Bulidng new PC..time?

[RadioHead84]

I have been waiting for a long time to build a new PC. Well it is now summer and i have all the time in the world to build one and play with it as much as i want. sooooooooo i was thinking of getting the amd64 3400 and one of the brand new ATIs. But my PCI-E is still not out.....i dont know if i can hold out the entier summer....my computer is really starting to show its age....1.5p4....

so the question is...

buy now..

buy later...

if i buy now it will be in like 2 weeks when prices for video card goes down a bit.

 

[MichaelD]

Heh, the "best" time to upgrade is when you feel that your current PC is not doing what you want it to, as fast as you want it to.

What are your full system specs? What do you do with it? Game a lot? High resolutions w/eyecandy? What kind of monitor do you have?

 

[3LEMENT0]

Yes. Upgrade now if you want and you can. If you want to wait then wait, personally I'd upgrade or build another system according to need. Right now I need another system for work and play and I've set my range to get this PC from June to August. That's because I'm waiting and I can wait for retail and tested ASUS/ABIT/GIGABYTE NForce3 250Gb motherboard. My requirements for the new PC is 1.reliability 2.performance (will overclock to a point where reliability will not be a risk) 3. Best Price/Performance. Good luck.

 

[RadioHead84]

This will be a gaming and school computer. I want to be able to play the best of the best, hence the brand new video card. i have about 2 grand to spend so i think its well with in my budget since i dont need to buy completely new parts.

current system is...

1.5ghz p4
40g harddrive
Geforce2ultra
615mb of ram
crappy motherboard...
Sound Blaster Audigy,
5.1 Klispch speakers
reg dvd drive,
fast burner, forget what speed it is...


Bascially i can take out my dvd drives, use my speakers....i love my speakers , possibly use the same sound card if i dont ave enough to buy a new one, and i won a case in a LAN tournament so i don tneed to buy one of those. I might need to buy a new PSU tho since its only a 400W.

What i was thkning of getting was

AMD 64 3400
8000XT
1Gb of ram..(No clue what kind to get there...i am not a memory buff)
Either one 120 GB western Digital, or 1 80GB western digital Raptor...not sure if i want to spend th emoney yet,
not sur eon the the mother board. I am not that big into overlcocking so i dont need it to be increadile in that sense. I just want a fast and realible one full of features.
i would use the same sound card if i dont have enough money
i only have a 14" monitor so i was thinking about investing in a 19 inch flat screen..again that depends on the money left over...

thats basically the jists of it.....

sooo now or later....

 

[Markfw]

Motherboard ASUS K8V deluxe,
CPU Athlon64 3400+
Video card Radeon 9800pro (the 800XT is going to be $)
Hard drive: WD Raptor 74 gig, or Hitachi 7k250
Monitor 19 inch CRT (for gaming)

 

[RadioHead84]

thx...are you sure about the 98000 pro..i have been waitin for these new video cards....they should drop down to 400 in like a week or two weeks. And its like 2 times the performance of the older cards.....kinda makes your jawa want to drop

 

[RadioHead84]

This would also be my first time using a SATA harddrive, maybe looking into RAID. right now i have one IDE

 

[RadioHead84]

First build btw

 

[Markfw]

Well, newegg has the X800 for $445 right now. If you have the money, go for it. The 9800 pro is about $200, and you can get a refurb for $175. I just don;t have any games that need that much. Even Far Cry works fine with all the candy turned on. And dual 74 gig raptors in raid0 is supposed to be killer. Go for it !

 

[RadioHead84]

I have never had a raid set up before, dont even know if its hard to set up or anything.

sooo wait or go lol. Only things to wait for is the PCI-E, the new form factor and the new socket

 

[LtPage1]

good plan.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

Just built a new machine and man, what a differance in UT2K4. But I came from a P3 1.0 with a Ti4400. Tuff call for you. PCI-E won't make much of a differance from what people are saying. 939? I dunno.
What are you currently using the computer for?
Mine is UT2K4 and before building, it took 30 seconds to join the map. Now I join with everyone else and see the 5 second countdown. I also have all detail on high and get an average of 50 fps.
I have a 5900XT for now until the 6800s come out in a few months. When D3 and HL2 come out later this summer, I think about upgrading.

 

[dudeman007]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Motherboard ASUS K8V deluxe,
CPU Athlon64 3400+
Video card Radeon 9800pro (the 800XT is going to be $)
Hard drive: WD Raptor 74 gig, or Hitachi 7k250
Monitor 19 inch CRT (for gaming)

I like this, except I would get a x800pro or xt. If you're planning for the best, with that system only the video card can bring you down so go for the best.

*edit* ps

It will last you longer. With 2 grand I say go for it

 

[kd2777]

Originally posted by: RadioHead84
I have never had a raid set up before, dont even know if its hard to set up or anything.

sooo wait or go lol. Only things to wait for is the PCI-E, the new form factor and the new socket

I have the ASUS K8v se Deluxe and the RAID was really easy to set up!!!

MY System:
AMD 3400+ Athlon 64
Asus K8V se Deluxe
2 WD 36 Raptors in RAID-0
250GB WD HDD for storage
9800pro
1GB RAM
ATI TV card
DVD+/-RW
Floppy drive
Explorer mouse
Office Key board
Windows xp

My PCMark02 scores:

CPU 7226
RAM 8605
HDD 2625

3DMark01se:

20813

I play Farcry with everything on Veryhigh and am in the mid 30s with AA all the way up, and in the mid 80s with AA on Medium (everything else still veryhigh)

Hope that helps.

KD