yet another computer buidling advice thread

[konakona]

i havnt played any 3d games in a while, so my grasp on the lastest hardware is kinda weak. a friend in korea wants me to get some parts for him, and he says he wants the best thing he can get for under $550. bang for buck is the key here, the lower you go the happier he will be. but at the same time, he wants something that would last him for a while.

i am thinking something along the line of
athlon64 (winchester core)
nf3 mobo
1ghz pc3200 ram
6800 oc
el cheapo hdd from one of those BM stores

rebates are fine by me as long as they are not from some shady place like tigerdirect. another thing is i need to have everything by december 10th which is when i am leaving for korea. thx in advance.

EDIT : second hand parts will do if price difference is substantial...

 

[konakona]

bump. i am reading other threads as well, but i could use more input here

 

[rcomo]

Get a:
3500+ Winchester
MSI Neo2 Plat Motherboard 939
BFG 6800 GT
1 gig OCZ Plat Ram
NEC 3500A dvd burner
Coolermaster CM Stacker case

^^^^^^^^

All the other stuff is less important. That combo above will kick major *ss and serve you very, very well.

 

[aixenv]

i agree with rcomo, he's describing my soon to be rig lol

 

[konakona]

ok, he doesnt need the burner or the case, just cpu/mobo/vga/ram/hdd.

any ideas where to shop for those? i am cross checking hot deals and FS/FT forums at the moment... a little guidance would be highly apprciated
again, thx for suggestions.

 

[konakona]

damn its getting pushed back fast... another burp.

 

[konakona]

ttt

 

[ts3433]

Pretty much what the other guy said above, though any S939 NF3 board is acceptable (given some of the criticism of MSI on here, I might lean a little toward the Epox for no reason). I've heard that the various K8T800 Pro boards are fine too, though. If that RAM isn't the very good TCCD chips, get some of the Patriot stuff JPeyton recommends (it's probably a bit cheaper too). For a hard drive, any good 7200 RPM/8 MB WD or Seagate will do. A 10,000 RPM drive isn't likely to provide much performance increase, neither is a 16 MB cache drive, nor a SATA-II NCQ drive (NF4 will be the first chipset for AMD to use it, though I don't project too much performance increase).

 

[konakona]

so i guess i will go with either epox or msi s939 mobo, paired up with a 3500 winchester. i am using pc2700 patriot stuff myself, no complaints so far. as for the hdd, i dont think he will notice much difference at all upgrading from his p550 voodoo3 system; any of those el cheap $30~$60 AR hdds from BM store would suffice.
where is a good place to shop for mobo/cpu/ram/video card? too bad i missed out on the 6800 deal just by one day

 

[konakona]

after reading this thread, i am inclined to go with 6800 OC. even if softmode fails, it should be plenty fast for him, hopefully.
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-499&amp;depa=0">AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 939-Pin 64-bit Processor - OEM
</a> : $149 shipped
Mushkin 512MB PC3200 400MHz 64x64 DDR 184Pin - Model #MU512W8BDDT32
: roughly $45 shipped AR
REFURBISHED: MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL (OEM, BAREBONE) : $111 shiped
BFG FX6800 OC 128MB Video Car : $250 + shipping
------------------------------------------------------
subtotal : 555

ouch, so much for <550 budget and 1ghz ram. guess i suck at math even if i settle for some ~$40 ar hdd, i would be over the limit by like $50. should i get him a 6600 instead?

plat seems rather pricey at $123.25 per 512mb stick. any other cheaper alternatives that still allow a moderate overclocking?

EDIT : oh yeah, forgot about the HSF too... would this be a good choice? shipping would go down a tad bit since i would be ordering most of it from egg.

 

[konakona]

UPDATE
cpu/mobo : winchester 3000 + refurb neo2 plat from egg
vid card : 6800 oc + HL2 deal at BB
ram : $44.95 AR 512mb stick from outpost
hdd : $30 AR 120gb from fry's

how does that sound?

 

[JJN]

I'm not that familar with the 6800OC board but in general if you are gaming then by no means skimp out on $$ when it comes to the GPU. GPU is typically by far the most important piece to a gaming rig. The 6800 GT would probably be worth it if you can afford it. Also, I'd go for 1G of ram.

 

[konakona]

yeah i agree, but there is set amount of budget and he cant go over it by much, $650 is about the most he could ever spend. given the circumstances, getting a solid cpu/mobo sounds like a priority to me. i am being a opportunitist on the video card, but 6800 oc is no slouch either from what i hear.

 

[konakona]

just picked up ~$45 AR mushkin 512MB ram at fry's today. too bad that WD 120gb hdd deal was for black friday only
best buy did have that 6800 oc + HL bundle deal, i am prolly gonna end up getting that if compusa doesnt have any pny 6800nu's left.

 

[konakona]

last refurb mobo i got from newegg was the one i am using now, a biostart M7NCG. it works great for most part except the front USB ports i could live with that, but this new computer i am building is not for myself so i cant risk something like that happen again. retail price was $138, came out to be $292.99 shipped with a retail winchester core athlon64 3000.
all i need now is a bfg 6800 oc from BB and a hdd. this sounds like the best deal in town as far as hard drives go.