- Apr 27, 2004
- 15
- 0
- 18,510
Hi, guys,
I am probably going to be posting here a few times before I manage to decide what to spend my money on. To be honest, I have been out of the loop for a few years, and when I returned to paying attention to computer technology, the picture had changed quite a bit from what I was used to. Anyway, I think I have managed to orient myself finally, and I am nearing the point where I make a purchase. However, there are some questions I would like to have answers to, if you please. I appreciate any and all pieces of advice I could get at this time.
First, I have not purchased a computer in nearly five years. The bare essentials of my current, and failing, configuration, are these:
Athlon XP 2400
512 MB 3200 DDR RAM
Geforce 4Ti 4600
As you can see, anything would be an improvement over this. Still, I would like to build a solid gaming system that will at least serve me for three years, at which time I probably will build a whole new system. I might, however, be interested in some overclocking and light upgrading, as I understand overclocking in particular has become increasingly easy with the new generations of processors.
Now, I will not be making this into a "rate-my-system" post. That will probably come later.
For now, I had some more specific questions. I can say, however, that I am pretty much decided on the 8800 GTS 512 for the video card, and I am leaning toward a Q6600 processor (more on this in a later post, I guess). For the PSU, I have decided on a Corsair 750W, with 60A on a single 12v rail.
First, the case of the computer. I have narrowed my search down to three alternatives, which are in three different price ranges. These are:
1) Cooler Master Centurion 534
2) Cooler Master Mystique 631
3) Cooler Master Stacker 831
Anyone can probably tell that the Stacker 831 is the best case of the lot. However, it costs a lot, and I am not too enthusiastic at the prospect of paying nearly as much for the case as I would for the processor. The Centurion is, as far as I can tell, priced around $50 , while the Mystique is priced around $100. The Stacker is twice the price of the Mystique, priced at nearly $200. Is this difference in price worth it? And how would you experts rate the cases against each other? I am obviously not interested in having my components melt because I chose a cheap case. Is the Centurion crap? Will the Mystique serve me as well as the Stacker, given the rough idea of components I sketched above?
Another thing is the motherboard. At the moment I have these options:
1) MSI P35 NEO-FI
2) Asus P5E, X38
3) Asus P5K, P35
Some well-founded recommendations?
As well, do Corsair TWIN2X 6400PRO 4096MB RAM chips have good overclocking potential when paired with a Q6600?
Again, any and all answers and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
I am probably going to be posting here a few times before I manage to decide what to spend my money on. To be honest, I have been out of the loop for a few years, and when I returned to paying attention to computer technology, the picture had changed quite a bit from what I was used to. Anyway, I think I have managed to orient myself finally, and I am nearing the point where I make a purchase. However, there are some questions I would like to have answers to, if you please. I appreciate any and all pieces of advice I could get at this time.
First, I have not purchased a computer in nearly five years. The bare essentials of my current, and failing, configuration, are these:
Athlon XP 2400
512 MB 3200 DDR RAM
Geforce 4Ti 4600
As you can see, anything would be an improvement over this. Still, I would like to build a solid gaming system that will at least serve me for three years, at which time I probably will build a whole new system. I might, however, be interested in some overclocking and light upgrading, as I understand overclocking in particular has become increasingly easy with the new generations of processors.
Now, I will not be making this into a "rate-my-system" post. That will probably come later.
For now, I had some more specific questions. I can say, however, that I am pretty much decided on the 8800 GTS 512 for the video card, and I am leaning toward a Q6600 processor (more on this in a later post, I guess). For the PSU, I have decided on a Corsair 750W, with 60A on a single 12v rail. First, the case of the computer. I have narrowed my search down to three alternatives, which are in three different price ranges. These are:
1) Cooler Master Centurion 534
2) Cooler Master Mystique 631
3) Cooler Master Stacker 831
Anyone can probably tell that the Stacker 831 is the best case of the lot. However, it costs a lot, and I am not too enthusiastic at the prospect of paying nearly as much for the case as I would for the processor. The Centurion is, as far as I can tell, priced around $50 , while the Mystique is priced around $100. The Stacker is twice the price of the Mystique, priced at nearly $200. Is this difference in price worth it? And how would you experts rate the cases against each other? I am obviously not interested in having my components melt because I chose a cheap case. Is the Centurion crap? Will the Mystique serve me as well as the Stacker, given the rough idea of components I sketched above?
Another thing is the motherboard. At the moment I have these options:
1) MSI P35 NEO-FI
2) Asus P5E, X38
3) Asus P5K, P35
Some well-founded recommendations?
As well, do Corsair TWIN2X 6400PRO 4096MB RAM chips have good overclocking potential when paired with a Q6600?
Again, any and all answers and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
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