Another ordering new parts soon thread

[ShmooDude]

I'm planning to upgrade my XP 1900 (ancient I know) system soon and from browsing these forums and reading various revews and stuff I think I know what I plan to get. Of course any recomendations are appreciated.

Currently I'm looking to get (and their current prices)

Combo from Monarch Computers
Athlon 64 3000+ Rev E (Venice core) $156 (retail box)
DFI Lan Party UT NForce4 Ultra-D $139
Leadtek 6600GT $195

I have already:
Geil 2x512 DDR400 2.5-8-4-4

My big question is on the power supply. Now I know I need a new 24 pin power supply but how the heck do I tell them apart when ordering online. Also, do you guys have any brand recomendations (preferably an inexpencive one)? Is there a specific one for around $60 that you guys could link me to that would be good.

Another things, how much might I expect the prices to drop from say now till about december? Right now I'm looking at about $530ish and was hopeing to not spend quite that much. I've quickly glanced at some of anand's price guides but nothing very well.

Thanks in advance for the help

EDIT - Mostly a gaming pc on a budget, this needs to last me probably 2+ years at least, I hope...
EDIT 2 - Added the memory I already have...
EDIT 3 - Changed to Leadtek card most likely... though it is a bit more expencive, it was the superior solution in the Anand article

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to AT.

Are you planning on overclocking?

If you're not, you could save some money on that motherboard. You can get a nice NF4 board (like the Chaintech) for under $100.

For a decent 24 pin powersupply, this XClio 450watt is a good one in your price range.

Hard to say on the price drop... It might depend on whether the big CPU and Videocard manufacturers are going to deliver newer stuff as promised.

For the videocard, there are several threads about brands in the video section. Leadtek and eVGA are a couple good ones.

 

[ShmooDude]

Added the memory I already had. I may or may not overclock but I think I'd like to leave the option open and from everything I've read the DFI board is a very good overall motherboard and so is a good choice, but I could be persuaded otherwise. Reading the reviews the DFI board seemed to have the least flaws, there wasn't any one perfect choice.

I tried to overclock my current cpu once before but being a Paliamo core it barely made it to a 2000+ rating and even then it wasn't stable, I run the ram at an async 133/166 as offered by my limited bios options.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ShmooDude
Added the memory I already had. I may or may not overclock but I think I'd like to leave the option open and from everything I've read the DFI board is a very good overall motherboard and so is a good choice, but I could be persuaded otherwise. Reading the reviews the DFI board seemed to have the least flaws, there wasn't any one perfect choice.

I tried to overclock my current cpu once before but being a Paliamo core it barely made it to a 2000+ rating and even then it wasn't stable, I run the ram at an async 133/166 as offered by my limited bios options.

Yeah, the DFI is a good board, but if you want to cut costs somewhere, that's where I would do it.

 

[IntegraGSR]

does the DFI board have a lot of compatibility issues? if you're not a 'hardcore' overclocker, i would get a different board.

the PSU that YOyoYOhowsDAjello posted will suit your needs

 

[exar333]

DFI is a great board, but can be fussy with cheap RAM...if you dont know a lot about CPU's or OCing, I would go with a MSI...great boards, stable, and good for stock or OCing

 

[Rike]

My XFX 6600GT has been a good vid card for me. I replaced the heatsink to OC though. With the original HS, you need to be careful not to push on it as it can lose good contact with the core.

 

[ShmooDude]

I already got my brother a DFI board for his last computer upgrade (which was a couple months ago, its my turn coming soon) I know the memory works fine with it. =) Even without overclocking though it seemed to be the "best" of the NF4 boards (especially with how they did the sound card). I'm not sure if I want to cut corners there or just wait for the prices to come down a bit, we'll see.

 

[ShmooDude]

As far as video cards are there any brands I should stay away from? For the most part it doesn't seem to matter too much.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: ShmooDude
As far as video cards are there any brands I should stay away from? For the most part it doesn't seem to matter too much.

Read Anandtech's review on 6600Gt cards. There are some clear duds in the review because of the heatsink retention problems.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: UsandThem

Originally posted by: ShmooDude
As far as video cards are there any brands I should stay away from? For the most part it doesn't seem to matter too much.

Read Anandtech's review on 6600Gt cards. There are some clear duds in the review because of the heatsink retention problems.

Link for the above mentioned article. This was one of my primary sources for deciding which 6600GT I would get.

 

[ShmooDude]

Mmm, nice article, I'm definatly going to go with the leadtek (which consequently is what I got my brother, though his was a 6600 non GT, lucky pick on that one ). Now I just have to decide when to buy... Thanks for all the help guys, and if anyone else wants to add thier 2 cents feel free.

EDIT hmm, Leadtek is more expencive than the rest, wonder if that has anything to do with the Anand article

 

[ShmooDude]

One last post to see if anyone has any comments before I fade off into the abyss....