I'm new to the building scene but have been doing my research (tomshardware, newegg, etc.) on what hardware to use. I'm gonna go with the AMD Athlon 64 am2 X2 3800+ but haven't made up my mind for the rest. I'm looking at some middle of the line motherboards ($80-120) and video cards but don't know which will suit my needs. I do some gaming (COD2) and photoshop but mainly just have IE and azureus running. Also any components/advice about making this a home theater system and connecting it to my receiver and TV is welcome. I'm not looking to purchase a top of the line system but do want to have everything run smoothly and be able to upgrade (am3) in the future easily.
I was planning on a PCIe vid card and at last a gig of ram. At first I wanted to keep it below $1000 but now I am thinking that will not happen. I really cannot give a strict number I want to keep it around but I will say I am not looking to build someones beast dream machine. Looking for a stable PC that will run smoothly for a couple years.
I think it will be an almost complete new build as I am using a 3 year old Dell dimension 4600 and I don't know if I can/want to use anything from it. I will keep the the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and any other non CPU things (let me know if you can think of others) that are compatible for sure until I have enough funds to upgrade each of those. I believe the CPU itself will consist of all new hardware.
Heres a breakdown of what I think/want...
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 am2 X2 3800+ (pretty much set in stone...have read too many threads comparing/degrading/arguing about processors to change my mind now!)
MB - want PCIe but have no need for SLI, a HD or 2 (don't know much about RAID but it looks like I will be going that route in the near future), enough PCI slots for a wireless card, ram (2x1gig), and does sound card use PCI
Vid card - Geforce 7600 GT for $149.99 or the $206.68 Radeon X1800 GTO but if I get persuaded maybe the GeForce 6800GS will fit the budget. All I really need to do is to play COD2 and the next few series of games. I can play COD2 on my NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 and the graphics are bearable but not the best. I would be happy if I could play the next few years of games on this new card (starcraft 2, warcraft 4?, COD3?). I also need the capability of connecting to the TV (I would like a digital connection, like HDMI, if at all possible)
Sound card -I want 5.1 digital sound. Gaming sound is not that improtant as I am currently playing COD2 with one speaker most of the time! Not fun hitting the speaker with someone in the crosshair trying to snipe!
Memory - just want something that is solid and compatible. I don't think I need DDR2 800 for the performance jump over the 939 socket like I am hearing. Just need at least 1 gig that will work for the time being. Another gig will come later if things become laggy or I have extra funds.
Case, power supply, fans - decisions on all those will come later as I think they should be picked following all the above hardware (correct me if I'm wrong). I do want a relatively quiet machine though so again I'm open to any recommendations.
Questions? Suggestions? Insight?
I was planning on a PCIe vid card and at last a gig of ram. At first I wanted to keep it below $1000 but now I am thinking that will not happen. I really cannot give a strict number I want to keep it around but I will say I am not looking to build someones beast dream machine. Looking for a stable PC that will run smoothly for a couple years.
I think it will be an almost complete new build as I am using a 3 year old Dell dimension 4600 and I don't know if I can/want to use anything from it. I will keep the the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and any other non CPU things (let me know if you can think of others) that are compatible for sure until I have enough funds to upgrade each of those. I believe the CPU itself will consist of all new hardware.
Heres a breakdown of what I think/want...
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 am2 X2 3800+ (pretty much set in stone...have read too many threads comparing/degrading/arguing about processors to change my mind now!)
MB - want PCIe but have no need for SLI, a HD or 2 (don't know much about RAID but it looks like I will be going that route in the near future), enough PCI slots for a wireless card, ram (2x1gig), and does sound card use PCI
Vid card - Geforce 7600 GT for $149.99 or the $206.68 Radeon X1800 GTO but if I get persuaded maybe the GeForce 6800GS will fit the budget. All I really need to do is to play COD2 and the next few series of games. I can play COD2 on my NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 and the graphics are bearable but not the best. I would be happy if I could play the next few years of games on this new card (starcraft 2, warcraft 4?, COD3?). I also need the capability of connecting to the TV (I would like a digital connection, like HDMI, if at all possible)
Sound card -I want 5.1 digital sound. Gaming sound is not that improtant as I am currently playing COD2 with one speaker most of the time! Not fun hitting the speaker with someone in the crosshair trying to snipe!
Memory - just want something that is solid and compatible. I don't think I need DDR2 800 for the performance jump over the 939 socket like I am hearing. Just need at least 1 gig that will work for the time being. Another gig will come later if things become laggy or I have extra funds.
Case, power supply, fans - decisions on all those will come later as I think they should be picked following all the above hardware (correct me if I'm wrong). I do want a relatively quiet machine though so again I'm open to any recommendations.
Questions? Suggestions? Insight?
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