I am going to build a powerful longlasting PC

[classy]

I have decide rather than spending $500-600 bucks a year to refresh or build a decent medium range PC I have decide to build a PC with 3 years in mind. I could really use some help honestly. I game a mostly, Here's what I know I am going to buy

For the first time I am going to have a dedicated game drive, I have decided to go scsi, a 36gb 15 Fujitsu or Maxtor 15K V. Reason maps have become so large using a scsi drive will totally make the difference. And it looks like for about $275-300 tops I can get a drive and controller. Could use some help on a controller.

I have an Audigy 2 ZS, nothing sounds better period.

lol I am not finished and the thing posted, hehehehehe

Now for a power supply nothing less than 550. I love my Coolermaster 450 Real Power, so the 550 Real Power looks pretty good, any thoughts. Could use some real help on this choice.

PCI Express AMD board with 250 fsb with either Redline or OCZ. Man the choices for that seems limited.

I figure get a cheap 3000 now until dual cores go down in Price because that is the future.

Case how about the Thermaltake Armor?

My other drive will be something around 250 gigs cheap I guess.

Outside of the scsi drive and desire to use 250 fsb with memory I could use some decent ideas or input.

I am just tired of spending $400-500 every year.

I use regular monitors, nothing special, give me some pointers. Especially on the PS. Any help will appreciated.

 

[sniperruff]

there is no long-lasting pc. i built an athlon 1700+ and a GF3 Ti500 for under $500 and it lasted me 3 years and running. just buy what you need, and spend what you want.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
there is no long-lasting pc. i built an athlon 1700+ and a GF3 Ti500 for under $500 and it lasted me 3 years and running. just buy what you need, and spend what you want.

Eh I guess if you at that simple I guess you got a point.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The P4 3.2C system I spent $1600 on in December 2003 should be good for another year, though I did need to spend another $300 in December 2004 to replace the graphics card (fx5900 to 6800).

For somewhere between $1000 - 1600 you should definitely be able to put together a long-lasting box with just a video upgrade mid-life.

You'll want AMD, sock939, PCI-E of course (but I wouldn't pay extra for a SLI mobo).

If you're not into overclocking you should spend more on the CPU, maybe a 3500+.

2 GB of RAM makes sense for a gaming PC intended to last, even though you'll probably end up with slightly slower memory to do it affordably.

 

[bob4432]

a good scsi card is the lsiu160 if you can find one in the fs/ft section, or a adaptec 19160, 29160 or 39160, again in the fs/ft section (should be able to pick up one for <$50, or even an older generation 15k with cable and card for ~$125-$150. the main reason to get the 15k is seek times and the older gens still have a high str). you just need u160 even though you are buying a u320 drive because the bottleneck will the drive if you use just one or the the pci slot if you use more than one. the new 15k rpm drives have a str of ~80-90MB/s

 

[Stokes]

If you are overclocking then you could build a great system with LCD, speakers, the entire setup for $1500 or so. I just built a system that I am planning on having last awhile as well and thats in my sig. I am also overclocking and that will help me stay up there with the big dogs for awhile. I would take a peak at that and see what you think.

As far as you MUST go PCI-E, I STRONGLY disagree. There is no performance gain from PCI-E and you can find the 6800GT AGP for $280 now. That card can be overclocked to Ultra speeds.

The ONLY reason to go PCI-E at this point is if you plan on buying a new card in a year and a half or so. If not, then why not just get the 6800GT, a great card, and that will last ya for the time you want. Then come three years, build a new PC and salvage the parts you can.

Thats what I'm pretty sure I will be doing. Feel free to PM me if you want more information on my build.

 

[Fox5]

Hmm, long lasting PC?
Get a DFI Nforce 4 Ultra SLI 939 motherboard.
Get an Athlon X2.
Get OCZ 4x512MB PC4200 low latency DDR, and then overclock to get even more performance out of the X2.
Get a 6800 Ultra capable of SLI.
Possibly water cool it all to overclock a bit better.
Get a ram drive when they come out.
Get a Creative XFI.
And pick up a Physics Processor when they come out.

 

[JackMDS]

It depends what long lasting means.

If it means physically long lasting?

Any decent computer will probably last for many years?

If you mean being state of the Art and compatible with what ever will come out in the near Future?

Every Computer is outdated at the moment that you first switch it On.

:sun:

 

[Newfie]

Originally posted by: Fox5
Hmm, long lasting PC?
Get a DFI Nforce 4 Ultra SLI 939 motherboard.
Get an Athlon X2.
Get OCZ 4x512MB PC4200 low latency DDR, and then overclock to get even more performance out of the X2.
Get a 6800 Ultra capable of SLI.
Possibly water cool it all to overclock a bit better.
Get a ram drive when they come out.
Get a Creative XFI.
And pick up a Physics Processor when they come out.

You would get a nice few years outta that lol!

 

[neutralizer]

It's never gonna last. It will be obsolete in a year.

 

[SilentRunning]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Every Computer is outdated at the moment that you first switch it On.

:sun:

So if I never switch it on and it will never be outdated. Guess I will try that next time

 

[The Pentium Guy]

It's obsolete themoment you hit "Accept" on Newegg.