Curse

Iraka · May 18, 2008, 07:51 PM // 19:51

I'm looking for some upgrades for ~600 dollars or so. My parents are giving me some money to put towards something for graduating, and I had initially planned to get a PS3, but considering my MMO addiction, I think it'd be more beneficial to upgrade my PC instead of a console that I may not use too much (I own a 360, not my favorite but it fills my console cravings)

I'm currently running on an Athlon 64 3300+, 1 gig of RAM and a 6600GT. This is doing just fine for older games, but I'm interested in Warhammer Online and GW2, and I don't think it'll run them, or run them well enough to be able to enjoy it.

I have a monitor, OS, keyboard/mouse, HDD and DVD drive so I'm only really looking for a new Mobo/CPU and GPU, plus 1 or 2 gigs of RAM of course. My LCD monitor is only 19" so it only runs at 1280x1024 so I don't need top of the line stuff, but I'm looking for some suggestions.

I was thinking about buying a 8800GT and then some mediocre CPU/Mobo combo and toss in some RAM, but I'm not sure if that would be the best path to take. Could anyone spare some insight? Please don't just say "Save up more money then come back and we'll talk", as I understand that this won't buy me a future-proof computer, but I'd rather be only slightly behind than far behind hardware-wise.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I live in Canada, so prices are slightly more due to the dollar, and oddly higher prices. So just bear that in mind please before making suggestions. I don't want to be just hitting my budget, then find out it's in USD and have to spend an extra 100 or so (It happened when I was building a friend a computer, it was not fun having to go back to square one.)

Brianna · May 18, 2008, 08:02 PM // 20:02

Actually, 600$ will get you a smoking computer.

However.. we need to establish if your Video Card Bus is AGPX8 or PCI Express, if the former, you can't get an 8800GT - You are limited to the 7 series of AGP cards, and it is hard/expensive to find good AGP cards now. If the latter, then you are good to buy some of the new Video Cards.

If you do have an AGPX8 board, then it's in your best interest to just buy a brand new motherboard and a processor to go with that, because I can tell you that any AGP card isn't going to keep up with any new games.

I think 600$ will get you a new video card (8800GT 170$~ USD) a new motherboard (80-150$ USD~ depending on what board you buy) Processor (150-250$ USD~ depending on what you buy), DDR2 RAM will probably cost you 40-60$ USD, and something like a 500-600watt power supply will cost you like 50-80$.

You can definitely build a computer for 600$, it's just when you get into the super-enthusiast/ultra high performance crowd that it gets expensive, and that is entirely unnecessary for a good computer. My computer has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Crappy 60-70$ Mobo, Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS, and 2 GB of RAM, and a 500w PSU and it didn't cost me any where near 600$, yet I can take on practically any game except Crysis on max settings.

Arlan · May 18, 2008, 08:13 PM // 20:13

my 10pence worth.

8800GT with 2 gig (or more if you have vista) is good , - but you should get best processor you can afford with the rest. If you could grab a duel core processor your pc will spout wings( or seem to compared to what you have now). Intel Core 2 or similar.
Would be wrong to get the 8800gt then pair it with a basic/medeocre processor that wont use it to it's full capacity.

I'm getting getting ~60fps with this set up (except this is quad but that wont make much difference with the GW servers atm - duel will go fine).

Hope this helps.

Bound to be others with other opionions - pays your money - takes your chances.
Edit: agree with Brianna - new motherboard /bios would help.

Iraka · May 18, 2008, 08:22 PM // 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

snip

My current mobo is a AGP8X, but I intend to scrap it as AGP cards are a dying race, the 2600XT is keeping AGP in the game, but way behind.

So I believe it's unanimous to get an 8800GT since their price per performance is far beyond what other cards boast, so it's down to spending 350-450 on a Mobo/CPU with some RAM. I'm not very knowledgeable in the Mobo/CPU department, so could anyone give me some advice or examples on which to buy? I don't want to buy too cheap of one, or spend too much on a mobo but not enough on a CPU, or vice versa.

I run XP for what it matters, I haven't bothered to upgrade to vista .. no motivation when XP works well enough.

Brianna · May 18, 2008, 08:35 PM // 20:35

XP is fine, no need to get Vista - that's just spending unnecessary money right now.

I'll try to look up some good CPU/Mobo combos, you will definitely need a new one.

Snograt · May 18, 2008, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Random picks:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188017

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231065

That little lot is $400 after a $20 mail-in rebate (what's with those things anyway? Crazy Americans...)

Pick holes in that lot, techies

[Edit] Bah - GPU and PSU as well?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817226003

That's around $190 after mail-in thingies. Just under the $600 budget

[Edit 2] Double bah! Just NOW you tell us you're in Canada? Heh, I give in - I'm mentally translating from UK£ as it is!

Iraka · May 18, 2008, 08:52 PM // 20:52

Did some quick snooping about and found these. A little bit more than I had intended, but nothing a shift or two can't take care of.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...u=MBM-M2N-6400

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...&sku=C283-1856

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4&sku=C13-2022

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...&sku=E145-8832

Thankfully with the free shipping going on at tigerdirect right now, I should be able to afford it. It'd probably be hell including shipping. The only real components are the Mobo/CPU bundle .. if anyone could shed some light on that, it would be fantastic.

RotteN · May 18, 2008, 09:30 PM // 21:30

ok, taking you're going to order from tigerdirect, i've included some links :

First thing i noticed is you're taking an SLI motherboard, yet your power supply isn't SLI-ready. Now i assume you're not planning on using SLI, and with the "bundle discount" it's going to be hard anyway to get the same CPU with another (non-SLI) motherboard for the same price.

Overall you can't realy go wrong with ASUS, hardware-wise. However, one time the motherboard drivers were corrupted on an ASUS board i installed, resulting in instability. That was however easely fixed by downloading new drivers from the website.

As for AMD, they're ok, and overall cheaper than intel CPU's, so i'd say go for it.

The Coolermaster Powersupply is solid.

The memory however, i've never been a fan of Corsair. OCZ offers solid RAM for gamer-enthousiasts and guess what, it's even 1$ cheaper : http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...686&CatId=2261

as for the card, i don't have experience with EVGA as a brand. But honestly, you can't realy go wrong with the 8800GT.

I'd say go for it, looks like a pretty solid update.

Iraka · May 18, 2008, 10:02 PM // 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by RotteN

snip

Is it a problem that the motherboard is SLI, but the PSU isn't without using SLI?

And for future reference, EVGA is a fantastic company. They have great warranties (some are lifetime, including overclocking damages so long as you don't rip off the heatsink) and some good customer service. Not to mention the step-up program which rocks. If you buy a new card and then in 90 days, something new is out and you want it, you send them your card and you only pay the difference between them, not too shabby.

Snograt · May 18, 2008, 10:09 PM // 22:09

Yeah, I like EVGA too.

The PSU should be fine - you're never likely to SLI on that rig, it's a fairly pointless thing to do anyway (glances at his two stoopid GTX's).

The major tech-nuts haven't got out of bed yet - we shall see

manitoba1073 · May 18, 2008, 10:24 PM // 22:24

Do not go with a 8800 GTS. You will get way more bang with your bucks with these gems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...GeForce+9600GT

The 9600 series is far better than the 8800 series. But if you are intent going for a 8 series card even the 8600gt are very good.

Quaker · May 18, 2008, 10:35 PM // 22:35

The only difference in an "SLI ready" power supply is that it comes with 2 sets of power connectors for the video cards. You probably would want more than 500watts for SLI anyway, so don't worry about that.

SInce you are Canadian and ATI is (or was until AMD bought them) Canadian, you could try:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...389&CatId=3670

According to Tom's Hardware, ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...cs,1786-3.html ) it performs as well as an 8800GT. It's DirectX 10.1 capable, and only $5 more, without screwing around with rebates.

Thizzle · May 18, 2008, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Take my advice. This is the most you will need.

2 GB of RAM
Dual-core processor
XP or use a LInux distro w/ wine if your good
600 watt psu

Don't go overboard and buy anymore than that. I still have my 7600GT running Guild Wars fine at max 1440x900 so take that into account.

RotteN · May 19, 2008, 07:10 AM // 07:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

you could try:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...389&CatId=3670

According to Tom's Hardware, ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...cs,1786-3.html ) it performs as well as an 8800GT. It's DirectX 10.1 capable, and only $5 more, without screwing around with rebates.

You misread the rather short "review" there. It states it can compete with the 256Mb version of the 8800GT (and that solely because of the lack of memory on the 8800GT).

The 8800GT 528Mb is way better than the ATI, and lower priced.

As for the 9600GT, I've seen it perform worse than the 8800GT on benchmarks, and the only difference is a slighty higher clocked core, but a smaller processor. And taken the latest Nvidia cards all OC nicely, i'd say the 50Mhz corespeed is easely OC'ed.

The only main difference is that at stock speeds, the 9600GT has a slightly lower power consumption. But it's only a small difference, and taken the EVGA 8800GT's price, i'd go for that one if you want a new card.