help me decide please

[bmetzger]

First, should i wait to save moeny and get a socket 939? or 754 gonna work great for HL2 anyways.

Motherboard : Asus K8N-E Deluxe

CPU : A64 3200+ Newcastle S754

RAM : what should i get ( gonna get 1 gig, or at least 512 to start )


should i wait for nforce4? or is nforce3 a wiser choice? ( i can always upgrade in a year )

i know just about nothing about RAM.. so what would you subscribe? i don't wanna spend over 175$ for a gig. but will spend 200 if i need =)


vid card = what?

i hate ATI cards...i have a geforce4 mx 440 that kills my brother's crappy 9600. i dunno why.. just runs better. maybe caus ehe has a horrible dfi lanparty board.

6800gt definatley best choice? what would be the NEXT best choice to that. for around $200

FINAL : after what is answered, think it'll run hl2 with no problems no issues no flaws?


all opinions matter. don't feel shy to speak your mind.

 

[effee]

6800GT on a 3200 + ? Seems like a bottleneck to me, I would try a 6600 to get the best balance of power.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Memory, crucial all the way, not balls to the wall fast, but hella reliable. And pretty much anything in the GF 6 line is great

And yes, if you build a machine like this it will without a doubt run HL2 without issue

 

[ts3433]

The best choice right now for $200 is a 9800 Pro. You'll have to wait for the 6600 GT in AGP if you want something to top that for the money, or get a 6800 or 6800 GT.

Definitely get a gig of RAM for gaming; one stick on a S754, especially if overclocking. Value RAM should do if you don't do too much OCing/mind a RAM divider on higher overclocks.

(By the way, DFI boards aren't horrible--their Lanparty UT NF3 250Gb is the absolute best on S754. I would recommend you get that if you're going to spend ~$100-125 on a board for this platform.)

 

[bmetzger]

my brother has a lanparty and it runs like crap. can't deal with it. all dfi boards i've come across just haven't worked out correctly for me :/

i want this asus board though. so gonna stick with it =)

http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec....%20Deluxe&langs=09

http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/...PE=LP%20UT&SITE=US

which one would you choose? for overall performance. i haven't looked at the price of the dfi-horrid board, but if they are around same price, i'm not gonna be overclocking at all, so give opinion.

i will choose asus hands down, but if enough throw me over. i'll put my marbels into dfi one more time for anandtech moral.


and is the nforce4 worth waiting for?

 

[bmetzger]

bump

 

[yadda]

the latest reviews for the money $200 I would go for a 6600GT like this:

6600GT

 

[davidjaii]

how is 6800gt on an amd64 3200 bottle necking.... seems pretty balance to me...

i have a amd 3000 and my 9800pro seems to be topped out while playing cs:source (little jumpy on default settings/very jumpy on high quality)...so spend hte extra cash for 6800gt or x800xt

and 1 gig ram should be the minimum for gaming.

 

[bmetzger]

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...description=20-145-026

Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail

nice little find =) bought it as soon as i saw.

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=13-131-498&depa=1

ASUS "K8N-E Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL

i love this board.

gonna get a 3000+ - 3400+ in a week or two. anymore suggestions?


should i buy this fx5700 for 100$? think it'll run hl2 very well?