First Time Builder Question

[funguy]

Hi everyone,

Just want to first thank the community for all your help and information, I have read here for awhile and have finally decided to join.

My question is this I'm going to want to build a gaming computer, The game I will be playing is StarWars Galaxies some of you might have heard of it.

My Question is What would be the best processor,cpu,memory combo that I should go for. I have been doing my research here and on the net but I really can't decide which way to go intel and asus or amd and asus. I'm hoping you guys can put me in the right path. Thx in advance and I will let you guys know what I finally choose. I'm looking to be able to spend between $600-$800 dollars. But if I can get away cheaper I'm not affraid too.

 

[Twitch]

Are you upgrading an existing PC? If so, can you tell us what components you already have that might be useable? Or is this a from-the-ground-up new system build?


<font color=green>The Netherlands is where you go when you're too good for heaven.</font color=green> :tongue:

 

[funguy]

I'm going to keep my hold harddrives plan on running raid 0. I'm going to be going with ati 9700pro card for video. buying a new case not sure which one yet. But only assume i'm going to have the video card and harddrives.

 

[Twitch]

If you're building from the ground-up...

<b>Case w/ 350 Watt Power Supply</b>: ENLIGHT Model# EN-7250-OX36 ATX MID-TOWER CASE w/ 360Watt Power Supply <A HREF="http://ENLIGHT Model# EN-7250-OX36 ATX MID-TOWER CASE w/ 360Watt POWER" target="_new">Picture</A> …..$56

<b>Motherboard with On-board Audio</b>: Epox 8RDA+ ..…$89

<b>Processor:</b> AMD Athlon 1700+ …$45.00 with CPU Fan

<b>System Memory:</b> 2X CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2700 DDR RAM - OEM $70

<b>Graphics Card:</b> SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9200 128MB $89

<b>Monitor:</b> ViewSonic 17" CRT Display Model P75F+ $199.00

<b>Hard Drive:</b> WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD $69

<b>CDROM Drive:</b> Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S $46

<b>3.5” Floppy Drive:</b> Teac 1.44MB 3.5 Inch Floppy Drive # FD235HFC291 $10

<b>Sound:</b> (Included with motherboard)

<b>Speakers:</b> Logitech Z-340 3 Piece Speaker System $40

<b>Keyboard/Mouse</b>: Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard & Wheel Mouse Optical Value Pack $35

Total $748 + Tax and shipping. Everything in stock at <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com</A>

I strongly suggest you add about $100 to your budget. For an extra $100, you could buy a much more powerful graphics card, like the Radeon 9600 PRO, which you will certainly appreciate for Galaxies.


<font color=green>The Netherlands is where you go when you're too good for heaven.</font color=green> :tongue:


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 05/20/03 11:53 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Twitch]

Okay, that's easy then. Subtract the video card and the hard drive. Take everything in my list above, get the Viewsonic G90F 19" CRT Monitor ($269 instead of the 17" monitor. That leaves you with about $70 you could keep for a rainy day, or invest in 5.1 surround speakers or maybe better RAM or a faster processor.

If I were you, I'd spend as much as I could comfortably afford. Go the full 800$ and get yourself some better RAM--then you can overclock that 1700+ to 2600+ speeds (at least) and have a great system.
<font color=green>The Netherlands is where you go when you're too good for heaven.</font color=green> :tongue:


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 05/21/03 00:01 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[funguy]

I'm Sorry I wasn't more clear earlier. I'm going to spend 600 to 800 on the cpu motherboard and ram. I want a good combo of that. I will take care of the rest of the parts.

So for a good combo of cpu, ram, MB, to play starwars galaxies what do you guys think?

 

[icy_oblivion]

Well, if all you need is CPU, mobo, and RAM here is what I would get.

Prices are from newegg.

cpu - XP-2500 Barton - $127.00
mobo - ASUS A7N8X Deluxe - $131.99
ram - CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, Low Latency 256MB 32MX64 PC-3200LLPT - x2 at $80.00 a stick

That comes to a total of $418.99

there is a lot of money left for a top of the line monitor and some mean speakers.

<b>Just because I like AMD or Intel more at a time because of one product compared to another, does not make me a fan boy, it makes me a person who is able to make a decision for myself.</b>

 

[funguy]

Sounds good what about Intel and there 800mhz FSB cpu mb that they have come out with. Will I notice a big difference if I go with that, or is it just slight and not worth the money?

 

[Prof133]

I'm going to spend 600 to 800 on the cpu motherboard and ram. I want a good combo of that. I will take care of the rest of the parts.

I'd would get a motherboard with the canterwood chipset (875P). A 2.8C (800MHz FSB/Hyperthreading) or 3.0C (800MHz FSB/Hyperthreading) processor. And two 512MB Corsair XMS PC3500 (or PC3200) memory modules.

 

[bandikoot]

From what I see in the reviews you will notice a difference, but it's up to you to decide if a few percent increase is worth the price. Given your budget though, I would agree with the prof that the 2.8C is a nice buy.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Apparently, he´ll do quite nicely with a Springdale board... The reviews indicate there´s little difference between Canterwood and Springdale, and Springdale is much cheaper... Coupled with an 800Mhz-CPU, you´d have a quite good system... But I have no idea as to the cost of that...
It would be more than a few percent faster than the 1700+... Those "C" thingies rock!!!

 

[funguy]

Sounds pretty good so far guys, I think I"m going to go with
CPU= p4 2.8 800mhz
MB= Asus P4C800
RAM = Corsair XMS PC3500 I'm still debating with going with 2x256 or 2x512. What do you guys think? Will I see a 50% better gaming experience if I go with a 50% upgrade in ram??

 

[Prof133]

RAM = Corsair XMS PC3500 I'm still debating with going with 2x256 or 2x512. What do you guys think? Will I see a 50% better gaming experience if I go with a 50% upgrade in ram??

Not that strong of a performance gain. But a performance gain in situations that 512MB is not enough. Not many games out now that require more than 512MB of memory for optimal performance but as time goes on, more games/apps will be released that will require more memory for optimal performance. It would be nice to get the memory situation out of the way right now so that you don't have to worry about upgrading the memory in the future since you appear to have the funds to do so.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

CPU: AXP 2500+ (if you overclock) or AXP 2400+ (if you don't overclock)
Mobo: MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR
RAM: 2 x 256 MB Corsair XMS PC3200 CL2.0 DDR

----------------
<b><A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new"> My Website</A></b>

<b><A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new"> My Rig</A></b>

 

[stealth_blade]

depends what you want to pay, the 2.8 - 2.4 C P4 that have been suggested are nice and faster, but if you take the AMD route, ie Barton 2500 Asus Nforce 2 deluxe rev 2.0 and 2x 512 Corsair XMS PC3200 you'll have a nice system, its overclockable to an athlon 3000 - 3200 and you'll save a lot of money which can be invested in the videocard, monitor, speakers, or you could save it

but if top of the line performance is a must, then a 2.8C P4 on canterwood/springdal (whichever you want to pay for) makes the most sense

id also point out that if you plan on upgrading the cpu regularily intel is the better route by far

"Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion."
- Gen. (Ret) Norman Schwartzkopf

 

[pitsi]

Since as I can understand money is not a problem, you probably made the best choice:

CPU = P4 2.8C
MB = Asus P4C800 Deluxe (cheaper alternative and still a very good mobo: Asus P4P800 Deluxe)
RAM = Corsair XMS PC3500 (again, if money is not a problem go for 2x512 otherwise, 2x256 is more than enough .. in my opinion there is no point in going for 1GB RAM at the moment but of course is up to you on how you will decide to spend your money)

Some guys in here suggested going for a Barton etc. but I think that if someone is looking for the best performance and money is not a problem, then Intel is currently the only way to go. AMD can no longer keep up with Intel and can only be an option when someone is looking for the best price/performance ratio. Otherwise for pure performance go with Intel.

 

[funguy]

Thx alot I think I'm going to go with the above selection. The game release date hasn't been announced yet. So I'm going to wait for the last second to buy it. But I will continue checking in on these boards and learning lots of cool stuff, I'll keep you guys posted on how my progress is going once i buy.