NEED HELP -- Gaming Rig Suggestions

[GamingDaemon]

EDIT: I have moved this topic to the General Hardware forum where it is probably more appropriate. Thanks...

Hi,

New member here. After building one gaming machine with an Intel Dual Core and some budget components, I have learned some hard lessons. So, I want to cobble together a new gaming rig using some of the parts of the prior one.

I am looking for suggestions for the new rig on the following items:
1) A case under $100 (had used a TT Soprano)
2) A mobo under $100 that has at least 2 Sata II 3GB/s slots and uses 240pin DDR2 667 memory, though I would be willing to spend a little more here.
3) A processor (let me guess...uhhhh...AMD )
4) Video card. Should I use the existing Sapphire Radeon X850 XT PCIe (just bought it actually), or switch to a different video card?

One thing that really concerns me is that I want to be able to upgrade this rig over the next two (2) years. So I want this investment to pay off for a while. Is this possible?

I am concerend about the new AMD AM2 socket or the new Intel Conroe chip coming down the road. If I don't have these chipsets or sockets, will I be hindering my ability to upgrade in the future?

TIA...

~Andrew

 

[tjpark1111]

well I'm sorry to say unless you're a guy from AMD and can get access to AM2, there's no way you're gonna use that DDR2 ram you already have into an AMD platform. If you want to save your memory, get an intel platform again.
get a sonata II which has a 450w PSU included for $101 shipped @ clubit
get a epox 9npa+ ultra $98 shippped @ ZZF
get a 3000+ venice 939 for $112 shipped @ NewEgg or a 3200+ for $153
well, have you gotten to play with your x850xt at all? It's a fairly powerful card, so unless you have money to burn, I would keep it.
Don't be concerned about the upcoming platforms unless you always want the latest and greatest. The only thing the new platform for AMD will do is that it will implement DDR2, but it is a different socket so you won't be able to upgrade your cpu. Hence, a dual-core might be a wise choice to endure a few years since 939 is phasing out and you won't be able to upgrade. Otherwise, it should be fine, and I recommended a single-core platform because even in 2 years, I don't see the dual cores helping substantially, to pay off for its price.

 

[Brock123]

Well if your cpu is 3 gig or better i would keep and I would keep vid 850 is fine
whats the specs on your current rig??
I just for an coolmaster ammo533 for 85 bucks from the gg and it good also got an msi k8n sli-f board that I like
but need your current to know about uogrades.
sorry for typos little drunk

 

[budgetGamer]

I'm interested to hear this too. I am in a similar situation...

 

[GamingDaemon]

My previous rig is:

[*] Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
[*] ECS C19-A SLI (1.0A) Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI XE ATX Intel Motherboard
[*] SAPPHIRE 100106SR-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
[*] Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply
[*] Intel Pentium D 940 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor
[*] CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered
[*] Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
[*] Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

I am getting about 6100 3dMark05 marks which is ok, BUT I have been reading so much that AMD is just plain better at playing games, I am basically convined to build a new rig with that CPU. And this will be a 100% gaming rig.