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Building a mid-level PC - how does this sound?

D

DEredita

Senior member

I'm looking to spend about $1300-$1400 on a PC.

EDIT:

What I am looking at:
AMD Athlon64 3500+ (90nm)
MSI K8N nForce4 Neo4 Ultra
1GB Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series (2-3-3-6 T1)
ATI X800 XL (256MB/256 Bits)
74GB WD Raptor drive 10K RPM SATA
300GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 SATA - 16MB cache
Case with 450watt PS
--------------------------------------------------------
~ $1400



How is this system?

Software:
Photoshop CS
MS Office XP
Visual Studio
Macromedia MX
Bryce

Games:
HL2


I want a pretty quick PC for a mid-level budget.

Which way would you go, and what changes would you make?

- Mike
 
Are you planning to overclock? If so go with some high end 2x 512 sticks, if not just get the 2 gb even though imo you dont need that much ram, yet.
 
Originally posted by: BouZouki
Are you planning to overclock? If so go with some high end 2x 512 sticks, if not just get the 2 gb even though imo you dont need that much ram, yet.
Click to expand...

I've never overclocked, so I will probably avoid OC'ing it. I just want the most speed for the money.

- Mike
 
oh, for the system ur looking at, for the love of God dont get a 6600GT on an SLI board. You'll be MUCH better off saving your money and getting a 6800GT on a normal non-SLI board. 1 6800GT beats 2x6600GT's while costing about the same.

You can save aditional money buy buying some decent (not HIGH end) memory. My PDP Patriot pc3200 ram (2x512) was $180 and runs at 2-3-2-5 latencies. Though you probably wont notice a difference in performance between this and value ram i just wanted better quality and maybe a few more points on 3dmark...

On benches though, the difference between this PDP stuff and the high end ram you picked out was about 1-1.5% average. Not worth $50 IMO
 
If you're doing a lot of Photoshoping and Bryce(especially if you do them at the same time) 2gb might be a good idea, but if it's just the occassional Graphics useage it'll probably be a waste.
 
Oh, and also talking another look at your system that ur gunna build, what kinda case is that and what powersupply? Most cases come with crappy PSU's, but some like Antec and a few others are ok.
 
oh, for the system ur looking at, for the love of God dont get a 6600GT on an SLI board. You'll be MUCH better off saving your money and getting a 6800GT on a normal non-SLI board. 1 6800GT beats 2x6600GT's while costing about the same.
Click to expand...

Definitely take that advice.
 


I'm skeptical about the SLi boards, so I might just go with a nForce 4 Ultra bord like the MSI.

Everyone is saying avoid the 6600GT like the plague, how about the X800 XL I've heard is supposed to be as good or better than the 6800GT? When is it coming out?

- Mike
 
They are not saying to avoid the 6600GT like the plague. They are just saying that buying 2 of those and using them in SLI is more expensive and performs below the speed of a singe 6800GT. If you don't plan on using the SLI, although I don't see why you bought it if you don't plan to use it, so I assume you do. But anyway, if you onl yplan to use one card and the midrange video card is all you need, then the 6600GT is a fine choice.
 
Originally posted by: coolred
If you don't plan on using the SLI, although I don't see why you bought it if you don't plan to use it, so I assume you do.
Click to expand...

I didn't make any purschases yet. Most of the parts I'm looking at getting aren't out yet, they're supposed to be out in the next few weeks.

- Mike
 


After reviewing everyone's posts, I've made some changes to what I am planning on building.

How does this sound:

AMD Athlon64 3500+ (90nm)
MSI K8N nForce4 Neo4 Ultra
1GB Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series (2-3-3-6 T1)
ATI X800 XL (256MB/256 Bits)
74GB WD Raptor drive 10K RPM SATA
300GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 SATA - 16MB cache
Case with 450watt PS
--------------------------------------------------------
~ $1400


I have the mouse, keyboard, 16x DVD burner, and the OS.

- Mike
 
What case and Power supply do you plan to go with? Don't skimp on the PSU. All those parts are gonna want quite a bit of nice clean reliable power. So get something good in that department. I mainly stick with antecs myself, but I hear enermax, sparkle, fortron I think they are all pretty good.
 
What case and Power supply do you plan to go with? Don't skimp on the PSU. All those parts are gonna want quite a bit of nice clean reliable power. So get something good in that department. I mainly stick with antecs myself, but I hear enermax, sparkle, fortron I think they are all pretty good.
 
i'd go 1 6600gt in a non sli board, or a 6800gt in a non sli board, or a 6800gt in an sli board.

valueram over the highspeed stuff. You won't use the highspeed if you aren't overclocking, so there's really no need to buy it. get a gig of value ram, with the 200$ you save not buying the ram and skipping sli, get a 6800GT 🙂.

eh, i'd stay away from high voltage generic psu's. they tend to blow up. i'd buy a case without a psu, or this one, and replace the psu with a 350-400 watt antec, sparkle, fortron, etc.
 
Originally posted by: fishmonger12
i'd go 1 6600gt in a non sli board, or a 6800gt in a non sli board, or a 6800gt in an sli board.

valueram over the highspeed stuff. You won't use the highspeed if you aren't overclocking, so there's really no need to buy it. get a gig of value ram, with the 200$ you save not buying the ram and skipping sli, get a 6800GT 🙂.

eh, i'd stay away from high voltage generic psu's. they tend to blow up. i'd buy a case without a psu, or this one, and replace the psu with a 350-400 watt antec, sparkle, fortron, etc.
Click to expand...

 

After seeing everyone thinks I should do better than a 6600GT, I thought about the 6800GT, but it's at close to $500 for the PCI-e version- ouch. If I hold out for another 2 to 3 weeks, I could have the ATI X800 XL - which looks like the way I am going. According to the benchmarks I've seen, it beats the 6800GT in many things. With a $299 price tag, I feel the ATI X800 XL is the better buy.

So I'll get good ram, not the best, but still pretty good, save about $100 and use it to get the ATI X800 XL.


System:

What I am looking at:
AMD Athlon64 3500+ (90nm)
MSI K8N nForce4 Neo4 Ultra
1GB Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series (2-3-3-6 T1)
ATI X800 XL (256MB/256 Bits)
74GB WD Raptor drive 10K RPM SATA
300GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 SATA - 16MB cache
Case with 450watt PS
--------------------------------------------------------
~ $1400


- Mike

 
I'm not gonna argue much with you about the video card. I don't know enough about the 800XL or really even the 6800GT to be of much help. But please I beg you do not use the power supply that comes with that case. I am not saying it will happen, but its quite possible that if its a cheap PSU that it could die and in a worse case senario take many other of your new parts with it.
 
Originally posted by: DEredita
What I am looking at:
AMD Athlon64 3500+ (90nm)
MSI K8N nForce4 Neo4 Ultra
1GB Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series (2-3-3-6 T1)
ATI X800 XL (256MB/256 Bits)
74GB WD Raptor drive 10K RPM SATA
300GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 SATA - 16MB cache
Case with 450watt PS
--------------------------------------------------------
~ $1400
Click to expand...

The CPU, RAM, and HD choices look excellent. I personally will never buy another MSI mobo, but that seems to be one of the most popular A64 mobo brands right now, so I guess that's a good choice too. I haven't read enough reviews on recent video cards give advice on that. I've only heard about the 6600 GT and 6800 GTs. Is the X800 XL a better buy?

What case and PSU? You should get a high quality PSU for that system.

Originally posted by: DEredita
This is the case/PS I am getting - http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-105-113&depa=1

Not the greatest, but I really like how it looks.

- Mike
Click to expand...

:Q If you're going to spend $1400 on a computer, get a reliable PSU. Generic PSUs usually cause instability, cold boot problems, they die within a year. They're also overrated. An Antec 350W TruPower PSU is roughly as powerful as a 450-500W generic PSU. Consider an Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake, or PC Power and Cooling PSU of 400W+.
 
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