Updating my system! Help needed

[Mike20061-AMD]

Hello All

I am looking at updating my system, but I'm not sure which processor I should choose. My primary use is for gaming and some video editing with FRAPs, Divx 6.2.5 (Quantizer 4 - Unrestricted) and Lame MP3 ACM codec

Below is my current gaming rig specs
================================================
AMD64 4000+ Processor
ASUS A8V Deluxe Motherboard w/ 1018 001 Bios
Creative S750 7.1 Surround Sound on Creative XFI Extreme Music
BFG Technologies 6800 Ultra Overclocked from factory
Crucial TWINX2-512 PC 3200 2-2-2-5 XMS Extreme Memory Kit

1x Sony HD166S 16X DVD Drive
1x Lite-One SOHW 1633S DVD Burner
1x Segate Barracuda 7200/8 250Gb IDE
1x Western Digital Raptor 10000 74Gb SATA

Arctic Silver thermal paste
Thermalright XP120 Heatsink w/ Panasonic Panaflo 120mm Fan
Antec 650 Watt Power Supply Unit

Windows XP Professional w/ SP2
Windows Vista x86 Bit (Dual Boot)

These are my primary games:
F.E.A.R.
Battlefield 2 w/ BF2 SF/EU/AF
Doom 3 and Doom 3 ROE
Splinter Cell Series
Hitman Series
SWAT 3 and SWAT 4
Half-Life Series

Which of these would serve best for the games I play?
Core 2 Duo E6600
AMD x2 4800+.

My second problem is I can't decide between a motherboard
for either of these two, I'm not sure what motherboard would
perform better than my A8V Deluxe.

For the RAM update, I have been considering getting
Corsair 6400C4 2GB Kit

I will only be updating my system with these five addons:
1). New processor & Motherboard
2). New RAM
3). Video Card (PCI-E will be required on best boards)
4). Physics Card
5). D-Link 802.11g 104MBPS Gamers Router


I have definately enjoyed having my ASUS A8V Deluxe -
It is an excellent motherboard with no problems at all. (Great performer)

I never overclock my pc components, so I need something that performs well from the factory timing and clock speeds.

I would like to be able to run all of the latest games including the direct X10 that will come in the near future.

Thanks so much

 

[Assman]

First of all, i'd definety go with Core 2 Duo.

second if you are not overclocking there is no point of going with 6400 ram, you'd be better off getting ddr2 533 and it'll run with 1:1 ratio.

as for mobo i'd go with asus p5b or p5b deluxe or gigabyte ds3 or dq6
it depends whether or not you are planning on getting 1 or 2 video cards

 

[dasickninja]

Are yyou planning to update or do a complete rebuild ie new mobo?

 

[godman]

he said he was changing the motherboard yeah if you read it correctly :lol: id reccomend either the asus 975x DH, asus 965p DH, ggiabyte ds/dq6 series.

second if you are not overclocking there is no point of going with 6400 ram, you'd be better off getting ddr2 533 and it'll run with 1:1 ratio.

i aggree, also with memory prices so high at the monent (well over here in the uk) theres just no point - that is unless you're overclocking.

as for the video card the 7900gt/7900gs,x1900gt,1800gto are worth having a look at.

and go core 2 duo, if you get the e6600 it performs muh like a fx62, at a margin of the price, the fastest cpu a couple of months back
i wouldnt bother with a physics card at the moment, seeing as they make little of a differnce, only a few games are optimized for it.

 

[Mike20061-AMD]

I would like some opinions on what you'd recommend, if I was going to build a new system. Currently the E6700/X6800 is out of price range I can spend for a new motherboard w/ cpu combo package.

Since I opened this post I have been considering purchasing a combo deal which offers ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe w/ E6600 Core 2

The video card is still under consideration...
I would like to have the capability to run two cards at once in the future, but for now I'm only gonna buy one card.

The ones I am considering:
ATI Radeon 1900XT
GeForce 7950 GX2

Another thing that must be considered for video card is my LCD Display:
Its a 19" Viewsonic VX922 2ms refresh w/ a max resolution of 1280x1024

The IDE/SATA drives, Audio, and Speakers I want to keep since the new motherboard will be using the same case and all of the listed components.

I do realize that I will definately have to update the video card since I cannot find a core 2 motherboard that supports my 8X AGP 6800 Ultra.

Thanks again

 

[dasickninja]

I agree with everything that you've posted.
Just one suggestion on my part. I prefer CRT's for gaming. They're still richer in color and depth than LCDs
for that I suggest this from Tigerdirect.com its the same kind that I'm using.
For cards its up to you but I choose the 7950 over the ATI option.

 

[endyen]

Buy the combo and get the 7950. Your biggest problem will be getting too hogh framerates, even with all the eyecandy turned on. Poor boy.

 

[Mike20061-AMD]

Thanks for the assist.

I don't actually have my VX922 yet, it was a gift ordered last evening
7-10 Days UPS Ground shipping :x

Here is the monitor I currently use:
Current Monitor

As gOdMan said the physics card is unsupported for most games, so I'll hold off on that one and the RAM I'll go with the 533 ddr2.

Thanks all

 

[Assman]

keep us posted 8)

 

[BrutalBeast]

I agree with everything that you've posted.
Just one suggestion on my part. I prefer CRT's for gaming. They're still richer in color and depth than LCDs
for that I suggest this from Tigerdirect.com its the same kind that I'm using.
For cards its up to you but I choose the 7950 over the ATI option.

I somewhat disagree with you on the CRT issue. I own a viewsonic 19" LCD and a Viewsonic 19" CRT, and you can definately tell a distinct difference between the LCD and the CRT. The LCD completely blows the CRT away.
CRT: ViewSonic E90B Black 19" CRT Monitor 15-pin mini D-sub - Retail
LCD: ViewSonic VP912B Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail

 

[dasickninja]

Hey man not knocking you but I was stating preference.
For a good CRT you have to go high end. Then its way better than a LCD. Thanks for the info though, I'll look into that monitor when I decide to look for a space saver.

 

[Assman]

lol

 

[Mike20061-AMD]

I have one more question for the pc rebuild.

As suggested I dropped the 6400c4 since I don't overclock my components.

I will be using the ddr2 533, but I'm unsure of the ram timings that would be
best suited my system for video authoring and gaming.

Thanks

 

[Assman]

try to find the lowest timings you can efford to buy,
something like 3.3.3.x

 

[godman]

true but it wont hurt with 4-4-4-x compared to 3-3-3-x as reviews show not much of a difference between tighter timings and faster ram, with core 2 duo. however compare that to netburst and its the oppisite

although it wont hurt if you get 3-3-3-8 etc ram as long as you get a good brand (although if you get corsair ram you cant get xms2 ddr2-533 you can only get value select:O).