New PC

Cloud G

New Member
So.....the time has come......and I've finally broken down.........


Time to build a PC....

Any thoughts? Ideas? Any got some component they really like, or really hate for that matter? I haven't even looked for anything yet. And I've been staying off newegg (only way to keep money in savings). And yes, I'll put vista on it (I get it free :D)
 
So.....the time has come......and I've finally broken down.........


Time to build a PC....

Any thoughts? Ideas? Any got some component they really like, or really hate for that matter? I haven't even looked for anything yet. And I've been staying off newegg (only way to keep money in savings). And yes, I'll put vista on it (I get it free :D)
the big two questons are:
what do you want to do with the ssytem
how much are you looking to spend.

Since you are going vista figure on two gigabytes of ram at the minimum.
 
Easy:

1. Gaming
2. Less then 1,500 (I don't need a case, monitor, or disk drives....everything else though)

3. I was thinking 4 gigs of RAM

Dual-core is a MUST, and is a striped SATA RAID with 3gb/s drives. SLI if the price is reasonable.



Edit: Here is where it stands Tell me if I'm dead wrong in something. I'll take the critism.....rather that then find out AFTER spending money.
 
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Easy:

1. Gaming
2. Less then 1,500 (I don't need a case, monitor, or disk drives....everything else though)

3. I was thinking 4 gigs of RAM

Dual-core is a MUST, and is a striped SATA RAID with 3gb/s drives. SLI if the price is reasonable.



Edit: Here is where it stands Tell me if I'm dead wrong in something. I'll take the criticism.....rather that then find out AFTER spending money.
first off..power supply. What model/make/wattage psu do you ahve?

hrmm..the 7950 is old now. take a gander at the 8600. it spanks even ati's x1950(and the 7950 for that matter) and only needs a single card to do it. SLI is overrated. Go with the 8xxx series. In single mode they crush everything out there..and the 8800 can beat most ati x-fire setups too. Also don't use the RAID in the mobo bios. Use the raid inside windows..you'll be glad you did(google FRAID). The statements in there are just as true for windows. Which case do you have now? Do you have more than just the fan for the psu(aka are there any additional fans in the case itself?) Also RAID1 will protect you against data loss form hard disk failure..NOT data loss due to virus infection, spyware, or fat fingering..:) Remove one of the hdd's and go for an external hdd. 80 gigs should suffice. Only backup important data(documents, music, saved game files) not the entire programs. Put that extra money towards a better vid card or better cooling or better psu(psu, cooling, vid in that order). with 32 bit vista you'll only see 3-3.7 gigs anyways(depending on how much ram your vid card has) so stick with 2 gigs. That being said, this isn't a bad system..don't get that impression.
Frankly that's a good rig. If you can finagles the components a bit great..but that's a solid machine that will serve well. If you want to go with that machine..it's nice and it will serve you well. With a bit of effort though it can possibly become even more beastie..<G>

Also if going vista don't bother with home basic..go with hime premium at the minimum.

here's one 8600GT review:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTMyNCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Keep in mind pure frames aren't the gauge..it's what kind of gaming detail you have at a playable framerate. 100 frames with minimal details isn't worth it. I'd rather have 40 frames at full eye candy. Remember the human eye can only see 30fps...:)
 
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CPU: Go with intel the''re the best right now. I think the E6600 is the best bang for the buck.
VGA: The 8000 series is coming for a HUGE pricedrop soon so I would wait for that. Or do what I did. I got a 7600 card cheap (75 bucks) and when the price drop happens get the 8000 series. I also hear that ATI coming out with some beefy card soon.
Power Supply. Choose wisley and don't go cheap. I have a SUBEAM NUUO 550wots
Monitor: Anything Samsung or LG in my opinion.
Ram: Corsair my fav but ther're others that are good.
Mobo: I have a Asus PB5 witch I love.
DVD: Lite-on get retail so you get the software.
Hardrive: Currently Seagate overs the best warrenty (5 years even on OEM) I have the 320gig 7200.10
Case: Pic one you like

Toms Hardware is a great site to do research.
 
CPU: Go with intel the''re the best right now. I think the E6600 is the best bang for the buck.
VGA: The 8000 series is coming for a HUGE pricedrop soon so I would wait for that. Or do what I did. I got a 7600 card cheap (75 bucks) and when the price drop happens get the 8000 series. I also hear that ATI coming out with some beefy card soon.
Power Supply. Choose wisley and don't go cheap. I have a SUBEAM NUUO 550wots
Monitor: Anything Samsung or LG in my opinion.
Ram: Corsair my fav but ther're others that are good.
Mobo: I have a Asus PB5 witch I love.
DVD: Lite-on get retail so you get the software.
Hardrive: Currently Seagate overs the best warrenty (5 years even on OEM) I have the 320gig 7200.10
Case: Pic one you like

Toms Hardware is a great site to do research.

OOO I have to disagree with you there. AMD is the way to go by far. I do agree with your RAM choice, corsair is some of the best stuff you can get. As for a Mobo, stay away from Asus, cause God forbid if something goes wrong, their tech support is AWFUL. I ended up getting a new Mobo after my chipset fried cause the tech support was so terrible. Biostar's are nice gaming Mobos.
 
For hte budget he has AMD is the way to go. Intel's would mean he would have to skimp more on the vid..these days..not a good idea.
 
i honestly like PcChips mobo's. cheap, nice bios, and ive never had a proplem. im also a fan of MSI. but yeah, ive heard ASUS has some issues with tech support.

also AMD is by far the "best bang for the buck" no matter which cpu u compare. plus its proven their better for gaming anyways. intel is better graphical and video editing, which is prolly another reason mac is now using intel, even though in theory amd is a much more stable cpu for macOS, (dunno if its true or not but i heard it from a mac fanatic)
 
hrmm..the 7950 is old now. take a gander at the 8600. it spanks even ati's x1950(and the 7950 for that matter) and only needs a single card to do it. SLI is overrated. Go with the 8xxx series. In single mode they crush everything out there..and the 8800 can beat most ati x-fire setups too. Also don't use the RAID in the mobo bios. Use the raid inside windows..you'll be glad you did(google FRAID). The statements in there are just as true for windows. Which case do you have now? Do you have more than just the fan for the psu(aka are there any additional fans in the case itself?) Also RAID1 will protect you against data loss form hard disk failure..NOT data loss due to virus infection, spyware, or fat fingering..:) Remove one of the hdd's and go for an external hdd. 80 gigs should suffice. Only backup important data(documents, music, saved game files) not the entire programs. Put that extra money towards a better vid card or better cooling or better psu(psu, cooling, vid in that order). with 32 bit vista you'll only see 3-3.7 gigs anyways(depending on how much ram your vid card has) so stick with 2 gigs. That being said, this isn't a bad system..don't get that impression.
Frankly that's a good rig. If you can finagles the components a bit great..but that's a solid machine that will serve well. If you want to go with that machine..it's nice and it will serve you well. With a bit of effort though it can possibly become even more beastie..<G>

Someday, I'm going to ask you to explain all this to me :p
 
OOOHHH.....Here's a question which Graphics cards manufacturer is the top dog right now?


I've never had an ASUS board go bad, thus...never had to call tech support :)
 
That's a toss-up between ATI and Nvidia. Everyone has their preference but I'd go with an Nvidia card. I've had less problems with them in the past.
 
Ok if your going Vista this is what I studied and found out if you want simple no probs and solid Performance go AMD with an ATI card. Nvidia has lots of issues with Drivers for Vista. From what I have read ATI has had very few Problems. I am running this:

Manufacturer: RD580_
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 74 GB
Video Card: Radeon X1900 Series
I just built this PC and like you I was out of the loop but I built this with the future in mind where I can add a lot of stuff to this in the future and be pretty good.My Card is a Saphire not a Straight ATI card. I also have a 200 Gig Slave drive for music and Video. the 74 Gig is actually two Raptors raided my Seek time with them is like 2.4 ms
 
yeah, i too have heard from the network guy at our local college that you don't want vista on a computer with a ninvidia card. They have lots of issues to work out yet.
 
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