Upgrading, Thoughts, Recommendations

[osros]

I have been out of PC building and such for a couple of years so Im out of touch with the new stuff. I been reading different posts on hardware and such and I wanted to list what I have now and what I am thinking of upgrading to. I would like to hear from anyone who has comments good or bad about what I have in mind. The system I want is mainly for gaming heavly on 3D/graphics.

My price range is max $1000 - $1200 Built, Im thinking of building myself if the savings is there or can get more for the money.

Current:

AMD Athlon XP 3200 2.2 Ghz
1 Gig DDR Ram
100 & 40 Gig HD (old slow drives)
ATI 9800 Pro

What I looking to get:

AMD [AM2] AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core CPU ( 3800 to 4600 have not made up my
mind yet $$)
Asus M2N32-SLI Motherboard
1 Gig DDR-800 Ram
200 Gig SATA-2 7200 8Mb HD
Nvidia 7900GT 256M Video Card ( one now, another matching later for SLI )
500W Power Supply ( can use help choosing this!)
Standard Heat & Fan OR Liquid Cooled ( Is the LC really worth it? )

Thats basically it the main stuff, sound and other nick nacks Ill use on board for now and add better later.

Im also interested in who you guys use and trust for your hardware stuff and systems. Im looking at Monarch Computers, Ibuypower, & Cyberpower at the
moment.


Thanks!

[cuelebre]

At this point in the game I really can't recommend to build an AMD base system, specially for gamming.

This is a recent article that may help you to change your mind or at least get you up to speed about today's hardware.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ore2duo_e6400/

Good luck.

[BipolarBill]

If you're planning SLi later, you will need at least 600W. I recommend Fortron (FSP) units for those on a budget.

Liquid cooling is unneeded and gets really complicated in SLI setups. Stick with air.

Most everyone here shops at Newegg.com. Not only are their prices as low as possible, but their service is stellar.

[_Mystical_Night]

I would wait until October if your deadset on building an AMD system, I heard their going to drop their prices yet agian around that time

Until then I wouldnt recommend high end AMD systems, I would recommend Conroe instead which you can get for a great price

[osros]

Thanks for the input. Yes! Im very impressed on the Intel over the AMD, and since there is not much of a price difference I think I will go with the Intel Core 2 Duo system.

Im pretty sure Im going to build my own system and get items alittle at a time. I dont have any experience mounting/installing the CPU & heatsink or picking out compatible RAM. I have gotten Motherboard Combo's in the past already setup with CPU & Mem and tested. I dont mind doing that and installing the rest on my own.

I got combo's from Monarch in the past and happy with what I got. My problem is Monarch does not have one of the Motherboards Im considering as an option.

Does anyone have other good sources for purchasing MB Combos? MB,CPU & Mem installed and tested.

[BipolarBill]

www.mwave.com

[_Mystical_Night]

Heres what I recommend if your going Conroe

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

$339 shipped

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131031

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...t=pricegrabber

$204 via zipzoom .... err the price went up its $216 shipped now (still cheaper then newegg tho)

that would be around $540-$560 for the mobo/cpu, I recommend this mobo because its SLI and isnt as bloated as the other Asus boards that come with WiFi for over $50 more

RAM is difficult to pick however ... the prices have skyrocketed on newegg so im not really sure on what to pick myself

Edit: Right now the prices of Conroe Mobos and DDR2 ram has been riseing because Conroe is in high demand ... might be good to wait till demand is a little lower to go around shopping

[rwest]

I'm not seeing where the M2N32 MOBO supports DDR ram. I'm pretty sure you'll need DDR2 ram.

[osros]

I will be going most likely with the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE MB. I will start getting items now will save the MB.CPU,Ram for last just in case something better comes
along maybe better pricing in a month or so.

I could use advice on a good Case. I tend to put looks over function but this time I want to do it right and get a decent case with max airflow and fans in the right places.

I really like to keep the case in under $150. (black) I always had Mid size cases but Im kinda tired of the tight room after all installed with cards and such. Im thinking Full Tower for ease of getting around inside,routing cables and airflow.

Any comments, ideas, links would be welcome.

Thanks!

[BipolarBill]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119094

USB ports on the top where God meant them to be.

[Rat]

Here's a couple of other places you can try shopping to beat the $$ gap..... http://www.tigerdirect.com/ http://directron.com/ and http://www.eastluna.com/

East luna has a strict credit card policy (guess they got burned heavily) but sometimes they have a good deal. I was buying a Silverstone HTPC case and it was worth the hassle.

Rat

[osros]

The more I read up on stuff the more undecided I become. Im leaning towards not using SLI because I dont think I can justify the extra cost for a second video card and I am using a 17" CRT nice monitor not going to change it until it breaks, So I wont be using very high resolutions. I also think I can get the gaming performance I want with a single card.

Im interested in overclocking some rather than spending more money on SLI to get the same results or slightly less that I wont notice the difference.

Im thinking of going this way:

Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP ( for overclocking )
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe
Better Air Cooler than stock not decided yet.
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800
ATI X1900T or Nvidia 7900GT

Question!

Power Supply & Pins , the Asus P5B is a 24pin Does that mean I only use a 24pin connector PSU or is there other options available like the 20+4Pin or something else? Im a bit confused on that. Is there a PSU that covers it all? Since no SLI Im looking at a 500W - 600W.


Thanks!

[Rat]

Most new power supplys have the 20 + 4 arrangement which is what you need. I would go with either an Antec or Fortron power supply, they make them with power dongles now so it is easy to keep the inside of your box uncluttered: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103937