Some opinions on hardware... (RAM, graphics cards, cases etc.)

[Meatflavour]

Hello,

After using the family computer for gaming and other uses for the past god knows how many years, i've decided to go out and purchase the parts required and build a computer that's actually built around my needs, namely, running audio applications and getting in some game time. For the most part, i've been listening to people running programs for making MIDI based music programs like Reason, about what parts i should buy, namely mother boards and sound cards. And i'm fairly happy with the choices i've made there. Now i need some more hardware literate gamers help in the selection of-

-A graphics card (i'm thinking a 9800, as i want something that will last me a while)

-A PC case

-cooling fans

-RAM (512MB minium, the names of some manufacturer's of good repute would be of help here)

Feel free to bicker among your selves on these issues, i just want something that'll keep me in good shape for HL2, Doom 3, and into the future.

 

[Ridic]

Definitly get the 9800pro 128, they have good ones one newegg.com i think there is one for like $370 or so

crucial, corsair, kingston are good ram manufacturers. If you dont want to spend much start out with 512 then work your way up to another 512 stick. pc2700 and pc3200 are the ones you want to find.

 

[Xtasy0]

Originally posted by Meatflavour
Hello,

After using the family computer for gaming and other uses for the past god knows how many years, i've decided to go out and purchase the parts required and build a computer that's actually built around my needs, namely, running audio applications and getting in some game time. For the most part, i've been listening to people running programs for making MIDI based music programs like Reason, about what parts i should buy, namely mother boards and sound cards. And i'm fairly happy with the choices i've made there. Now i need some more hardware literate gamers help in the selection of-

-A graphics card (i'm thinking a 9800, as i want something that will last me a while)

-A PC case

-cooling fans

-RAM (512MB minium, the names of some manufacturer's of good repute would be of help here)

Feel free to bicker among your selves on these issues, i just want something that'll keep me in good shape for HL2, Doom 3, and into the future.

can you post which motherboard and cpu? corsair ram is considered the best money can buy, but the speed that you need depends on the motherboard and cpu, like with an nforce2 board that can do dual channel then getting two identical sticks, like corsair twinx or hyperx would be ideal.

 

[Doobz]

i'm gonna refer you to the chenbro xspider model pc61166

it's a great quality case for a great price, about 50 bucks without the power supply

 

[crabcakes66]

for AMD ....... the Asus A7N8X 2.0 Deluxe is the best of the best

for intel all of these are excellent boards

Abit IC7-G
Gigabyte GA-8KNXP
MSI Neo 2
Asus P4P800 Deluxe

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

Yes, kingstong HyperX or corsair XMS would be best RAM choice. Go for the 9800 pro. And if you want a real, quality case, buy a kingwin KT-436 or a Lian-Li. If you want a nice case, fairly cheap with a PS included, get a chenming or chieftec.

 

[SpuD]

xpcgear.com has some cool and semi-cheap pre-mods

 

[Meatflavour]

Motherboard- Asus A7N8X deluxe

CPU- AMD XP2600+

 

[Ridic]

How many versions of the A7N8X DX are there, cause someone said get version 2.0 i want to make sure im getting the newest one.

 

[SpuD]

Negative on the 2600+, get the barton 2500+ and you can easily overclock it to a 3000+, it has a larger cache than the 2600+

 

[Xtasy0]

i'm gonna recommend the Abit NF7-S Rev 2 motherboard, and the xp 2500 barton core, along with corsair pc3200 twinpack (if you get matched memory straight from the source it'll perform better than just ordering two seperate sticks of ram).

and with that cpu/mobo/ram combo you can up the FSB to 200 and get awesome performance, just make sure you've got good cooling for the system.

 

[Meatflavour]

I'm afraid i'm not interested in overclocking quite yet, and would rather lay more dollars on the table for something more stable. Though, this will probably change after i get more comfortable my my new computer and it begins to show it's age.

Thanks for all of your help so far.

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

Yeah but still, the barton with more cache will run better. Go for a 2500 barton instead of a 2600 Tbred.

 

[SidewinderX]

...or get an p4 with 800mhz fsb...blows "equivilent" amd's outta the water

 

[Ridic]

Originally posted by SidewinderX143
...or get an p4 with 800mhz fsb...blows "equivilent" amd's outta the water *cough*newbiefanboycheese*cough*

 

[pinkerton]

ok, im going to start rammbleing again because thats what i tend to do.

If money isn't an major issue, then by all means, get a p4 3.0 800mgz, abit IC7-G mobo, 2x512 mg ddr400, radeon 9800 pro 128 mg. that should run you about $800 off the top of my head(probally wrong too). That is a great uper range set up. I really don't see the need to spend the extra $200-400 so you can get a 3.2 ghz cpu and a 256 mg vc(again, prices are probally bullshit).

If you want to save some money, you can go amd. there i would say overclock it. because a 2500+ with 3 seconds of work in the bios will be a 3200+. Asus A7N8X-DX, abit NF7-S, and DFI lan party boards will all do you great.

Memory is a tricky topic. Because there is always a change in memory speeds every few months, i find it important to buy what will match your cpu. Anyways, some great brands are corsair, ocz, curcial, mushkin, and kingston(my favorite). GEIL is the ultimate gamble ram. They do have a lot of bad chips, but the good ones are great, and the stuff is dirt cheap too. Also there is dual channel to take into accout. At this point in type, you can get a 4-10% preformace increase for running dual channel mode. You can take the rout i am takeing, buy 1 stick of 512, and then later upgrade to 1 gb. That's at the top of my christmas list.

On to case. I personally got the most cheap ass case i could, and it works fine. However, if you have plenty of money to spend, Go ahead and get a antec/chieftec workstation tower. They are nice, big, and lovly.

Fans is a topic that can go 2 ways. amout of noise, and raw power. If you are the silent type, there are to many brands to name really. Just look for fans that are <30 db. Now, fi you want your case to feel like winter, get some vantec tornados. The comprimize between the 2 would have to be the thermaltake smart fan 2. Its about average noise unless you case is running hot, then its louder but with more power.

Also, the athlon 64 is just around the coner. So, i would wait for that to make any choices.

 

[Squilly]

better than the xp 2600+ and a7n8x deluxe would be a xp 2500+ and an abit nf7-s.

 

[Xenome]

why do i never hear "ATI Radeon 9700 pro" anymore?

 

[Xtasy0]

Originally posted by Xenome
why do i never hear "ATI Radeon 9700 pro" anymore?

because the 9700 is discontinued and the 9800 non-pro is the same speed, plus it has the advantages that the 9800 pro has....

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

The 9700 is discontinued? What? I havnt heard anything about that and i still see them all over.

 

[KiNG]

its like wut they did with the 9500 sgt.igneri.

i suggest wut i just bought last week.

Antec Performance Plus w/ 430 Antec TRUE power
AMD 2500+ (going to start OC'ing in two weeks)
A7N8X Deluxe
ATi 9800 Pro 128mb
1 gig Corsair XMS 3200 ram
80 gig Western digital 7200RPM 8mb cache
slk-800(A) with Smart Fan II for OC'in
4 master cooler fans for case
CDROM/CDRW/DVD combo drive 48x24x48x16 Lite-On
Lite-On 52x CDROM
and a floppy

everything came in at $1217 USD add tax and shipping and thats wut i paid. about 600 was for the ram and vid card alone.

 

[jAkUp]

mmmm.. the ic7-g... my favorite motherboard in the universe, just picked one up a few weeks ago. now i just need an 800fsb proc to go with it:afro: