Curse

Snograt · May 16, 2008, 11:52 PM // 23:52

Some iffy customer reviews there...

FlamingMetroid · May 17, 2008, 12:06 AM // 00:06

yeah, I'm probably going to go with the AMD CPU + motherboard Rahja suggested. Any suggestions for a sound card, or will I really need one?

Why_Me · May 17, 2008, 12:11 AM // 00:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Well, the case is what you see, and I think having a great looking case is pretty important.

And yes, midtowers may "have room", but you lose valuable airflow using them. Full towers have plenty of room, have the ability to be upgraded, and then have tons of room for air flow without heat buildup.

Why an AMD? Why a Tri Core? Price, price, price. It isn't just the CPU that is cheap, but the motherboard and graphics card. If you want a cheap gaming system, you go pure AMD. That is a fact. And no, AMD has no issues, and ATi cards are performing very well atm. It is unfair to say AMD is not competitive. They may not have the edge on performance, but they do still make a good product that performs well. This bias that people have started to develop against them has got to stop. There is no substantial proof from any creditable site that AMD is not competitive.

And I can tell you, considering my position with nvidia, that the 3870 is a competitive card, especially with the cards you posted.

I'd rather get a 90$ e2180 and overclock to something ridiculous with a 90$ ga-p35-ds3l and then outperform the shitty, non overclockable tri cores. Plus, 9600gt's are cheaper than 3870's by 10-15$, and perform identical.

Brianna · May 17, 2008, 12:12 AM // 00:12

Yeah, I was reading the reviews and that turned me off.

AMD works just fine for me, I'm quite happy with my Athlon 6000+ 3.0Ghz, wasn't that much money either. Scores a 5.4 on Vista, not like that means much to me though (Max is 5.9).

I'm thinking of going Intel on my next build to see how they work out for me, though that does sort of depend on where AMD goes in the next year or so, if they go into a direction I like, then I think I might just stick with AMD - I trust them.

Snograt · May 17, 2008, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamingMetroid

yeah, I'm probably going to go with the AMD CPU + motherboard Rahja suggested. Any suggestions for a sound card, or will I really need one?

No soundcard - totally unnecessary with the quality of onboard sound nowadays.

Brianna · May 17, 2008, 12:20 AM // 00:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

No soundcard - totally unnecessary with the quality of onboard sound nowadays.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the sound card thing. I agree with the above, I use onboard sound, and it's lovely. I don't see why people are spending 50$ or something crazy for a sound card to take up a PCI slot when you have onboard sound there for you.

My onboard sound is wonky at the moment (because of the drivers) but soon that will be fixed and sorted.

I guess the only reason I see a high quality sound card being fit, is for professional media center PC's, but even then..?

snaek · May 17, 2008, 12:37 AM // 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the sound card thing. I agree with the above, I use onboard sound, and it's lovely. I don't see why people are spending 50$ or something crazy for a sound card to take up a PCI slot when you have onboard sound there for you.

My onboard sound is wonky at the moment (because of the drivers) but soon that will be fixed and sorted.

I guess the only reason I see a high quality sound card being fit, is for professional media center PC's, but even then..?

most ppl dun care bout sound

that, plus who actually buys high-quality music anymore?
if u listen to mp3s or youtube, upgrading ur soundcard wont make much of a difference

gettin a nice speaker system instead will be more worthwhile

(but for teh audiophiles out there, it -does- make a difference)

Blackhearted · May 17, 2008, 12:37 AM // 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Why_Me

I'd rather get a 90$ e2180 and overclock to something ridiculous with a 90$ ga-p35-ds3l and then outperform the shitty, non overclockable tri cores. Plus, 9600gt's are cheaper than 3870's by 10-15$, and perform identical.

Non-overclockable? Reviews i've seen don't say that they're "unoverclockable". Sure, they may not do 4ghz like some intel pieces. But that doesn't mean they're not overclockable at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

No soundcard - totally unnecessary with the quality of onboard sound nowadays.

Have they really improved that much? Last time i used onboard audio, which was in the Athlon XP days, they were always terrible. Audio quality noticeably below that of my add-on card and would always get static-y and distorted if i turned the volume past 50%. Have problems like that been fixed?

Brianna · May 17, 2008, 12:44 AM // 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

Have they really improved that much? Last time i used onboard audio, which was in the Athlon XP days, they were always terrible. Audio quality noticeably below that of my add-on card and would always get static-y and distorted if i turned the volume past 50%. Have problems like that been fixed?

Never had such problems, I never get static and etc, my onboard works just as it should.

And if you buy an upper scale motherboard, it is most likely to have better onboard sound than maybe say some lower end ones, mine is considered a low end motherboard, but the sound is great on it, so I don't know.

nebuchanezzar · May 17, 2008, 01:14 AM // 01:14

Some questions first.
1. How familiar are you with PC hardware and installation? While I recommend to all to build their own PC's some people simple wont. Too scared or unsure of their abilities or don't take proper precautions. Things like holding the case with one hand when inserting items to ground yourself if you don't have an annoying grounding strap to wear...which btw I never use...even though I have plenty..

2. Level of experience in configuring/altering setting. In other words, overclocking/tweaking experience. Do you leave everything stock and rely on PlugnPlay compatibility or can you clean up a driver installation and feel comfortable with 3rd party software or registry alterations.

AMD is still alive and kicking for CPUs but the newer Intel processors are just a hair bit faster. IMO it's a wash and you should decide by price mostly.
Rajah linked to a DFI mobo. I personally love DFI...but they are not necessarily for the plug and play crowd. DFI boards have more bios level options than any other anywhere. They are truely the king of the enthusiast motherboards. If you are planning to overclock then they get 2 thumbs way up. If you aren't you may want to look for a lower priced comparable board. I don't recommend SLi to very many people as the price/performance ratio is just not optimal imo. SLi does not double your FPS for buying 2 cards. It does shine at very high resolutions though much like having higher memory on the card does, however you pay for that in either case.
The Radeon 3870 is a great card. With the exception of my x1950pro agp ATi card I have never had any serious issues and their driver support is top notch.
If you do choose SLi/Crossfire than the PSU he shows is fine. If you choose to go with a single GPU solution you can probably get away with about 600 Watts if it is a quality PSU. I like Fortrons, Silverstones, and PCPower and Cooling myself but just avoid HiPro and Thermaltake and you should do fine.
Not to knock Crucial but their present products are using single sided modules. These do not overclock very well and some have had problems. They are focusing on DDR3 now though much like ANet is focusing on GW2 so this was a cheaper option for them to keep producing DD2 modules. If you run only stock settings though they are fine as is. Memory is rather cheap right now so feel free to shop around if you don't plan on OC'ing.
I know I didn't give you any direct links like Rajah did but I really urge that people do their own research. I will gladly offer pointers and advice but your system should be your system. There will always be someone to say what you chose is wrong for some reason and if you don't research before hand it often leaves regret/anger feelings for making perceived mistakes.

I wholeheartedly agree that current on board sound is quite adequate for most users. I used it even back on my nF2 boards, but they were DFI and had very good sound in comparison to the standard craptastic nF2 mobo's imo.
To blackhearted, yes (imo)current mobo's have very good sound, especially if your last experience was standard nF2 mobos. Many have SPDIF coaxial and optical outputs right on the motherboards
GL

FlamingMetroid · May 17, 2008, 02:06 AM // 02:06

so right now I have down:
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136044
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103252
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211188
Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129020
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148262
and am totally open to any more suggestions.

I personally don't have much experience building computers, but I'll have my cousin, who repairs computers and has helped me upgrade my current computer, help me assemble it and get it running.

Brianna · May 17, 2008, 02:30 AM // 02:30

You're probably going to get suggestions against the A-Data RAM, but I'll let the guys rip at you for that one.

My brother uses it though, seems solid.

Over all, that looks like a good system, I like the motherboard. And you can always buy more hard drives for space if necessary later, 250gb is a nice amount though.

You and your cousin should be fine building the PC, it's not rocket science, and for any thing you don't know, you can look up on the websites or forums, or even come here.

Hmm, by the reviews of that ram it seems the majority has no problems, shoot for it? I'm not fond of A-Data, but I thought they were one of the ''Off-Brands'', at least to my RAM knowledge - I might be thinking of the wrong brand though.

Though one review did make me chuckle: ''It's pink, in case your computer's masculinity is easily threatened.''

Hell, if you really want a long read about memory though, read Rahja's Ultimate Guide to memory: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10288946

Admael · May 17, 2008, 02:58 AM // 02:58

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 FX-60 (2.6GHz, Socket 939) ~400 USD
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce 4 Chipset) ~72 USD
GPU: XFX 8800 GT ~149 USD (after MIR)
PSU: Corsair HX620 ~135 USD
RAM: Corsair XMS PC3200 2x1GB 2-3-3-6 (Part: CMX1024-3200C2PT) ~70 USD
HDD: Seagate 320GB 7200.11 (Part: ST3320613AS) ~70 USD
Case: Antec P182 ~140 USD (after MIR)

Total: 1036 USD
If you don't have that extra cushion, then drop the case for a cheaper one.

We all want this machine, I built something similar ~3 years ago. It still runs today, faster than most AM2's.

Snograt · May 17, 2008, 03:05 AM // 03:05

From the bits you've selected there, Super, the mobo, cpu, gpu, psu, dvd and hdd come to $745 before whatever that odd mail-in rebate doohicky.

I say up your RAM to something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148180 for $130 making a total of $875. That leaves a massive $125 to spend on a case

(Like this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133021 - but you don't really need to bling a <$1000 system...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admael

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 FX-60 (2.6GHz, Socket 939) ~400 USD
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (nForce 4 Chipset) ~72 USD
GPU: XFX 8800 GT ~149 USD (after MIR)
PSU: Corsair HX620 ~135 USD
RAM: Corsair XMS PC3200 2x1GB 2-3-3-6 (Part: CMX1024-3200C2PT) ~70 USD
HDD: Seagate 320GB 7200.11 (Part: ST3320613AS) ~70 USD
Case: Antec P182 ~140 USD (after MIR)

Total: 1036 USD
If you don't have that extra cushion, then drop the case for a cheaper one.

We all want this machine, I built something similar ~3 years ago. It still runs today, faster than most AM2's.

Was that a history lesson, Ad? The only socket 939s on newegg are budget crap. That FX-60 was an almighty processor at the time - my son's getting a hand-me-down system with one of them in it in a couple of weeks

FlamingMetroid · May 17, 2008, 03:15 AM // 03:15

Well, I'm probably going to get Vista OEM for $100, and for a case I'm looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119152
don't really want to spend that much on RAM, this RAM appears to be a better deal than the A-Data RAM, should I go with that instead?

Blackhearted · May 17, 2008, 03:20 AM // 03:20

A-Data should be fine, tbh. I've used it in a couple builds before and it's never shown me any problems.

Admael · May 17, 2008, 03:37 AM // 03:37

If you shop around, I'm sure you can get the FX-60 from somewhere. It's still a godly processor.

I'd kill for an FX-60. (I'm only running on the FX-60's younger brother, the Opty 185>_>)

Snograt · May 17, 2008, 03:38 AM // 03:38

Hmm, 5-5-5-15 and 5-5-5-18 for your 2 choices. That's where the price difference is - the Crucial I posted is 4-4-4-12.

I'm not an expert on RAM - see Admael and Rajah for that. I just know manufacturers - Kingston, Crucial, OCZ, Corsair, Patriot - the usual suspects. I've personally never heard of A-Data and G.Skill.

[edit] On the subject of G.Skill, who in their right mind would buy this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231182 Someone lacking in slots, maybe? oO

Admael · May 17, 2008, 03:47 AM // 03:47

G.Skill makes godly RAM which rivals the almighty Micron!

A-Data always risks stability for innovation. You'll always find them with the newest fastest RAM/high capacity flash drives and media cards.

They're good while they last, and their support is lacking.

When price is no object, always insist on Micron or G.Skill.

Snograt · May 17, 2008, 03:50 AM // 03:50

Ah. Another post, another notch in my knowledge. I edit too much - by the time I finish, my whole point is made pointless by the reply

[edit] I feel better now, after some investigation. Micron makes 'em, and Crucial sells 'em - so my Ballistix are Micron, right?