I'm thinking of doing my first build. This is what I had in mind...

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz
ASUS M3A-H/HDMI AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
CRUCIAL 2GB DDR2 PC6400 DUAL MEMORY (2X1GB)
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Antec earthwatts EA430 430W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply
SAMSUNG DVD Burner

All of this comes out to ~$300. My main purpose for this setup is as a budget general purpose home desktop for browsing, watching streaming TV shows, plus I want to run a few open-source circuit simulation tools.

Any thoughts TWW? I was thinking of getting the 690G mobo for about 30 bucks less...

5/13/2008 6:33:53 PM

i dont think there is anyone here that would suggest AMD over intel at this point, especially since intel just dropped their prices

5/13/2008 7:23:21 PM

looks good, but consider ^ comment

5/13/2008 9:38:19 PM

^^

5/13/2008 10:27:00 PM

^^^

5/13/2008 11:50:57 PM

That's the revised Intel build...There are a couple of places with better prices than Newegg for a couple of thos parts so I should get everything for ~350.

I still need a cheap video card though...like I said a few posts above, I won't be doing much gaming so post your recommendations. Anybody looking to get rid of an old graphics card that I can use?pic

[Edited on May 24, 2008 at 12:44 PM. Reason : pic]

5/24/2008 12:42:39 PM

anyone?

5/26/2008 2:50:10 PM

If I get a new 8800 anytime soon, you can buy my ATI x1300 off me.

5/26/2008 8:26:54 PM

picked up a 7900gt off tdub today

5/26/2008 8:47:31 PM

Thanks PNY!

I just won a PNY nvidia Quadro FX 1700 at an Autodesk conference today

5/28/2008 1:56:52 PM

sleepy im not getting out the magnifying glass to read that...

what would you guys recommend for a good c2d chipset? (not looking for any particularly fancy features, perhaps sli for future use but perhaps not)

nforce650 still good? (looking for solidness more than anything, will NOT be using vista i think)

5/28/2008 2:56:48 PM

i'd recommend either Gigabyte P35 boards or ASUS P5K WIFI-AP P35 or ASUS P5N-E SLI nforce 650i chipset or ASUS P5N-D nForce 750i

i used to have an MSI P6N SLI nforce 650i and it was a nice board

5/28/2008 3:34:14 PM

^^ this should work...

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=11636947

5/28/2008 8:14:53 PM

what about this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129031&nm_mc=AFC-Bensbargains&cm_mmc=AFC-Bensbargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

do you'll think a 380W power supply will suffice for the setup i have in the post above?

5/29/2008 9:36:05 AM

probably not with a 7900gt in there... if the brand and the efficiency is the same go with the higher rated one. 500 should be more than enough....

5/29/2008 9:54:10 AM

ok....newegg had the case with psu for $45 with free shipping which is why i was keen on getting it.

5/29/2008 9:56:39 AM

though im not really up on the power req's for various bits.... (so im probably not the best person to ask)

5/29/2008 10:16:57 AM

i went ahead and got it anyway..i'll cross my fingers and hope it's good enough. if not, at least i have a decent case.

5/29/2008 10:38:03 AM

^just saw that deal... you'll like the antec case, and earthwatts PSU's are 80plus certified, so it should work just fine... all of your components combined won't draw 380W or even close

5/29/2008 10:41:26 AM

phew

thats a relief!

5/29/2008 10:52:32 AM

So, the Q6600 or the new Core 2 Duo 3.16?

I've been out of the loop so long I have no idea. I assume the higher clock speed would be best for gaming, but 4 cores seems like it would be a better investment in the long run.

5/30/2008 11:49:06 AM

Q6600 is ancient, wait another month or two and there will be another price drop and you can pick one up for real cheap.

if you want the standard right now it's the E8400, best performance price point along with the Q9450 for quad-core.

if you're looking for OC potential, both the super cheap E2160/E2180 (can easily reach 3.0Ghz no voltage increase with stock intel fan) and the bit more expensive E8500 (can easily reach 4.0Ghz) are excellent OC'ers.

[Edited on May 30, 2008 at 12:26 PM. Reason : .]

5/30/2008 12:24:55 PM

Sounds like I will go with the 8400 for now. Any particular motherboard that is better than the rest for price/performance?

Was looking at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232

5/30/2008 12:36:00 PM

^ i've been wondering that too... also should i try to get pci-e 2.0?

5/30/2008 2:21:59 PM

both of those look like excellent options, probably the best of the chipsets out there (sub-$150)

5/30/2008 6:36:47 PM

I think I'm gonna wait a few months. The reason I wanted to build a new computer was for Conan, and it looks like the game is demanding even more than the 8800/9800 series can provide.

I'm sure there'll be something 50% faster in the next few months anyway

5/31/2008 4:52:25 PM

So are the 8800 cards going to drop in price when Nvidia's new cards are released? Will a PCI-E 2.0 card work in a "regular" PCI-E slot (oh god, my ignorance is embarrassing)?

5/31/2008 6:12:27 PM

older generation cards always drop when a new generation hits, the question is WHEN it's going to happen, HOW LONG you are willing to wait, and is it worth it.

and yes, PCI-E 2.0 will work in PCI-E slots, you can think of it like USB 2.0 & USB 1.x

[Edited on May 31, 2008 at 6:48 PM. Reason : .]

5/31/2008 6:47:49 PM

My biggest question is whether or not I should go SLI...

I have a 24 inch monitor, which is awesome yet also a curse because I always wanna run everything at native resolution.

I've been reading that once you hit 1920x1200 (or whatever) SLI is actually beneficial.

So, is it worth it?

6/1/2008 2:24:53 PM

depends what games you're playing. I have a single 8800gtx with a 24" and i've been able to max everything out except for Crysis. Obviously. You won't be able to max that out with 3 8800gtx's. I'd say get a single 8800/9800 and see if you need another one. You probably won't.

6/1/2008 3:25:23 PM

how much could i sell an 8600gts for (here or CL)? its only ~6 months old and might still have the box

i don't remember the brand atm (maybe pny), but the specs are: 256MB DDR3 Memory, 675MHz Core

6/10/2008 1:40:43 PM

Get a new video card? You could probably get like 80-100$ for it considering you can buy them new for 100-150$.

6/10/2008 1:45:42 PM

^yea, that's a bit high.

$60-80? you can get them brand new for $70-90 AR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121077
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130084

8800GT 256MB for $85 AR w/ GCO:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?afsrc=1&EdpNo=3606193&CatId=3668


[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 1:51 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2008 1:47:42 PM

you couldn't get anywhere near that, G80 320's are popping up for 80-100 online.

edit: accept if you haven't jumped on that it's too late, bitches are pretty much OOS everywhere now.

[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 1:50 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2008 1:48:15 PM

^^, ^ yeah ok. Maybe you could get like 50-70 for it. What kind is it? Some of the really cheap ones are down-clocked and not 675mhz.

^^damn good deal on the 8800gt, until you realize it's only 256megs and will have trouble running anything on higher resolutions.

[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 1:54 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2008 1:53:29 PM

both of the one's i posted are 675mhz.

The 8800GT 256MB is still a helluvalot faster than the 8600GTS and will run the same resolutions as the 8600GTS, so the price/performance is still relevant.

6/10/2008 2:02:35 PM

wow yeah, the 256 does a good job of keeping up for only 89$.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3175&p=5

6/10/2008 2:12:24 PM

not sure if that's sarcasm or not, but at $89 it costs about 40% less than the 512MB version at mere identical performance on LCD's up to 19", if you have a 22" or higher then you may look at getting the 512MB if you can afford 40% more (~$60) for the extra ~20% performance gain.

6/10/2008 2:18:51 PM

Dell Vostro, E8300 & (2) 22" LCD's for $689
http://www.slickdeals.net/permadeal/12781

Quote :

" * Intel Core 2 Duo Proc E8300 (2.83GHz,6MB L2Cache,1333FSB) * Genuine Windows XP Home Edition (or Vista Home Basic) * 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz - 2DIMMs * Dell USB Keyboard * Primary Monitor: Dell 22 inch Widescreen E228WFP Analog Flat Panel Display * Second Monitor: Dell 22 inch Widescreen E228WFP Analog Flat Panel Display * 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS * 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache * Integrated 10/100 Ethernet * 16X DVD-ROM Drive * Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio * 1 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Year NBD On-Site Service"

6/10/2008 2:20:04 PM

^^no i was serious. Look at some of the graphs:
and it only dips below the 512 in a few circumstances.


It's a sweet deal for 89$.

[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 2:39 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2008 2:36:46 PM

Quote :

"^ yeah ok"

What do you mean yeah, ok, there were $79 Zotac 8800 GTS 320's a couple weeks ago. Back up to 100 but OOS.

http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-8800-GTS-320MB-ZT-88SE320-FSP-GDDR3-PCI-Express-x16-SLI-ZOTAC-Video-Card-p-16285.html

[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 4:11 PM. Reason : nvr mind]

6/10/2008 4:10:44 PM

sorry i was agreeing.

6/10/2008 4:15:30 PM

i'll take my 512mb radeon hd 3850 for $80 over the 8800gt any day

for the price, i don't think you can beat it (and i have it installed on a mobo with an nvidia chipset, no less...runs oblivion, bioshock, crysis, and assassin's creed at 1080p with maxed out settings flawlessly)

6/11/2008 10:26:19 AM

Quote :

"runs oblivion, bioshock, crysis, and assassin's creed at 1080p with maxed out settings flawlessly) "

I call bullshit. There's no way you're maxing out shit on crysis. I have an 8800gtx at ultra speeds which is quite faster than the 3850 (go look at Tom's Hardware Charts) and i have to play it at medium settings on a 1080p display. They haven't built a machine yet that can max out crysis at 1080p. Not with full anti-aliasing and vertical sync and shaders at very high.

Quote :

"i'll take my 512mb radeon hd 3850 for $80 over the 8800gt any day"

You realize the 8800gt is quite faster than the 3850 right? Again go look at Tom's Hardware charts.

The ATI HD 3850 gets an average 1605 on overall game FPS.
The 8800gtx OC gets 2364
and the 8800gt gets 2125

[Edited on June 11, 2008 at 10:47 AM. Reason : .]

6/11/2008 10:43:53 AM

hahaha yea Quag's post had me fucking lawling too.

6/11/2008 10:53:51 AM

^^

1.) you're right, that was my mistake...i don't know what i was thinking, because i've only played crysis once, and it wasn't even on this machine...so yeah, d'oh

2.) i think you missed the point of my post (which is understandable, because part of it WAS laughable)...my point was that for $80, i challenge you to find a card that performs better than my 512mb Radeon HD 3850...if you read up on it through tom's or anantech or whatever, you'll see that the 3850 offers ~85% the performance of the 8800gt...if you can find an 8800gt for ~$94 or less, then you win...if not, the 3850 is a damn good value (it also produces less heat and uses less power)

also, do you have a link to those charts? because the results of a cursory search only yielded me pages like this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/graphics-cards/3dmark06-v1-0-2-hdr-sm3-0-score,538.html

that reference 8800gts and 8800gtx, not 8800gt (which was my point), and even then only point out the 256mb 3850, not the 512mb version

additionally, read up on threads like this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247085-33-radeon-hd3850-512mb-8800gt-256mb

sure, it's just opinions, but it seems that FOR THE PRICE, the 3850 is a MUCH better deal...nowhere did i say that the 3850, by merit alone, was better than the 8800gt (by merit alone)...if you're going to compare same memory, then yeah, the 8800gt is better, hands down...if you're going to compare price/performance, the 3850 is better, hands down

not only that, but from what i've read (not actually put into practice, though) is that the 3850 overclocks much better than the 8800 with the stock hs/fan and STILL uses less power

*shrug*...i like nvidia better than amd/ati - their driver support alone is much better...but in terms of value, i don't think this is a case of the intel/amd argument - in this case, amd/ati is a much better value than nvidia

[Edited on June 11, 2008 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

6/11/2008 12:10:56 PM

woops you're right, i posted the 256 config. I don't know why they don't have the 512 config. The only 8800gt they have is overclocked. They do have a weird combination of cards on those charts.

It is a good deal at that price but i'm more concerned with performance. I'll probably get a second 8800gtx soon. Should give me a boost. 2 seems like the sweet spot, as tri-sli doesn't scale that well with most games.

6/11/2008 12:51:39 PM

Quote :

"no i was serious. Look at some of the graphs: and it only dips below the 512 in a few circumstances."

...on older games. Even the article you linked to comments on how the performance drops markedly in newer titles. Expect that trend to get worse if you use that card to continue to play new games.

6/11/2008 1:04:09 PM

yeah i agree. The 512 is the way to go especially if you have a larger resolution display. 256 just isn't enough memory for the newer games. If you play team fortress all day on the other hand, the 256 would be fine.

6/11/2008 1:12:57 PM

i can't believe people buy AMD/ATI anymore.

6/11/2008 1:16:59 PM