New Gamming Computer

[ishock]

Hi,
I've finally decided to ditch my PII for a shiny new computer. I need some advice with a configuration I've come up with, to be used mostly for gamming:

AMD Athlon 3000+ 939
ASUS A8N-SLI 939
GeIL 512MB DDR Value Dual Channel
WD 80GB SATA
LEADTEK FX6600GT 128Mb PCIx
DVD Toshiba
Compucase CI-6A19

Any thoughts? Should I change something in this configuration? I don't want to spend more then I should...Thank you very much in advance!

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Onboard sound is not your friend. SoundStorm does have a cult following but todays mobos no longer carry it.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

You could opt for the best bang for your buck sound card and look at some of Chaintech's offerings.

 

[coejus]

That system sounds pretty good, but you might want to throw in a dedicated sound card. It'll probably also be worth looking at two 512 MB sticks of memory instead of just 512 MB.

Just a pet peeve, but PCI-X is not the same thing as PCIe.

 

[Porter21]

Yes, sound card can help improve gaming performance if you don't have nice built-in sound such as soundstorm.

By the way, gaming is spelled with one "m", not two.

 

[KoolDrew]

You plan on overclocking?

 

[ishock]

I have no intention of overclocking.

Do you recommend a different mb then the one with PCIe (thx coejus) - I don't see myself using the SLI feature any time soon.
As for sound- Do you realy hear any difference between an onboard sound card and a sound card?

Thanks again

 

[jvarszegi]

Originally posted by: Porter21
Yes, sound card can help improve gaming performance if you don't have nice built-in sound such as soundstorm.

By the way, gaming is spelled with one "m", not two.

I disagree. Looking at gams online doesn't require a sound card at all.

 

[coejus]

Originally posted by: ishock
I have no intention of overclocking.

Do you recommend a different mb then the one with PCIe (thx coejus) - I don't see myself using the SLI feature any time soon.
As for sound- Do you realy hear any difference between an onboard sound card and a sound card?

Thanks again

The nForce4 board from Gigabyte is a good board. The Asus SLI board is horribly overpriced, I wouldn't bother with it now if you don't see yourself using SLI in the foreseeable future. The only other readily available nForce4 board I know of is a Chaintech, but I have no experience with them.

If you don't want to go with PCIe, you can look at nForce3 (I prefer it over VIA, but others might have different opinions) boards from MSI, EPoX, Gigabyte, Asus, et cetera. With the money you save on your motherboard, you can probably go for a 6800 or 6800 GT if you can squeeze out a little more.

You might hear some difference between your onboard sound and a dedicated sound card, but your top limiting factor as far as sound goes is the speakers, so it may not be worth it. Some sound cards might offer lower CPU usage, though, and if you're gaming, that can make a small difference.

 

[ishock]

I thought that the future of graphic cards is PCIe. Shouldn't I get more out of a 6600GT PCIe than with a 6800GT AGP (maybe in future games)?

 

[coejus]

Not really. Right now, other than future upgradability, PCIe doesn't offer much over AGP.

If you don't want to spend much, AGP motherboards can be had for much less cash than PCIe motherboards.

 

[KoolDrew]

Yes PCI Express is the future but as of right now they do not perform any better then there AGP counterparts. The only real advantage to PCI Express on AMD platforms is SLI. I would just get a MSI k8n neo2 platinum then you would have to get a AGP 6600GT. Also th 6600Gt is not part of the FX series. That would be the 5xxx cards.