Howdy all, long time member first time poster here. First off, I am not sure where this should be posted as I could find anything that directly suited what I am trying to post. If this is the wrong area i am sorry and could an admin please move it to the appropriate place. Thanks Okay I have recently been contemplating buildng a new computer as my current one is way past its use by date however i am limited to a budget of around $1000 AU So heres what i have planned, Case: I have already got a brand spanking new thermaltake soprano case lying around, with a 430W stock PSU and its stock dual 120mm fans (Intake/Exhaust) and a 90mm window fan. CPU: I was contemplating for a while to either go for a AMD 64 4200+ dual core or for a 64 3800+ single core, to help my budget i have decided to stick with the 3800+ and just upgrade later to a 4200+ or another dual core if i feel it necessary. So that makes a 3800+ at $200 AU Mobo: Heres another one im not too sure about, I am rather keen on getting the Gigabyte GA-K8NPRO SLI Socket 939 because it supports everything i am needing and comes in at a decent $185 AU but it was originally a toss up between this board and an ASUS board at about the same price with a bit less features.. I am still unsure on the gigabyte decision because i have been told that Asus boards actually run faster??? Please could someone give me some clarification on this? Memory: Corsair 1GB (2x512MB) Value Select PC-3200 DDR RAM @ $155 AU Is this good? Graphics Card: Okay heres the good one, im pretty dead-set i've made the right decision here but still its always good to get a second opinion. I was originally planning on spending only around $250 AU on a card but have decided to go out on a limb and put a little bit extra in to purchase a BFG 256MB GeForce 7600 GT OC SLI PCI-E for $330 AU, Mainly because i figure with BFG's lifetime warranty and a slightly overclocked factory shipped card how can i lose, overclocked and lifetime warranty? What more could you want! Anyway im just looking for opinions on if this machine will run current games and recent games (past 2 years or so) well and if anyone has built similar machines could they give me their opinions on the hardware or if anyone knows of any compatability issues. Also it might be worth mentioning that i will put more money into this at a later date... but atm i am on a budget and need a new PC, I plan to put another of the BFG 256MB cards in as SLI and upgrade the RAM to 2GB at some stage soon. Also the HDD will be purchased later so any suggestions would be appreciated.. remember... budget? Thanks a bunch to everyone who decides to reply (if any ) and cheers to all. Big Up to the Bit-Tech Community Joosh
If you want an AMD I would suggest an AM2 as the AM3's are said to work in the same motherboard making it more future proof for upgrades. However the obvious suggestion here is that you look at a Core 2 Duo.
Not sure what the best places are to buy for $AU (Australian dollars?) I would suggest (I'm using that retailer as it is easier to find what i need, not cheapest place online) CPU: AMD 4800 (clicky) AMD prices have dropped since the release of Intel Core 2 Duo. Although the cpu will mean your system is still old but in my opinion still better than most (maybe try AM2 as its little bit newer but more expensive and no real benefits over the old 939). Or go for the new Core 2 Duo E6300 (clicky) and maybe overclock it if you are familar with that. Mobo: I'm not sure on the mobo you chose, but Gigabyte tend to offer decent boards at decent-ish prices. However, $185 for a board? is that cheap for $AU. Graphics: Again not sure, I would say maybe go for the cheapest 7900GT you can find. ATi X1900XT are a lot cheaper lately. Not sure if that will go over your budget those two graphics cards. Might want to look at this for graphics Memory: Corsair good, value select in my opinion not good. 1GB should be good enough for budget. I have AMD64 3000 (754) 2Ghz Abit KV8 Pro 1GB - 2X Corsair 512MB DDR XMS3200XL Platinum CAS2 ATi X850 XT Just to give you an idea. Able to run most games on 1280res except games like Ghost recon, BF2, FEAR and oblivion. Although are still looking ok for now. HL2 is good on 1280res with i think most settings to high. Edit: there you go, go for AM2 as it's more future proof. Knew there would be some benefit in the end.
Appreciated Thanks for the replies all, also to clarify i am from australia yes and here computer stuff isnt as cheap as id like.. the value of the dollar in comparison to US and the pound makes it a fair bit more here but this machine i am only intending to use occasionally. Basically i'd really like to know if any of this stuff is bad or has known compatability issues. All i need is a machine that can run the upcoming Battlefield 2142 and Hellgate: London to be dead honest.. Also an off question but would anyone here have experienced the unknown doom 3 starting bug where it just wont load and freezes on the loading console... my current machine meets all requirements but always hangs there... Thanks again
The 7600gt you are looking is ideal for occasional gaming, however if you are playing battlefield 2 I would suggest 2gb of system ram.
Looks like a great system mate - you can't go wrong with a 939 NF4 rig - it might be outclassed by C2D, but that doesn't mean it's rubbish. The only thing I will say is that you might want to get a big-brand PSU, it's well worth the outlay, as PSU's are the heart and soul of a system.
Cheers Thanks again everyone... I ****ing love this community (Can i say that? ) anyway muchos appreciation, and as a rough example of how budget I am talking, think 400-500 Pounds $800-900 US or $1200 AUS but yeah im not that into games anymore... just needs to be able to play sometimes, how big a PSU should i go? and i will go the extra down the track and buy another GB of Corsair memory... Also can someone explain to me what value select means in ram? Thanks again, Joosh
Value Select is Corsair's cheaper ram. The other stuff they do is called XMS and is geared towards overclocking. Corsair's value ram is still good ram, it is better than picking up a generic stick. (Aimng for around £500 here) CPU: AMD X2 3800 -- £120 -- http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=22851 Mobo: MSI K9N NEO-F nF550 -- £50 -- http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=22832 or any other nF550 mobo Graphics: Sapphire Radeon X1900GT 256M GDDR3 -- £170 -- http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=23980 Memory:Corsair 1GB XMS2-5400 DDR2 SDRAM -- £70x2 -- http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=15664 That all comes to: £463.85 inc VAT I am guessing you already have a hard drive? As your original build doesn't. If you want yo could just pick up one 1GB stick, then add a second down the line.
Will that work with dual channel? And i'm really not a fan of ATi dont ask why but i just prefer to stick with good ol nvidia also i'm just looking for a simple system that runs fast, i am a student and play games in my spare time so dont need anything uber. also it seems harder to find stock of some parts you guys have suggested here in adelaide, south australia.
