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Upgrading Value Gaming Rig & Putting together Top of the Line Gaming Rig. Naturally, Help is needed.

X

Xenon14

Platinum Member
For my upgrades I need:

Either 2500+XP or 2600+XP (2500 has more cache but is slower? What should i get?)
Motherboard - I'm guessing KT400 - what kind? Also - I'm considering buying a mobo/cpu/ram bundle.. any good ones available?
512 DDR RAM
40, 60, or 80 gig HD - Which and what kind? I need the most Memory for my money.
CDRW - I'm guessing a Lite-On 52x/32x/52x

Top of the Line Gaming Rig:

1) Pentium 4 2.4C (with intentions to overclock of course)
2) Springdale mobo - What kind?
3) 512 DC DDR 3200 Ram
4) Audigy 2
5) Ati 9700 Pro
6) Lite on 52x/32x/52x cdrw?
7) DVD Burner - what kind? I want the one with Both format burn and built-in cdrw that burns 1.4gigs onto a 700mb cd.
8) Klipsch Promedia 4.1 or 5.1? (if 5.1 is MUCH mroe expensive than the 4.1 i want the 4.1)
9) Floppy
10) TV Tuner card - what kind?
11) Ati USB Remote Control
12) Harddrive - 120gb - what kind, maxtor, WD, seagate?
13) keyboard/mouse
14) 400 or 500 watt case? Full atx.
 
I'm no pro ,but as far as your top of the line rig, most are going this way-

P4 2.6C
ABIT IC7-G
Corsair Ram DDR 3200 or3500
This is what i'm looking at for my next build= great OCing!!
+ The ATI All in wonder 9700 PRO got a good review as well.
my 2cw:beer:😛
 
2) Springdale mobo - What kind?
Click to expand...
Abit IS7 according to HardOCP and AT
12) Harddrive - 120gb - what kind, maxtor, WD, seagate?
Click to expand...
WD 8mb SE with 3-year warranty
14) 400 or 500 watt case? Full atx.
Click to expand...
or just an Antec SLK3700 with its good quality 380w supply. It's not the size that counts 😉

The extra $100 for a 9800pro may be worth it if you're planning to buy Doom3 and want 1024x768 with either medium quality + AA or high quality no AA. Both are only about 42 fps even with the 9800 pro in the AT and Toms fx5900 articles.
 
For top of the line gaming rig you need an ati radeon 9800 pro.
7) DVD Burner - what kind? I want the one with Both format burn and built-in cdrw that burns 1.4gigs onto a 700mb cd.
Click to expand...
I didn't know they made ones that can burn 1.4 gbs onto a 700 mb cd... I have a pioneer dvr-a05 and its a pretty good dvd burner though I wouldn't mind a sony dru510a. I personally liked the seagate barracuda line of harddrives they are silent and reliable, and decent speeds, not much of a difference in harddrive speeds between the companies.
 
Value rig.

I would go with the Barton. Comparison.

Why KT400? I have nothing against VIA, running KT266A very stable, but today the chipset to use for amd is the NForce2. May I be so bold to suggest the Epox 8RDA+. You can get it for $85 and you get a soundcard for free.

HD: I prefer Maxtor or Seagate, but that's just me. 🙂

I refuse to comment on the Intel rig 😀 /jk

And which dvd burner can burn 1.4gig onto a cdrw? I haven't heard of this.
 
Abit IS7 is $99 and supposed to be very good, Asus P4P800 deluxe is slightly better, but some people dont think its worth the extra $40-50.

Do you really need a cd-burner if you're getting a DVD burner? And I dont know what you're talking about with 1.4 gigs on a cd😕 Check here to compare DVDs with the features you want.

Get an All In Wonder 9700 pro for an extra $50, it has TV-tuner.

I'd get WD Special Edition 120 GB drive.
 
had a 9700Pro (went thru 3 of them actually) ... got a new 9800Pro.



9700pro who ????????

If u intend on building a TotL gaming rig, get a 9800Pro, nuthin less!
 
I have both the Klipsch 4.1 and 5.1 systems. The 5.1 is worth the money. Had I known what the 4.1 setup was like I'd have gotten some Logitech 5.1s instead....but if you want to waste 250+ dollars go ahead!
 
Originally posted by: JZilla
Value rig.

I would go with the Barton. Comparison.

Why KT400? I have nothing against VIA, running KT266A very stable, but today the chipset to use for amd is the NForce2. May I be so bold to suggest the Epox 8RDA+. You can get it for $85 and you get a soundcard for free.

HD: I prefer Maxtor or Seagate, but that's just me. 🙂

I refuse to comment on the Intel rig 😀 /jk

And which dvd burner can burn 1.4gig onto a cdrw? I haven't heard of this.
Click to expand...


Optorite (Accesstek) DD0203 Dual Format (+/-) DVD Burner with HD Burn for $199 at www.accupc.com. (I repeat this is a dual format for those that are going to list other DVD burner deals here like a Pioneer A05 or something) Was $280 a couple days ago. Much cheaper than the Sony 500A. This drive is a OEM Sanyo with the following features:

BURN-Proof: prevents Buffer Under Run
HD-BURN: record twice the capacity of CD-R media
- 8 MB internal buffer
- Motorized easy touch tray loading
- Firmware upgradeable
- Installation: horizontal and vertical
- 4X Max. DVD+R and -R Write, 2.4X Max. DVD+RW Rewrite, 2X Max.
- DVD-RW Rewrite, and 12X Max. DVD-ROM Reading
- 24X Max. CD-R Write, 10X Max. CD-RW Rewrite and 40X Max. CD-ROM Reading

This drive has a unique feature of Sanyo HD Burn technology, no other drive has it. It let's you burn up to twice as much info on a regular CD-R (similar to Plextors new feature on their Premium line) but this let's you do twice the info 1.4GB on a 700MB CD-R. Another thing is that DVD drives should be able to read these CD-R's with a simple firmware upgrade, I know I read that LiteOn will be supporting HD Burn too.

Wish I could take advantage of this deal, but being here in the Amsterdam (funny thing is that Optorite is opening its European headquarters here in the Netherlands, but I can't find this drive anywhere - the only place that had it listed, doesn't anymore), I can't so I'll pass it on to you... (but really wish I could get my hands on one)

Free shipping for all but tax for CA residents.

http://www.accupc.com/itemDetail.jsp?pid=DROPDD0203

at this
Thread
 
If you want an AthlonXP......

Definately try and get one of the AthlonXP Barton CPU's with 512k Level 2 cache. There is a huge improvement for me personally in windows (in responce time from menus / right clicks / etc. for one thing). I know its that because I had only changed CPU to my 3000+ for the change. Responce times are roughly halved I reckon.
 
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