Comp build suggestions

[gel197]

I finally got some extra cash and want to upgrade my pc. I'm going to be handing my old comp over to my wife so I need to build it from the ground up ie. case,monitor, DVD&CD burners everything. I currently have about $1500.00 to spend but. I would be willing to go to 1700 or maybe even 1800 if it would help out.

I'm not sure what the differences are with AMD and Pentiums but I guess I could go either way and I don't plan on doing any overclocking at all.

I guess I should let you know that my current comp has a P4 2.80 / GeForce 7600GS 512mb AGP 8X / 1gb RAM. Would I be able to make a substantial jump in performance from what I have now. I use it for mostly graphics PS,C4D and also alot of gaming.

Any advice you guys could give me would be very appreciated, thanks.

 

[stogez]

Even the lowest Core2Duo setup will give you a massive jump in performance. Look for similar posts and you should be able to find idea about a complete setup. Once you have an idea, post your parts and we can come up with a final setup. $1500 is a very decent budget. You may want to list what size monitor you're looking for as well. Case is a personal choice but you cant go wrong with ones like Antec P180, CM Stacker and Lian Li.

 

[gel197]

I tried looking for other people who asked this recently but I didn't find any posts. Maybe i'm looking in the wrong area.

Anyways I looked at the Core2Duo chips that you mentioned and this seems to be a good middle of the road one... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...tails.asp?EdpNo=2341562&Tab=11&NoMapp= . If somebody could at least give me a good motherboard to go with this I think I could put together the rest of the list myself for you guys to look at. I just have no idea about anything that has to do with mobo's and really need a recomendation to start out with.

 

[oOZo]

Nvidia's nForce 590 SLI chipset, and Intel's 975X. (the 680i has issues that aren't 100% worked out yet)Both support all current processors, and high-end motherboards come with comparable feature sets. You need the Nvidia chipset to install an Nvidia SLI dual graphics solution, or the 975X to run an ATI Crossfire dual graphics setup

MSI 975X Platinum Power Up Edition got Tom's HW best choice award for 975X

OZ

 

[gel197]

Okay this is what I have so far, I don't know much about brands or prices so I just tried to keep everything middle of the road.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=2366176&sku=M452-2646

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...ls.asp?EdpNo=2341562&sku=CP1-DUO-E6600

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=2268595&sku=TSD-320AS

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...details.asp?EdpNo=1950111&sku=ULT33120

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...details.asp?EdpNo=2583140&sku=C13-8022

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=1647123&sku=S167-4212

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=1644183&sku=A457-6016

The total comes out to $1093.00 w/o shipping

All I would need is a video card, monitor and a case to finish it off. I just want to know if these parts are good or if I should change anything.

I really don't know what the hot vid cards are right now so some recommendations would really be helpful. Also is it worth it to have two cards running together or just get one.

I still have about $600.00 in my budget and i'm willing to spend about $400 on my video card/s.

 

[WildHorse]

It's suggested that you read the
Budget Buyer's Guide
and the
High-End Buyer's Guide
on this site.

Now's a dicey time to spend on building a new computer, with so much in major flux now: Windows XP -> Vista else Linux, directX9 -> directX10, DDR ->DDR2, single core cpu->dual core cpu & real soon they'll be dancing to get us to buy quad, LCD monitors maybe -> new type, etc. etc.

This socket 939 AMD & DFI COMBO deal looks interesting, unless you NEED to get onto a more expensive Socket AM2 upgrade path.

Also is it worth it to have two cards running together or just get one.

Since both you & I are practical men, just get 1.

If you planned on building a MUCH more expensive super-rig, then M A Y B E toy with the SLI idea, but even Anandtech says instead of SLI we're often better off with 1 single higher-end video card. So just get 1.