urgent: buying a new pc, some help.

[destrukt]

so, my dad walks up to me while i'm doing a uni assignment; "if you want to go get a pc you better hurry up.'

i was like :| then hurried to check prices and so on.. he didn't say how much he'd spend though (a 'decent' amount but n0 7900 or x2), but i've kind of decided on some things so far (converted the prices to us).

/* CPU */
AMD S939 Athlon 64 3500+ CPU Retail - $185 ; can this cpu be overclocked 'fairly well' ? if so, on stock cooling or would i need to get thermal paste/custom fan/heatsink ?

- when is the am2 range coming out, and would it be worth waiting for ? the prices seem decent (some stores have preorder prices).

/* MOTHERBOARD */
ASUS S939 A8N SLI Deluxe Motherboard - $133

/* VIDEO CARD */
this is where i'm totally lost and need [the most] help.. i'm absolutely out of it with what is the best to get at the moment.. i'm just looking @ nvidia pci-x cards, 6800 or above models; i'm looking to spend somewhere between $100 and $250 US (looking @ the prices, i'd say 7800-7950 are out of my range), but if you have suggestions, sites like newegg are useless to me, i just plan on taking one of your suggestions with me and hoping they have it in stock, or i'll order one through the store.

would 2 cards in sli (like 2 6600's or something) be better then a single expensive card, like a 6800 ?

some i've looked @ so far:
LEADTEK PX6800 GS Extreme Edition 256meg DDR3 Superior Spec, No Compromise! - $244
XFX 6800XT 512meg Extreme Edition Dual DVI PCI-Ex Model: PV-T42E-YDF3 - $229

XFX 7600GT XXX 256meg DDR3 590MHz Dual DVI TV-Out SLI Ready Model: PV-T73G-UDD7 - $266

are 7600 better then 6800, in general ? they have similar prices.

/* RAM */
DDR 512MB Geil 400MHz PC3200 RAM - $58

- i already have 2 of the above pieces of ram, in dual channel, so i figured i'd just get another 2 for a total of 2gb; i'd like to have 2x1gb sticks but i don't want to try and sell the 2x512 i have, would having 4x512 present any serious downsides ?

/* HARD DRIVES */
i already have 2x300gb sata hds so i'm fine here.


www.gamedude.com.au
www.computeralliance.com.au

these 2 pretty much have the best prices and selection around my area, so if you want to browse them and pick something out, go for it.


sorry about the 'urgent' part in the thread, but i think i have to go out today to get my new pc, or i'll have to wait a few weeks or something.

 

[DrDevin]

/* CPU */
Athlon 64 3500+ should be enough for you. The am2's do not provide any extra performance so there is no need to wait. If you are concerned about gaming your videocard is more important as it will be the bottleneck.

As has been mentioned before. AMD is really cutting its CPU prices so you might want to watch out for that before buying.

/* MOTHERBOARD */
Any Nforce4 motherboard should be decent. You don't have to buy an SLI capable motherboard as you probably won't use it, it will just add to the price. Pick out a board with the features you want and will use.

/* VIDEO CARD */
I would suggest a 7600gt as it fits into your pricerange while providing good performance. Look for one by EVGA or XFX.

Two cards in SLI/Crossfire do not performe as good as a single more expensive card, so you are better going with the 7600gt.

/* RAM */
Sounds good. There should be no downside and 2GB is very helpful now.

I guess you are planning to use onboard audio too?

 

[hneaz]

CPU

AMD athlon 64 3500+ now costs $115. with $186 for the cpu, i will probably not spend till AMD drops their prices on dual core cpus somewhere at the end of july.

Motherboard

Get the DFI UT nF4 Ultra-D ATX AMD Motherboard. its a damn good motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152


Video Card


If u are looking to spend between $110 to $250, the best GFX u can get is the 7900 GT. its a pwnage card. its $235 after rebate. my friend has it and it shreds FEAR like paper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150144

RAM

having 4 sticks of ram is no downside. i suggest u keep those rams and buy a gig of ram. not sure which ram, either corsair or kingston


u live in aussie land? damn.... i hope u can get ur stuff cheap there....

 

[destrukt]

yup, forgot to add that, i'm content with the onboard sound.

excellent replies, thanks ! i think i've got the hardware chosen now, time to find the best prices.

is that price drop definently going to happen ? i'm just a little wary if the main source is the inquirer or have others confirmed it ? i'll try and look into it now.


hmm, comparing the prices from newegg to the store prices here, it looks like i'll have to spend an extra $150 for the same hardware.. hopefully there's an aus site with good prices like newegg.

 

[hneaz]

AMD will definitely drop their prices on the X2 processors soon. they did it with the socket athlon 64 cpus.

 

[Asus]

A lot of sites have already dropped prices that AMD has listed. The 3800+ is not much more than the 3500+ on those sites.
AM2 is not any performance different now although it may be good if you want to upgrade down the line as they bump up the speed. It uses DDR2 memory vs DDR.
You'd have to compare prices AM2 vs S939 with DDR2 and DDR memory.

With the Althon 64 memory controller, 4 double sided memory sticks will downclock your memory to PC2700 (DDR333). 4 single sided memory sticks will not though. If it still downclocks with single sided sticks you may be able to manually set it to DDR400. Depends on compatibility. Read the motherboard manual for more info. It's best to get 2 sticks with the amount of memory you want.

7600GT is faster than 6800GT. This review shows how well a 7600GST (slightly slower than a 7600GT) does against a single 6800GT and SLI 6800GT.
It bests the SLI 6800GT in a few cases.