Building a new AMD system

[Jolly Rancher]

Hey guys ,

I plan on building a new AMD system but i haven't been keeping up on hardware so I could really use some help specing out my new rig.

I'm willing to spend around $1500 to $2000

I need:

Motherboard
Ram
GFX Card(s) - im seriously considering SLI
Power Supply
HDD
Case

Perhaps a DVD burner as well, although my main priority is a powerful gaming machine so i can always hold off on one for now.

I plan on keeping my current monitor (sony 21" CRT still works great) for now too.

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: Jolly Rancher
Hey guys ,

I plan on building a new AMD system but i haven't been keeping up on hardware so I could really use some help specing out my new rig.

I'm willing to spend around $1500 to $2000

I need:

Motherboard
Ram
GFX Card(s) - im seriously considering SLI
Power Supply
HDD
Case

Perhaps a DVD burner as well, although my main priority is a powerful gaming machine so i can always hold off on one for now.

I plan on keeping my current monitor (sony 21" CRT still works great) for now too.

Why don't you list what you are considering, then post that and have it on here for the rest of us to critique and recomend changes or opinions

 

[Cheezeit]

Do some work yourself before asking, then youll have an idea for what you want. Check out anand's guides and search for usandthem's

 

[Jolly Rancher]

Ok ill do some research right now and post what i think i might need...
Sorry about the lack of info...

 

[Cheezeit]

Yep, we'll be happy to help once you have a general idea of what you want

by the way welcome to AT

 

[Jolly Rancher]

ok heres what ive come up so far ...

Athlon 64 3700+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103464

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540

Ill probably go with an Antec case and antec 500 watt power supply - not sure which models yet

Not sure on ram really could use some help here - probably 2 sticks of corsair 3200 512's so i can take advantage of dual mode - should i consider getting 2 1gig sticks?

On the DVD burner, from what ive read most of them are very similar in performance so i could use some recommendations on brands, i was leaning towards a sony though..

Ill probably go with 2 6800 GT's if i go SLI which im really leaning towards - am i wasting money here? is the performance increase enough to justify the extra card?

I want the machine to last me a couple years at least - and possibly more with upgrades
down the road

Note: this machine will be a gaming rig only so game performance is my ONLY concern

 

[Cheezeit]

Say no to sli. Instead, get one of the new generation nvida cards.

1 gig of corsair VS is good

get a nec 3520 or 3540

ANtec is good, but I would get the fortron blue storm 500 psu. I bought one for myself

 

[jae]

socket 754 cpu and 939 motherboard???
doesnt sound right to me

 

[Jolly Rancher]

Originally posted by: Cheezeit
Say no to sli. Instead, get one of the new generation nvida cards.

1 gig of corsair VS is good

get a nec 3520 or 3540

ANtec is good, but I would get the fortron blue storm 500 psu. I bought one for myself

Could you be more specific as to why i shouldn't do SLI?

And can anyone recommend a good SATA hard drive? im thinking maybe in the 200gb size? Should i consider getting 2 and running RAID 0?

 

[Jolly Rancher]

Originally posted by: jae
socket 754 cpu and 939 motherboard???
doesnt sound right to me

lol that's why im asking for help here, I'm not that knowledgable with the latest sockets and stuff... so could you maybe suggest a CPU or MB? whats better?

 

[Jolly Rancher]

Hmm maybe i should pose the question like this:

If you had $2000 to build a gaming rig what would you get?

Not including monitor, mouse kbd etc

basically the MB, CPU, GFX card, ram, HDD, DVD burner

no intel please

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: Jolly Rancher

Originally posted by: Cheezeit
Say no to sli. Instead, get one of the new generation nvida cards.

1 gig of corsair VS is good

get a nec 3520 or 3540

ANtec is good, but I would get the fortron blue storm 500 psu. I bought one for myself

Could you be more specific as to why i shouldn't do SLI?

Because one 7800GTX is faster and cheaper than two 6800GT's.

 

[johnnqq]

heres a quick system
3700
asus a8n-e sli
7800gtx
antec p180
(your choice of power supply)


i'm a big fan of good sound so i would suggest getting a quality surround sound system for like 200+ a good sound card. speakers don't become obsolete the way a video card does.

 

[Cheezeit]

good, just make sure that 3700 is a san diago

For psu, get the fortron Blue Storm 500. Its got great reviews everywhere and is silent. Im using one as I type and love it

 

[shoRunner]

4200 X2 $585
or
AMD 3700+ San diego $325

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128279">gigabyte motherboard SLI
$136</a>
Antec Case $50
Enermax PSU 535watt $90
memory $80
DVD burner $49
7800GTX $599
seagate 250GB $123

~$1710

or go with a 3700 if not planning on doing some major multitasking
~$1500

*Edit*
i'm not sure if that board with come with the bios updated enough for revision E CPUs...

if you really want to spend all that money you could go with 2GB of Ram @ $180

 

[btdvox]

Anand calls a X800XL a mid range card:S id say its more high end than mid range, 6600 GT would be the mid range card, or even the 6600 lol

 

[Jolly Rancher]

Thanks for all the info guys at the very least you have steered me in the right direction

I really wish i could reuse my current 6800GT but its AGP ..

Ive heard many ppl say not to buy the 7800GTX cause the performance increase isnt really in line with the price increase, plus i know as soon as i get it they'll probably release the ultra version lol

 

[shoRunner]

Originally posted by: Jolly Rancher
Thanks for all the info guys at the very least you have steered me in the right direction

I really wish i could reuse my current 6800GT but its AGP ..

Ive heard many ppl say not to buy the 7800GTX cause the performance increase isnt really in line with the price increase, plus i know as soon as i get it they'll probably release the ultra version lol

actually it basically is 2x the performace for alittle less than 2x the price. basically on 7800gtx beats 2 sli'ed 6800gt's. would i ever spend $600 on a gfx card...probably not

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050622/nvidia_7800_gtx-15.html