I'm a little dissapointed... this forum has always been full of a lot of mature and very helpful people (yes it still is)... but somehow... from these same ppl... there has been an influx of useless, meaningless posts that have helped no one and only served as an annoyance. Please, if you're going to post, don't waste people's time by posting crap that doesn't help them. Just be nice, be helpful, be mature, and help keep the Tom's Hardware forums one of the best resources on the net. You guys now a lot, some ppl ask simple questions that have been asked many times, but if you're not in a mood to help... just don't post, or point them to another thread, or just tell them nicely where they can research.
Man, thats a tough question. First, you are just going to have to accept that in 3 years you won't be able to do a simple swap... sorry. Tech is changing fast still, with Dual cores & smaller footprints and new sockets and RAM formats and all that. But if I were you, for $2000, I will tell you what I would do... but a couple of questions are in order...
1.) Most important System Performance in... gaming? encoding/video editing? or...? I am assuming gaming since SLI was a concern to you, and yes, the Athlon64 is your best bet for this.
2.) Do you plan to overclock?
Now, I don't know a ton about the new chipsets/roadmaps for AMD, so someone else will have to fill in there. Someone... whats the best socket 939/SLI/DDR2/PCI-E Athlon64 board?
I'd say the best bang for the buck chip (range) is the Athlon64 3500-3800. Sure, the "FX" 53/55 chips are blazing fast, but its going to cost you a fortune.
Check www.pricewatch.com to do some research.
Grab some Micro/Crucuial, Corsair RAM (there are other good brands too that others will mention, these are my prefernces). Get 1GB (2x512) - getting 2 sticks runs in dual channel, and leaves you room if you get a mobo w/4 DIMM slots to add more in later. You only need 1GB for now. Definetly get high quality stuff, Pc5400 I believe is top for DDR2 right now, get it CL2 registered XMS-PRO or the high end series RAM. Don't be cheap here if you really want a strong system.
You want SLI, then you want NVIDIA. You're going to have to research the best graphics card setup for you. I'd lean towards a BFG 6800GT 256mb... or maybe 2 6600GTs in SLI would be faster...?
19" Flat-Panel eh? Well, I know your '100%' set... but for me... I wouldn't. Maybe I'm just anal, but the performance on the 19" isn't where I want them just yet for gaming and optimal performance. I'd go with a top of the line 17"... but they are spendy... and I prefer 19". Plus, high end 19" flat panels, which you'd def. want high end... cuz to me even the high end aren't good enough just yet for 19"... well, its going to cost you. I'd say, get a better performing system and get a $225 19" CRT Viewsonic G90FB or something similar. It looks better, performs better, and costs a whole lot less... so as long as you have the extra depth for desk space.
I love playing games with good sound... so I'd say a 5.1 surround sound system (or 7.1) is a must, I got the Logitech 500W 5.1 surround sound system for just over $200 and its great. You'll probably want a good soundcard to couple with this, say a Creative Audigy 2ZS/4.
Pick a case that you like that has good cooling, good looks, the features you want, and a PSU that is at least 400W, though for you I'd say go higher yet. 550W would be ideal.
Want fast boot times? 2xWD Raptors (10,000 RPMs) SATA, in RAID-0 performance, 76 gb versions, as boot drives, and put your main APPs here for super fast loading. Then a nice 300GB Seagte SATA (5yr-warranty on Seagates) as a good storage drive.
Get a 16x DVD-/+RW w/DL capability, such as the Pioneer DVR-109. Maybe get 2, its always nice to have two optical drives, and with two identical burners I think you can have Nero burn an image file to both at the same time (anyone confirm this?)
Get a nice keyboard/mouse... just do it... I like the Logitech MX1000 ion-lithium rechargle cordless mouse, Logitech also just released a wired mx518 gaming mouse which is excellent. Get a keyboard with multimedia/volume controls, can't live without that anymore.
In summary:
AMD Athlon64 3500-3800, or an FX53/55 if you really want to splurge
- SOMEONE HELP - best Athlon64 939 mobo w/DDR2, PCI-E, SLI
2x512mb Corsair XMS-PRO DDR2 Pc5400 RAM
2xPioneer DVR-109 or equivalent burners
2x76gb Western Digital Raptors in RAID-0 (performance) config; SATA 10,000rpm 8/16mb cache
1x300GB SATA Seagate 7200rpm HD
19" top-end TFT flat screen (low response time, ie 12ms or less, 16 should get you by but...), or I personally recommend going with a 19" CRT, such as the Viewsonic G90FB (B for black, if you want a black rig)
5.1+ surround sound setup, 500W... I use Logitech's.
at least 400W PSU, Antec is good brand. Get TruePower or Silent series. Also get good cooling fans, silent smart fans, for the case. And the case is up to you, but get something nice.
NVIDIA (needed for SLI) video... (1) GeForce 6800GT 256mb or (2) GeForce 6600GT 128mb SLIed
check www.pricewatch.com for all this. You will still have to do some work/research on your own, through pricewatch, tomshardware articles, google, and manufacture's websites. Come back when you have done your homework and let us know what you're looking at (before ordering) and why.
And don't let the retarded posts throw you off. We hope you stick around and hope you find the info here helpful!
- Dan
P4c 3.2Ghz @ 800MHz Northwood / ABIT AI7 / 1GB Corsair XMS-Pro CL2 Pc3200 / 160GB Seagate SATA 7200rpm 8mb cache / BFG-Tech Nvidia GeForce 6800GT 256mb / Antec Sonata case w/Antec TruePower 380W PSU<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Dannyaa on 04/25/05 06:52 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
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