New Rig Suggestions!

[Volkswagen]

I parted out my S754 rig which consisted of a S754 A64 3400+ Newcastle, DFI Lanparty nForce 3, 2 x 1 GB DDR 400 Patriot LLK and a X800XT AGP 8x Video card....Reason I did it is besause I kinda wanted to upgrade and wanted to sell my parts while they are still worth decent money and I made about $450 from it which is not too shabby....Now onto what I do with my pc and so on

I do the following

Gaming ( not really hardcore just like to entertain my self few times a week but when I do it I like it the way its meant to be so smooth gameplay is what I want )
Basic Usage ( Surfing the net, listening to music , burning cd/dvd-s and sometines i use photoshop)
I encode a dvd maybe once a week thats about it......

So as you see I am not a power user but I like to stay on top of the game and play with new technology 🙂

This is what I have left from my old system and that I plan to reuse:

Lian Li PC 7B Case
WD 37 GB 8mb Raptor HDD
Audigy 2
Samsung 18x DVD/CD Burner
19" Acer LCD 1280x1024 DVI 8ms
Speakers, mouse, keyboard, OS

What I need

CPU ( Was thinking E4300 for $179 since Id be more then happy with a 3 ghz Core 2 duo but open to suggestions)
MOBO ( Gigabyte DS3 or just the S3....I need somehting stable and that overclocks decent...Dont care about SLI or Crossfire or fancy features...Open to suggestions )
RAM ( Need 2x1GB ddr2 800mhz was gona go with Gskill 2GBNQ kit for $200 )
VIDEO CARD ( My biggest dilema right here folks what does a guy do in a situation like this? I was thinking bout a X1900XT for 215$ (200 AR) but not sure if its a good idea to spend that kind of money on a DX9 card?........I play CS Source DOD SOurce F E A R BF2/2142 and look forward to playing STALKER, Crysis, UT2007 etc @ full settings on my native lcd resolution....Is there anything else you suggest? Wait for DX10 budget cards or do that later when games actually start using the technology?
PSU ( I have a Xclio 450W BL Psu but I am not sure it will cut it so I was thinking bout the Corsair HX620W Unit which is good for now and will be good for later)

If i go with a DX9 card now my next upgrade will be a nice DX10 card when games start using it along with a new LCD and Windows Vista which I would get arround Spetember since I graduate from schoool and it would be a present 😛

Also with the Gigabyte DS3 or S3 and the DDR2800mhz will I be ready for Quad Core if that becomes useful int he future?

BUDGET: $1000 for cpu,ram,video,mobo and psu

 

[engiNURD]

I was thinkin cheap cpu/mobo/ram + 8800GTS, but your plan is better. Upgrade to DX10 in Sept. instead. Videocards are the components that drop quickest in value, and the DX10 cards are priced so high right now, with no games to use them with. So, go for this:

$222 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz
$133 - Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express
$200 - G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
$230 - HIS Hightech H195XT256DVN-R Radeon X1950XT 256MB ($260 - $30MIR)
$96 - Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W PSU ($106 - $10MIR) (Free Shipping)
$30 - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
===========
$911 + tax and shipping (after rebates)

That should fit your budget with tax and shipping. If you can't afford that, skip the CPU HSF for now and upgrade it later. Yes, the S3/DS3 is Quad-Core Ready. If you want a board capable of the new 1333Mhz FSB, go for the Asus P5N-E SLI instead of the DS3. AT has a review on it. If you want to wait, new Core2Duo CPU's are coming out in Q2'07:
dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5414

 

[Boyo]

I would also throw in a large hard drive into the mix for storage and media, since you only have a 36GB Raptor. Something like a WD 320GB or 400GB. I also like engiNurd's suggestion for a rig. You definitely need to bump up that PSU to a decent level.

Go with DX10. It makes no sense at this point to invest in DX9 now. YOu may want to wait until more cards come out, but I would go with DX10.

 

[Roguestar]

He could get a cheap & cheerful DX9 card now and wait until a) D3D10 is actually released, b) wait until there are games for it and c) wait until there are more cards and more competition in the D3D10 arena. Right now you've only got to choose from the 8800s, and they're extortionately priced to say the least. I'd say get an x1950pro now and wait until the 8600 series start to emerge, and also see if ATi have bothered to come up with anything by then.

Edit: The X1950XT does great with current games but like mentioned before, DX9 is only going to go so far. I think downscaling that a little to the X1950pro (which will still run those games at max at 1280*1024) and saving the cash for when D3D10 becomes more of an economically feasible option is a better idea.