Building PC help/input

[SpectorV]

I am going to need to build a pc soon... I wish to spend around 800-1000 bucks. I will be buying pretty much everything~ I have a 480watt ocz power supply but it may not be enough for a new system. Other than that I will probably reuse my hard drive (as a secondary so i need a primary probably)

I have some builds picked out but I want to see what others recommend first before I post what I am thinking about.

I was thinking intel but... if it does a good job which ever.

[MarkuzLS1]

The Core 2 Duo's are the hot-shit gaming processor, right now. The 8800 GT is pretty awesome for performance/price.

[Seph]

Might wanna go with an AMD if you want cheap performance.

[Brent]

Go with AMD

Your power supply might not work if it doesn't support PCI Express and/or SLI

[dark]

i'd say go intel. the x38 chipsets are just coming out, and they're pretty hot, support the newest cpu's.

on the other hand, nvidia's 650i and 680i are very nice and worth getting. i love my evga 680i, just be warned that it's an enthusiast board, so you'd have to do some homework and replace some minor stuff (stock cooling and thermal material). BUT, the 750i and 780i are set to come out before year's end, and they'll support pci-e2 and DX10.1. the 6 series doesn't. but, aside from those 2 things, it doesn't look like the 7 series will be different from 6 series

for a graphics card, if you want balls to the wall performance, wait until mid december. nvidia's 9 series are coming out. they're switching from the 90nm gpu to the 65nm gpu. less power consumption, cooler running, higher performing pci-e2, DX10.1... if you're not a bleeding edge rider, i'd say get an evga 8800gt. lifetime warrenty and you can step up to a newer card if you do it within 90 days of purchase, and the GT's have 65nm gpu's in them. best of both worlds

for a power supply, i'd say get something by Ultra or PC&C if you plan to run massive graphics or sli. if you get an Ultra, get something in the 800+ wattage range... if you get a PC&C, get a custom piece from Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come ...they're a certified customizer for PC&C. manu. 5 year warrenty applies

for ram, get 1066mhz crucial. best stuff you can get

hard drives... seagate barracuda or WD aaks...

[KyleUSAF]

don't forget to buy some binary to go in it

[n8r]

every computer needs more baconz

[Thomas91169]

you can get a very good Socket AM2 dual core for cheap, and they work great IMO. get 2gb of fast ram and at least a 8800GT if you want to play any of the newer games coming out.

[Brent]

I'm going to pick the following up over the next few months:
Newegg.com - ABIT KN9 SLI AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Black Edition Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N805-A1 GeForce 8800GT KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (2)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM (2)
Newegg.com - Scythe SCSMZ-1100 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

[SpectorV]

AMD will save me about 150-200 bucks probably~ and I dont plan to play every top notch game I would just like to be able to to some normal level~ and it needs to last me a good time as this last cpu has~

[Thomas91169]

make sure to go with Socket AM2 then, that way 2-3 years down the road AMD should still be using that socket, and you wont have to upgrade the motherboard and whatnot. CPU's are nice to have a good one, in any build nowadays it should be at least dual-core, but its really not as vital as having a good Video Card or Ram. I think Markuz is still running a FX-55, which is like what, 2-3 years old? and it still working out great for him.

[MarkuzLS1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thomas91169 I think Markuz is still running a FX-55, which is like what, 2-3 years old? and it still working out great for him.

Up until last week, you were right. Now, I'm actually running an A64X2 4200+ in one rig and a A64 4000+ in the other. The FX-55 is still sitting in the old AGP motherboard. I'm going to swap it into the 4000+ rig here in the next few weeks, when I pull it apart to replace the dying chipset HSF. It still ran all the games fine (hell, so does the 4000+, and it's even older). Thomas is right, the graphics card is so much more important than the processor in gaming performance. So if you like AMD better, or can get one cheaper, go ahead. It's not going to make a big difference.