Upgrading PC...

[Lucid]

Alrighty, I'm trying to be as cheap as possible and make a PC that'll last me atleast 2/3 years.

Here's what I have picked out right now.

Hard drive

Motherboard

CPU

Video card

Now, I'm pretty much clueless about the compatibility of parts and all that, so I was hoping that someone could take a look at my list here and see if it all checks out and they can all work together.
And if not, if you could maybe point out the incompatibilities and all that jazz.

Much obliged.

 

[MRG]

Alrighty, I'm trying to be as cheap as possible and make a PC that'll last me atleast 2/3 years.

Here's what I have picked out right now.

Hard drive

Motherboard

CPU

Video card

Now, I'm pretty much clueless about the compatibility of parts and all that, so I was hoping that someone could take a look at my list here and see if it all checks out and they can all work together.
And if not, if you could maybe point out the incompatibilities and all that jazz.

Much obliged.

It looks like you have put together a decent build for a new PC.

1) The 320GB HDD is of decent size to store your OS & pretty much any game(s) or programs/applications/general data you want to have installed. However, you'll be suprised at just how fast that 320 will fill up. However, i'm not the biggest fan of WD drives in general as they have failed for me more than any other brand that I have used. For around $5 more, you can get a 400GB SEAGATE. Thats an extra 80GB for general storage. A company I have had pretty good luck with.

2) I have never used a motherboard by Elitegroup, at least not that I can recall. Perhaps you would be willing to again spend around $3 more & buy one from GIGABYTE, as the one I list has better customer reviews as well as winning x2 Winner of Customer Choice Award. Another idea might be the BIOSTAR TForce

3) Even though I currently have an Intel E6400 in my personal PC, I have a soft spot in my heart for AMD CPU's. I have always had very good performance from them. The more so when I overclocked. I took a look at the CPU you link to & it's a pretty darn good one any way you look at it. However, I have read ALOT of reviews about the Athlon64 X2 5000, all of them praising how excellent a CPU it is. First for it's stock performance, but mostly for just how well it overclocks. It's built on the 65nm over the 45nm you link to, so it will use a little more power, but the X2 5000 is simply an excellent CPU. It's around $4 more.

4) Last, but not least, is the Video Card. The company "EVGA" is an excellent company IMHO & so kudo's for deciding on going with them. Also I have read good reviews about the 9800GT. As it's pretty much a replacement for the 8800GT, an excellent card in it's own right. However, for around $10 more, you can get an HD4850, which is a truely awesome card & much better than the 9800GT.

I know that I have advised different hardware than what you found & I know I am "asking" you to spend more, but if you want a PC that will last you 2 to 3 years, then I would advise you to spend the extra money. I tried to keep the total extra cost under $20. In 3 years, a top-of-the-line PC of today will be outdated & a top-of-the-line PC of today, will cost a whole lot more than the budget you seem to want to spend. It is of course just my own opinion, but the PC parts you link to will build you a good mid-range PC for today, but will be somewhat out-classed a year from now, let alone 3 years. Now if you gave me/us a budget, than we would know what we had to work with. However, please ONLY list out a $ amount if you actually HAVE the money & don't have to beg, borrow, steal or wait for your birthday before you have the cash.

Let me/us know if you have any questions.

-MRG

 

[falconwind]

I am also upgrading my computer too, otherwise I'll be playing L4D in extreme ghetto mode.

I haven't kept up with tech since my last upgrade when HL2 came out. I've done a little research, but nothing in-depth. I don't pretend to really know what I'm doing.

Here are my picks (links are Canadian):

This CPU: AMD Athlon 64 6000+ AM2 Dual Core 3.0Ghz 2000FSB
(I'm told that going Quad Core is pointless right now. Fast FSB. No other particular reason for AMD vs. Intel.)
$114

This Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-EM
(Has Hybrid CrossfireX, Firewire. Is AM2+ so can upgrade to Phenom later. Otherwise no other reason.)
$100

This RAM: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 PC2-6400 DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 2X1GB Kit (x2=4GB)
(Low Timing are better for gaming as I understand. Discounts and Rebates=value.)
$30 x 2= $60

This Graphics Card: HIS Radeon 4870 750mhz GDDR5 512mb
(Recommended by Rodney Reynolds of 3dgameman.com... ATI still better for Source games? Dunno. Mid to high range card. Next one up is 2x fast 2x price. Discounts and Rebates=value.)
$280

Some version of Vista too.

Not including the OS, priced out it comes to approx. $554 CAD.

Keeping my existing SATA Hard Drive, Power Supply (hopefully), case, etc. I also have fans and heat sinks out the ass from aborted comp builds.

Any thoughts you could give me would be really appreciated!

 

[Lucid]

Ultimately, I decided I'm probably just going to upgrade my mobo and cpu for the time being, my funds are stretched way too thin right now and I just have enough computer spending money for the mobo and cpu.

But, I do appreciate the suggestions and I will keep them favorited, I can't believe I missed that Seagate HD... my current HD is a Seagate but it's too small(80gb D: ) and too slow, but it's been very reliable.

The video card I'll probably pass on because either way you cut it, I believe the card that I picked is great and will probably make every game that I own right now, run like a dream.

There's no games out right now that I have any interest in that warrant anything better than it, imo.
I do appreciate the recommendation though, that mobo looks great and I'll probably buy that one, I have an Asrock motherboard that I got about 3 years ago right now, but I just want to get a new one to be on the safe side in case I can't plant the CPU on my current.

Finally, yeah, the CPU you picked sounds a lot better than the one I did, it's not really that much more expensive either.

Big help.