Need a new machine

[alius]

My previous machine is apparently dying and I don't want to nor have the patience to fix it.

I havn't kept up to date on all the new stuff but I want a system that will stay viable for a good long while.

Playing the new games at insane resolutions with all the goodies is very appealing as well.

Looking over anand again I saw the review for the Jetway 939GT4-SLI and it seemed to be a good starting point.

My budget is around 3000 but I don't want to spend all of it. I was thinking I could go for the SLI enabled but just buy one bleeding edge card now, and another when its cheaper (and the games warrent it) for SLI. Nvidia seems the way to go right now.

Also, whats the best card to get? A single core or a dual? Are games going to begin to take advantage of more then a single thread?

Also. I want this machine to be relatively quiet. I am willing to make the foray into water cooling to achieve this.

Any help would be greatly apperciated as I'm kind of reeling from being out of the know for so long.

Thanks.

Edit: I'm also debating two moniters, I already have an older 19 inch LCD which I could use as the secondary. Any recommendations for a good 19 inch gaming LCD thats not that insanely expensive?

Edit2: Also, if you have any recommendations other then what I stated I would be glad to hear them.

 

[love2skate824]

shweeeeet budget dude. lets get started.

dual core amd proc. are the way to go right now. sooo...

lets pick the amd 64 3800+

for the mobo go msi for great overclocking and easy set up. I dont recommened sli unless getting two cards right now, not realy much of a future proofer. grab a 7800 gtx, preferably evga, bfg, or xfx.

memory-2x1gb is the way to go. get some ocz gold ddr400.

hard drive-300 maxtor 16mb cache.

optical-benq 1640 dual layer

psu-ocz, seasonic, and antec are all good. so is pc power and cooling

look around here and find something that people recommened. avoid xconnect psu's

case-antec p180 or lian li are great

thats pretty much it, ill put together a newegg cart as soon as the site gets back up.

 

[PKing1977]

How much can you keep from the old system? I would get at least a 4400+ X2 with that budget and you still should come out well under the 3000 bucks you set aside for it.

List what you have to keep from the old system then you can start getting quality parts with what you want to replace. The 7800 GTX rocks, but in all honesty your close to the release of ATIs dual card solution. I dont know if you want to wait or not. Either company will have a good solution.

Yes games will take advantage of the dual cores. F.E.A.R. is just one of them. I have heard of a couple more that are comming out soon as well (soon being Nov). The next unreal 3d code will be SMP aware. So the future is dual core for sure.

PKing

 

[alius]

My (biffed) setup:
Abit IS7
pentium 4 2.4c
1gig of 3200 ddr (512 x2)
9800 pro 128 meg version

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

You don't need $3000...

Go with something like this:

Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego/3800+ Manchester X2
eVGA SLI Motherboard (comes free with 7800GTX, it's a rebranded Jetway)
2x1GB Value RAM
eVGA 7800GTX
Seagate 7200RPM 8MB cache SATA drive(s)
Antec P160/Antec P180/some other nice alluminum case
Good ~500W PSU from Fortron, Sparkle, PC Power and Cooling, or Seasonic.

That should come out to far less than $3000...

 

[kirbymixmasta]

I'd wait for Crossfire, since I've heard really good things about it. Also, since your in for longevitiy I'd definitly go with a dual core proc. In the future there will be multi-threaded apps.

 

[xanis]

Thermaltake Tsunami Mid-Tower Case - $130
Sparkle 550W PSU - $98
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum - $164
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice - $190
eVGA 7800GTX (2) - $1000
2GB Corsair XMS DDR (4x512mb) - $400
Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA HDD - $115

Total: $2097

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: Xanis
Thermaltake Tsunami Mid-Tower Case - $130
Sparkle 550W PSU - $98
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum - $164
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice - $190
eVGA 7800GTX (2) - $1000
2GB Corsair XMS DDR (4x512mb) - $400
Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA HDD - $115

Total: $2097

Those prices are a bit off...
The Tsunami is $100, but I wouldn't really recommend it if you have money for something else. The Antec P180 is excellet, and it only costs a bit more. The noise is greatly reduced, there's better cooling, and much more. I think you meant MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI instead of Neo4 Platinum. Also, I think you typo'd the CPU, since you definitely can't get a 3800+ Venice for $190 . If you're going for 2GB of RAM, 2x1GB would be better, since you can run them in 1T.

 

[DavidoFoo]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
You don't need $3000...

Go with something like this:

Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego/3800+ Manchester X2
eVGA SLI Motherboard (comes free with 7800GTX, it's a rebranded Jetway)
2x1GB Value RAM
eVGA 7800GTX
Seagate 7200RPM 8MB cache SATA drive(s)
Antec P160/Antec P180/some other nice alluminum case
Good ~500W PSU from Fortron, Sparkle, PC Power and Cooling, or Seasonic.

That should come out to far less than $3000...

:thumbsup:

 

[alius]

Can you link me to the promotion with the free mobo?

Edit: Found the promo on newegg. Question about the KO still valid.

Also, I was looking on eVGAs site and they are offereing preorders for a GTX KO, is it worth waiting for? Its barely more expensive then the GTX and seems like it would offer slightly better performance because of the higher clock speeds.

Also, how is the antec phantom series?

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=24500

Quiet is a big plus for me.

 

[DavidoFoo]

Look at Anandtech's review of the GTX KO.

Try a Seasonic S12 series psu as they are the quietest fan-cooled psus.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: DavidoFoo

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
You don't need $3000...

Go with something like this:

Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego/3800+ Manchester X2
eVGA SLI Motherboard (comes free with 7800GTX, it's a rebranded Jetway)
2x1GB Value RAM
eVGA 7800GTX
Seagate 7200RPM 8MB cache SATA drive(s)
Antec P160/Antec P180/some other nice alluminum case
Good ~500W PSU from Fortron, Sparkle, PC Power and Cooling, or Seasonic.

That should come out to far less than $3000...

:thumbsup:

I would go P-180. and the psu a seasonic s12

 

[alius]

Ok, the P180 is already sitting in my cart because it seems most excellent. Checking out the recommended psu.

After reading the review of the KO I think I want to go with it. Does anyone know when its schedualed to be released?

 

[alius]

Looking at these two processers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562 3800+ Manchester

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529 4000+ San Diego

What warrents the Manchester costing more?

Edit: Bleck, sorry for double post.

Edit2: Disregard question, X2 and not.

 

[love2skate824]

I suggest a Lian-Li case with that budget. P180 is great but really huge. The Lian Li's wont have problems with the PSU 24 pin cable reaching the mobo. They start around $220. Definetly go dual core. O yeah now that newegg is back up illget you that shoppng cart.

 

[alius]

What I really liked about the 180 was the dampened panels.

I really want a quiet computer.

Edit: Thats also one of the big reasons I liked the KO, faster but also quieter.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

The Manchester is dual core, while the San Diego is single core. The San Diego would be better for current gaming, as there are no games out right not that can take advantage of multithreadeding. However, when multithreaded games come out, the 3800+ will pwn the San Diego. Basically, do you want performance now or later? Personally, I'd probably go with the 3800+. It'll still offer you good performance now, and it'll be pretty useful once games come out that are coded for dualcore. If you do decide to get a San Diego though, don't get a 4000+. Just get a 3700+ and overclock it. You'll save a bit of money that way.

 

[alius]

After reading anands article it seemed that the 3800+ OCed to 2.4 ghz pretty easy too.

What HS/Fan combo should I go with too?

Edit: Would it be smart go go up to the 4000+ part for 100 bucks more? Or would it be a negligible difference? Also, does it OC more or do they hit the same ceiling?

 

[love2skate824]

From what I hear Lian Li cases are quiet quiet, but hey, its your pc. Go dual core man, dont waste now on a San Diego.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: alius
My (biffed) setup:
Abit IS7
pentium 4 2.4c
1gig of 3200 ddr (512 x2)
9800 pro 128 meg version

 

[alius]

Believe me Nick, I didn't want to buy a new machine either. But the machine is screwed (biffed).

love2skate - By 4000+ part I meant the duel core one. Is 4000+ worth 100 bucks more then 3800+ was my question.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

AMD Athlon X2 3800+

Epox 9NPA+ SLI (for future proof, mine as well get it now then have to upgrade the mobo if you ever do want SLI, plus this is the best board i have ever used, it is rock stable and overclocks right behind a DFI)

(1x) eVGA 7800GTX (the KTO ones or whatever there called)

Hitachi SATA2 hard drives (if you need a lot of space, the 500GB is worth it, as it benched right behind a 74GB raptor in a lot of reviews)

Bluegears HDA-Mystique (im a lot happier with this then i was with my Creative Labs Audigy 2 )

Seasonic S12 600W (future proof)

Antec P180 or Thermaltake Tsunami (i love mine, its very sexy)


then all the other bells and whistles

 

[love2skate824]

Originally posted by: alius

love2skate - By 4000+ part I meant the duel core one. Is 4000+ worth 100 bucks more then 3800+ was my question.

Ohhh. Well over the 3800+ you wont see much of a substatial differece, you can OCthe 3800 to 4000 speeds easily even with stock cooling, its definetly not worth the premium right now. plus, the 3800 is the newest chip, meaning all orignal(if any) bugs and problems have been fixed.

go 3800

 

[Diasper]

I'd go with either the dual-core 3800+ or 4400+. In some instances, primarily gaming the extra cache has shown to be useful eg I think the 3700 San diego was showing upto 18% imporvement in games like Far Cry over a 512kb Venice at the same speeds.

Some 2x1GB nippy RAM capable of DDR500 (Crucial Ballistix, Corsair XMS3200C2 Pro and I think MUshkin 3500 Blue) as that can yield upto 10% performance increase over DDR400 at similiar spec when both cores are going full tilt.

A motherboard with a spare 4x PCI-E slot so you can stick in the PhysX PPU when it settles on it as its standard interface (it'll move from PCI/PCI-E 1x to PCi-E 4x) - boards would include the NF4 Ultra series. Of course, if you got an SLI board and split the two slots to run at 8X PCI-E that would work for the PPU. However, you might want to wait to see what the latest ATI motherboards are coming out as they have shown to be typically faster than the NF4 with better audio and passively cooled to boot - the DFI CT one is looking very promising as discussed in xtremesystems forums.

Go with the 7800GT and save a bit of cash as it's within a few percent of the GTX but significantly less costly.

P180 is a good choice.

I like the Tagan 530W U22 for it's spec (32A on +12V, 48A on +5.5V and 28A on +3.3V), it's 3 year warranty, quality inc braided cables and fan placement making it more ideal for a case like the P180 over PSUs that have fans underneath.

Get a nice screen like the Dell 2405 - it's worth spending extra on a screen.

I've listed premium parts there given your large budget but I suspect you'll still have some to spare - the best thing you can do now is save it and put it in a pot for later upgrades as spending beyond what I've specced won't get you very much at all. Currently, even some parts are arguable such as going for the 4400 over the 3800 dual-core or paying an extra premium for RAM as in most cases even gaming they won't see much additional benefit.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Oh yes, of course, don't skimp on the monitor. If you have that much money, the only parts you should invest them in without wasting a lot of money are the perephirals, because they don't really go down in value much. I recommend a really nice 5.1 setup.