Need recomendations for gaming system upgrade

[WannaFly]

Alienware 1.4Ghz Pentium , 512MB ram, not sure of the video on it. I'd like to Upgrade the MB+CPU+RAM+Video to get a new kick-butt gaming system. I don't really have a budget, but i'd like best-bang-for-the-buck. The HD's are SCSI, they are staying. I was looking at AMD 64's but am worried about driver/application/OS support on it. I'd definately like to get 1+ GB of ram, just looking for any suggestions - I haven't kept as good of an eye on hardware lately. Thanks guys!

 

[Azndude51]

AMD64 will pretty much work on anything, unless you actually want to use the 64bit features. The 64bit windows should be coming out sometime this year, once it does, the driver/application support should be better. I can't really suggest anything hardware until I know how much you can spend.

 

[kd2777]

Most people will say nf4 motherboard, but that isn't the best bang for your buck, because PCIe video cards are expensive and hard to find compaired to their AGP brothers. What kind of controller do you have for your SCSI drives? Will it work with a regular PCI slot or does it need the PCIx? If it where me and I was just looking for best bang for the money and wanted it to last a couple of years, and providing your SCSI controller will work with a PCI slot. I would go with a GB of pc-4000 RAM (I like GEIL Platinum/Ultra), a good nF3 board (I like the Neo Platinum and the EPoX), and a 3200+. And then start OCing a little at a time until you get around 2.4-2.6 GHz. If you don't like the thoughts of OCing, then go with a bit larger CPU (3500 or 3800) then save some money on your RAM and go with a GB of Value Select Corsair or Mushkin Basic which ever is cheaper (they are both good). As far as Video card goes I would look for a 6800GT on sale some where.

Motherboard

MSI Neo $148
EPoX EP-9NDA3+ $126

CPU

3200+(s939-Winchester) $235
3500+ (s939 -Winchester) $297 -OEM
3500+ (s939-Newcastle) $269
3800 + (s939-Newcastle) $635

Memory

Geil Ultra (pc-4000) $198
Mushkin Basic (pc-3200) $136.25
Corsair Value Select (pc-3200) $141

Video Card

eVGA 6800GT $388 (but you can find them cheaper)

* All prices are from newegg for convenience and are retail unless otherwise stated



kd

 

[SrGuapo]

The athlon 64s are an easy choice if you are going to be gaming. They work perfectly with 32 bit code (including Windows and every game out there), and will have the capability of 64 bit once a stable 64 bit OS is released (or you can use linux now).

The A64s are cheaper, faster, and cooler than their comprable P4s. I wuld go with a s939 CPU (either a 300+ or 3200+ for the money), a decent nF3 ultra board (unless you want PCI-e, then get a nF4 Ultra). Depending on our budget and type of gaming you do, I would go with either a 6800 gt or 6600gt. Both will power through any current games, though the 6800gt is better at higher resolution (>1024x768) and with any AA and AF.

I just (3 days ago) bought an AMD system. Here are my specs:

Athlon 64 3200+ winchester
Epox 9NDA3+ nForce3 motherboard
1GB (2x512) mushkin value PC3200 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATA
Antec Super Lan Boy case
Antec True Power 480W PSU

Total after shipping: $830


I am going to use my crappy old Radeon 9200 SE graphics card until I can afford a $400 6800gt.

 

[ts3433]

64-bit can be thought of as a bonus for right now. You'll have no issues with current applications. They're also currently better performers than P4s. The S939 3000+ and 3200+ are at the current sweet spot if you want to overclock--they do this very well. For a motherboard, get something like an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum or Epox EP-9NDA3+ if you want to use AGP, or wait for more NF4 Ultra board selection for PCIe (not quite worth it at the moment).

Get 2x512MB Corsair/Mushkin/Crucial value RAM even if you want to overclock; Zebo's tests show that running 1:1 when overclocking yields virtually no gain on the A64.

The NVidia 6800 GT is currently the best bang for the buck on the AGP platform ($388) for high resolutions with all the details, but the price for the PCIe version is currently very high (usually $500). If you run closer to 1280x1024 with most of the details (maybe just cut back on the AA/AF a little), the 6600GT is a good choice. Currently it's about $220 for the AGP version, and around $180 for PCIe.

 

[WannaFly]

I picked some stuff out from newegg, total $720..what do you guys think?
2 Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM
1 ASUS "K8N-E Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
1 AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor - Retail
1 Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, AGP 8X, Model "A6600 GT TDH" -RETAIL

edit: I went through the replies, picked some stuff out, thanks for the info. I went with the winchester core, not sure why though. I also like getting retail stuff (even though its more), because the extended warranty. I wont be overclocking.

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: WannaFly
I picked some stuff out from newegg, total $720..what do you guys think?
2 Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM
1 ASUS "K8N-E Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
1 AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor - Retail
1 Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, AGP 8X, Model "A6600 GT TDH" -RETAIL

edit: I went through the replies, picked some stuff out, thanks for the info. I went with the winchester core, not sure why though. I also like getting retail stuff (even though its more), because the extended warranty. I wont be overclocking.

Sounds pretty good, but you probably shoulda gone with SOcket 939 since it has better future upgradability.

 

[walkure]

Yeah, don't get the 3400 processor. Socket 754 are being phased out by AMD... just go with a socket 939 3200+. Newegg is NOT the place to buy processors, btw. The prices are much higher than Monarch and ZipZoomFly. You can get the OEM 3200+ winchester at Monarch for $193:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64


OR you can get the RETAIL version of the 3200+ winchester here at ZZF for only $203:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...sp?ProductCode=80701-2


With that 2nd option, you'll get a heatsink/fan included (if you don't want to buy a 3rd party ultra high performance one from either Thermalright, Zalman, etc). Also, you get included 3 year warranty, which you have to pay for at Monarch. So then the $193 at Monarch doesn't really seem like a better deal...

If you're going to overclock, the Winchesters are better than the Newcastles. The 3500 (2.2GHz) has recently skyrocketed in price ($297-$298 for OEM versions at Monarch and Newegg). And OCing, you can get the 3200 well past that speed anyway. For $203.

 

[kd2777]

Originally posted by: walkure
Yeah, don't get the 3400 processor. Socket 754 are being phased out by AMD... just go with a socket 939 3200+. Newegg is NOT the place to buy processors, btw. The prices are much higher than Monarch and ZipZoomFly. You can get the OEM 3200+ winchester at Monarch for $193:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64


OR you can get the RETAIL version of the 3200+ winchester here at ZZF for only $203:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...sp?ProductCode=80701-2


With that 2nd option, you'll get a heatsink/fan included (if you don't want to buy a 3rd party ultra high performance one from either Thermalright, Zalman, etc). Also, you get included 3 year warranty, which you have to pay for at Monarch. So then the $193 at Monarch doesn't really seem like a better deal...

If you're going to overclock, the Winchesters are better than the Newcastles. The 3500 (2.2GHz) has recently skyrocketed in price ($297-$298 for OEM versions at Monarch and Newegg). And OCing, you can get the 3200 well past that speed anyway. For $203.

You know I have bought everything from newegg in the past, but ZZFs prices where so much less my last upgrade that I bought nearly everything from them. However their website needs to take a navagation lesson from newegg.

kd

 

[WannaFly]

Originally posted by: walkure
Yeah, don't get the 3400 processor. Socket 754 are being phased out by AMD... just go with a socket 939 3200+. Newegg is NOT the place to buy processors, btw. The prices are much higher than Monarch and ZipZoomFly. You can get the OEM 3200+ winchester at Monarch for $193:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64


OR you can get the RETAIL version of the 3200+ winchester here at ZZF for only $203:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...sp?ProductCode=80701-2


With that 2nd option, you'll get a heatsink/fan included (if you don't want to buy a 3rd party ultra high performance one from either Thermalright, Zalman, etc). Also, you get included 3 year warranty, which you have to pay for at Monarch. So then the $193 at Monarch doesn't really seem like a better deal...

If you're going to overclock, the Winchesters are better than the Newcastles. The 3500 (2.2GHz) has recently skyrocketed in price ($297-$298 for OEM versions at Monarch and Newegg). And OCing, you can get the 3200 well past that speed anyway. For $203.

Thanks, walkure. I hadnt purchase that stuff yet, thats the information I was looking for - wether to get 939 or 754. Im definately going retail on the CPU, as stated previously. How does the 3200 compare to, say...at pentium 3.2, for gaming? Also I'd assume the 6600GT performs great, I've read a little reviews about it - and went with AGP instead of PCIe.

 

[Budmantom]

Get a 6800GT not the 6600GT.

 

[WannaFly]

i'd love to get a 6800GT, but I think that'll ruin my price-to-performance ratio...

 

[ts3433]

Go ahead and go with S754 if you plan to keep the system unchanged for quite a while. Otherwise, it can be argued that S939 is a bit of a safer bet for the future.

The 3200+ will definitely beat the P4 3.2 at gaming (and almost everything else), probably even the 3.4.

Your 6600GT is fine if you don't need to run 1600x1200 with everything turned on (if this is the case, consider a 6800GT). That card can probably handle 1280x1024 with high details but not all of the extra antialiasing.

 

[Edward Lee]

Originally posted by: WannaFly
i'd love to get a 6800GT, but I think that'll ruin my price-to-performance ratio...

Then get a 6800 NU but for God's sake if you have to spend more than $200.00 for a vid card don't choose a 6600 over a 6800.