ShosMeister

As with most of the threads here (yes, I did read a few of them for hints), my old machine has been behind the power curve for years so I'm looking to get a new one. I'm not a PC guy normally (just use it for games) so I'm not quite sure about building one, but, with help, I know I could.

Okay so I know the intel core 2 duo, what's the AMD equivalent? Athlon X2? I put together a comparison chart for pricing and figured out the intel E6750 is a pretty good value and it should last me a few years. The only thing better is the E8400. Yes/no?

Video: ATI? NVIDIA? And what is SLI and do I need it? I'm thinking the NVidia but all the new ones have TV on them and I don't want to waste the $$ on that. Maybe the 8500 or so?

Was looking at CyberPowerPC.com as they seemed to have some decent systems. Anyone have any good/bad about them? Or anyone else for that matter.

Case 1:

Case 2:

Config: System Config PDF

I'm figuring a budget of $1500 +/- a bit. Monitor is probably good with what I have and I have enough external HD that I don't need a huge one in the machine.

This is going to be a gaming rig (as mentioned in the title) so not worrying about anything else on it.

Will be running XP Pro as well and don't need another copy as I already own two licensed copies.

Thanks for any input!!

bruiser

Here's their Reseller Rating: www.resellerratings.com/store/CyberPower

ShosMeister

Bruiser, thanks!!! That's an awesome site. Looking through the reviews, every non-satisfied review was responded to by CyberPower directly. That was impressive; that they monitor that site and attempt to resolve customer issues. Yes, it would be better were there no issues at all, but, that's probably not likely with any builder; there will always be someone who is not satisfied. I feel a bit better if I decide to buy from them after reading through the comments. Although, it's clear that whoever was replying, that english is not their first language. Not a big deal, just an observation.

Any input/thoughts/suggestions on the configuration as far as CPU, graphics, etc?

Thanks again!!!!

themisiek1

There are a lot of better CPUs then the E8400. For example the QX9650 QX9770 and QX9775 except all those cost well over 1K dollars. AMD is no where near Intel CPU performance. I would suggest getting a Intel Quad Core CPU over a dual core.

NVIDIA and INTEL are kicking AMDs/ATis butts for past year and is expected to continue to do so for quite a while (at least another year). I love AMD and ATi over Intel and Nvidia but the past year hasnt been good at all.

SLi means you have 2 video cards working together. No you don't need it.

I highly suggest building you own computer. Its cheaper and faster. Plus 1500 dollars will get you better parts if you build on your own then if you buy from a company.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lVJ5ZEbf6F4

Very helpful video. If you have any questions just ask.

ShosMeister

I did see some of the stuff on the Quad cores, but, haven't seen much yet written to take advantage of it. And, as you mentioned, they are quite $$$$ so I figured a Core 2 Duo would be quite good enough for now and the next few years. I figure with the FPS games that I typically play, the most money should be spend on the graphics card rather than extra money on CPU. Is this wrong?

Also, the link you posted comes up with "This video has been removed by the user." :( :(

Thanks for the input!!!!!

2pistolpacker

Here is a link to another building thread, it is worth reading. Decent gaming rig

More advice on good parts

__________________



Speak kindly to me, beloved master. Revel in my unconditional love, and give me every minute that you can spare, for my time with you is short.
--Your faithful dog

forcifer

actually, ATI is kicking nvidia's butt with the 3870x2. phenom isnt that bad, but core2duo is better. i would use www.falcon-nw.com if you get preconfigured, otherwise just build it yourself

__________________
im back...i guess...

ShosMeister

Forcifer, I appreciate the input! I took a look at Falcon and could not configure a system for less than $2000. They also seem to have less choices on some of the options. They look like great systems though and I'll keep them in mind.

1 g0t 0wn3d

look at www.abs.com

__________________

ShosMeister

Ouch! They are the most expensive yet. Looks like awesome systems though! Thanks for the link.

I could use some advice from you guys though as I'm getting too confused between north bridge, south bridge, FSB, DDR, slots, etc. Then you have ASUS, GigaByte, EVGA, ABIT for motherboards. And I'm not sure on the P35, 750i, 780i, 775i, 975x.

Basically, just trying to build a decent, not screaming, gaming rig. Wanted to go with Intel Core 2 Duo (probably E6850) and was looking at the NVidia 8800GTS 512MB. Was thinking RAID 0/1 with two identical drives for the system (probably 80GB) and a 250GB or so data drive.

I was hoping to stay down below $1500 since I could build a system from CyperPC for that. Since I've never built one before, that's why I'm getting confused on this.

Thanks!!!!

1 g0t 0wn3d

p35 is the most stable and it support 45nm so i would go with that

__________________

ShosMeister

Not sure what 45nm is (other than nano-meters) and is there any limit on the video card? I guess I was thinking the nForce boards would be better with the nVidia video card. Is that not the case?

I guess the simple question would be what is the crucial stat on the motherboard? FSB? RAM (800/1066/1200)? Then there's that whole PCI thing: Express x1, x16, 1.0, 2.0. It's enough to hurt one's brain ;) :)

Thanks for the advice!!!

Jtsou

The E8400 is the best Core 2 Duo out right now for performance and price. The only better ones are the ones listed above but are $800 more? Thats just stupid to buy. The E8400 is the best choice for gaming at the moment if you are on a budget.

1 g0t 0wn3d

The 45nm are intels new cpus (8400) and no the 935 boards will run any pci express video card with a power supply that can run them

If you are not overclocking to much on the 8400 you do not need higher then 800 ram in dual channel

Nforce are only better since you can use more then one video card but price vs proformance just does not warrant it

Pci express 2.0 is the newest and is alittle faster x1 is for sound cards and such and the other 2 are just older pci express video card slots

__________________

ShosMeister

I'd have to agree, but, not based on knowledge. I put together a spread sheet with all the CPUs and did a basic cost comparison based on speed, cache, FSB and combined and the 8400 is the best value.

The question though, to me at least, is why does the 8400 cost less then the 6850? When you compare them side-by-side, the 8400 has a larger cache and is 45nm as opposed to 65nm. Other than that, they are identical. Why the cost difference and why isn't the 8400 more expensive?

ShosMeister

Got it, thanks! I'm not an overclock guy. Wouldn't know how to and would not want to screw up and cause something to blow up/burn up so 800 on the RAM bus unless I can find a decent deal on 1066; sounds good.

As long as it has one 2.0 slot then, I should be fine. What would be the equivalent in the ATI (or whoever else) to the 8800GTS? What's the key stat or stats when comparing graphic cards? I use GPU Review to compare the video cards (this link is the most popular comparison) and notice the GPU, FLOPS, Fill Rates, etc. Why do you think looking at Tiger or NewEgg the most popular are all nVidia?

Thanks for the input!!!!

ShosMeister

A couple of other questions: What is the North/South bridge and do I need to worry if the board has an on-board video chipset or not? Is it better to have one that does or doesn't and which?

1 g0t 0wn3d

Not having a onboard i think makes it alittle faster but it is way easier to find out what an issue is with your system