Looking To Put Together 2 New Systems: Need Some Opinions

[Guest]

Let's get a few things out in the open. I do NOT by any stretch of my imagination consider myself to be an intermediate to advanced pc builder. I know what parts to stick where and I understand an adequate amount of things, but I have no reason to feel as if I'm advanced on the topic, that's why I'm here asking these questions.
So, if you're debating on whether or not to spell things out and elaborate on things. FEEL FREE, I encourage it. Thanks in advance.

Build One - My Primary Concern - While I've put together a couple of pc's I've never been able to go power hunting as in aiming for the top tiered products, but this might be my chance. I've been debating on a few things, especially intel vs. amd. I'll list the mobo cpu combo's first and then the following components afterwards.

AMD:

DFI LANPARTY UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

INTEL:

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

Everything else:

1 Western Digital Raptor (74 Gig) *as much as I would like to 150, I don't know if I wanna spend $200 on a disk that I'm going to use purely for an OS*
1 Seagate 300 gig SATA Internal *contemplating adding a perpendicular writing drive under $80*
2 DVD/Drives
1 GeForce 7600 GT *I picked it up about 8 months ago, and I had to buy it because it was under $100 then. one of those rare business going out of sale deals..and I promised myself I'd buy a new motherboard to use it, well guess what..it's still unopened and I'm thinking about the 8600 GT at $114

And no..I will not skimp on the power source. In fact, I'd like some suggestions on that as well.

What I need my system to do:
Run Stable
Multi Task
Allow For Flexibility
Serviceable Gaming
A Desire to build a pretty decent system

Any suggestions?
I prefer the higher end motherboards simply because I've had some bad luck with other brands, and I'm trying to see what's out there other than ASUS. I actually sent a motherboard in to them to get it repaired and they repaired it and sent it back bent up, almost as if someone had dropped it.

NOW, my current system is
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 1.92 Ghz
512 mb ram
Yeah, I know it's ancient, but I'm looking to upgrade.

I'd like to turn what's left of it into a media box with a video capture card in it.
Would it be worth it? Could I get it done for relatively cheap, or would it be more beneficial to just get
a very low priced AMD chip ( one of the new brands, or could I really get by with my current chip in it) ??

Again, thanks in advance.

 

[g-paw]

If your gaming, best to upgrade the video card. This is a good start
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/

As for the 2600, I'd put in 1GB of RAM and you may need a larger hdd for the video. As for the capture card, you could always use it later in the other machine. Are you going to capture from a camcorder or TV?

 

[Guest]

so the 7600 or the 8600 aren't good enough? Should I go up another notch?

I think you're right with the 1 gig for the media box...heck, I could use the extra memory now, but I have two harddrives in now that I'll probably keep that are about 200 gigs between them, so we'll see about a larger harddrive.

but I really wanna use the capture card for TV/Gaming..that type of thing.
I'm not even sure how I'd get all that done though

 

[g-paw]

so the 7600 or the 8600 aren't good enough? Should I go up another notch?

I think you're right with the 1 gig for the media box...heck, I could use the extra memory now, but I have two harddrives in now that I'll probably keep that are about 200 gigs between them, so we'll see about a larger harddrive.

but I really wanna use the capture card for TV/Gaming..that type of thing.
I'm not even sure how I'd get all that done though

If you don't game, the 8600GT would be fine, for gaming you want the best card to can afford within reason. A lot of video cards have a video in connection or you could get a TV receiver card. The advantage of the receiver card is you could eventually move it to the new machine. The video card you won't be able to do that

 

[Guest]

I'm good with having different video cards, because I currently have the extra 7600 lying around. So what I'm guessing that you're getting at is...using the receiver card as a sole vga card in the MEDIA BOX...I was under the impression that they could work together..was I wrong in that thinking?

and one other thing, if it were your system, which would you sacrifice first..

a competing cpu for a better graphics card or a better cpu for a moderately price graphics card?

for myself, I'd simply like to get back into City of Heroes and try that WoW out since my friends talk about it..so much

 

[g-paw]

I'm good with having different video cards, because I currently have the extra 7600 lying around. So what I'm guessing that you're getting at is...using the receiver card as a sole vga card in the MEDIA BOX...I was under the impression that they could work together..was I wrong in that thinking?

and one other thing, if it were your system, which would you sacrifice first..

a competing cpu for a better graphics card or a better cpu for a moderately price graphics card?

for myself, I'd simply like to get back into City of Heroes and try that WoW out since my friends talk about it..so much

I don't game so I'd upgrade the CPU but if you game, the video card is really important so if I gamed, I'd get the better video card. If all you want to do it capture TV programs and burn them to a DVD or save them to the hdd, I'd something like a Hauppauge TV card. If your getting into editing, I'd use the new machine. Doing video editing and rendering takes a lot of resources

 

[Guest]

yeah, I just might be waisting time and resources with the media box..since the new system will have that power available...I guess I'll put that old cpu in a box for my cousin... are the hauppauge TV card that good? can I use them both at the same time and just switch in between with them in the same sytem?

 

[zenmaster]

Define "Serviceable Gaming".
What type of Games do you enjoy playing?

If you like WoW, Civilization, SimCity, etc..... you can spend 1/2 or maybe 1/3 of the price if you play Far Cry, Oblivion, etc...

 

[lunyone]

Define "Serviceable Gaming".
What type of Games do you enjoy playing?

If you like WoW, Civilization, SimCity, etc..... you can spend 1/2 or maybe 1/3 of the price if you play Far Cry, Oblivion, etc...

You can make a system around $600-$700 to play WoW, Civ, etc., but if you want to game on anything most recent than you'll have to spend more on it. I like to try and build BUDGET gaming systems for around $600-$700 because my budget (and others) can only afford it. Now mind you, I usually mean $600-$700 budget is without the OS, mouse, keyboard, monitor. It'll be very hard to spend much less to keep the gaming side up.

My 2cp's

 

[Guest]

Well, as far as serviceable...you were right on the money ..with the games you listed..
I'd really like to play Age of Empires once again...take some time and see what WOW is about..and get in a little civilization because I have an XBOX 360 as well, but I have to admit that I miss some aspects of pc gaming.

but I think I may stick with the 8600 GT if that's passable.

 

[lunyone]

Well, as far as serviceable...you were right on the money ..with the games you listed..
I'd really like to play Age of Empires once again...take some time and see what WOW is about..and get in a little civilization because I have an XBOX 360 as well, but I have to admit that I miss some aspects of pc gaming.

but I think I may stick with the 8600 GT if that's passable.

So is your budget close to $600-$700, or what is it? You can still fit in the 8600gt, which would be okay for the games that you listed. My son plays Wow/EQ2/CSS on an older system (P4 3.2 Prescott, 1gig DDR, 9600xt, etc.) and doesn't really have any issues. You don't need high end specs to play the games you listed.

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice, guys..it has helped quite a bit..
and yes, my budget is around the $700 range, I might be persuaded if there's something else out there that's calling out to me.

right now, I'm looking at this high performance memory to see if it's worth the risk. anyone around here heard of Buffalo Stix? they seem to have some very positive reviews behind them

 

[lunyone]

thanks for the advice, guys..it has helped quite a bit..
and yes, my budget is around the $700 range, I might be persuaded if there's something else out there that's calling out to me.

right now, I'm looking at this high performance memory to see if it's worth the risk. anyone around here heard of Buffalo Stix? they seem to have some very positive reviews behind them

So here's is what I would build for as cheap as I could and still have decent gaming on current games (not all on high quality specs, but at least good enough):

CPU/Mobo Combo: $145
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103776
BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retailhttp://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813138074

PSU/Memory Combo: $155 - MIR of $30 = $125!!!
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
Thermaltake Purepower W0129RU ATX12V 600 W Power Supply 115/230 V CE, FCC, UL, CUL, TUV certification - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153042

Video Card: $280 - MIR of $30 - $250!!! What a deal.
XFX PVT80GGHF4 GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150171

Case: $29!!! Good for starters
Rosewill R230-P-BK Black 0.5mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811147075

DVD Burner: $37 Retail not OEM, which comes with Nero Software
LITE-ON 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner included extra White bezel - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827106050

Total with S/H: $658 - $60 MIR's = $598!!!! Still leaves room for a TV Tuner card if that is what is needed!

P.S. if you wanted to use Intel that would be about $40 more, if you used these:

CPU: $76
Intel Dual-Core E2140 Allendale 1.6GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037

Mobo: $107
ASUS P5B-VM SE LGA 775 Intel G965 Express uATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131178