Help me decide

[kingtas]

Which one would you choose for a budget gaming PC? Tell me why because I can't decide. Thanks.

Intel Pentium D Processor 930 with Dual Core Technology (3GHz, 800FSB, 2x2 MB L2 Cache)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
XFX PV-T73G-UDD3 Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

or

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor (2 x 512KB L2 Cache)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
XFX PV-T73G-UDD3 Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

 

[bwatson283]

AMD!

 

[bob4432]

what game?

 

[ta8689]

NVM.. AMD! for a sec i thought it was conroe. get conroe if u can afford it.

 

[acegazda]

what's your budget?
Best case situation:
e6300 c2d
2x1gb ddr2-667
7900gt
BTW, am2 has problems with memory voltages beyond 1.9v, the only ddr2-800 memory that definetly works is corsiar xms2. Conroe has a similar problem. Is this an upgrade or a new rig?

 

[kingtas]

This is going to be a new PC.

The PD 930 would be a new Dell XPS 400.
The AM2 3800+ would be a new build.

I can even go with a Conroe E6300 in a new build. According to Newegg, that would be around $100 more for the MB & CPU, than the AM23800+.

So what should it be for gaming like BF2, Fear, etc? Thanks.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: kingtas
This is going to be a new PC.

The PD 930 would be a new Dell XPS 400.
The AM2 3800+ would be a new build.

I can even go with a Conroe E6300 in a new build. According to Newegg, that would be around $100 more for the MB & CPU, than the AM23800+.

So what should it be for gaming like BF2, Fear, etc? Thanks.

imo your best bet for what you want would be to get a better gpu and 2GB of ram and go lower on the cpu if possible. for stricly gaming, i would even go a single core if it meant you could get a 7900gt or x1800xt or faster gpu and 2GB or ram.

 

[kingtas]

This is going to be for me son and I want it to last for the next 5 years. I would prefer to get a dual core since games might make more use of threading in that time frame. He will mostly game and rip music onto his mp3, etc.

And I won't be overclocking anything. So wich would you recommend? Thanks.

 

[n7]

If you can't afford C2D, then AM2 3800+.

Pentium Ds should be avoided like the plague.

 

[acegazda]

yeah, move on from netburst... if he's not going to be doing apps like photoshop or dreamweaver, then you could just get an am2 3200+ and an x1900xt... pair that with a mid range MoBo and 1gb of RAM (you can upgrade this later)

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: kingtas
This is going to be for me son and I want it to last for the next 5 years. I would prefer to get a dual core since games might make more use of threading in that time frame. He will mostly game and rip music onto his mp3, etc.

And I won't be overclocking anything. So wich would you recommend? Thanks.

5yrs is a lot to ask but i would still go heavy on the gpu since that is where most games are limited. play a game with even the slowest a64 or even celeron with a x1900xt and then put in a fx-62 or conroe 6800 with a slow gpu and you will see a huge difference with the x1900xt coming out ahead by far. a 7600gt could get you by for the short term, but i would go higher (x1900xt = excellet price/performance ratio or the x1800xt for ~$200) for a bit of longevity.

the problem is when will games really fully utilize dual cores to a great extent like say an encoding program? no idea.

i would go 2GB of ram. when i game bf2 with my rig in sig @ 1280x1024 i hit 1.5GB+ ram usage all the time.