Hi, first time poster, long time reader.
I plan on building a new machine, which i'm not new to, but lets just say i'm a bit behind on the newest technology. I've read as much as I can stomach over the last few weeks and still torn on a couple things, hoping you guys could shed some light.
Cash purse: I have 2500$'s (not set in stone) to spend on the best gaming machine I can build. I already have an X-fi sound card, so consider that covered. But everything else... =) hook a broda up.
I've read a lot about some new ATI stuff comin out in mid january, and i'm willing to wait till then if its worth it, something about the next gen vid cards x1900's? I do wish to stay with ATI, so please try to concentrate on that. I do wish to do crossfire as well of the best cards I can fit into my price. I also wish to go AMD this round, because frankly, I am not happy with the temperatures of my current prescott (not stock cooling either) nor am I going to give them anymore money for awhile. I may play around with overclocking, so I won't be going stock cooling.
Ok, now my questions in order of importance:
Motherboard. I've seen some reviews on new motherboards coming out in January where the crossfire w/ new drivers communicates through the PCI instead of with that extremely ghetto cable in the back =P. I would prefer that hehe. So my question is, what motherboard should I be keeping my eyes on?
Video Cards. Been looking at the x1800xt, but I figure if i'm going to throw down 1100$'s on video cards (2), I may as well wait for the new ones in January. What card should I keep my eyes on to pair up? And what brand? I read the one article on a break down of the different brands (sapphire and such). I'm very concerned about heat for these cards in general as i've had some bad luck with top end video cards. Also, just to check, requires a master card and then a crossfire compatible card correct?
Processor. <--- noob to what I should be going for in the AMD's. X2 or Opteron? Basically, I believe the X2 4600+ was what I wanted in my price range, but will an Opteron around the same price be better for me? Remember, solely a gamer. I never even considered an Opteron till I started reading here heh. Way to confuse me more!
Ram. I'm pretty happy with my current OCZ platinum ram, so I will probably stay with them and i'm looking at around 2 gigs of it (for now).
Hard Drive ya ya, raptor 10k is fine =P
Power Supply Given what i'm running so far, what type of PSU should I be looking for? Brand?
Cooling Any recommended "must by's" for cooling? I'm not interested in water cooling, air cooling is fine, but i'd also like to keep it pretty quiet.
Case Don't care all that much. It can be the size of my car so long as it runs cool. Don't really need so much help with this as the MB/Vid/Proc.
I've already picked out and priced a few systems so far, but i'd rather hear what you guys have to say before I start throwing out brands. Basically think of it for yourselves, what you would get for the $? I realize this is kind of long, so I appreciate those of you that took the time to read, and even more the ones that will reply
.
So thanks again! I would like to purchase all my parts by the end of January, regardless of what is coming out after. So consider that pretty much the only limitation. OH, I have an LCD already that I absolutely love, so I don't need that either. $ is solely for the PC.
I plan on building a new machine, which i'm not new to, but lets just say i'm a bit behind on the newest technology. I've read as much as I can stomach over the last few weeks and still torn on a couple things, hoping you guys could shed some light.
Cash purse: I have 2500$'s (not set in stone) to spend on the best gaming machine I can build. I already have an X-fi sound card, so consider that covered. But everything else... =) hook a broda up.
I've read a lot about some new ATI stuff comin out in mid january, and i'm willing to wait till then if its worth it, something about the next gen vid cards x1900's? I do wish to stay with ATI, so please try to concentrate on that. I do wish to do crossfire as well of the best cards I can fit into my price. I also wish to go AMD this round, because frankly, I am not happy with the temperatures of my current prescott (not stock cooling either) nor am I going to give them anymore money for awhile. I may play around with overclocking, so I won't be going stock cooling.
Ok, now my questions in order of importance:
Motherboard. I've seen some reviews on new motherboards coming out in January where the crossfire w/ new drivers communicates through the PCI instead of with that extremely ghetto cable in the back =P. I would prefer that hehe. So my question is, what motherboard should I be keeping my eyes on?
Video Cards. Been looking at the x1800xt, but I figure if i'm going to throw down 1100$'s on video cards (2), I may as well wait for the new ones in January. What card should I keep my eyes on to pair up? And what brand? I read the one article on a break down of the different brands (sapphire and such). I'm very concerned about heat for these cards in general as i've had some bad luck with top end video cards. Also, just to check, requires a master card and then a crossfire compatible card correct?
Processor. <--- noob to what I should be going for in the AMD's. X2 or Opteron? Basically, I believe the X2 4600+ was what I wanted in my price range, but will an Opteron around the same price be better for me? Remember, solely a gamer. I never even considered an Opteron till I started reading here heh. Way to confuse me more!
Ram. I'm pretty happy with my current OCZ platinum ram, so I will probably stay with them and i'm looking at around 2 gigs of it (for now).
Hard Drive ya ya, raptor 10k is fine =P
Power Supply Given what i'm running so far, what type of PSU should I be looking for? Brand?
Cooling Any recommended "must by's" for cooling? I'm not interested in water cooling, air cooling is fine, but i'd also like to keep it pretty quiet.
Case Don't care all that much. It can be the size of my car so long as it runs cool. Don't really need so much help with this as the MB/Vid/Proc.
I've already picked out and priced a few systems so far, but i'd rather hear what you guys have to say before I start throwing out brands. Basically think of it for yourselves, what you would get for the $? I realize this is kind of long, so I appreciate those of you that took the time to read, and even more the ones that will reply
.So thanks again! I would like to purchase all my parts by the end of January, regardless of what is coming out after. So consider that pretty much the only limitation. OH, I have an LCD already that I absolutely love, so I don't need that either. $ is solely for the PC.
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