Building new system, need advice/recommendations

Rizen

Rizen

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I'm going to upgrade the core of my PC pretty soon - video card, CPU, motherboard, and RAM. I'm planning on moving to an AMD processor, definitely AMD 64, and my budget is around 1000 dollars max.

I was planning on something like an AMD64-X2 dual core, probably a 4200 or so, with 2GB of RAM. I use my system primarily for gaming and occasional video editing/music ripping. I run a 2005FPW monitor and I like to game in native resolution [1680x1085].

What video card and motherboard would you recommend? 7800GT/GTX? Should I maybe stay with a cheaper processor and invest more in the video card? I love to overclock, and have for years, so overclocking is a big focus for me.

Also, how is Windows XP 64-bit now? Last I investigated 64 bit CPUs, everyone still used 32-bit XP because the drivers in XP 64 were shoddy at best for gaming. Has it improved at all?

Thanks in advance.
 
Some quick advice:

If you want to overclock, get a opty 165, a 7900GT, and some good cooling for both.

For motherboards, visit the motherboards section of the forum, lots of good advice there.

As far as 64-bit goes, support/performance still isn't there, although it is much better I believe. I haven't had any actual experience with it, so I may be wrong. If you are mainly a gamer, just stick with 32-bit.
 
tys90 said:
If you are mainly a gamer, just stick with 32-bit.
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Good luck getting a fast CPU that doesn't support x86-64 or a variant of said architecture.

Rizen, when do you plan on buying the system? What games will you be playing? Is noise a concern?
 
I will be ordering parts this upcoming week I believe. I play mostly RPG/MMOs and FPS. Noise is only a minor concern, I'm experienced with Delta fans :)
 
Conroe, yes. So what. It's an unreleased chip that will cost the guy a lot more than what he's looking at getting. Nice Conroe motherboards aren't cheap and check out the prices of a 2Gb DDR2 setup. To boot, he has to sit around for two months going, "ah, Conroe?" :D

You might want to consider an ATI card for image quality. The X1800XT can do AA, Aniso and HDR. nVidia cards cannot.
 
general said:
Conroe, yes. So what. It's an unreleased chip that will cost the guy a lot more than what he's looking at getting.
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The X2 4200+ is about $350. The cheapest Conroe is $183 according to this chart.
Nice Conroe motherboards aren't cheap and check out the prices of a 2Gb DDR2 setup.
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You're right about Conroe mobos not being cheap, but that's only because not even a handful are available right now. It would be insane to assume there wouldn't be any budget LGA775 mobos that don't support it.

What about "the prices of a 2GB DDR2 setup"?

Of course, since he'll be ordering soon, there's no point even considering Conroe.

Rizen said:
I will be ordering parts this upcoming week I believe. I play mostly RPG/MMOs and FPS. Noise is only a minor concern, I'm experienced with Delta fans :)
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Well I was asking about games in particular, but since you'll probably be playing Oblivion, I'd suggest an X1800XL/X1800XT or X1900XT.
 
454Casull said:
Good luck getting a fast CPU that doesn't support x86-64 or a variant of said architecture.

Rizen, when do you plan on buying the system? What games will you be playing? Is noise a concern?
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He was asking whether to use the 64-bit version of Windows or not, and I said stick to 32-bit, who said anything about the CPU?

For the price range of a 7800GT/GTX, as first mentioned, the two best choices you have are the X1800XT and 7900GT, both are excellent cards. X1800XT has the IQ advantages in games like Oblivion, 7900GT has the performance advantage in others.
 
tys90 said:
He was asking whether to use the 64-bit version of Windows or not, and I said stick to 32-bit, who said anything about the CPU?
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My humble apologies.
 
Hey, I was posting from work before, heh. So now that I have more time to get in depth..

I like to upgrade about once every 2 years so I am looking for a system that will provide me an excellent gaming experience now and still hopefully be usable (sans maybe a few minor upgrades) in 2 years time.

I play mostly World of Warcraft, which is fairly intensive when you have 40 characters on the screen or more, and I also will probably be playing Oblivion and newer FPS shooters which are what I grew up.

I won't use an Intel CPU. I've been AMD since my Duron 600@1G days and I won't switch back unless there is a compelling reason.

ATI or NVIDIA, I don't care but I am more of an image quality whore than speed nowadays.

Is the AMD 64-X2 4200 worth the money? Will it last me a good years or so?

Can anyone recommend a motherboard? I have used ABIT and MSI primarily in the past. I love my current ABIT board, do they have a real good socket 939 board?
 
How does this sound?

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 184.99

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory Model OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K - Retail 188.99

MSI RX1800XT-VT2D512E LITE Radeon X1800XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail 299.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - Retail - 357.00

Shipped 1048.00

More than I wanted to spend, but top notch components in every slot, and I think it will last me two years. Thoughts? :)
 
Get the 3800, same thing as a 4200 only 200 MHz slower, if you are OCing you'll easily make that 200 MHz up. You don't even need an aftermarket cooler to get even a 400 or 500 MHz OC, stock coolers are excellent on the X2s.

Everything else looks good.
 
Last question - which operating system should I use with this? I have a copy of Windows XP SP2 32-bit, should I use the 64-bit OS with the dual core 64 bit CPU? This is the only part I am clueless on.
 
Only thing is you're wasting money on the motherboard, but it looks pretty good otherwise.

The 32-bit edition will work fine.
 
I assume you are referring to the SLI-component on the motherboard? I agree, but I guess that's a bit future proof. The motherboard got stellar reviews and was recommended for overclocking which is why I chose it.
 
Rizen said:
I assume you are referring to the SLI-component on the motherboard? I agree, but I guess that's a bit future proof. The motherboard got stellar reviews and was recommended for overclocking which is why I chose it.
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You can only take advantage of the SLI capability if you use Nvidia cards. Using 2 ATI cards requires a Crossfire motherboard.
 
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