful (2.0GH) but with even more potential for overclocking (so with succesful OC'ing, it will maybe be more powerful than 3700+))
Motherboard: DFI (Best overclocking boards)
Video Card: Same as above


Of course your budget decides, but this is the medium gaming machines and also the kind of budget they use in the above posts.. These two CPU's seem to be most popular. The motherboards are apparently quite similar in performance and quality (read the post from Sixshot in the middle of second page on the thread I referred to above), but you must keep in mind two things:
- Compatibility: If you have or will buy a AGP (f.ex. 6600GT like I have) videocard (which you should not, buy a vidcard with "PCI"-interface; most of 7000-series), you must buy a video card with AGP-slot. As far as I have understood this is only ASRock that has. And a ASRock-mobo will not let the CPU's (espc the Opteron) utilize its overclockpotential..
- Overclocking-potential: With a CPU that overclocks well this is especially important (Opteron - DFI)

Those video-card in the 7000-series is pretty damn expensive, but everyone seems to insist on buying them also for medium-budget computers like this. I believe I've heard most good about 7800GT. A cheaper model is 6800GT which also has PCI-slot (so you can use all kinds of mobos).

PS I'm really newb in this and have little experience.. But I have read a lot of tests and posts, and this is what I got out of it.. Hope it can clarify some things and that it will make others correct things if I have misunderstood. Feel free to comment

Jenspm wrote:

There are a lot of good ideas here! I have the same budjet, but I am getting kinda confused, there are so many diferent opinions! Is there anyone who could kinda make a summary that gives us a good computer that I can just order without looking at all the posts and ruining it by buying something that doesn't fit with the other stuff? I would like a wishlist from newegg... That would be nice.

pm sent with info to contact me.