Wait or Act? First Time Builder

[Kalamar99]

Hey everyone, I'm a long time fan of Tom's Hardware and its forums - I just have so many questions lol. Anyway, I
currently have a dell dimension 8250 with these specs:

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.66GHz
Mobo: I honestly can't tell lol, I have checked dxdiag and the dell website. The only thing I can tell is that it has 4 PCI slots with only two of them being free.
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 128mb
Sound Card: Creative SB Live! Series
Memory: 1 gig of RD Ram (4 sticks of 256mb lol..)
Speakers: Harman Kardon HK-695 Surround Sound Speakers with Subwoofer
17" LCD Monitor
250 watt power supply
80GB Ultra ATA/100 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Bay 1 - Liteon DvD-Rom LTD163
Bay 2 - Samsung CD-R/RW SW-240B
The fans/heatsink are retail

My question is should I save the monitor and build a new comp? I'm a hardcore gamer who plans on playing EQ2, HL2, Doom 3 and I want a good computer to take advantage of the great titles. I have made enough money from my job to pay for the new computer, and money is somewhat an issue in this - no more than $1,300 hopefully.

Ideal Computer Specs:
1.Processor: AMD Athlon64 3000+ or AMD Athlon64 3200+
2.Mobo: Asus K8V SE Deluxe or MSI K8N Neo Plat ( I've heard alot of good things about the Neo Plat, but i've heard it only works with AMD Athlon64 3400 and up, not 3200 or 3000 )
3.Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2
4.Video Card: GeForce FX 5900 256mb or 128mb (Chaintech is cheaper)
5.Speakers: Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers
6.Memory: Corsair Dual Channel Kit 184pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 or I could just get a dual pack rather than the dual channel - if my mobo accepts dual channel that is.
Hard Drives: 2 Seagate 80gig 8mb
Havn't decided on the CD and DvD drives - any advice is appreciated
7.Case: I was looking at RAIDMAX Black Aluminum Gaming Case with 420W Power Supply but if anyone has any suggestions, again I appreciate it.
8.Just use the fans that I get from my processor?

 

[scottchen]

MSI K8N Neo is the better board, it supports all Athlon64 CPUs, i don't know who's been spreading the bullsh*t about only 3400+.

Athlon64 3200+ is a better choice, i prefer the clawhammer core.

FX5900 isn't worth it anymore, get the Nvidia Geforce 6800, it's a faster card.

Get a DVDRW is budget allows, i like Liteon, they're cheap, and they read pirated CD/DVDs perfect.

<A HREF="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/celebgay.html" target="_new">click here now!!</A>

<A HREF="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/epilepsyr.shtml" target="_new">DON'T CLICK HERE!!</A>

 

[Kalamar99]

The Nvida 6800 is pretty expensive though, wouldn't be cheaper just to go with some of the fairly new Radeons? Besides that, is 5900 that crappy?

 

[Zeekfu]

The b*llsh*t about the 3400+ was due to the silly msi website. Before the board came out and for some time after it read "supported processors 3400+ and up". After a bunch of us emailed em they corrected it to read "supported processors 2800+, 3000+, 3200+ and 3400+ and up".

I *knew* it would support the 3200+ because I had seen it reviewed using that chip. However I did email msi prior to them correcting it on their website and got this response:
-----
Subject: RE: 3 -- Customer Problem Description Form m/m
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 16:49:41 +0000


Dear Customer,



The K8N Neo Platinum will support the Athlon 64 3200+ and you should have no problem using the Corsair TWINX 1GB memory kit. The K8N Neo Platinum has begun shipping to vendors.



Thank you for contacting MSI Tech Support!
MSI Computer Corp.
Technical Support Division
Tel: 1.626.913.0828
Fax: 1.626.581.7721
<http://www.msicomputer.com>

-----------------------------

Lol, they are wacky folks over there on that msi website. Now they have changed it to say "supports up to 3400+"
<A HREF="http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=572" target="_new">http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=572</A>

I guess the 3700+ folks will be calling them now, lol
<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040601/socket_939-06.html#amd" target="_new">http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040601/socket_939-06.html#amd</A>

I can see why saying 3400+ could get them into some trouble though, lol.

How bout this, msi:
"supported cpus 2800+, 3000+, 3200+, 3400+ and 3700+"

or

"supported cpus all socket 754"

I mean I am not rocket scientist or computer guru but would it really be that hard????

 

[Zeekfu]

If the current comp is doing the job I personally would just see how long you can save the $. No sense in fixing it if it "ain't broke".

that dell is a pretty nice rig. If you really feel the need to make a move why don't you try a video card first and see what that does. :>)<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Zeekfu on 06/26/04 02:59 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dhlucke]

My question is should I save the monitor and build a new comp? I'm a hardcore gamer who plans on playing EQ2, HL2, Doom 3 and I want a good computer to take advantage of the great titles.

Don't do anything until the games are actually released. You have a decent rig and any money spent now would be wasted in my opinion. It's the equivalent of buying clothes that don't even fit you "yet".

<font color=blue>SWEDEN</font color=blue> <font color=yellow>SE</font color=yellow> <font color=blue>SWEDEN</font color=blue> <font color=blue>SWEDEN</font color=blue>
<font color=yellow>SWEDEN SE SWEDEN SWEDEN</font color=yellow>
<font color=blue>SWEDEN</font color=blue> <font color=yellow>SE</font color=yellow> <font color=blue>SWEDEN</font color=blue> <font color=blue>SWEDEN

 

[Zeekfu]

If you are considering 9800 pros-
A good deal on what I believe to be a top notch 9800 pro here:
<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=404680#404680" target="_new">http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=404680#404680</A>
There is a review link on my post.
I also highly recommend the HIS excalibur ice q platinum also linked in my post on that thread.

 

[Kalamar99]

Thanks to all the responses, I had thought about just upping the video card, but I *think* i'd need to get a new mobo to support it and I'll have to check if this case will even fit another mobo. (since Dell can be evil like that lol) I know one should wait, but doesn't a 5200 seem alittle low?
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Kalamar99 on 06/26/04 03:31 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Zeekfu]

That is one heck of a nice rig as is, bro.



*if/when you do upgrade don't cheap out on the power supply unit. Go ahead and do a little research to get a good one.*<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Zeekfu on 06/26/04 03:32 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[endyen]

If your mobo supports the 5200, it supports any of the agp cards in production today. Because of the 8X format you may loose 1 fps on an X800 or 6800, if your mobo only supports 4X.

 

[HardWareBoss]

Yup buy 9800Pro. Best card out there for the money now. Unless you want the new X800Pro. But thats $380 to $450 now.

 

[Canadian_Bacon]

R9800 Pro 128mb is your best bet if you are buying now, but like others have said, don't buy now. Wait for the new processors/motherboards to mature because you can wait with the system you have. BEsides, I read in a PC Gammer Magazine that EverQuest 2 won't be able to run on max settings on any computer that's in the market now. Also, the game won't be shipped for a while. The computer you have now is fine, the only thing I would consider upgrading in the Video card because it's kind of weak (only upgrade if you play high resolutions with graphics maxed). Also stay away from the Nvidia FX line. They offer good FPS, but they have poor image quality.