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New computer coming up

S

Sairon

Junior Member
Ok so I'm planning on planning on buying a new computer but I'm not really up to date with the new stuff on the market. I'm mostly programming and playing games on my computer and have a pretty good budget. What I'm looking for is a system which is really good but still is worth the money. Anyway, if somebody could help me out a little I'd be really greatful.

CPU - AMD or intel? I've heard that AMD is pretty much the way to go atm. Is there any advantage with Intels CPUs?

Motherboard - Only thing I know is that nforce3 mobos are supossedly very good, don't know anything about the manufacturers though 🙂

Graphics card - I've heard that nVidias cards support pixel shaders 3.0 while ATIs counter parts does not. Does the nVidia cards still sound like jet engines?

 
You say that your budget is pretty good? How good are we talking? You can build a great computer, or a blazing-fast, top-of-the-line rig depending on how much green you are willing to throw down.
 
If you're into video or mp3 encoding then Pentium 4 is definitely the way to go. If you'll use it primarily for games and general desktop apps then AMD will give you better performance. Good "middle-of-the-road" processors from AMD are socket 939 3000+ and 3200+. They're not too expensive and will give you good performance. If you have room in your budget then 3500+ is an excellent processor. Personally, I wouldn't go above 3500+ because then the performance/price ratio begins to get out of whack.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm getting ready to build a new system and have done a TON of research on components over the last few months. As far as graphics cards go, nVideas are a very good value compared to ATI (IMHO). They also beat out ATI at many of the benchmarks I've seen.

As far as motherboard chipsets go, VIA and nVidea both make a quality product. If you're planning to get into overclocking then go with nforce3.
 
Originally posted by: Sairon
Is there any advantage with Intels CPUs?
Click to expand...
Yes, hyperthreading is a nice feature for some situations.

But as you're into programming and games, and since AMD64 swaps the floor with everything from Intel, on both compiling and gaming...
...And since we're on the doorstep of 64-bit computing, I can't really recommend Intel.
The choice is rather clear, I think.

The rest is up to your budget. Don't spend too much on a system you can't afford to replace for like 3 years. Make the videocard a priority, but don't burn money on the cutting edge.
My two thumb rules for gaming PCs: Videocard should be roughly twice the cost of the CPU. Two videocards in the life of the gaming PC. There will be a videocard upgrade at sometime.

SATA, PCI-E, socket 939, DDR2, LGA775, BTX are all useless stuff, not worth spending extra money or wait for.
(not that you need today. SATA is here today, so you will get support anyway. and 939 is becoming slightly more affordable.)

64-bit and 3.0 shaders are a bit different. The only thing we're missing here is software to make use of it. Otherwise, these two technologies represent real leaps forward. There is some doubt we'll see good use of 3.0 shaders for some time yet. But 64-bit gaming is just around the corner. In fact, I don't think we'll see any ambitious, primarily 32-bit, FPS shooter, after HL2.
 
I can spend like 3000 USD on it I think (I live in sweden but I'm guessing that's about the budget I would have on the US market).

I already have a good monitor so that's not included in that budget.
 
CPU: i would go with any AMD 64-bit proc'; you can both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of any software including XP.

Video: as far as benchmarks go, both Nvidia and ATI are too close to tell with the naked eye. besides 9 times out of 10, the better ONE is only 1-15 FPS anyway. for formfactor, if you have the bucks, i would go with PCIe over AGP. this will help future-proof you mom board and video for awhile.

Thanks,
Futurecomm
 
Welcome to AT! Anyways, this is when you get a little further down your planning stages: Do not skimp on the power supply or else you will regret it. Stick to brands like Antec, Enermax, Fortron, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, and perhaps a couple others.
 
ok thanks a lot for all the help. I have a pretty clear picture on what I'm going to get now. However when it comes to manufacturers I'm pretty much left in the dark.
 
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