Cheapest way to get good gaming rig!?

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Sorze

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Hi all, let me lay down the situation for you:

We're moving out of the house, and because of a heap of circumstances I won't bore you with I'll be living alone in an apartment (parents ocassionally coming by, to help with homework etc :D ).
So of course, the big problem is, what about the pc!!! :O


The one I'm on now we've had for 2 years or so, it's allright, specs being:
p4 2.4Ghz, 1Gig RAM, Geforce4 ti4600 etc blah blah.

My dad will keep that/this one, but understands that I need something, and not just for word processing either... :dork:


If you really can't be arsed to read the whole post, please atleast read the following!!
So I need some advice:
Build pc from scratch? (I'z lick, tottally noo0b)
or
Buy a not so super great pc, maybe take a 512Mb RAM stick from this one, buy a new graphics card (radeon 9800 maybe), and be done with it.


What do you suggest?
And don't tell me to buy dual x800's etc, it needs to be reasonably 'cheap'. And I know half of you are professionable pc-builder-expert-thingymajiggs, so please keep it simple! :)



Note: I wrote up what I would want to use to build my own pc (checked a site), just to check out where that would land us.
I didn't really hold back, mind you, but the total price was
about 12000 Swedish kronor, wich is about 1600US dollars, which is a bit too expensive I think.

EDIT: Sorry, long post, I know... ;)
EDIT2: I'm not paying, my dad is..... Doesn't mean unlimited funds, unfortunately...
 
gimme your total spending amount in GBP (£) and ill hook you up ;)
 
And definitely make your own. What's an estimate for the budget? And I'm not good with anything other than US or Canadian dollars (Though I'm starting to get more used to pounds). But here's what I'm thinking for some parts for a system under $1000 out of the top of my head.

Athlon 64 3000+
MSI K8N Neo Platinum
1Gb dual channel ram
MSI Radeon 9800 pro
 
If you were to devide the frame rate by the money spend on the videocard, definitly go with a 9800, since it will give you more performance for your buck. Naturally follow that with a 3000+ CPU, and at least 1024 RAM (it's cheap at least). And then if you still have money left go with a X800 and forget the 9800 :)
 
ummm i say

AMD64 3200
1gig dual channel RAM (2 sticks)
9800 pro / 9600xt
(bosox's MoBo)
Audigy 2 ZS
120 gig HDD

im aussie so converted into pounds i think itll be around the $1000 mark
 
On a budget, I'd go with kind of what I'm getting, but are you building this yourself? You can always get it custom-built at a place like http://www.ibuypower.com. I'm getting it there, and for the following system, it only comes out to $1517.

Fool around with the configurators at iBuyPower, and you should get some nice results.
 
Please keep in mind that I live in Sweden, I'm pretty sure any good websites you know of don't ship all the way over here (or are ass expensive if they do :O ).

I don't have an exact number for the budget, but my dad ain't poor, and he'll get a lot of money from selling the house.
I'm just not sure how much he feels is allright to spend on a pc.



When I just checked how much it would cost me, if i just took all the parts I wanted (from a swedish website), I ended up at about 12000 Swedish kronor, about 1600 US dollars.
Apparently, that wasn't too bad, according to dad(!).

This was with a 9800 btw, it sure would be nice with an x800 but err... If I can make all the other stuff cheap, maybe baby...


The on I'm using now was alot more expensive when we bought it, maybe upwards of 2700US dollars. I'm pretty sure it has to cost less than that...



None of you think it's a good idea to buy an average pc(i still mean good processor 3Ghz or something), upgrade the graphics card, and steal 512MB RAM from the one I'm using now?
Thought it seemed like a smart thing to do... :dork:


Oh, one more thing! How fast does the computer have to be to not be bottlenecking the (if I'm so lucky to get the) x800 all to hell?



Thanks for your help so far!
 
well post have you got for your 12000 kronor and we can help you on what you can down scale and such
 
Hmm, good idea :)
here it is...

---------------------------------------------------------------
Intel D865PERLK ATX socket 478 <not sure what you call this in english, "mothercard" translated from swedish... whats the term in english?

Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT 800MHz 512kB Socket 478

Kingston 512Mb DDR DIMM * 2 <Yes, times two, 1024Mb

One Tech AluDisc 160GB 2MB extern USB 2.0

TDK DVD±RW Writer 8x IDE Black Retail <would work for both cd/dvd reading AND writing, no?

Canyon Radeon 9800PRO 128MB DDR AGP8x DVI TV-out retail

Creative SoundBlaster Audigy LS 5.1 Retail

case Chieftec 340W ATX12V Fulltower Black
---------------------------------------------------------------


Now, like I said before, I R noob.
I'm not 100% sure why I should pick some of these things instead of other things at that website, like the first thing? Is it called a "mobo" or something?
I just heard choosing socket 478 was a good idea, I dunno why!


I already have speakers, keyboard, a mouse or two, and network stuff I could steal from another computer, so don't worry about that.


EDIT: How big is the difference (performance wise) between x800 pro and x800 xt ? I'm going for the cheapest of course (whichever one I get), and the cheapest pro is about 107 dollar cheaper than the cheapest xt..
 
its motherboard not mothercard :D
personaly im not a fan of intel(amd fan boy)

but i would sudgest getting a amd 64 bit 3000+ to 3400+
with either an asus, abit, gigbyte or msi mother board that would support it. im not sure what you have availble over there so you can look or a more knowlegable member can give you tips

ram seems to be good.

you do not want an extrenal usb hard drive.
i would sudgest getting a seagate or western digital sata hard drive(if motherboard supports it)

i would go for a msi rx9800 pro that way you are going to get the r360 core(where as you have a chance of getting the r350)

also are oyu speakers surround sound. if not your waisting your money on the sound card. if your not running surround sound you better off with on board sound(built into the mobo) or a sound blaster live

now im not a fan of power supplies that come in cheiftech. had 2 go on my friends. i would sudgest getting an antec or enermax 300+ watt psu

as for your dvd burner. i belive unless is says cdrw on it, it wont burn cd's. but as fro brands im clueless havnt paid much attention there. so other fourm member can give ya a hand

hope i helped any

edit: noticed your edit for the gfx. if you want to x800. there is a fair sized difference between the two, but either one is not going to make much of a difference for most games right now.

i may be wrong but you might be better off getting a 6800 over the x800 pro
 
Thanks alot, I didn't even notice the hardrive was external!

Ok, so upon choosing harddrive this is what I get. I'm supposed to choose in what way I want to connect the harddrive to the pc. I think you'll understand this even if the page is in swedish, mostly.. :) Better than me anyway... :o

I have no idea what's better!

http://www.inwarehouse.se/default.asp?src=1&cat=ALAA

Firewire and all that, I don't know anything about this...



Oh, and I have a Creative 5.1 speaker system on this pc I'm on now, which I'm pretty sure I'll get to keep, hence the soundcard.


I've found a Geforce 6800 (no gt, no ultra) which is quite cheap compared to x800 (all of them), but it's only 128Mb... Suckage?


I have a bunch of amd processors here... I don't get this 3000+ stuff? None of them seem to be 3Ghz ?
http://www.inwarehouse.se/sr.asp?sr...para_3=&srpara_4=&Filtrera.x=69&Filtrera.y=15
 
well thats all sweedish so i cant read it lol

as for oyur hard drive if it says ata or sata it will go in your tower

and for the 3000+ stuff. amd doesnt base their performace on speed but more of the overal capabilty and have it equal about waht it would be. so even though it runs slower doesnt mean its worse when compairing amd to intel
 
Really? Don't you recognize any of that stuff down in the left corner? You're supposed to choose you're harddrives "connection" (to your pc), and I don't know what to choose! Thought you might recognize some of it, since it's english anyway... ?


So I could buy an amd3000+ instead of an intel 3Ghz and still feel good, no?

Edit: Pic, that part.. Don't recognize any of it?
 
haha my bad
depending on which mother board you get you will want either
serial ata or ata

but if your going with the amd system i belive all their boards are serial ata

and yes you could feel comfortable
 
bosox188 said:
And definitely make your own. What's an estimate for the budget? And I'm not good with anything other than US or Canadian dollars (Though I'm starting to get more used to pounds). But here's what I'm thinking for some parts for a system under $1000 out of the top of my head.

Athlon 64 3000+
MSI K8N Neo Platinum
1Gb dual channel ram
MSI Radeon 9800 pro
Click to expand...

1k? That's expensive if anything. I could get that for around $700.
 
He didn't mean only those parts for 1000, he meant those parts would be good for a system that can only cost about 1000 bucks.. I think :)


I have no idea how I'm going to choose motherboard.. What are all those sockets?




I've been dorking around making a new system (theoretically) this is it:

ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe 865PE S478 5PCI AGP8x ATA/SATA FW/USB2 GbLAN

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.00GHz 512kB HT Boxad incl fan

2* Kingston 512MB DDR DIMM PC3200 400MHz 184-pin

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB 8MB SATA 150

Chieftec 340W ATX12V Fulltower Svart (svart means black :) )

Pioneer DVD±RW 8x intern IDE Bulk

Creative SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital EG Retail

PowerColor Radeon x800 Pro 256 MB AGP8x TV-Out DVI Retail



All in all about 1675 dollars, good, no ?

Anything weird you see, tell me about, because I'm not exactly experienced when it comes to this. Anything missing ?

EDIT: Really? How do you know, and how will I know what motherboards are compatible with the amd processor ?

BTW, wow, you're fast! :)
 
pretty good except that the mother board is for pentium chips. you need a mother board that supports the chip.
 
Really? How do you know, and how will I know what motherboards are compatible with the amd processor ?

BTW, wow, you're fast!
 
lol im fast because i cant sleep and have nothing to do at 4:40 am

the modle number tells me that its for a P4(pentium 4)

all you ahve to do to find out what chip is compatable is look at the board discritpion.

i would give you a list of boards that would work but im lazy and i think it would be a better learning experieance to find out for yourself
 
Mind if I ask what the difference is between SATA and IDE hard drives? I have only had anything to do with IDE's. Is SATA more modern or something?
 
http://www.inwarehouse.se/sr.asp?sr...para_4=&srpara_5=&Filtrera.x=68&Filtrera.y=11

Here's a list of what I have to work with... :)
These are the motherboards they have except it's only socket 478 ones.
If someone (you ...) could explain what the hell those sockets are I'd be very grateful.


I can only find "processortype" Pentium 4 or Pentium 4/celeron..

Should it mention amd to be compatible with the processor I've chosen?


Thanks for all your help so far, I'm glad you can't sleep... It's midday in sweden! :)
 
The 'Socket Type' refers to what processor can be put in the motherboards processor socket.

The description for the processor should tell you what socket it needs, and the description for the motherboard should tell you what socket it has. Then you just have to match them up.

Edit: As far as I know, 'socket 478' is for the latest P4 processors. I don't know what the latest socket is for AMD processors. I have a 'Socket A' motherboard and a 2600+ Athlon.
 
normal ata only alows 2 devices per channel(hence master and slave) and only allow for data to transfer one way at a time. where as serial ata allows for multiple devices per channel and can transfer data in both directions at the same time

if your getting a 64 bit system try adn get a 939 socket for both chip and mother board. but they are expesive. other amd sockets are 940 and socket A. socket at does not support the 64 bit chips though
 
an AMD64 3200 is the equivalent of a P4 3.2GhZ (well thats what i heard)

your a pretty fluently English speaking Swiss-man-guy-person BTW. or is English your native language?
 
good GOD! i just got on here and was reading a bit, next thing i know, i post and theres been like 10000 ppl posted in that short time slot. Whoah

no wait.. 9:00.. sorry, my bad
 
its aproxamently the equivilent. intel can so some stuff better than amd and vice versa
 
Ah, I see.. It all makes sense now... :)


So, should the processor determine the motherboard, or vice versa ? Which is more important..?


I found a socket 939 amd processor, and yeah it was expensive. Cost about 5 times more than the one I was thinking about getting.



Keep the wisdom coming all, as they say about sex with teachers;
It's a learning experience... :P


jooblar, yes I'm from Sweden, where we speak swedish (:P), and we learn english in school..
I guess I'm a language-y person..
 
Hehe... This is how it is outside UK/USA. We're all pretty fluent in English whereas you guys only speak English and crappy German/French. I for one speak Danish, English and crappy French. I reckon it's because of the society, you can't avoid getting profficient in English with all the TV-shows and such.

Alright, forgive me. Go on with the topic :-)
 
Champ said:
Hehe... This is how it is outside UK/USA. We're all pretty fluent in English whereas you guys only speak English and crappy German/French. I for one speak Danish, English and crappy French. I reckon it's because of the society, you can't avoid getting profficient in English with all the TV-shows and such.

Alright, forgive me. Go on with the topic :-)
Click to expand...

All true ...
I know Swedish, English and crappy Spanish/Portuguese (sp?)


But dammit Champ, I thought someone had answered wether the motherboard determines the processor, or if the processor determines what motherboard to get!! :O
It's the most important thing to learn for me right now, I'm feeling a bit more confident about knowing what stuff matches now etc..

Oh well... Someone is bound to reply sometime...



Offtopic: This smiley :O is great! :O :O
 
Well, I'm no expert, but I say it's a combination of them both. I often buy the processor, and then choose a motherboard that fits. But that's just me.
 
def build your own, I knew nothing about building a computer but with the help of forums (granted I could access, on another computer, them while building it) and friends who had built one before. you'll save an ass load of money.
 
Well, it's kind of this way. You want a good mobo and a good processor, so try to balance it out. If you're looking to stay under $1600, I'd go with a 754-pin mobo/processor for now, unless you can afford a 3500+, which by the sound of your post you cannot.


OFFTOPIC:

I really want to learn Japanese as a foreign language, but it just so happens there aren't many Japanese language teachers around where I live. :p
 
Well, afford....

We're probably going to have an assload of money after we sell our house, it's just the mental part of spending lots and lots of money on a pc which is the hard part.. Not for me mind you, but for my dad!


"754-pin mobo/processor" < Meaning what...?

Sure I've been surfing on stuff like this for two days, but I'm still kind of noobish, so please explain... Are you talking sockets?



Oh, about monitors, We'll probably steal the monitor from an old computer we own, 17" nothing amazing...
This one is 19", maybe I can have this one and my dad can take the 17" one... :naughty:
 
Couldn't edit..


Could someone please explain the difference between amd athlon processors and amd athlon xp processors..? Are the xp ones 64 bit or what? If so, what is/how big is the difference?

Edit: whooops... I'm guessing the amd athlon 64 processors are 64 bit....................... :O

Is that what I should be aiming for?
 
I think that by saying 754-pin he's saying a 754 socket. That means you have to choose a CPU/processor which have the matching socket to your mainboard/motherboard.

I'm buying LGA775 3,2GHz CPU and I need a matching motherboard/mainboard. Alas, I need to buy a motherboard with the socket 775.

If you're buying an intel P4 478pin , then you need to get a motherbaord with an 478 socket. Get it?
 
Yeah, I've gotten that bit about matching sockets, I just wondered if he meant sockets when saying pins... :bounce:


I'll probably go with amd athlon 64 3000+ or something. Does 64 bit give any real advantages?
 
Not until you have upgraded to a 64bit system. XP doesn't support that, so you'll get nothing from it...
 
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