Gaming System Motherboards and Components

[LaMigra]

I want to buy a Computer for gaming. I'm looking at the KT-333 Platform with either a MSI KT3-Ultra or an Asus A7V333. I also thinking about an Intel P4 platform with either an Asus P4B533 or a Gigabyte GA-8IEXP. Is the Pentium too much since I don't want to spend over $1100-$1200 on the case. I will be using DDR 2700 Memory, don't want the RDRam. I want to buy something that will allow me to keep up a year or two down the road so this is also a factor. If I go with the AMD I was thinking about a 2000+ or the Pentium with a 2.0 GHz. One of my big questions is if the 533 FSB is worth it or necessary. In the gaming spirit I'm looking at a Leadtek GF4 ti 4200 128 DDR video card. I can't quite afford the 4600 and I may try to overclock it with the dual fans built in. I've heard great things about Light-On CDRW drives as well. I was thinking about a 40x12x40 version. Maxtor seems to be a good choice for a HD as well probably a 60 GB version. THe sound issue is one I haven't figured out yet. Is the on board sound going to be sufficient if I'm only going to have two speakers and a subwoofer. I'm not planning on playing movies on this machine. Any other suggestion, comments or info is welcome. Thanks!

 

[Dinobot01]

The MSI board is a great choice. If your on a budget, Intel is not the way to go. The performance differnce will be negligible unless you overclock plus AMD costs a good deal less. Also, the sound on the MSI board is great, not nearly as bad as the onboard sound systems of the past. With a good set of speakers, you'll be fine.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

If you want to spend $1100-$1200 and don't want to buy RDRAM, Athlon is for you.

533 FSB is really worth when you use PC1066 RDRAM

ASUS A7V333 is factory overclocked. So don't buy it.

Onboard audio is good enough for you.

64 MB versions of GeForce4 Ti4200's are better overclocker than 128 MB versions. Ti4400 is also good overclocker.

My recommendations:

Athlon XP 2000+ $105
Volcano 7 cooler $20
MSI KT3 Ultra $95
Kingston PC2700 CL2.5 DDR RAM 512MB x 1 stick $140
Leadtek 64 MB GeForce4 Ti4200 $150
Maxtor D740X 60 GB (7200 rpm, ATA-133) $95
LiteOn 40x/12x/48x CD-RW $65
ViewSonic P95f+ (19") $350

All these cost $1020 with shipping (According to www.pricewatch.com). Keyboard, mouse, FDD, casing is not included in this list.

If you want to cut some cost, get 256 MB RAM. The expensive ViewSonic monitor is worthy, especially for gaming.

 

[tersagun]

Why do you want absolutely a KT333 board?! I'm using a VIA board, too but SiS745 is clearly cheaper than it.MSI 745 Ultra is a great budget board, so go for it.
As a HD, many people says WD's special edition is cool. So buy it if you can. Lite-On, not "Light" :tongue: . I'm using its 32* version and really happy with it. It's the best, it's the cheapest, so go for it!

<b>Before getting angry to the (d)evil, just think about who CREATED it!</b>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

KT333 is costs more than VIA, but not much. Plus it gives 7-8% extra performace. This extra performance worths the extra money.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

I forgot to tell about power supply unit. Get a 350W or better Antec or Enermax psu.