Well i was wondering what i should get for my pc with a budget range frm
$1500 to $2000. So i would like inputs frm experts on whats 'The best buy for a 1500 to 2000' (excluding monitors, casing n sound cards) with speed n graphic as piority. (ready for a window vista or 64 bit edition)

Listing

Motherboard (brand n price)(preferably with a wifi in it)
Processors
Graphic card
Memory
Hard disk
Cooling equipments

Prior to the debut of the Conroe in July/Aug, probably the best gaming rig (for the money) available now has an X2-4200+ or Opty 170 in one of the NF4 variant mainboards (many OC these another 200-400 MHz), equipped with a 7900GT ($300) or 1900XT ($400). Important: we are not sure these cards wil indeed support Direct x 10 yet , as "supported by Vista" is not nearly the same thing as saying "Direct X 10 ready"; the next generation/update of Nvidia gpus will be out in June...

You can spend up to $200 on a top Xfi variant soundcard, but, most NF4 onboard sound 8 ch sound solutions are quite adequate, and many top NF4 SL premium boards even come equipped with an integrated SB Live solution..; I'd personally save your sound card money for a physics card in a few months, and if building in a few months, I'd wait for Conroe, which might easily result in a 2.4G Conroe at $350-ish outperforming a $1000 FX60....

As for hard drives, many swear by the Raptor variants, but I find the largest ones (147gb) to be overpriced at $300, just to shave off 2 seconds off of boot/game level load times, when very good 200-300GB SATA units are available for $120-$160 on sale, and personally, I never hesitate to pick up even an ATA133 unit, as those drives are available at 250GB/7200rpm/16m cache units on sale at CompUSA for as little as $59 after rebates!

Great budget range, that really leaves it open to build an extremely fast system. Here are some rec's:

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX - $79
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ - $460
G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 500 (PC 4000) - $157
SAPPHIRE 100149 Radeon X1900XT 512MB OEM - $439
WD Raptor 10k 36Gb (**WinXP Boot drive) - $105
2x Seagate 300Gb/16mb/7200rpm (**RAID 0 Storage array) - $220
Zalman 9500 Copper HSF - $64

**This rings up on Newegg at about $1525. Leaving plenty of leftover $$ for you to buy a case and accessories. Also, I chose the DDR500 spec on the memory to leave some headroom (+- 20%) to overclock if you are into that type of thing. If not, simply get the standard DDR400 memory, and you could choose HSF fan with a smaller footprint.

You should also consider that new socket formats are coming from both AMD and Intel in the next couple months. Intel's Conroe is due out this summer, while AMD is going to release the new AM2 socket within a couple of weeks, and if you can wait, those will provide you with a more "future-proofed" platform from which to build your system.

Good luck!!

How about this?

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio [...] er=3114006

See my signature for a great gaming system system sans monitor & soundcard built for $1999 including Windows XP Pro & Microsoft Office 03.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160812AS 160GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer ***Free Shipping*** $81.00
OCZ PowerStream OCZ520ADJSLI ATX, BTX, EPS12V 520W Power Supply 100~120Vac / 200~240Vac 10/6a - Retail $119.99
MSI K8N Diamond Plus nForce4 SLI Opteron/Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***Free Shipping***$189.99
SAPPHIRE 100134L Radeon X1800XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $309.00
Corsair TWINX2048-3200 2GB DDR400 XMS3200 Memory w/Black Heat Spreader Retail ***Free Shipping*** $175.00
LG L1920PQ Black-Silver 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 0.294mm $253.95
AMD Opteron 165 Dual-Core 1.8GHz Processor Retail ***Free Shipping*** $327.00
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165P6S RTL - Retail $39.99
GIGABYTE GZ-FSCA1-ANB 3D AURURA (BLACK) FULL TOWER $129.00
SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black - OEM $6.99
LG Electronics GSA-4167BI 16X DVD+/-RW Drive w/ Software (Beige) $43.77____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Subtotal= $1635.69

change the opty to a 170 and make that x1800xt512 a x1900xt and youve got a system worthing killing for.

where is the video card?

where is the video card?


I had a 7900GT in there but it mysteriously disappeared.

It's a bug in the new newegg wishlist system.

The original config was for $1550 now it's down to $1,156.10

I am guessing thats $2000 USD- lets build you a system!

Total: $2001.34 (yeah baby $1 over!) includes shipping by the way

Opteron 165- $327.00
DFI Lanparty Ultra D- $122
2GB Corsair XMS RAM DDR-400- Twinx2048-3200c2pt- $189.00 before $50 MIR
74GB Raptor Hard drive for OS/Progs- $160.00
250GB Maxtor SATA 3.0gbs hard drive- $88.00
Lite-on DVD Burner- $35.99
Antec P180 Case- $114.99
Antec Truepower 2.0 550W PSU- $99 before $20 MIR
256MB eVGA 7900GT video card- $319.00
Windows XP Pro SP2 OEM- $144
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - $106.99
BenQ FP91G+ Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: FP91G+- $239.99

Theres a config I did for $2000 for another poster.. Now this one includes a monitor. Drop the monitor, sound card, and case and you should be around $1500. If you really want exterme gaming add a second 7900GT as the motherboard chosen is SLI.

Thanks for the reply but a few still does not really answer my need.


So I think i should rephrase the whole question....
If 'you' have $1500 to $2000 in ur pocket for a pc (so its kind of like a wish list but with a budget range; rem less is better when the performance range does not differ by much)
what would u have bought considering the price to perfomance ratio.
Considering the new OS (and i don want the pc to run like a heavy ladden donkey with the new os coming ard in late july) w/o casing display n sound card. and when is the best time should i spend my dough. (well ppl tell me June is probably the best time for the spending)


WEll good hunting with the new budget. Go ahead and hunt me
a satisfying pc that at least could run fast for the next 2 years.
Of course OC is neccessary thats why a good motherboard n cooling system is needed (so i am talking abt reliability here)

"If 'you' have $1500 to $2000 in ur pocket for a pc (so its kind of like a wish list but with a budget range; rem less is better when the performance range does not differ by much)
what would u have bought considering the price to perfomance ratio. "

One need not spend $1500 or $2000 to get a "good" rig for gaming...

An $89 NF4 board, an X2/4200+ ($365), a 7900GT ($320), 2 gb of PC3200 ($200), insert in in case with decent PS (500 watt), reuse your drives, and you are golden....

Yes, an SLI rig with a pair of $450 7900GTX cards will produce faster framerates...but a single 7900GT or 1900XT is very capable at fairly high resolutons, and a rig built around either card will be good for a year or two easily...

And as for "OC being necessary"....why? The extra 200-400MHz most get in overclocking is good for about a 2-3 frames per second increase at high res in most games at best, which is easily achievable thru a 15 MHz OC in gpu mem clock....

In gaming, the gpu is of about 90% importance in the performance equation...

This was my build before I decide to wait for actual benchmarks for Conroe:

CPU:
Athlon X2 4800+ - $632 + Free Shipping

CPU Heatsink:
Scythe Ninja - $43.99 + Free Shipping

This is considered the king of the hill interm of CPU heatsinks. A fan is not include, but it is very much capable of cooling an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ without one. A few people at SPCR.com even claim to silently cool an X2 4600+ with it, but that's a bit daring for me. A case with good airflow is required for passive cooling. This 5.9" (150mm) tall HS will be better and quieter than the stock HSF with the right 120mm fan.

Fan for CPU Heatsink:
Nexus 120mm Black & White - $15.49 + shipping ($4??)

Awesome quiet fan to pair up with the Scythe Ninja.

Motherboard:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium ATX - $159.99 + $5.59 Shipping

The main reason I chose this motherboard is because the chipset is being cooled passively with heatsinks and heatpipes therefore no fan noise. No real interest in SLI.

GPU:
XFX GeForce 7900 GT - $299 + $4.89 shipping

A Geforce 7900GT is good enough for me. Consumes much less power than a Radeon which makes it easier to cool down. XFX offers Double Warranty. That means XFX will honor it's lifetime warranty when you own it and to the next person should you decide to sell it. It easier to sell something second hand if the next person knows he/she is getting a card that will be under warranty.

A 7900GTX 512MB card is $509 + 5.09 shipping

GPU Cooler
ZALMAN VF900 – CU - $46.99 + Free Shipping

Any stock GPU HSF will be loud. Too loud for my tastes especially when XFX sells overclocked GPUs. This all copper HSF will keep the noise down, and cool the GPU better than the stock HSF.

RAM
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) - $188 + Free Shipping - $50 Rebate

2 Hard Drives
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series 250GB - $178 + 9.98 shipping = Total for 2 HDs

Samsung Hard Drives are known to be quieter the than nearest competition, 1dBA - 2 dBA quieter.

DVD Burner
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black - $37.99 + Free Shipping

Soundcard
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS - $75 + $6 shipping - $6 Instant Rebate

Why Audigy 2 and not X-Fi? For gaming there is bearly any difference in audio sound quality. If you were using the sound card for audio recording then get the X-Fi. If you connect your PC to an audiophile system then go with X-Fi.

By audiophile system I am talking about $3,000+ speakers made by Paradigm, B&W, Totem Acoustics, Infinity, Talon Audio, etc. you will not hear the difference. Oh yeah, don't forget high end audio components as well like a $1,500 - $3,000 amplifier, etc.

Power Supply
Seasonic S12 500 - $124.99 + $8.99 shipping

A premium grade PSU that is very quiet, reliable, and efficient which is why I bought this. Tested to be above 80% efficient. That means less electricity is wasted as heat and dumped into the PC case. This is SLI certified and will definitely be more powerful than what you really need.

Wanna waste money on a more powerful SLI certified PSU? Then get the Seasonic S12 600 for $169.99 + 8.99 shipping.

Case
COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 - $74.99 + 15.99 shipping - $25 Rebate

I bought this case because the controls are on top of the case rather than on the side. Since it stands on the floor it allows me to easily reach the power button and the USB & Firewire ports. Tool-less design. Open mesh with washable dust filters to allow air to flow in so that internal components are kept cooler. Comes with a 120mm blue LED intake fan (tossed out for quieter fan).

2 Case Fans
Nexus 120mm Black & White - $30.98 + shipping ($7??) = Total for 2 Fans

Awesome quiet fan. One to replace the inlcuded case intake fan, and one for the exhaust fan.

3 Fan Mate II
ZALMAN FAN MATE 2 Fan Controller - $14.97 + 8.97 shipping = Total for all 3.

Ahhh, nothing like fan controllers to reduce fan noise.

Keyboard
Saitek Black Wired Eclipse - $46.95 + $6.99 shipping

Very nice keyboard with blue backlit keys. Yes, very nice. Glad I bought it.

Mouse
Razer Plasma Diamondback Black Mouse - $49.89 + $4.99 - $10 Rebate

Nice mouse, matches my Eclipse keyboard. Too bad I already have a nice Logitec mouse that I like.

Total Cost $2,011.17

What you get:

A powerful and very quiet PC that will last you a year or two.

Note: Budget does not allow for speaker system.

Oh well. In any case, this is what I would get if Conroe and Socket AM2 was not coming out this year.

Assuming 100% load on every single component: 262w Max.

Breakdown:

Athlon 64 X2 =============== 95w
GeForce 7900GT============= 57w
Additional Power for OCed GPU====12w
Hard Drives & DVD =========== 50w
Motherboard ===============20w
Fans =====================18w
Soundcard =================12w
RAM =====================10w

Total Power Consumption ===== 274w

Total Power Consumption from AC outlet using a 80% efficinent PSU = 343w

Sources:

GPU Power Consumption

Note: The 7900GT actually useless less power than the 7800GT because of the die shrink from 110nm down to 90nm. But it performs slighlty better than the 7800GTX.

CPU Power Consumption

I don't know about these guys but I'm perfectly happy with a 3700+, I don't need dual core as I don't multitask, I have 3 computers right in front of me And single core 3700+ will beat a X2 4400+ based on Toms guides in current games. Save some money there if it's just a gaming rig.

Sorry for the late reply coz i was doing my research/homework on webs and forums(i hate to sound stupid/n00b but the fact is i am a n00bie).
Yes i agree that oc is not needed in gaming but i find it hard to resist oc.
I love to make the best bang for the buck on processor hence the oc.
The raid 0 is for the os not for gaming.
and I do multi task a LOT.


So this are the specs for my buying list

OPTERON 170 - $400 oc it to 2.6/2.7 on stock cooling(opty 160 is good but i am really new in oc n i heard 170 is easir to oc coz of the 10x multi)
2 X RAPTOR 36 GB $210 (RAID O)
250GB SEAGATE SATA 7200 HRD DRIVE $90
DFI LAN PARTY ULTRA D nF4 $122
OCZ PLAT 2X1GB $190
ANTEC PSU .2 550W $100
EVGA NVIDIA 256MB 7900GT $320/ X1800XT 512MB GDDR $300
LITE ON 16X $35 X2


TTL = $1500 (round it off)

For the graphic card i might change it to x1900xt and oc it to xtx


So what do you think of the new spec i chose (wise?)?

That's a good config :-D

But I would advise you to think about the Raptors in RAID 0

http://www.storagereview.com/comparison.html

1 WD360GD Raptor = 57.4MB/sec
1 WD2500KS = 61.3MB/sec
1 WD740GD = 71.8MB/sec
1 WD1500ADFD = 88.3MB/sec


2 WD2500KS 250GB drives would probably outperform 2 WD360GD 36GB Raptors in RAID 0 in all but latency / access time.

and the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB drives actually seem to outperform the 74GB Raptors

That's a good config :-D

But I would advise you to think about the Raptors in RAID 0

http://www.storagereview.com/comparison.html

1 WD360GD Raptor = 57.4MB/sec
1 WD2500KS = 61.3MB/sec
1 WD740GD = 71.8MB/sec
1 WD1500ADFD = 88.3MB/sec


2 WD2500KS 250GB drives would probably outperform 2 WD360GD 36GB Raptors in RAID 0 in all but latency / access time.

and the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB drives actually seem to outperform the 74GB Raptors

Yeah thanks it really cut down on the budget.
Much more bang for the buck

Indeed :-D

Better performance for less $ is always good :-D

If you can wait until after the 23rd of this month everything "should" get a bit cheaper after AM2 is released.

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe $230
AMD X2 4800+ $640
7900GTX $ 500
2x1Gb Corsair DDR433 $285
Western Digital Caviar 250GB $90
Sony DVD/CD RW $30
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink $65
COOLER MASTER Centurion case $65
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply $65

That's a total of $1970, you can spend the rest on beer!