AMD System.

[Brutuz]

My Friend is a AMD Fanboy and wants to upgrade, at the moment he has a Athlon XP 2100+, He wants to get as High as he can, but won't switch to Intel, and Won't overclock.
All he plays is GTA, The Sims, Counter Strike and Battlefield 2
His Budget is AU$1000

What I think would be good

AMD Athlon64 6000+
Any ASUS motherboard
Any RAM (Not really sure)
Some x800's in Crossfire or 7600GT's in SLI
A good Sound Card (He plays Guitar and will want to record what he plays)
He has a Case, its a Midi (Normal ATX) Size.
Anything else you guys Recommend!

He would also like to run Vista at a Later Date.

 

[darksidedragon]

You'd either want DDR-400MHz RAM or DDR2-800MHz RAM to match the core clock of AMD's (which is 200MHz, I believe). But, if he wants a really decent system, then at the moment, it has to be a C2D. Also, don't bother with SLi or Crossfire - you're better off getting a single, better card (in the case of the 7600GT SLi, I'd recommend an eVGA 512MB 7900GTX, or maybe the 256MB if that's too pricey).
On the recording front, I wouldn't get a PC card for that. Personally, I think the Line 6 Tone Port is a very good deal, and it can easily be used with Ableton (which comes with it, I think), or any other recording software (I've comfortably used it with Cubase SX).

 

[HotFoot]

I second the idea about avoiding SLI/x-fire. Unless you're at the very top-end, there's no point to it.

About the RAM: you'll need DDR2 for any AM2 socket mobo, which is pretty much everything AMD offers in the desktop these days. Socket 939 is obsolete.

Matching RAM speed to FSB doesn't work for AMD systems, since the RAM speed is actually determined using a divider applied to the CPU speed. This is different than Intel systems where the RAM speed is the FSB x some multiplier x 2. Hard-working X2 processors are going to make use of the RAM you put in, so faster is always better. I'd recommend DDR2-800MHz. It's not that much more expensive than 533 or 667 MHz memory.

As for the quantity of RAM, I'd say you're going to want 2GB eventually. 1GB will probably run everything just fine under XP, but the experience with Vista is better the more RAM you have. If you get a board with 4 DIMM slots, then you can easily upgrade later if you just get 2x512MB DIMMs now for dual-channel mode and later add in a second pair of 512MB DIMMs. For me, doubling the RAM seems to be a standard operation for any desktop I've owned, about a year into using the computer.

 

[Brutuz]

DarksideDragon: As I said, he is a AMD fanboy, I showed him how fast my C2D is, and he still refused point blank to use a Intel, His loss though, and as Hotfoot said, AM2 is DDR2 only, like, not in speed, but in the Physical slot, otherwise my upgrade would of been easier on the wallet

So What Motherboard?

And What about this RAM?
(That place inflates its prices, I'll be going somewhere else just fyi)

 

[HotFoot]

The OCZ Platinum RAM is the stuff I've been considering for my AM2 system. I've heard good things about it, and when I shop around the price for 1 or 2 GB of it is very competitive with other brands. I think there are two versions of the Platinum 800 MHz, one with 4-5-4-15 and one with 5-5-5-15 timings. The one you've picked is the better-timed of the two, but just make sure it's not too much more expensive.

Where would you actually buy that RAM? I've seen it for sale for about CDN$100.

 

[Brutuz]

A local store that has it, they have it for around AU$150 I think, which is expensive, I know, but thanks to Howard's extra Taxes, thats what we have to pay.

As long as the Cost of a GfX card, CPU, Motherboard, RAM and maybe even PSU is under AU$1000, He'll be happy (I'm paying for it, then building it,, installing Windows, etc and then He'll pay me the money that it costs, with a little extra for me making it 8) )

 

[darksidedragon]

Cool cool, I don't really know about AMD any more as I've just been researching C2D for myself at the moment. On the PSU front, the Corsair HX 520W is a good choice with decent amperage on the +12V rails. However, I'd suspect you're paying extra for the modular setup, so you might be able to find something cheaper around that sort of power output (I'd recommend getting 30A total on the +12V rails just for some scope to upgrade a bit later). Brands to go with are generally Thermaltake, Hiper, PC&P, Antec, Seasonic and Fortran (I'm sure there are others I don't know about either).

 

[Featherstone]

I only briefly glanced through the responses so if someone else has said this, sorry. But I would deffinitley not get the 6000+ and then short the video card since this is a gaming rig. The videocard is the single most important component in a gaming system. Here is an example of what I am saying:

1. X2 6000($240) + 7600GT($120) = $360

2. X2 3800($83) + 8800GTS($280)= $363


I guarantee that System 2 will destroy system 1 in 3d benches/gaming.

Thats my 2 cents

 

[Brutuz]

Thats a good Idea, but wouldn't the CPU bottleneck the Graphics Card in that situation? If it does, I'll just let him live on the internal graphics in till the Budget DX10 Cards come out or something.

EDIT: I was just looking at the prices, I could get a 8800GTS 320Mb for him, as it costs less than the one I was looking at (Different store though)

Also, I was thinking that perhaps a ECS KN3 SLI2 might be a good Mobo

 

[darksidedragon]

I don't know anything about AMD mobo's, but if you can get something cheaper without SLi, then do that. Honestly, I've never felt it's worth it. And, no, the CPU won't bottleneck, as graphics card is the single most important component in a gaming rig as it does most of the work (I think it handles the physics as well as the graphics, but I'm not 100% on that). The 320MB 8800GTS is very good for the money. I don't know what it's like for you, but in the UK, eVGA are by far the best manufacturer of these, as they do a nicely overclocked 576MHz version (and a 580MHz version, but that's not as worth it).

 

[Brutuz]

Yeah, but the Graphics Card can only do the Instructions it gets as fast as the CPU can deliver them, but thats duel core, so it might not be the same.

 

[thechristopher]

My Friend is a AMD Fanboy and wants to upgrade, at the moment he has a Athlon XP 2100+, He wants to get as High as he can, but won't switch to Intel, and Won't overclock.
All he plays is GTA, The Sims, Counter Strike and Battlefield 2
His Budget is AU$1000

What I think would be good

AMD Athlon64 6000+
Any ASUS motherboard
Any RAM (Not really sure)
Some x800's in Crossfire or 7600GT's in SLI
A good Sound Card (He plays Guitar and will want to record what he plays)
He has a Case, its a Midi (Normal ATX) Size.
Anything else you guys Recommend!

He would also like to run Vista at a Later Date.

Cheapest Prices in OZ as of today.

$639 aud AMD Athlon64 6000+
$129 aud M2N4 SLI (cheapest SLI)Any ASUS motherboard
$220 aud generic 2gb Any RAM (Not really sure)
$239 aud each 7600GT's in SLI

This is $1450aud and its the cheapest ram mobo video combo around.

If you can screw this together for under a grand give me a call!!!!!!!!

Maybe if you use a 5400 at $379 one video card and only 1gb ram

 

[darksidedragon]

Never use generic RAM. Fact. Go with someone by a known vendor, such as Corsair, Crucial, G.Skill or OCZ.

Oh, and on the bottleneck front again - don't forget the graphics card holds a lot of data in the VRAM, which takes a lot of the load off the CPU.

 

[Brutuz]

TheChristopher: I can find a 6000+ Cheaper from a Simple Google search link
Take ten off the Motherboard Link.
Add $33 to the RAM Link.
Take $40 off the GraphicsLink.

$1090AUD

I think I found a System that is almost under a Grand, mind you though, thats with good Quality RAM

DarksideDragon: I would never give him Generic RAM, I had it in my old system, it would overheat when it was at 140Mhz (barely over stock speed) but It would still, my Old Athlon XP 2600+ Bottlenecked my old 6800GS, to the extent of giving me almost 1000 extra 3Dmarks in 3Dmark03 when I bumped up my CPU from 1.9Ghz to 2Ghz

Tacos: Will K10 use AM2? or will it use AM3? (If they name it that)

 

[darksidedragon]

Doesn't 3DMarks take everything into account, though (meaning, you'd be bound to see a higher score with an overclocked CPU)? I'm sure there are programs for pure gaming benchmarking, and I don't think the CPU makes as much difference there as the graphics card (obviously, there's a limit to how crap you can make the CPU).

 

[HotFoot]

I tend to buy affordable processors (most I've spent on one is about CDN$300). I just got myself a cheap AM2 board and a X2 3600+. The idea that in a couple years I'll be able to drop in a (by that time) cheap K10 is tantalising. Never before have I seen such a great upgrade path. My P5LD2 board does have the LGA775 socket, but it won't run any C2D chips, so I'm quite stuck with that system unless I want to change the mobo and CPU together.

 

[darksidedragon]

Yeah, it's true, although by the time I want to upgrade, I tend to find there are advances in RAM meaning I'd need a new mobo anyway. But that's just me (I tend to only upgrade every couple of years).

 

[Brutuz]

Doesn't 3DMarks take everything into account, though (meaning, you'd be bound to see a higher score with an overclocked CPU)? I'm sure there are programs for pure gaming benchmarking, and I don't think the CPU makes as much difference there as the graphics card (obviously, there's a limit to how crap you can make the CPU).

Yeah, but when you get 1000 extra 3Dmarks for 80 extra Mhz, you know that you have a bottleneck

Tacos: So should I give him the cheap X2 3800+ and then wait for K10?

 

[darksidedragon]

You probably have a bottleneck for CPU intensive applications, but gaming always puts the most strain on the graphics card. I know people that have overclocked and found no improvement in gaming benchmarks.

 

[Brutuz]

So go for the X2 3600+?
Ok, and then I'll get him a K10 when they come out.

Thanks everyone!