Hello All,

Here is what I will be using from my previous build monitors, keyboard, mouse, hard drives.

I have alreayd purhcased a case and 2gigs of memory pc6400 i believe.

What I need are recommendations on cpu, mobo, vid, cpu heatsink and a new psu.

For cpu I was thinking either e4300 or 6400 ( also dependent on suggestions)

For vid card I was thinking x1950xt sapphire (also unless suggested other wise)

I will be running xp.
Thanks,
Lammy

Heya,

Nice that you can keep so many componants from your old system - keyboard, monitor, mouse etc. really ramp up the total cost in the end.

For the CPU, imo, i would go for the e4300. Based on prices here in Australia, the saving is quite substantial and you can always overclock it!

I have Gefore 6600GTS for my GPU, but from what i read on the forums and the review from the other day, they're not too popular in terms of $ for performance. IMO, they're quite solid cards though - i suppose it depends largly on what games you plan on playing.

I don't have any advice really on the motherboard other than "shop around". There's so damn many of them out there offering so many different things, you've really got to prioritize exactly what you want out of it and find the motherboard that best matches. I'll be going down the new motherboard path in a couple of months, and i'm kind of dreading trawling though all the different prices and specs!

The stock coolers that come with CPUs these days seem to be more than ok for running the CPU at stock speeds. Hopfully someone here can give you some advice if you choose to go down the overclocking path. I'd be very interested in what they have to say too...

Good luck with it!

$1000 is a nice budget for the core of a gaming rig. What CPU you get depends on what kind of overclocking you'll do. The e6400 is a good mix between decent stock speed and price, and it can overclock over 3GHz quite easily. Get a Gigabyte 965P DS3 and with your PC2-6400 overclocking would be easy. If you don't want to OC though you might want to spend a little more and get the e6600.

As for the graphics card, it depends on your resolution. The 8800GTS 320mb is a good choice, better than the x1950XT, but if you're running super high resolutions you should consider the 640mb version or the GTX. Make sure your power supply can handle these bad boys. 550W and 32A on the 12 is plenty.

edit: for the heatsink, the Scythe Ninja is good but I've heard the Noctua 12 something or other is better though harder to find.

Thank you for your reply Denaun!

Yes I feel that buying a new monitor every time I build a new system (which lately is 1 time ever 4-5 years >.< ) is not the smartest purchase, in my case.


Thank you for your inputs I will definitly be looking a little closer at the e4300 and might oc a bit

Agreed. In my build, the LCD was the second most expensive componant behind only the graphics card!

i'm basically in the same boat as you. I'm using all my old peripherals and just building a new box. I've been out of the loop for a few years but it seems like the e6600 with an evga 680i motherboard is the way to go if you want longevity right now, as you have the quad core option once they become more affordable. Plus the whole setup in my sig is around 1000-1200 dollars.

i think there needs to be a section for people who want to build a new system but have a budget. list what hardware they have an what they need and there price range. im in the same place where i have 1200 to spend and im going to reuse some of my old hardware.

There is, it's called the General Homebuilt section. Seems like you've found it.

hmm avakin I can see what your saying. Though I am unsure about the video card. I am looking into the x1950xt... I will have to video spec the two to see if the benefits are that much geater between the xt and gts.


Thank you for your input.