Help deciding new pc components

[What do you know joe]

Hi all

In a couple of week i am going to start to buy parts to build up a dream system for myself, i have decided to buy just top end bits as i have learnt from bad mistakes buying cheep crap. Im after a nice fast gaming machine that looks the nutz!!! At the mo im running a p4 2.2 ,intel d845hv desktop board, 768mb pc100 ram,geforce 6600 gt oc,400w psu, thermaltake xaser 3 case..

heres the hard part..

Do i stick with pentium or switch to amd? i read so much conflicting reveiws here there and everywere i dont know what to belive.

i also want the board to look nice to the eye. i have seen some nice boards with all sorts of cool colour sceems that look cool, i will also want to upgrade to pci e as i have read a bit on this and it will seem stupid not to go for it.

well i will stop ranting and hope someone will reply

thanks for reading

 

[RazorOye]

cost is no object? FX-55 seems to outperform Intel (even the EE models) on many of the gaming benchmarks. 64-bit processing from Intel is supposed to be coming out this year as well.

I'm building my system and the aesthetics of the mobo were also a factor. As was moving to pcie.

Personally, I opted for the DFI SLI-DR mobo - see it here It has a ton of features, comes packed with some goodies that will trick out your gear, and features dual pcie slots. It's SLI-capable as well. The board has components painted with UV-reactive paint.

I was an Intel proponent for a long time. The two systems I've owned before my new build have been intel powered. All of the rigs I've built except for one has been Intel powered.

I've also been an ATI supporter having owned/installed only ATI cards.

But these things change and I'm going to run a AMD64 with nVidia 6800GT OC from BFG. I wanted the best bang and buck I was a little flexible on. After a great deal of reading, it seemed like the best options for me.

 

[gwai lo]

those are some odd system specs.. (specifically the RAM part)...

Anyway..definitely go AMD for gaming. However, do you NEED an upgrade now? Seems like you can go on a bit more with that.

 

[What do you know joe]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the replys..

RazorOye: thanks for chin up on the mobo m8, I will check out a.s.a.p. I have only ever had intel but the more i read on amd i think that this will be the cpu for me.. im still debating weather to pay out extra for the fx chip or stay with a 64. is there much diffrance?

Gwai lo: just thought i would check my ram as you sayed it loked weaird. i was correct it is 3 sticks of 256.

"quote" do you NEED an upgrade now? Seems like you can go on a bit more with that."quote"

i was hopeing i could go at least another year or so with this machine but the agp slot is only 4X so it is really letting down my gpu proformance.

thanks guys your advice is much appreciated.

 

[RazorOye]

RazorOye: thanks for chin up on the mobo m8, I will check out a.s.a.p. I have only ever had intel but the more i read on amd i think that this will be the cpu for me.. im still debating weather to pay out extra for the fx chip or stay with a 64. is there much diffrance?

Is there "much" of a difference - relative question. If you are strictly going to game, then something in the neighborhood of a 3500+ - 4000+ might do the job. But that's only if you're not a serious overclocker.

From what I've read - the 3500+ and up can be oc'd with air cooling to near the clock speeds of an FX-53 BUT the FX series doesn't have the oc cap that the others do.

Again, we're in similiar situations - I was looking at an FX-53 but couldn't justify the cost difference from the 3500+ because I don't need that much speed. I will be OC'ing - but the difference in price allowed me to get better RAM and a nice HSF so that I should be able to OC my winchester 3500+ by a couple hundred MHz if I wanted.

In the end, the FX was too expensive for me to justify. If you just want top end - the FX has much more robust possibility.

Check the AMD processor forums - this is a discussion that has been had on several threads and you'll be able to learn a lot. There are people around here who know a great deal - but that's where I would point you.

You can try here first just for starters.
Athlon 64 4000+ VS. Athlon 64 FX-53

 

[What do you know joe]

Thanks for taken the time to reply yet again Razoroye, unfortunatly the link you supplied was broken but i have found plenty of info regarding this in the amd forum. After a look on a few websites the dramatic change in price beetween the fx and 64 has made think more on the side of 64 as then i can get extra ram or maybe put the money towards a nice power supply (ive had my eye on the new thermaltake silent psu) is this any good? also if im going to be overclocking what sort of processor fan do you suggest? ive seen a few nice water cooling systems and now thay been out a while you can get a decent one for about $150. but im slightly curious to what is better (a normal heat sink and fan or wc?).

cheers