Re: Building a computer?

[TheTruth]

Re: Building a computer?

Also check out mwave.com....they have some good prices on motherboard/cpu bundles and on Cases. I also built a comp with a epox 9npa ultra board last April and at the time mwave beat newegg on all my components.

Just throwing out another good site to compare prices.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

I'll definately go for a cheaper (but good) proc then. I don't plan on overclocking - that's something a little beyond me and I don't like to push things with computers.

It's a great price too.

It's amazing how freaking cheap these parts are - especially having paid so much money for way poorer computers in the past.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

I'll definately go for a cheaper (but good) proc then. I don't plan on overclocking - that's something a little beyond me and I don't like to push things with computers.

It's a great price too.

It's amazing how freaking cheap these parts are - especially having paid so much money for way poorer computers in the past.

Yeah, with around a 1000$ budget, you can build a 2nd tier top of the line gaming computer capable of running any game out there right now with just about max graphic settings at high resolutions.

Just be prepared for the painful price drops right after you buy No matter when you buy, it always seems like within a week the price drops.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

haha, yeah. Tis the way of the computer.

"oh man, look at that deal"

1 week later

"damnit, I paid $50 more than that brandnew piece that's even better"

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

I've got another quick question.

As mentioned, it seems PCI Express is the way to go now.

I've looked at a few motherboards, and I'm interested in an ATI Video card.

What slots should I look for? It seems the PCI Express Video cards need a PCI Express X16 (whatever that means), so I'm looking for that - however, I notice that motherboards also have PCI Express X1 slots - what is that exactly?

I'm still sifting through them - I saw one that looked good, but isn't getting very good comments, so I'll pass on that one.

Here's one that looks good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813123257

But I notice it's NVidia - now would an ATI video card work well with that? it seems odd to use a competing brand video card on it.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Yes, you want a PCIe x16 motherboard, not agp. PCIe x1 is a tiny little PCI slot. I don't think that form factor is all that popular yet with add-on cards such as tv tuners or usb/firewire cards, but it should grow.

You should get 1 (or 2 if an sli board) PCIe x16 slots (just think graphics card slot when it says pciex16), a couple x1 slots, and a couple regular PCI slots.

It can get a little confusing in that NVIDIA (as does ATI) has a motherboard chipset that competes with other boards. You can use an ATI card with them just fine. Be aware though that board you linked is an SLI motherboard. This means it has 2 pciex16 slots for 2 vid cards to be used together at the same time. SLI is NVIDIA's version of 2 cards working together. Crossfire is ATI's version. So you could not do crossfire with an SLI board.

If you buy an SLI/crossfire board, you don't have to use 2 cards but it's sort of a waste to get a SLI board and then get an ATI vid card. If you ever wanted to upgrade to 2 video cards, you would be out of luck with 2 ati vid cards and an SLI motherboard.

Personally, I think SLI/crossfire is a waste. For the price of 2 video cards, you might as well just buy the top of the line card...that is unless you have wads of cash where you are using 2 of the latest cards in SLI/crossfire. You can save some cash by getting the non SLI/crossfire version of a board if SLI/crossfire doesn't interest you.

EDIT: I'd suggest looking at asus boards. Since you said you are not interested in overclocking, going with epox doesn't really make sense to me over an asus board. Asus boards are generally rock solid with a bit less overclocking room whereas epox is known a bit more as an enthusiast overclocker type of board in general.

The thing to look for as far as compatibility goes is to make sure the motherboard you are looking at supports the "socket type" of the processor you are interested in. For example, if you are looking at an athlon64 3500, make sure the motherboard supports socket 939. When you decide on a processor, make sure and note it's socket type so you can make sure the mobo you are looking at supports that socket type.

Maybe this can help you...Here's a random motherboard I picked from newegg, not saying to get this one, it's just random. I'll decipher it for you.

Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro<- Manufacturer name and model number
SLI <- can use 2 nvidia video cards at the same time working together
Socket 939 <- the processor socket type this mobo supports
NVIDIA nForce4 SLI<- the chipset type also specifying this is a SLI board. Nforce4 is latest for NVIDIA. Other chipset types are VIA, SIS, ATI, intel (only for intel processors)
ATX <- the motherboard size form factor
AMD <- for amd processors

ANOTHER EDIT:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530

Just quickly browing the mobos at newegg, there is a nice ASUS that supports socket 939 for under 100 bucks. It's not SLI nor Crossfire so you can't upgrade to 2 video cards. About the only thing you are missing is firewire ports if you aren't interested in SLI/crossfire. Oh, and most mobos have built in sound supporting 5.1 sound now so you don't need to buy a sound card unless you are a real audiophile. They also usually have built in network ability so no need for a network card.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

It's still a steep price, but newegg has the AMD 4200 on sale for $355 today. Think it was over $400 when you linked to it yesterday:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103547

[Rodster]

Re: Building a computer?

I know this is OT and the wrong forum but if the original poster is interested I have a new in the box and sealed Retail AMD64 4000+ "Clawhammer Core" edition. This is the prized CPU back when it was known as the FX-52 and known for being very overclockable.

Anyway it's for sale as I have an extra one I don't need. PM me if interested.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

What do you guys suggest for a video card? I've always bought a previous version for $150 rather than a new version for $300. Currently I have a GeForce 5800 but it's AGP, so I'll probably have to upgrade to a PCI card.

Would I be better off going with a 7800 or a 6800 for about half the cost. I've had pretty good luck with Nvidia but I'd be willing to switch to ATI if there's a good deal. I just don't know much about their cards.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

What do you guys suggest for a video card? I've always bought a previous version for $150 rather than a new version for $300. Currently I have a GeForce 5800 but it's AGP, so I'll probably have to upgrade to a PCI card.

Would I be better off going with a 7800 or a 6800 for about half the cost. I've had pretty good luck with Nvidia but I'd be willing to switch to ATI if there's a good deal. I just don't know much about their cards.

Do you have a PCIe compatible motherboard or plan to buy one? If you don't have one, go with a sub 200 dollar agp card because you can't get a PCIe one. Going with a top of the line AGP card in my opinion is sort of a waste. It would be better to save the money for a motherboard that supports PCIe.

If you have a PCIe x16 slot or plan to upgrade, go for the new 7900 or 7600 NVIDIA cards if you want to go the NVIDIA route. Right now I think you can squeak in under 200 for a 7600GT. The $250 to $350 area always seemed to me to be the price point on video cards where you get the most for money without going overboard though.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

Do you have a PCIe compatible motherboard or plan to buy one? If you don't have one, go with a sub 200 dollar agp card because you can't get a PCIe one. Going with a top of the line AGP card in my opinion is sort of a waste. It would be better to save the money for a motherboard that supports PCIe.

If you have a PCIe x16 slot or plan to upgrade, go for the new 7900 or 7600 NVIDIA cards if you want to go the NVIDIA route. Right now I think you can squeak in under 200 for a 7600GT. The $250 to $350 area always seemed to me to be the price point on video cards where you get the most for money without going overboard though.

I am upgrading my MB to PCIe x16. A 7900GT looks to be just over $300. I'll probably go with that rather than try to spend under $200 for a 7600.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

Here's what I'm looking at doing:

$95 - ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

$309 - Leadtek PX7900GT Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$158 - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz HT Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail

$90 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Total: $652

I'll probably need to upgrade the power supply as well, but I'm not sure what I have in my current system. Thoughts?

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Here's what I'm looking at doing:

$95 - ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

$309 - Leadtek PX7900GT Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$158 - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz HT Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail

$90 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Total: $652

I'll probably need to upgrade the power supply as well, but I'm not sure what I have in my current system. Thoughts?

Looks good to me. You'll love that video card. I wish I could have waited a few months on my 7800 to get a 7900.

The only thing that I can think of is maybe to watch the video cards and wait for a bundled game to jump on, but who knows how long that might be?

Throw in a gig of ram or more and you'll have a smokin' machine.

[Kilmer]

Re: Building a computer?

I don't know how helpful this will be at this point in the thread, but whenever I am upgrading or building all new I reference the guides at SharkyExtreme. Thye have never steered me wrong as far as good component go.

This is the most recent guide...March's value gaming guide.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG/article.php/3590876

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

One last question regarding power supplies. I currently have a 400W power supply. I have 2 CD/DVD drives, 3 HD's, vid card, etc.

In the new system I'm doing away with a CD drive and will only have the 1 SATA HD and new vid card. Is 400W good enough or should I upgrade? Can I damage anything by trying the 400W and then upgrading if I experience problems?