Judge my new PC.

[kouljackson]

I know this is a Mac forum, but there are alot of knowledgeable guys around who know both plateforms, so please tell me what you think about my new gaming rig.

BTW, I'm in the US Army(I know it's not the best occupation, but i love it Very Happy ). I'm at a point where I'll be sticking around in one spot for about two years. So i think I can build myself a new rig, and then start running PEAR again...but I also wanna do some heavey gameing stuff, HalfLife:Source, Doom3, Age of Empires3, that new StarWars RPG, Guildwars...stuff like that. I built a new PC out at TigerDirect.com. I don't intend to buy there but is there anything missing from the list that i need?

Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard
-Audio Built on
-NIC Built on
-PCI-Xpress(SLI so i guess this thing has two PCI-Xpress ready ports)
AMD Athlon 3500+, Socket 939
Nvidia Geforce 7600GT PCI-x, 256MB by BFG.
Sony DRU-810a DVD-RW(Dual Layer)
Case, Cheap black, 450Watt PSU
Seagate 160GB SATA-150 HD.
Kingston 512MB DDR400(two of them, so i'll have 1GB of RAM).

Can you guys think of anything I'm missing? I've got a cool keyboard and mouse at walmart i"ll buy, I'm still thinking about an LCD monitor. Any suggestions or thoughts?

[greatdevourer]

If you can, I'd recommend getting an X2. A lot of games now can use it. And, if you want to, you could OC it well :)

[ReanimationLP]

Stay away from TigerDirect, aka Ripoff City.

Go to newegg.

You'll save a HELL of a lot.

Decent specs though, though I recommend as well a dual core processor.

I also recommend 2 GB of RAM.

[Nermal]

Stay away from TigerDirect, aka Ripoff City.

I built a new PC out at TigerDirect.com. I don't intend to buy there

:)

[eXan]

Dont get 7600 GT, get either 7800 GTX or 7900, they are far more powerful!

[Dagless]

I might have been impressed, or underimpressed or whatever if I knew what them specs mean. god I've been out the hardware game for too long.

[Shadow]

Having literally glanced over the specs, it seems a solid set up. I would upgrade the RAM to 2GB, mind, and maybe the GFX card.

Rating (higher being better): 7/10. I've seen better, but I've seen worse (ie mine-GeForce 4 MX 440 :o ).

[dmw007]

If you can, I'd recommend getting an X2. A lot of games now can use it. And, if you want to, you could OC it well :)


Yes, try to scoop up an Athlon 64 X2 processor if possible. 2GB of RAM would also be recommended. :)

[Pressure]

I would wait until the 23rd of this month and then see how the release of Conroe affects the current pricing level of processors.

Afterall, the Conroe will outperform anything currently on the market and still be priced competitively.

And for the love of every human being on this earth, don't buy a generic cheap Power Supply to save a few coins!

[dmw007]

I would wait until the 23rd of this month and then see how the release of Conroe affects the current pricing level of processors.

Afterall, the Conroe will outperform anything currently on the market and still be priced competitively.

And for the love of every human being on this earth, don't buy a generic cheap Power Supply to save a few coins!


Good suggestion Pressure, I would wait for Conroe to be released and then go with that processor. :)

[jiggie2g]

I know this is a Mac forum, but there are alot of knowledgeable guys around who know both plateforms, so please tell me what you think about my new gaming rig.

BTW, I'm in the US Army(I know it's not the best occupation, but i love it Very Happy ). I'm at a point where I'll be sticking around in one spot for about two years. So i think I can build myself a new rig, and then start running PEAR again...but I also wanna do some heavey gameing stuff, HalfLife:Source, Doom3, Age of Empires3, that new StarWars RPG, Guildwars...stuff like that. I built a new PC out at TigerDirect.com. I don'tintend to buy there but is there anything missing from the list that i need?

Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard
-Audio Built on
-NIC Built on

-PCI-Xpress(SLI so i guess this thing has two PCI-Xpress ready ports)
AMD Athlon 3500+, Socket 939
Nvidia Geforce 7600GT PCI-x, 256MB by BFG.
Sony DRU-810a DVD-RW(Dual Layer)
Case, Cheap black, 450Watt PSU
Seagate 160GB SATA-150 HD.
Kingston 512MB DDR400(two of them, so i'll have 1GB of RAM).

Can you guys think of anything I'm missing? I've got a cool keyboard and mouse at walmart i"ll buy, I'm still thinking about an LCD monitor. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Well we need to know what your budget is then i can make a better recommendation. But at this point i would say hold off till the 24th of July for the Big AMD Price Slashing. Just look. Or better yet go Conroe since u are doing a new Build(my personal choice). Socket 939 is dead. also do u plan to Overclock?

AMD Athlon X2 3800+(dual 2.0ghz+2x512 L2) Socket AM2 $170(after 7/24)
ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra(SLI=ripoff) $95.99
G.Skill DDR2 800 HZ series(PCS6400) 1GB stick $119.99(best ram peroid)
eVGA 7600GT 580/1500 (eVGA = best warranty , best service) $164.99
NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD Burner(the GOD of DVD Burners) $34.99
Seagate 250GB SATA 2 (3Gb/s) $79.99($9 more then 160GB drive)
Antec TruePower 2.0 550 $89.99(never ever go cheap on a PSU this is asking for trouble you will have system stability issues.)
Artic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro+ $25.00

And get a nice case for your new system , i'm sure you don't want your freinds coming over and thinking u have a POS junk box , would u put a Ferrari Engine in a Hyundai Body???
I recommend either of these 2.

COOLER MASTER Mystique $105.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119108
Thermaltake Armor Jr./VC3000BWS $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133017

Lastly , I would suggest going with a Intel Core 2 Duo system if u can spare the extra money. The extra Performance will be worth the cost. Plus cun cooler and OC better. Need only to change Motherboard , CPU , Heatsink in this case. Leave all other components.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (Dual 2.1ghz + 2MB L2) Socket LGA 775 $224
ASUS P5B-Deluxe P965 Intel Chipset $170
Artic Coolng Freezer 7 Pro $25

Total Cost = AMD AM2 Based $809.93 / Intel Core 2 Duo Based $1018.94

Either way u will have a kick ass system.

[DarkNetworks]

Case, Cheap black, 450Watt PSU


a good PC needs a good case...;)

And get a nice case for your new system , i'm sure you don't want your freind coming over and thing u have a POS junk box , would u put a Ferrari Engine in a Hyundai Body???

Exactly...

[kouljackson]

Wow, great replies in such a short time, let me try to answer all questions.

-I think my budget is really slow, but if i buy the RIGHT parts i can pull them and plug in newer stuff later. For example, a 7600GT and an AMD 3500+ can both be replaced with almost no trouble and two minutes with a 7900GTX(Or two of them) and a AMD X2. I just don't have the money right now.

-The RAM, okay yeah, i could always use more RAM. But should i buy a certain TYPE of ram? Do you all have fav. RAM manufacturore?

-The Case, i think it's funny as hell buying cheap cases and putting in great parts, back in the 90's(So long ago....) i had a P3 600Mhz in an old IBM386 case. My friends called it the "Millenium Falcon", she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts.

Thanks for all the support.

[Eraserhead]

The Case, i think it's funny as hell buying cheap cases and putting in great parts, back in the 90's(So long ago....) i had a P3 600Mhz in an old IBM386 case. My friends called it the "Millenium Falcon", she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts.

Thanks for all the support.


I personally think cheap cases look better, as expensive ones are generally pretty garish IMO.

[AP_piano295]

I personally think cheap cases look better, as expensive ones are generally pretty garish IMO.

ahh but your thinking about mac lights and flashy stuff is gammer style.

btw-heres a computer i just got of newegg (literally just got the case isnt here yet so all the parts are sitting on my bed) this totaled out to be a bit over a thousand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156061
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101131
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220040
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148107

theres no power supply there because I grabed a 600 wat off a friend for 20 bucks.

[jiggie2g]

Wow, great replies in such a short time, let me try to answer all questions.

[QUOTE=kouljackson]
-I think my budget is really slow, but if i buy the RIGHT parts i can pull them and plug in newer stuff later. For example, a 7600GT and an AMD 3500+ can both be replaced with almost no trouble and two minutes with a 7900GTX(Or two of them) and a AMD X2. I just don't have the money right now.

Then my suggestion would be for you to go Intel , as Intel will be slashing prices on the 23th then AMD will do so on the 24th. At this time I just can't recommend Single core CPU's anymore , freakin Quad core is less then 6 months away , Kentsfield ES CPU's are already in the hands of a few. You can get a Pentium D 805(dual 2.6ghz) for $93 come the 23rd. Get a nice Core 2 Ready Mobo then u will be ready for Dual and Quad core. 939 is dead bro leave it alone. AMD is gonna be Intel's Bitch till 2008.............If you are just a cheap skate or AMD nut then just get a AM2 3000+ and OC it to 2.6ghz+ ,a 3500+ is a waste of money , use that extra cash for a better Video Card.


-The RAM, okay yeah, i could always use more RAM. But should i buy a certain TYPE of ram? Do you all have fav. RAM manufacturore?

Best brands are Corsair , OCZ , G.Skill and Mushkin..Crucial is for mac zealots.
My personal fav is G.Skill , then OCZ. Skip DDR1 as prices are starting to soar due to decrease of production , just get some DDR2 800(this will give you OC headroom).


-The Case, i think it's funny as hell buying cheap cases and putting in great parts, back in the 90's(So long ago....) i had a P3 600Mhz in an old IBM386 case. My friends called it the "Millenium Falcon", she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts.

Thanks for all the support.

It won't be funny when your new rig is overheating and u have constant freeze up's , crashes and other stability issues due to lack of airflow. Plus it will be very loud. These Components generate far greater heat then the old 90's tech you were refering to.

[kouljackson]

Get a nice Core 2 Ready Mobo then u will be ready for Dual and Quad core. 939 is dead bro leave it alone. AMD is gonna be Intel's Bitch till 2008.

It won't be funny when your new rig is overheating and u have constant freeze up's , crashes and other stability issues due to lack of airflow. Plus it will be very loud. These Components generate far greater heat then the old 90's tech you were refering to.

Am i really gonna see the difference between two or four cores? Seriouselly? And i'm never worried about noise and crap when it comes to cooling. I actually have a water cooler for the RAM and processor in a box someplace....not sure if it will work with this mobo, but i plan on watering this bitch.

[jiggie2g]

Am i really gonna see the difference between two or four cores? Seriouselly? And i'm never worried about noise and crap when it comes to cooling. I actually have a water cooler for the RAM and processor in a box someplace....not sure if it will work with this mobo, but i plan on watering this bitch.


Are u gonna notice the difference between 4 and 8 Cylinders ...ahh yeah. If u run multiple apps , encode , do video , music ,graphics use any Multitreaded apps. you will see whenre those extra cores went when you cut those encode time by 50-80%. For me time is everything , the faster i can get task done the better.

[kouljackson]

Are u gonna notice the difference between 4 and 8 Cylinders ...ahh yeah. If u run multiple apps , encode , do video , music ,graphics use any Multitreaded apps. you will see whenre those extra cores went when you cut those encode time by 50-80%. For me time is everything , the faster i can get task done the better.

yeah i see your point, but WindowsXP running multithreads started off not so good...I remember that DualCore, hyperthreading crap made my CPU think it had 4 caches and proformance only went up like 10%...so i guess i'll buy an X2 3800+....but we'll see how i like it.

[mishi]

dual core processor for gaming =:mad: :confused: :confused:

oh yeah and i would recommend ATi over Nvidia any day unless you plan to get two cards

[kouljackson]

dual core processor for gaming =:mad: :confused: :confused:

oh yeah and i would recommend ATi over Nvidia any day unless you plan to get two cards

well i'm getting an SLI motherboard, so yeah I wanna keep that 2nd video card option open...but not sure...i know i won't get another video card right off the bat.

[jiggie2g]

dual core processor for gaming =:mad: :confused: :confused:

oh yeah and i would recommend ATi over Nvidia any day unless you plan to get two cards

Single core processor for anything =:mad: :confused: :confused:


Single core is a waste and is now considered bargin bin parts , and you will not benifit from outrageous single core clocks as games are GPU limited once you hit higher resolutions.

As far as ATI over Ndivia , 7900GT is the best card for the money , unless
you are going for a X1900XT/XTX then Nvidia has better stuff.

and to Koul Jackson , don't get into that Crossfire/SLI crap it's a gimmick and waste of money . you will end up spending a ton and only see you precious setup made obsolete in 6 months. Just get 1 good Video Card. then upgrade once a year.

[kouljackson]

Single core processor for anything =:mad: :confused: :confused:
don't get into that Crossfire/SLI crap it's a gimmick and waste of money . you will end up spending a ton and only see you precious setup made obsolete in 6 months. Just get 1 good Video Card. then upgrade once a year.

Roger that.
:D