Seeking advice on new system

[vandal103]

Hi there,

I've been doing some research lately on trying to configure a new system. I plan to use it for mainly high-definition gaming (Oblivion and other games that are more on the graphic-intensive side), and occasional movie watching. Was wondering if the following list of components would make for a great system that will last a few years before having to do major upgrades:

Case: Lian Li PC-60BPLUSII W Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Motherboard: ECS KA3 MVP (V1.0A) Socket AM2 ATI CrossFire Radeon XPRESS 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - Not the best of brands, but not sure which board to use with an ATI card.
Video card: ATI Radeon X1900XT - Partial to ATI, so I'd prefer to stick with them.
Power supply: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - Might consider a cheaper alternative as the price keeps going up these days...
Floppy: SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Monitor: SAMSUNG 930B-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Looking at this lately b/c of out-of-stockness.
Optical drives: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827101131
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827152058
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24bit 70SB041000000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

A few questions: I'm aware of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, but is it really worth it for the average home user over the selected AMD? I don't really have a preference for AMD/Intel, though the AMD is appealing because of higher-than-average performance, and the Intel can offer much greater performance, but at a bigger cost. I said earlier I'm not going to be buying for several months as I don't have all the money yet, so would you all think that the Core 2 Duo CPUs and motherboards would be more affordable by then to make up for the AMD CPU? On the other hand, AMD and ATI solutions would probably be better together because of the recent merger, but that's kind of in-the-clouds currently.

As for motherboard, I'm not planning on Crossfire, and would still like something that has a good chipset that would work well with my selected components. I shyed away from the nVidia chipsets because I thought there might be compatability issues with the video card, but I don't know about how chipsets work really.

Hopefully you guys can offer some advice as you have more experience than me with this type of stuff. Looking forward to feedback.

(PS: budget is probably $1,600 at most)

 

[MG37221]

You've selected some very nice components. I refuse to use ECS motherboards. I've had some dreadful luck with them in the past and I just won't consider them.

Since ATI is one of the only two video card manufacturers (GPU anyway), you don't have to worry about ATI versus nVidia chipsets. Compatibility won't be an issue. I'd think that any decent DFI, ASUS or even MSI motherboard will work just fine as long as it has all of the features you are looking for.

As for Core Duo, yes, it is blazingly fast but not so much so at the price point you've indicated. The most difficult game you mentioned is Oblivion and your selected CPU is plenty as this game is GPU limited (video card). Any current mid to high range CPU will handle current games with aplomb.

I use AMD processors myself and having recently upgraded my stuff, I'm not in the market, which is good as Conroe is indeed very tempting.

 

[shadowduck]

For the motherboard go with the Asus M2N-E. ATI cards work fine with nVidia chipsets.

For the CPU downgrade to the 3800+. The differences between the 38 and 42 are miminal.

For the RAM upgrade to CAS4 Corsair RAM. CAS5 DDR2 performs rather crappy with AM2.

 

[MG37221]

For the motherboard go with the Asus M2N-E. ATI cards work fine with nVidia chipsets.

For the CPU downgrade to the 3800+. The differences between the 38 and 42 are miminal.

For the RAM upgrade to CAS4 Corsair RAM. CAS5 DDR2 performs rather crappy with AM2.

I don't agree on your CPU suggestion but do on the memory. 200MHz makes a significant difference with the A64 Architecture. I have an X2 3800, and a 4400 (mine's an Opteron 175) and an X2 4800. I'd say stick with your 4200.

 

[vandal103]

Thanks for the advice thus far. However, do you think this mobo would work well with my system?

 

[shadowduck]

Thanks for the advice thus far. However, do you think this mobo would work well with my system?

It would work, but it uses an older chipset and its the same price.

 

[shadowduck]

For the motherboard go with the Asus M2N-E. ATI cards work fine with nVidia chipsets.

For the CPU downgrade to the 3800+. The differences between the 38 and 42 are miminal.

For the RAM upgrade to CAS4 Corsair RAM. CAS5 DDR2 performs rather crappy with AM2.

I don't agree on your CPU suggestion but do on the memory. 200MHz makes a significant difference with the A64 Architecture. I have an X2 3800, and a 4400 (mine's an Opteron 175) and an X2 4800. I'd say stick with your 4200.

I stand corrected. Absolutlely go with the 4200.

 

[MG37221]

For the motherboard go with the Asus M2N-E. ATI cards work fine with nVidia chipsets.

For the CPU downgrade to the 3800+. The differences between the 38 and 42 are miminal.

For the RAM upgrade to CAS4 Corsair RAM. CAS5 DDR2 performs rather crappy with AM2.

I don't agree on your CPU suggestion but do on the memory. 200MHz makes a significant difference with the A64 Architecture. I have an X2 3800, and a 4400 (mine's an Opteron 175) and an X2 4800. I'd say stick with your 4200.

I stand corrected. Absolutlely go with the 4200.

Hardly corrected. You said nothing incorrect. We merely disagree and that is perfectly fine.

 

[vandal103]

Ok, I've decided on the ASUS board then. One more question though:

When I get the machine built, I would have to install all my drivers first. Normally, I'd do the chipset drivers first, but since I hear the board requires a BIOS update for stability, should I do that before installing drivers, or after?

 

[MG37221]

Ok, I've decided on the ASUS board then. One more question though:

When I get the machine built, I would have to install all my drivers first. Normally, I'd do the chipset drivers first, but since I hear the board requires a BIOS update for stability, should I do that before installing drivers, or after?

Won't really matter though you can upgrade the BIOS any time. The drivers have to wait for the OS to be installed.