A little help with my new gaming rig, please?

A

Ashenai

n00b
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Messages
11
Hi all. I'm replacing most of my old gaming rig (basically
everything except the monitor and peripherals), and
would really appreciate a little help.

I'm Hungarian, so there'd be little point in giving a target
price; suffice it to say that while I can't afford a "dream
rig", I can buy some pretty nice stuff (Radeon 9800 Pro,
for example).

I'm really confuzzled by all the options, though. I'm
not even sure of basic things, like whether it's more
worthwhile to buy an AMD or Intel processor, or what
make of hard disk is the best, NVIDIA or Radeon, etc.

If someone could help me with assembling a good
gaming box, I'd very much appreciate it. This would
include the motherboard, processor, memory (type
and amount), video card, and hard drive. So basically
everything except the sound card (I'm perfectly happy
with my old Sound Blaster Live) and peripherals :)

I'm a pretty eclectic player, so I'd probably be running
everything from Need For Speed to Morrowind to
Far Cry on it, if it matters.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Laszlo
 
Well, without really knowing your budget, it's hard to know what you're looking for, but I'll try to give some suggestions as to what I'd do if I were building a simi-budget gaming rig.

Radeon 9800 pro is king of the graphic cards for now, who knows what will happen when the new ones come out though. ATI has been waxing NVidia lately, so ATI is probably better.

AMD vs. Intel is a never ending up hill argument between fanboys from both sides. Lately it seems Intel may be doing a little better, you might look into a 2.4C processor, awesome overclockers.

Since you don't really have a complete idea of what you want, you might take a look at this:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTM1

The HardOCP buying guide that was written not too long ago. Not much has changed since the writing of it. Some of it 's slightly outdated, but, you know...

Doubt I've helped much with my collection of random thoughts from 5:00 AM, but I felt like I should make a post before I went to bed... Oh well, good luck :)
 
Good choice on the video card.

I had the exact problem 2 week ago man!!!
I've been reading forums, reviews, .... and there is no winner in the intel vs amd issue. So i went on and grabbed the best prices i could have on the top 5 motherboard of each brand. Intel won...

i ended up choosing intel, 2.8C not a 2.8E(heat issue and power hungry) because i could get a hand on the Microstar(MSI) pt 880 Neo motherboard, this board is cheap... really cheap (69$US at newegg). Look at the HardOcp motherboard reviews they gave this board a good verdict.

As for the ram, this is also a price issue, PC3200 is the standard, but at most good store you can get PC3700 for the same price, they go up PC4300 i think, but they are very expensive and i doubt theres enough difference between 3700 and 4300 to lay down more money. As for brand, dont go generic, aim for the Kinston & Corsair, but i heard OCZ is also good.

Now HD'S, well if you get a SATA ready motherboard, get a SATA drive. I never had problem with any of my Maxtor's & Seagate's but 2 of my Western Digital failed on me... even if most people say they are the best... i might be the one in a millions here...

With all this, you will probably need a new PSU(power supply unit), but im at this stage right now... still looking, you can take a look at my thread about power supply.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=754400

Hope it helps.. good luck.
 
Originally posted by embro
Good choice on the video card.

I had the exact problem 2 week ago man!!!
I've been reading forums, reviews, .... and there is no winner in the intel vs amd issue. So i went on and grabbed the best prices i could have on the top 5 motherboard of each brand. Intel won...

i ended up choosing intel, 2.8C not a 2.8E(heat issue and power hungry) because i could get a hand on the Microstar(MSI) pt 880 Neo motherboard, this board is cheap... really cheap (69$US at newegg). Look at the HardOcp motherboard reviews they gave this board a good verdict.

As for the ram, this is also a price issue, PC3200 is the standard, but at most good store you can get PC3700 for the same price, they go up PC4300 i think, but they are very expensive and i doubt theres enough difference between 3700 and 4300 to lay down more money. As for brand, dont go generic, aim for the Kinston & Corsair, but i heard OCZ is also good.

Now HD'S, well if you get a SATA ready motherboard, get a SATA drive. I never had problem with any of my Maxtor's & Seagate's but 2 of my Western Digital failed on me... even if most people say they are the best... i might be the one in a millions here...

With all this, you will probably need a new PSU(power supply unit), but im at this stage right now... still looking, you can take a look at my thread about power supply.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=754400

Hope it helps.. good luck.
Click to expand...

I second this man :D
Well, Except the Processor, I think I'd go with a AMD processor, as I'm a fanboy :D
 
AMD's have proven in tests that they can be faster than Intel's, mainly their architecture is very different. I'm not a fanboy of either, I own an Intel ATM, and looking to get an AMD as my next chip.

I think an AMD gaming rig is the way to go...
 
In my opinion, there's no right or wrong when it comes to Intel vs. AMD, people will tell you both ways.

Either way, for a nice gaming and OC'ing rig I'd get a Intel 2.4c or 2.8c OR an AMD Mobile 2400 or 2500.
 
Originally posted by bobsaget
AMD Mobile 2400+, that is if you are going to overclock.
Click to expand...

Ordered mine from the Egg Sunday.. Getting it tomorrow..
Wee
 
Thank you, everyone! You were all extremely helpful. One more question: I can get a 64-bit Athlon for a not-too-exorbitant price. Is it worth it? The way I figure, since I don't think any version of Windows supports 64-bit architectures yet, it's not worth it. Anyone think differently?

Laszlo
 
Originally posted by Ashenai
Thank you, everyone! You were all extremely helpful. One more question: I can get a 64-bit Athlon for a not-too-exorbitant price. Is it worth it? The way I figure, since I don't think any version of Windows supports 64-bit architectures yet, it's not worth it. Anyone think differently?

Laszlo
Click to expand...

Don't take the whole 64 bit thing in to the picture. That's basically marketing at this point, there IS a 64 bit version of Windows, but there are no good drivers etc. for it, so it's slower than 32 bit... But, even on 32 bit processing, Athlon 64's can still hold their own with 32 bit processors. Athlon 64's are great gamers, but you'll want to avoid them if you want to overclock (they're bad overclockers, plus, as far as I know, there's no good overclocking motherboards for them).
 
i'd get the AIW 9800pro, 64 3200+ with a decent board, 1-1.5 gigs of some corsair or mushkin pc3500, 74gig raptor(western digital), if you're willing to pay a little more....oh yeah there was a reputable seller on ebay selling the fx51 for 450
 
Originally posted by bobmanfoo
i'd get the AIW 9800pro, 64 3200+ with a decent board, 1-1.5 gigs of some corsair or mushkin pc3500, 74gig raptor(western digital), if you're willing to pay a little more....oh yeah there was a reputable seller on ebay selling the fx51 for 450
Click to expand...

Why an AIW?
Screw that..
9800XT or Pro
Fo Sho!
 
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