upgrading for vista

[the_doc]

hey guys,

I'm submitting, for your review, a list of hardware that I'd like to upgrade to for Vista and newer games... keep in mind that I have been away from the hardware scene for a couple years, which is about 10 in computer years. please tell me your thoughts... should I add something? take something off?

I'll mainly be using my machine for playing games.

thanks for the feedback!

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
ASUS CROSSHAIR Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/640M 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card

- the_doc

 

[engiNURD]

Ok, so you've been out of the loop for a bit... Intel >>> AMD right now, so go with Core2Duo. Instead of that am2 build, go with an E6600, an nForce680SLI board, 2GB of OCZ Plat. DDR2-800, and that 8800GTS.

 

[jcll2002]

Ok, so you've been out of the loop for a bit... Intel >>> AMD right now, so go with Core2Duo. Instead of that am2 build, go with an E6600, an nForce680SLI board, 2GB of OCZ Plat. DDR2-800, and that 8800GTS.

yeah, but maybe different ram? havent there been problems with it or something?

 

[engiNURD]

yeah, but maybe different ram? havent there been problems with it or something?

probs were with gold sticks, plats/titaniums/vanillas are fine.

 

[jcll2002]

probs were with gold sticks, plats/titaniums/vanillas are fine.

ooooooooohhhhhhhhh ok that explains alot

 

[the_doc]

wow,,, intel is better than AMD now? I have been away for awhile! that's funny and sad at the same time... thanks for your input!

anyone else with suggestions?

 

[the_doc]

the only board on newegg.com with the nforce 680i was an eVGA (I told myself a long time ago that anytime I upgrade my computer, I would buy as much as I could from newegg and I'm sticking to it)... I haven't heard of them, but I have been out of it for awhile... are they a good company?

I bet some of you are asking why I don't research this myself... well, 1) I don't have time b/c I'm in dental school and I study a lot and 2) I'd rather ask the experts here than do my own research, which I wouldn't understand anyway

thanks again for the feedback

 

[jcll2002]

wow,,, intel is better than AMD now? I have been away for awhile! that's funny and sad at the same time... thanks for your input!

anyone else with suggestions?

yes core 2 duo aka conroe is much better than anything amd has to offer

 

[engiNURD]

eVGA is a good company. Their main products are nvidia graphics cards, but have recently started making motherboards (their first boards were nF4, and they promoted themselves by bundling nF4SLI boards basically for free with 7800GT/GTX vidcards). Their boards are ok... I'd consider them midrange. If you wait a bit longer, you should see better deals and more nForce 6X0i mobos to choose from.

The 8800 GeForce cards and nForce 6X0i boards were recently released (hours ago), so their prices are still inflated. I'd wait til the end of the month to build, at least (in time for black friday).

Here's some quick reading material for you about intel chips:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795
http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2800&p=6

You dont have to read through those all, just look at the graphs What's your budget, and what does that budget include?

 

[the_doc]

good reads... I was going to wait 'till after christmas anywho... this is good stuff and I'm happy to see that the good 'ol [H] fourms haven't changed... thanks to those who gave me their inputs!

- the_doc