Suggestions For New PC

[EternalDarkWing]

I am looking to build a new gaming PC that is better than my current one. Here are my current specs.

- Intel Pentium 4 2.7 GHz Processor (Stock w/ Computer)
- 1GB DDR RAM
- 1 Samsung 120GB Hard Drive (Stock w/ Computer)
- 1 Western Digital 120GB Hard Drive
- ATI Radeon X850 PRO AGP 256MB Video Card
- Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Sound Card

The system I am using right now is a slightly upgraded Hewlett-Packard that was bought back in 2003. I am looking to build a PC better than this but I want to transfer some of my old hardware into the new system. What I want to keep is my sound card and my two hard drives. I have been doing some browsing on Newegg and have come up with some rough ideas as to what to get but I'd like some more opinions. I'd like for some other people to give me their opinions on what the best parts to buy are to fit within a certain budget.

I am an avid gamer and I play some pretty high-end games such as Oblivion and Half-Life 2. I am going to purchase Crysis when it comes out and I'd like it to run well. Keep the gaming aspect in mind. These are some of the things I would like to have in my new PC.

- AMD Dual-Core Processor
- Better Video Card (PCIe)
- 2GB RAM
- Another Hard Drive (200-300GB)
- Black Case w/ Window (Good Airflow)

I would also like the option to upgrade it further in the future, such as with more RAM. I already have the other necessary components, monitors (I use two), keyboard, mouse, etc. I would like this all to fit in to a budget of $1,250 whilst getting the best parts possible.

Thanks,
EDW

 

[bamacre]

Forget about AMD, go Intel Core 2 Duo. Probably an E6300 considering your budget. For video card, 7900 GT will probably fit your budget, or wait for the 7950 GT.

For motherboard, I'd go Asus P5B if you are OC'ing (and you should), or maybe the Asus P5N-SLI if you are not, or would like SLI potential.

Memory depends on if you are OC'ing. If not, value 667mhz memory will be fine.

If your current hard drives are PATA, you may want to get a PCI EIDE controller card, they run about $35 maybe. Motherboards are mostly having only one PATA connector, which will likely be used for optical drives.

As for PSU, there is a hot deal on an Ultra X-Finity 600w here...
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1920030&enterthread=y

That will likely fit your budget.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 $190 (zipzoomfly.com
Gigabyte DS3 Motherboard $155 (zipzoomfly.com)
2GB Corsair XMS2 6400 $249 w/$40 MIR(zipzoomfly.com)
Seagate 320GB 7200.10 16MB HDD $95 (newegg.com)
Radeon x1900xt $315 (chiefvalue.com)

That's a grand total of $1004 before rebates and shipping (zipzoomfly offers free shipping and $3.99 fedex 2 day)

This leaves you over $200 for a case and PSU which is more than enough really. Fortron PSUs are good quality and cheap, and there's plenty of super cases in that price range.

the Core2 system will most definately be better in the long run than anything AMD has available right now. It also fits your budget fine so there's no quibbling over price unless you want to get a case like lianLi or something more expensive. Also note that the E6300 CPU can almost always overclock to at least 2.8Ghz from the standard 1.8Ghz.

You could save even more by getting a Nvidia 7900GT and it'll be fine as well.

 

[EternalDarkWing]

Both of my current hard drives use ATA/100 interfaces.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: EternalDarkWing
Both of my current hard drives use ATA/100 interfaces.

Yeah, then one thing you will need is a PCI EIDE controller card...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...2007&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=16-102-007

OR, you could just use your old system as a file server, and put that $35 into a router. Having three hard drives in a case certainly will increase the temperature.

 

[EternalDarkWing]

If I were to buy the mobo that cmdrdredd suggested, I would not need to buy the PCI EIDE controller card right?

Here's the specs off of Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

PATA 1 x ATA100 up to 2 Devices
SATA 3Gb/s 6

If I were to hook up 3 hard drives, could I balance out the temperature with good airflow, powerful fans, or some other cooling solution?

It would also be nice if someone could point me towards a specific power supply that is cheap and supports everything I wish to put in the PC. I looked at the Fortron PSU's on Newegg but I can't really decide.

 

[bamacre]

The one PATA connector is going to use an optical (CD/DVD) drive, no?

If you do put all three hard drives in your one system, make sure your case has a front fan, next to the hard drives.

 

[EternalDarkWing]

Well, yeah. I am going to hook up one DVD-RW drive. Here is the case I am considering getting.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144102

Would something like this be useful in cooling the hard drives?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835192004

Worse comes to worse, if I can't hook up the 2 PATA drives and the optical drive, I can just hook up the card you mentioned to me, correct?

 

[bamacre]

I assume one of the 2 included 80mm fans is in the front. I'd make sure though. I would replace the rear 80mm fan with a 120mm fan, then replace the side duct with that 80mm fan you took from the rear.

Yes, the PCI EIDE card has two PATA connections on it. You can hook up your two PATA hard drives to it.