$2k w/o monitor to spend. PCI-X? DDR2? ----------

[firebirdude]

Buddy of mine is looking for a gaming rig. Wants to spend around $2k without the monitor. DVD burner is the only real requirement. Other then that, he doesn't really care. What do you guys think? I have heard PCI Express is the next wave, but isin't really even utilized yet. However, I'm sure he will have this rig a while. So in the future, he may want to upgrade video cards. So.... PCI-X? Next, DDR2-533 RAM? What's so special about it aside from the fact it's quicker then regular DDR400? Also, I have heard that the top of the line video cards are hard to come by. They are sold out everywhere. I'm not going to let that stop us. We'll hold the whole rig up waiting if need be. I assume 6800GT Ultra or ATI X800 would be in order? Both run about $450 right? ARE they worth it? Are there any cards between the ATI 9800XT and the X800? And finally, CPU and MOBO. Intel. AMD. Don't mind either. I know large cache sizes and high FSB numbers don't always mean everything. Biggest question regarding CPU's I have is what cores should I be looking for? Thanks for your help guys!

 

[Tiamat]

Seems like you got a bit of the triple post there ;p

Right now, gaming rig is A64 based. If you want to spend the 2k$ in 2 months, then you can think about PCI-Express with A64's. I doubt you will be seeing DDR2 for a little bit on A64 based systems.

6800Ultra and X800XT PE are like 600$ if you can find them.

 

[gobucks]

DDR2 is faster, but the latency is higher, and since most P4s have 800MHz FSB, they can't really use the extra bandwidth very effectively. DDR2 is the memory of the future, but as a memory for the present, it sucks ass. AMD is definitely the way to go for gaming, and DDR1 will do just fine for you, plus it's about half the cost over DDR2. Because AMD's memory controller is on the chip, it needs low latency memory more than high-bandwidth, unless you plan to overclock. My recommendations would be:
CPU - Athlon 64 3200+ or 3500+ (90nm, they overclock better)
Mobo - nForce3 250GB, or if you can wait, an nForce4 will be pretty sweet
Video - 6800GT - best value, at $375 or so, otherwise maybe an X800XT or 6800 Ultra, but they are like $125 more for not much better performance. As for the X800 Pro, it's not very good in comparison to the GT, so I wouldn't get one
Hard Drive - 300GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 16MB buffer SATA hard drive - really fast, and big, for $200
Memory - Crucial Ballistix or PQI Ultra (both have 2-2-2-5-1T timings, really important for an A64 system, plus can overclock almost to DDR600) - 1GB (2x512MB should do you, both are around $250)
DVD - Pretty much any decent looking dual layer drive (NEC and sony have dual layer ones for $70 on newegg)

 

[Sentinel]

I wouldnt spend 2k just to spend 2k, spend what you need and dont go overboard.

 

[Gamingphreek]

You mean PCI-E, Not PCI-X.

I wish people would learn. Also wish the search button was fuxing enormous.

-Kevin

 

[jose]

I"d wait 3-4weeks for the following:

A64 3500+ 90nm cpu ($300) w/ 2 gigs of ram ($300)
NForce4 SLI mobo ie. DFI Lanparty SLI ($175)

this will run you about ~$775 so far, add about $350 for a pci-e 6800GT when they are available
2 - 74g raptors about $360, CM Stacker case $178, Antec 550ps $112, NEC3500a $70, Audigy2 ZS $75

All done for close to $1920 more or less.

Later he can add another 6800GT for SLI performance. Read Anand's preview on SLI..

Regards,
Jose