Need system build advice

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

It has been a really long time since I last built a computer. A lot has
changed. My current computer keeps dying and trashing my boot partition
which has really hampered my research on what to buy. Guess where I
had my notes?

First off, I need a stable and reliable system. I am physically and
vocally disabled so my computer is my link to the world.

The computer will be mostly used to play Massively Multi-player Online
Roleplaying Games like EverQuest and Guild Wars. Ripping and burning
CD/DVDs is a lesser passion.

My budget isn't set yet but my harddrives, CD and DVD drives are new
enough to keep using. That gives me some freedom to spend more on
other parts.

So far my research points toward getting an Athlon 64. What are the
differences between the Clawhammer, Venice, and San Diego cores?
My current system is an Intel P4 2.4GHz. I'll probably be getting
an Athlon 3500+ or faster so it lasts me a while. Where is the best
bang for the buck sweet spot these days?

Since the Athlon 64 is a 939 processor, my next question is which
motherboard to buy and which to avoid? It needs to support X2 for
potential future upgrades. I'm not interested in SLI. PCI-E will
used for graphics as my old card is garbage. Is nForce 4 the best
choice? Is there more than one version on the nForce 4 chipset?

RAM these days has me confused. The new system will have one or
two gigabytes but the motherboard will likely dictate choices on
that.

My graphics card will be Nvidia. Likely a 6600GT but possibly a
6800 or 7800 of some type.

Any ideas on a decent tower case with a power button near the
bottom? My handicaps restrict my reach so that is important.
My current case is an AOpen desktop version but with two hard-
drives and a CD and DVD drive cooling might be an issue with
the newer processors and graphics cards. I'm not a fan of
noisy computers.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[jad]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"A Person" <spook.spambait@rexx.com> wrote in message
news:11ivtvi55c4na76@corp.supernews.com...
> It has been a really long time since I last built a computer. A lot has
> changed. My current computer keeps dying and trashing my boot partition
> which has really hampered my research on what to buy. Guess where I
> had my notes?


sounds like a hard drive problem or possibly a mainboard controller/ide
driver issue. A system shutdown or OS reboot rarely involves a partition
thrashing. Maybe the PSU, as THIS is becoming the #1 killer of systems as of
late.

>
> First off, I need a stable and reliable system. I am physically and
> vocally disabled so my computer is my link to the world.
>
> The computer will be mostly used to play Massively Multi-player Online
> Roleplaying Games like EverQuest and Guild Wars. Ripping and burning
> CD/DVDs is a lesser passion.
>
> My budget isn't set yet but my harddrives, CD and DVD drives are new
> enough to keep using. That gives me some freedom to spend more on
> other parts.
>
> So far my research points toward getting an Athlon 64. What are the
> differences between the Clawhammer, Venice, and San Diego cores?
> My current system is an Intel P4 2.4GHz. I'll probably be getting
> an Athlon 3500+ or faster so it lasts me a while. Where is the best
> bang for the buck sweet spot these days?
>
> Since the Athlon 64 is a 939 processor, my next question is which
> motherboard to buy and which to avoid? It needs to support X2 for
> potential future upgrades. I'm not interested in SLI. PCI-E will
> used for graphics as my old card is garbage. Is nForce 4 the best
> choice? Is there more than one version on the nForce 4 chipset?
>
> RAM these days has me confused. The new system will have one or
> two gigabytes but the motherboard will likely dictate choices on
> that.
>
> My graphics card will be Nvidia. Likely a 6600GT but possibly a
> 6800 or 7800 of some type.
>
> Any ideas on a decent tower case with a power button near the
> bottom? My handicaps restrict my reach so that is important.
> My current case is an AOpen desktop version but with two hard-
> drives and a CD and DVD drive cooling might be an issue with
> the newer processors and graphics cards. I'm not a fan of
> noisy computers.
>
> Any advice appreciated.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <GvWXe.574$845.450@fe03.lga>,
JAD <kapasitor@earthcharter.net> wrote:
>
>"A Person" <spook.spambait@rexx.com> wrote in message
>news:11ivtvi55c4na76@corp.supernews.com...
>> It has been a really long time since I last built a computer. A lot has
>> changed. My current computer keeps dying and trashing my boot partition
>> which has really hampered my research on what to buy. Guess where I
>> had my notes?
>
>sounds like a hard drive problem or possibly a mainboard controller/ide
>driver issue. A system shutdown or OS reboot rarely involves a partition
>thrashing. Maybe the PSU, as THIS is becoming the #1 killer of systems as of
>late.

It's the mainboard. It is getting progressively worse but still boots
for now. Hence the rush to pick new parts before it dies. I usually
don't post questions without doing more research first.

At a minimum a new mainboard, RAM, and graphics card will be needed.
My old system was getting too slow to meet my needs even before the
problems started.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

In article <2ciYe.1647$845.1545@fe03.lga>,
JAD <kapasitor@earthcharter.net> wrote:
>
>"A Person" <spook.spambait@rexx.com> wrote in message
>>
>> The computer will be mostly used to play Massively Multi-player Online
>> Roleplaying Games like EverQuest and Guild Wars. Ripping and burning
>> CD/DVDs is a lesser passion.
>
>As of late I have not dabbled in the multiplayer game arena. That latest
>game I play-played is Medal of honor allied assault , The ever evolving
>Americas Army, Any UT made. Do these come close to what your playing?

No clue on those games. The games I play do require my turning options
off to maintain viable speed.

If my mainboard were healthy a new graphics card would be a good short
term option. Getting another mainboard for my 2.4 P4 would likely keep
me with AGP which is a dying, if not dead, standard. My 1Gb of PC133 RAM
is antique by today's standards. It just looks like modest changes now
would force major changes next upgrade. I may as well just do it now.
My history has been to do lots of small upgrades until that doesn't
suffice and then buy top quality hardware, but not quite bleeding edge,
and begin the cycle again as needed.

My prior systems have used ASUS and Abit mainboards. The current one
uses [never again!] ECS. Being without USENET 3 years has left oblivious
to the manufacturers to avoid and the ones to buy. Newegg, for example,
has 19 manufacturers of AMD mainboards listed. AMD and Intel aren't
helping things by their oodles of processor variations.