Curse

r3dh3adkid · Feb 26, 2006, 08:09 AM // 08:09

Alright well I've decided that I want my own computer. I am on a tight budget. This computer will run Guild Wars and all of the future releases of GW (if I am still playing) and probably other games as well. This computer will also go to college with me (which wont be long).

Here are the parts ive chosen:

Gigabyte GA-8I945P-PRO ATX Intel Motherboard - $124.00 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128293

Intel Pentium D 920 2.8 GHz 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor - $262.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116237

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $88.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145526

Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $80.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144415

HIS Hightech HX80GOQT256-3TOEN Radeon X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $195.00 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161146

NEC Display Solutions LCD1770GX-BK Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - $339.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824002284

XION Ultimate Engineering XON-001 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450 Watt Power Supply (P4 & AMD Ready) Power Supply - Retail - $64.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208001

Logitech Black Wired Value Keyboard - $7.00 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126170

Logitech Value Black Mouse - $6.00 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104181

Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker - $58.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121118

SONY 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache ATAPI/EIDE Combo Drive - Retail - $54.99 -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106830

Total - $1,276.95

Before rebates.

Total - $1146.95

After rebates.

This should include EVERYTHING I will need to build the computer. If I have left something out please tell me.

Also, please rate 1-10 (1 being horrible 10 being awsome) and give suggestions but remember....tight budget.

Old Dood · Feb 26, 2006, 12:01 PM // 12:01

Get ready...allot of "builders" will tell you to get an AMD motherboard & chipset. If this is a gaming computer then they could have a point. They can be cheaper then the Intel chipset. I am no expert on later day building....but I would have to agree with the AMD crowd.

You could save some cash and then put the "extra" cash into more ram or something like that. I would put in 2Gb of ram. Personally I do not like Kingston or Corsair ram. It is cheap ram. More prone to errors. I like Micron or Samsung made ram. www.crucial.com has great quality ram...and if you watch their site you can get it on sale at times.

HDS · Feb 26, 2006, 01:36 PM // 13:36

swap to AMD.

Get OCZ ram, works great.

Also ignore 2gb comment, if you dont midn take out speakers and put an extra 50$ towards a 7800GT, otherwise you miss out of PS3 and other goodies, if not just dont get speakers now and get them 58$ later.

Ghozer · Feb 26, 2006, 02:25 PM // 14:25

I dont like GeForce or Intel personally, bad, BAD experiences with both..

AMD and ATI all the way, Corsair RAM is fine, Kingston is my personal preference as they offer a LIFETIME warrantee on thier ram.. OCZ is good.. and Crucial is highly reccomended

, If going for AMD I wouldnt go for a Gigabyte board, go for Tyan or Asus (aka asRock) (SLI nForce4)

Loviatar · Feb 26, 2006, 04:52 PM // 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3dh3adkid

Alright well I've decided that I want my own computer. I am on a tight budget. This computer will run Guild Wars and all of the future releases of GW (if I am still playing) and probably other games as well. This computer will also go to college with me (which wont be long).

.

all the gaming magazines think AMD is by far the best choice as it plays games BETTER than the intel and is LESS EXPENSIVE as well.

BEST ADVICE IS TO GO TO YOUR STORE MAGAZINE RACK AND PICK UP (OR JUST COPY) THE LATEST PC GAMER FOR THE BEST PARTS/DOLLAR SYSTEM. (LISTED IN EACH ISSUE)

r3dh3adkid · Feb 26, 2006, 10:27 PM // 22:27

Alright well I went to newegg and looked at all the dual core AMD processors and they are MUCH more than the Intel one. I also looked at some other AMD processors and they do have 1GHz compaired to the 800GHz of the dual core Intel processor their Operating Frequency was much lower.

The OF of dual - 2.8GHz with 2 x 2MB L2 Cache

If I went to newegg and put all of that information in there I would get a processor that costs about 800 bucks :-\ but then again I dont really know what im talking about so if someone could find a processor that they think beats the dual core Intel one please tell me.

I dont think I have the cash for 2GB. All of the ones I looked at were like 150+ dollars.

Across The Battle · Feb 26, 2006, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Well I would advise AMD and Nvidia. Ram Ive always heard corsair is the way to go. My old ATI card would bug out with GW and with that GW BSOD I heard from ATI users I would say go Nvidia, i have a geforce 6600 and i love it.

You do not need a dual core processor for GW and most games, if not all, fun fine with a simple Athlon 64(Plus, you get that cool sticker they send you with the processor.) I got my motherboard and processor combo from tigerdirect.coom for like 250-300ish and video card from best buy for 100.

I say:
AMD Athlon 64 that runs at 2.2
NVidia Geforce 6600 or better
1 Gig of Corsair ram(1 gig is all you should need for damn near anything youd be doing)
Western Digital or Seagate are best brands of hard drives most people would tell you
I would also suggest getting a 450 watt power supply or better. Its just easier.

Important note: Make sure you get a good case with good cooling. Most people tend to overlook the cooling aspect when building a PC, which is a major problem if they want everything to run at peek performance.

Loviatar · Feb 26, 2006, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3dh3adkid

I also looked at some other AMD processors and they do have 1GHz compaired to the 800GHz of the dual core Intel processor their Operating Frequency was much lower.

The OF of dual - 2.8GHz with 2 x 2MB L2 Cache

s.

Amd has been neck and neck with intel even though they are using a much lower mhz.

they have a much more efficient pipeline for the processing which allows this

check some online tech sites for reviews (and comparisons) on the processor below.

it is always best to double check with some actual tested benchmarks than just opinions

this one is dual core and close in price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103562

Lord Cooper · Feb 27, 2006, 02:07 PM // 14:07

since you have asked the question here im assuming its primary use will be gaming?

in which case you dont need dual core as no games are multithreaded right now ie they only utilise a single core.
so first off an athlon64 3500 will serve you fine.

1GB of quality pc3200 ram OCZ is a personal favourite

most people will recommend an nforce4 based chipset. unless your overclocking though that chipset is no better than any of the others so go with price and features you actually foresee yourself using. but remember the motherboard is what will limit your upgrade paths in the future so do your research here and splurge if necessary

anything from a geforce 6800 or radeon 9800 up will serve fine as far as graphics go. personally i prefer the radeon for its image quality.

do not skimp on the powersupply! go with a quality name brand such as antec enermax or tagen!

pick a case according to looks and budget. you could do a lot worse than the antec sonata.. beautiful looking case well made and virtually silent.

keyboard speakers mouse etc as budget allows.

and most importantly... you need an operating system!!! dont forget to budget for winxp!!!!

SaucE · Feb 27, 2006, 02:32 PM // 14:32

FINALLY!!! Someone went Intel. I love you man!!!

As for you other choices, I like. I would rather go with a Built by ATI or Saphire video card. Power supply = most important. Spend a good $100 on the PSU alone. And of course, everyone here "buys" there OS. Since you mentioned you are going to college, you can probably get a copy of XP dirt cheap through the school.

Go Intel!!!

Stalker Haras · Feb 27, 2006, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Intel is my personal favorite. Not just because I believe so, but 3/4ths of the Technicians here in my town believe so.

Intel ftw!

Teklord · Feb 27, 2006, 05:05 PM // 17:05

I just want to add / agree with a few things above. First off, Corsair is not cheap Ram. A couple of years ago I purchased a Dual Channel 1GB kit for around $450.00 (CAN). This stuff is fancy, extra low latency 2-2-2-5. And for added 'coolness' it has activity LEDs.

I've got between both Intel and AMD for CPU. AMD has been proven the better for most gaming experiences (Tom's Hardware Guide.com) however I can admit that it lacks in the ability to multitask, save for Dual Core which I don't believe is worth the added investment at this point in time. The Hyper-threading technology of Intel is something I do miss because as of now for some reason my AMD 4000+ doesn't like to run a game like Guild Wars and have music playing on Winamp at the same time. It'll play one song just fine, then it takes five minutes before it plays the next song on the list. This was never an issue on my Intel P4 2.4GHz with HT. Still overall, the AMD is definitly better for gaming.

Back to Ram. 2GB is not worth it at this point as well, speaking before Vista. Who knows what Vista will run like. However, it has been proven (again Tom's Hardware Guide) that the only game to experience any kind of a benefit (and it wasn't huge) with 2GBs of Ram was Battlefield 2 set to the highest detail levels. No other game showed a performance increase, and in fact some games as I recall showed slight performance decreases. But when we're looking at 110 FPS vs 105 FPS it isn't like it'd be noticable. For a tight budget there is no need to go 2GB, IMO.

I haven't had an nVidia experience since the Viper V770 TNT2 card. And that was a good card. However, lately I've been more of an ATI fan. I'm not sure there is really a reason other than the Canadian connection.

Addition: PowerSupply. Right now I'm running an OCZ 520W that was around $130 (CAN). As mentioned don't cheap out there. Make it something that has room to expand in the future, and is of quality. My previous was an Enermax (brand mentioned above) and it was quite solid as well. Also about O/S. As mentioned there is almost always an educational discount when you attend Post Secondary. I really like the discount I recieved when I went to NAIT - Free. And that wasn't the only software NAIT gave me.

Lerxst_of_Syrinx · Feb 27, 2006, 05:07 PM // 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stalker Haras

Intel is my personal favorite. Not just because I believe so, but 3/4ths of the Technicians here in my town believe so.

Intel ftw!

Man, where do you live? Hicktown, where there's no Internet or magazines?

I have yet to meet a computer geek that would recommend an Intel chip anymore...ESPECIALLY their lousy dual-cores. And let's not get started on the Opterons servers vs. the Xeon servers.

Find me a SINGLE review that picks an Intel dial-core proc over an AMD dual-core...bet you can't.

Oh well...if you want to spend more for less, it's your money.

SaucE · Feb 27, 2006, 06:27 PM // 18:27

<<=== Geek who would recommend Intel hands down.

r3dh3adkid · Feb 27, 2006, 09:06 PM // 21:06

Ok I'll drop the Dual core and that will save me some more cash.

Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor - Retail - $177.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116198

That will be the replacement Core I think. 2MB L2 Cache, P4, 800MHz, Hyperthreading, 64 Bit support, OF 3.0GHz

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V TUV, UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC - Retail - $68.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103937

I had originally decided to get a PSU but I figured I wouldnt sence the case already came with one. (yea I know its alot better to go ahead and get one to replace the stock on). Thats the PSU I think ima go with.

I would get an ATi Video card but their cards are really expensive and I can get that one that is much cheaper than if I get an ATi one. Its still a radeon so im satisfied. I might look into a Sapphire one.

SAPPHIRE 100130VIVO Radeon X800GTO2 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM - $189.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102645

Thats a Sapphire card I had looked at and almost decided to go with a while ago.

I think I'm going to stick with my 1GB of ram because I dont really think I'll need 2GB of ram.

The only think I still might need help with is the motherboard. Do you think thats a good motherboard?

HDS · Feb 27, 2006, 09:14 PM // 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teklord

I just want to add / agree with a few things above. First off, Corsair is not cheap Ram. A couple of years ago I purchased a Dual Channel 1GB kit for around $450.00 (CAN). This stuff is fancy, extra low latency 2-2-2-5. And for added 'coolness' it has activity LEDs.

I've got between both Intel and AMD for CPU. AMD has been proven the better for most gaming experiences (Tom's Hardware Guide.com) however I can admit that it lacks in the ability to multitask, save for Dual Core which I don't believe is worth the added investment at this point in time. The Hyper-threading technology of Intel is something I do miss because as of now for some reason my AMD 4000+ doesn't like to run a game like Guild Wars and have music playing on Winamp at the same time. It'll play one song just fine, then it takes five minutes before it plays the next song on the list. This was never an issue on my Intel P4 2.4GHz with HT. Still overall, the AMD is definitly better for gaming.

Back to Ram. 2GB is not worth it at this point as well, speaking before Vista. Who knows what Vista will run like. However, it has been proven (again Tom's Hardware Guide) that the only game to experience any kind of a benefit (and it wasn't huge) with 2GBs of Ram was Battlefield 2 set to the highest detail levels. No other game showed a performance increase, and in fact some games as I recall showed slight performance decreases. But when we're looking at 110 FPS vs 105 FPS it isn't like it'd be noticable. For a tight budget there is no need to go 2GB, IMO.

I haven't had an nVidia experience since the Viper V770 TNT2 card. And that was a good card. However, lately I've been more of an ATI fan. I'm not sure there is really a reason other than the Canadian connection.

Addition: PowerSupply. Right now I'm running an OCZ 520W that was around $130 (CAN). As mentioned don't cheap out there. Make it something that has room to expand in the future, and is of quality. My previous was an Enermax (brand mentioned above) and it was quite solid as well. Also about O/S. As mentioned there is almost always an educational discount when you attend Post Secondary. I really like the discount I recieved when I went to NAIT - Free. And that wasn't the only software NAIT gave me.

ROFL

My AMD 3800+ at stock speeds runs GW, Winamp, MSN, GAIM, Opera and OOo all at the same time without stuttering at all, no interruptions nothing, maybe you should clean your OS, tis not your proc for sure.

HDS · Feb 27, 2006, 09:17 PM // 21:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3dh3adkid

Ok I'll drop the Dual core and that will save me some more cash.

Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor - Retail - $177.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116198

That will be the replacement Core I think. 2MB L2 Cache, P4, 800MHz, Hyperthreading, 64 Bit support, OF 3.0GHz

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V TUV, UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC - Retail - $68.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103937

I had originally decided to get a PSU but I figured I wouldnt sence the case already came with one. (yea I know its alot better to go ahead and get one to replace the stock on). Thats the PSU I think ima go with.

I would get an ATi Video card but their cards are really expensive and I can get that one that is much cheaper than if I get an ATi one. Its still a radeon so im satisfied. I might look into a Sapphire one.

SAPPHIRE 100130VIVO Radeon X800GTO2 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM - $189.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102645

Thats a Sapphire card I had looked at and almost decided to go with a while ago.

I think I'm going to stick with my 1GB of ram because I dont really think I'll need 2GB of ram.

The only think I still might need help with is the motherboard. Do you think thats a good motherboard?

Buy AMD. Clock speed doesn't matter, it is IMPOSSIBLE to compare AMD clock speeds to those of intel, my 3800+ runs @ 2.4ghz while the intel equivalent runs at 3.7 or so.

AMD = better + cheaper.

And as for cache, the reason AMD has 512k or 1 mb is because they have an ondie memory controller and intel doesnt, so intel compensates by the 2 mb cache.

Definitley switch to AMD.

EDIT:

Spend an extra 10$-20$ and get an X850XT, better preformance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102505
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102483

EDIT2:

Spend 36 $ more and get this which will FAR outpreform your 3.0 Intels.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103539

Or spend 24$ more and get this which again will FARM outpreform your 3.0 intel

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103533

awesome sauce · Feb 27, 2006, 09:18 PM // 21:18

Aren't you missing a sound card? or does that come integrated in the motherboard?

HDS · Feb 27, 2006, 09:30 PM // 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by awesome sauce

Aren't you missing a sound card? or does that come integrated in the motherboard?

onboard sound works well... most people use onboard, even me.

Teklord · Feb 27, 2006, 09:41 PM // 21:41

I'm not sure if this is allowed, I hope it is...

If you really want a good look as to how processors compare via both synthetic and real-world benchmarks check out Tom's Hardware Guide 2005/2006 CPU Charts @ http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

You'll see that for a little extra cash as noted above with either the 3500+ or 3700+ a rather large performance increase over the 630 in many applications, most notably - games.

HDS - Yeah, I figured that didn't add up. It's a little strange, this is a fresh build from only two months ago. But I suppose something happened somewhere along the line that should not have. I should give it a rebuild and see how it works out.