Another one of those what to buy posts...

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » October 31, 2006, 2:57 pm

Ok, so my motherboard blew up for like the second time, Its posting some sort of code, which I think is memory, motherboard or video card. But Im sick of it, and its only an Athalon 2200+ (hasnt been running at 2200 for a few months). So its time to scrap this thing and rebuild.

Issue is that I dont want to spend a bunch of cash on what I replace it with. Ideally Id like to get new memory, MB, and video for about $4-600. Whats good these days? Im also going to be picking up a new laptop this weekend, but I know what Im looking for there.

So comon VV'ers, what should I buy? I havent had consistent internet access for like a month, and Id like to see if I want to start gaming again.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 31, 2006, 3:13 pm

You only mentioned memory, motherboard and Video card, but I am assuming from your first comments about the processor that you might want to replace that too. Here are a few of the pieces I put into a recent build which will fall into your price range:

ABit K8N-SLI mobo
AMD 64 3800+
2 Gig DDR 400 Ram (2x1g)
3D Fuzion GeForce 7600 GT PCI-e

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » October 31, 2006, 3:14 pm

ROFL... yea, need a processor too

Thanks Boog.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 31, 2006, 3:15 pm

Thought so. I had a post in early September when I was having some problems with my build, but those all came down to a DVD combo drive that died at some point between being removed from the old case and installed in the new one.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » October 31, 2006, 8:33 pm

MSI 975x Platnuim -$170
Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 - $182
G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - $140
SAPPHIRE 100156L Radeon X1600PRO 256MB - $93

About $25 more than already posted but much more performance!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » October 31, 2006, 8:56 pm

I thought about going a similar route, but I don't like Intel/ATI

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » October 31, 2006, 9:52 pm

Yeah I'm not a huge fan either but you can't argue about the performance of the new intel chips. Only reason I linked an ATI board is cause the MB supports crossfire.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » November 1, 2006, 3:19 am

Boogahz wrote:AMD 64 3800+

Winnow's blood pressure just increased.

Hoarmurath · Post by **Hoarmurath** » November 1, 2006, 10:48 am

So I've been thinking about getting a new PC as well, so I've been following this post. I'm still confused about which is better between AMD/Intel and ATI/Nvidia. I'm not parial to either one, but I'm curious about which is currently seen to be the market leader and how the performance stacks up, etc.

Neost · Post by **Neost** » November 1, 2006, 10:58 am

I'm not a big AMD guy, rarely used them but my understanding right now is that price/performance the AMD64X2's are probably the most bang for the buck.

Every review I've read suggests the Intel Core 2 Duo outperforms the AMD's but are still higher priced so you'll pay a premium for that extra bit of performance.

In today's CPU landscape, I'm not sure it really matters that much unless you just want bragging rights to the fastest pc on the block and you're going to pay big for that anyway.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » November 1, 2006, 11:22 am

Actually the Intel chips are alittle cheaper than the same performance AMD chips atm.

Hoarmurath · Post by **Hoarmurath** » November 1, 2006, 11:44 am

I know this sounds retarded, but I'll ask it anyway... How do you match up AMD and Intel CPUs? I'm under the impression that AMD outperforms Intel at the same GHz rating, so that isn't reliable, so I'm not sure how to compare the two.

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » November 1, 2006, 11:45 am

Is the Intel chip 64 bit?

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » November 1, 2006, 1:09 pm

I prefer AMD and NVidia due to poor past experiences with Intel and ATI. One of my two desktops at home actually still has the ATI card that has caused nothing but trouble since I started using it. I understand that the newer Intel chips are much better than they were back when I had an overheating, non-overclocked, piece of shit Intel processor, but that past experience prevents me from even trying their new chips out anytime soon.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » November 1, 2006, 1:18 pm

Boogahz wrote:I prefer AMD and NVidia due to poor past experiences with Intel and ATI. One of my two desktops at home actually still has the ATI card that has caused nothing but trouble since I started using it. I understand that the newer Intel chips are much better than they were back when I had an overheating, non-overclocked, piece of shit Intel processor, but that past experience prevents me from even trying their new chips out anytime soon.

Your loss!

But I don't like my ATI either. Will probably be upgrading by the end of the year. Planning on going Intel/Nvidia. Can't beat the price/performance of the Core 2 Duos. Espeically since they aren't overheating non-overclockign pieces of shit these days. You should let your hatred go!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » November 1, 2006, 1:24 pm

Aslanna wrote:
Boogahz wrote:I prefer AMD and NVidia due to poor past experiences with Intel and ATI. One of my two desktops at home actually still has the ATI card that has caused nothing but trouble since I started using it. I understand that the newer Intel chips are much better than they were back when I had an overheating, non-overclocked, piece of shit Intel processor, but that past experience prevents me from even trying their new chips out anytime soon.
Your loss!

But I don't like my ATI either. Will probably be upgrading by the end of the year. Planning on going Intel/Nvidia. Can't beat the price/performance of the Core 2 Duos. Espeically since they aren't overheating non-overclockign pieces of shit these days. You should let your hatred go!

Yeah, I have been looking into using them when I rebuild the other comp in the near future. I am waiting to see what I hear about them until then. I have really heard very little so far which could be good or bad.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » November 1, 2006, 1:30 pm

Boogahz wrote:I am waiting to see what I hear about [Intel chips] until then. I have really heard very little so far which could be good or bad.

Then start listening better. They consume less power, overclock better, and have better performance benchmarks than AMD chips. Your computer isn't going to care if you hold a grudge for bad past experiences; it'll just perform worse.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 1, 2006, 1:42 pm

The new Intel CPUs have eclipsed AMD's fine line of AMD X2 CPUs for the moment.

I'm looking forward to AMDs quad core offerings due in the second half of 2007 which will be truly integrated multi core CPUs instead of the current offerings from AMD and Intel which don't integrate the cores as well as they could.

So, AMD ruled the CPU roost for quite awhile with the Dual Core X2s, Intel has the advantage if you're buying right now, if you're looking at the 2nd half of next year 2007, AMD's quad cores look to be the best bet from early reports.

The only reason to wait on buying a PC system right now is that the DX10 video cards from nVidia and ATi aren't too far off from being released (when Vista is released) so if you're looking to be futureproof for a longer period of time without upgrading an expensive video card, you might wait a month or two. Other than that, there's no huge reason to wait. I'd go Intel Core 2 Duo atm for performance/value. I haven't researched any particular CPU/Motherboard/RAM/Videocard combos so you're on your own in that dept. I'd recommend taking your time and reading the the various tech forums for successful combos (primarily the motherboard forums). And don't ignore the power supply! (doesn't have to be expensive or super high Watts, just a quality one)

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » November 1, 2006, 1:44 pm

Leonaerd wrote:
Boogahz wrote:I am waiting to see what I hear about [Intel chips] until then. I have really heard very little so far which could be good or bad.
Then start listening better. They consume less power, overclock better, and have better performance benchmarks than AMD chips. Your computer isn't going to care if you hold a grudge for bad past experiences; it'll just perform worse.

nice one dumbass. I didn't say that I hadn't heard anything, I have just heard little. What I have heard has not come from actual "users," but from sites that "can" have something to gain by pushing one over the other. Also, I could care less about how easy it is to overclock something since I have no wish to do so.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » November 1, 2006, 1:54 pm

Every thing I have read and seen so far shows the core 2 duos out perform AMDs chips and are cheaper for more performance. Toms Hardware has a nice comparison chart you can check out http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html . They have also had really good success in over clocking the new intel chips too. Heres one of the storys on it http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/10/cheap_thrills/ .

The only bad thing about the new intel chips is they still don't have that many good MBs to choose from. I'm not a huge ATI fan but the better mbs for the new intel chips are all crossfire and not SLI but that may change soon.

Is the Intel chip 64 bit?

Yep 64 bit.

I know this sounds retarded, but I'll ask it anyway... How do you match up AMD and Intel CPUs? I'm under the impression that AMD outperforms Intel at the same GHz rating, so that isn't reliable, so I'm not sure how to compare the two

In stead of using the ghz rating since that really hasn't worked the last few years I just use the comparison charts that show the performance and match up the AMD & Intel chips that are close and then look at the prices for each.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » November 1, 2006, 2:01 pm

What I have heard has not come from actual "users," but from sites that "can" have something to gain by pushing one over the other.

Enjoy paying $500 more for worse performance, dumbass.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » November 1, 2006, 2:04 pm

I obviously didn't purchase either of those processors, so I fail to see where I spent $500.00 more. Also, if you would actually read my post above, I have already been planning on going with the Intel chip in the next month or two once I have read more on them. Do I need to get John Kerry to make it more crystal clear for you?

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » November 1, 2006, 2:07 pm

Boogahz wrote:I obviously didn't purchase either of those processors, so I fail to see where I spent $500.00 more. Also, if you would actually read my post above, I have already been planning on going with the Intel chip in the next month or two once I have read more on them. Do I need to get John Kerry to make it more crystal clear for you?

Boogahz wrote: but that past experience prevents me from even trying [Intel's] new chips out anytime soon.

PERHAPS MAYBE YOU SHOULD MAKE IT MORE CRYSTAL CLEAR NEXT TIME

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » November 1, 2006, 2:11 pm

Leonaerd wrote:
Boogahz wrote:I obviously didn't purchase either of those processors, so I fail to see where I spent $500.00 more. Also, if you would actually read my post above, I have already been planning on going with the Intel chip in the next month or two once I have read more on them. Do I need to get John Kerry to make it more crystal clear for you?

Boogahz wrote: but that past experience prevents me from even trying [Intel's] new chips out anytime soon.
PERHAPS MAYBE YOU SHOULD MAKE IT MORE CRYSTAL CLEAR NEXT TIME

Tell you what...check the news to see what I meant about John Kerry. Then quote the second post (the one after Aslanna's) to see where I was talking about the next build I do. Then you can call John Kerry's speech writers to tell them that "crystal clear" means shit when you still don't address the points. THEN you can look at the post with what I bought for my last comp before saying I supposedly bought a 700.00+ cpu. I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE A FLIP FLOPPER YO!

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » November 1, 2006, 4:38 pm

Now I'm looking at WinXP 64, I want to get a copy before Vista comes out.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » November 2, 2006, 2:28 am

Winnow wrote: And don't ignore the power supply! (doesn't have to be expensive or super high Watts, just a quality one)

I bought whatever powersupply you told me to about 8 months or so ago.... 480w Teranac or sumtin... So Im good to go there. I had two of the 380w Truepower go bad on me.

Looks like intel is the way to go for now, but I was really hoping to go with an Nvidia combo, ATI hasnt been doing me right for my last two cards.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 2, 2006, 3:49 am

Ransure wrote:
Winnow wrote: And don't ignore the power supply! (doesn't have to be expensive or super high Watts, just a quality one)
I bought whatever powersupply you told me to about 8 months or so ago.... 480w Teranac or sumtin... So Im good to go there. I had two of the 380w Truepower go bad on me.

That would be a Tagan TG480-U22!

Mine's been running 24/7 with no problems since whenever I did that upgrade, about a year ago now.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 2, 2006, 3:56 am

Check out this review of the Intel Quad Core chip:

http://www.techspot.com/review/27-intel ... 6700-quad/

for non gaming, it's super fast even compared to the duo cores but game designers are barely adjusting to dual core CPUs so there's no performance gain for tyhe quad in that department (yet).

I still think AMD's quad core offering will be the schnitzit if anyone's waiting for a quad core before upgrading again. It's will have the more advanced handling of the multicores. That's too far off in the furture to consider for a current upgrade though. I'll find an article later that explains it.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » November 2, 2006, 8:22 am

You could always wait alittle while and hope they come out with some better SLI boards.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » November 3, 2006, 2:07 pm

Yea, with what Im looking for, looks like Ill wait a month or so before rebuilding the PC, Im going to be getting either a Dell Inspirion 6400 or a XPS1210(If I can get it for less than $1500). So that should tide me over for a bit.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » November 10, 2006, 4:16 pm

This might be a good article to read for those looking to put together a decent system on the cheap: ~$600.00

http://www.techspot.com/article/25-affo ... ng-system/