Gaming rig questions

toss5000

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Oct 7, 2002
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Hi, I built my computer last Christmas but have pretty much been out of the loop since then. I am helping a friend build a machine (for gaming) and was wondering if I could have some help.

His budget is $1300 give or take. And he already has a monitor.

I've used Athlons in all of my own rigs because when I was building them, they provided the best bang for the buck. But I hear the new Intel chips are pretty nice. Anyway, I'm open to suggestions and curious to hear why one processor over the other - not fanboy stuff.

Here's what I'm looking at so far:

Leadtek Winfast PX7950 (Geforce 7950GT)
-any comparable ATI's?

Athlon 64 FX-57 San Diego
-are dual cores worth it yet for gaming? (when I was building they weren't)

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
-this seems to be the best socket 939?

Optical drives: Probably just a plextor dvd burner unless anyone has other recommendations.

RAM: not really sure what to get here. 2 gigs? how fast?

Storage:Seagate Barracuda 7200 400 GB
-does that look good?

power supply: not really sure. Nothing less than 500W?

case: I have a Thermaltake Tsunami Dream that is pretty nice, and it seems cheap enough for me to order for him as well. Any case recommendations?


Thanks in advance.
 

Giraffe

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why socket 939? thats old technology, am2 is the latest amd
dont get the FX57 or any other amd

the new Intel Core 2 duo's are much better and cheaper as well.
the e6600 is good.

a good MB for the C2D is the Gigabyte GA-965p-S3 or Asus P5B

the HDD is good as long as its the 7200.10 series w/16M and is Sata2

get 2GB ram, speed depends on if you will be overclocking?

a good 500W is enough and then leaves some headroom as well. get a good brand such as Antec NeoHE.
 

toss5000

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Ok, C2D seems like the way to go. I won't be doing any overclocking. I'm going to do 2 gigs of RAM but not sure what brand/speed?
 

Giraffe

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well if your not gonna OC then you dont need really good ram.

533mhz will do, kingston, samsung, hynix are all decent.
667mhz is only slightly more expensive and will leave you with more headroom to OC if you decide to later on.
only if you want to spend a little more though
 

sprite

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Go for:

Intel E6400 CPU
Gigbyte DS3 or Asus P5B Motherboard
2GB 667MHz RAM (Kingston value ? or other cheap stuff...)
X1950XT 256MB Version - beats the 7950GT in every game I think (even at high res)
 

Giraffe

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yes the x1900xt 256MB is better than the 7950GT

i think he will be ok with the 965p-S3 board.
i dont think its worth the extra money for the solid state caps, by the time the ones in the S3 die the system will be old anyway
 

skyguy

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I agree with Sprite and Giraffe......a C2D system is the way to go. And an X1950XT will kick A$$.

And go with the S3 mobo if it's $30 or $40 cheaper. If it's only $10 cheaper, then just get the DS3.

And get some value RAM if he's not overclocking, that'll keep the costs down.
 

AMDThunder

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Agree on the vid card. Either step up to the X1900XT, or step back to the 7900GS or X1950Pro depending on where you stand cash wise.

C2D 6300 or 6400
Giga S3 or DS3 / Asus PB5
533 Ram if no OC

With $1300, you could get quite a lot, like the 8800 GTS, E6600, etc. Just depends if he wants to spend it all or not.
 

enforcerfx

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Go for:

Intel E6400 CPU
Gigbyte DS3 or Asus P5B Motherboard
2GB 667MHz RAM (Kingston value ? or other cheap stuff...)
X1950XT 256MB Version - beats the 7950GT in every game I think (even at high res)

This list is pretty sharp, making changes:

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098

Video card: If you wanted to save some money for upgrade to DX10, try this. Otherwise the x1950xt has my vote:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102022

Powersupply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817371001
Futureproof for DX10. Triple 12V rails.

Case: Well, its usually the Customer's decision to pick out one. Full tower is most adequate. More room, more airflow, space, etc.

Everything else you selected looks fine

Have fun :D
 

TSIMonster

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Just FYI, if you want a quiet system go ahead and get an after market cooler if you get the x1950xt. The xt has the same cooler as my x850 and it is hella loud.