Building with $2000

[Ajax413]

A while back I made a topic about buying a computer for $1200, but recently I got an extra $800 to put toward my PC. I've been looking around and saw this build:

CASE: XION II Mid-Tower Case 350Watt W/ Mod Side-Panel Window
CPU: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlonâ„¢64 X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2)ABIT KN9 SLI nForce 570 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA-II RAID 16x PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &7.1Audio
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 16X PCI Express Video Card
VIDEO CARD 2: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 16X PCI Express Video Card
LCD Monitor: ViewSonic Q19WB 19& quot; 5ms Response Time COLOR TFT Active Matrix WXGA LCD Display 1440x900
HARD DRIVE: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (1TB (500GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Optical Drive: LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

$1873.00

Is this setup good enough to run most of the stuff I'd throw at it? Also, would one GTX be better than the two 8800s?

 

[aetherh4cker]

With a budget that high, you would probably be better off going with an Intel board and CPU... unless you have reasons for not wanting to (fan-boyism). Though I am curious about how good the Phenoms will be...

I would recommend 8800 GTX (or even better, 8800 Ultra) over the GTS SLI. Especially since the upcoming 8800 GT's are supposed to put the GTS's to shame.

22" Widescreen might be a better choice, unless you don't like the wide, in which case the 19" is fine.

Just curious, but are you building or buying? Only a couple of your parts list the brand...

 

[Ajax413]

Are Intels noticeably better? The site I'm looking at (buyxg.com) doesn't have Intels.

I don't know if I'll be able to get two Ultras. I might be able to afford two GTXs, but would you recommend one Ultra or two GTXs?

22" would be a lot better, you're right. Hopefully my budget won't be so strict that I can spend the extra $50 to get one.

I'm hopefully buying. I've never built before and would rather have something a bit easier on me.

 

[aetherh4cker]

In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend SLI at all.

I'd get one 8800 Ultra, and spend the additonal money elsewhere.

If you're building this week, then Intel definately performs noticibly better... though many AMD fanboys have been following the upcomming Phenoms, which might be good. I don't know about that though... I haven't been watching AMD's stuff too close.

With what is out today, Intel is on top by quite a bit.

I'd recommend building it yourself, through (mostly) Newegg. However, I did notice that Buyxg site does indeed have Intel CPU's and Motherboards. Got there from the main page... just look around a bit.

 

[Ajax413]

(Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6850 CPU @ 3.00GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Would that be sufficient for the CPU?

I would be building/buying in two months, so I don't know what kind of tech would be coming out between now and then.

Also, which board would you recommend for Intel? I have no experience with any of them.

 

[veg1992]

Abit IP35 Pro

also don't get the e6850.. because a q6600 is the same price of it.. and you get two extra cores and 4mb more cache then the e6850

 

[aetherh4cker]

Things will have changed enough within two months that it wouldn't be worth planning too much today. The X38 chipset boards might be cheaper in two months. Also isn't NVIDIA releasing new cards before then? As well as Intel's 45nm CPU's... Not *huge* changes, but changes enough that you'd want to redesign.

As for your questions:

The E6850 isn't worth the price jump. Either get the Q6600, or the cheaper E6750.

I don't like any of the motherboards on there, but I think this one would be the best:
(Quad-Core FSB1333) Asus P5K Intel P35 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio

 

[Ajax413]

Abit IP35 Pro

also don't get the e6850.. because a q6600 is the same price of it.. and you get two extra cores and 4mb more cache then the e6850

I'll look into the IP35, thanks.

Yeah, I saw the Q6600 right after I posted. I'll be changing to that.

One more thing, do I really need more than 2mb of RAM or is 4 just overkill?

EDIT: @ aether - Yeah, I'll probably be changing my design a few times before then, I'm just getting a general idea of what's out there. I've heard NVidia releasing some new cards that should be more powerful and cheaper than the one's now, so I'll wait a while before finalizing my build.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[aetherh4cker]

Are you going through that buyxg site? Or are you going to build your own buying from sites like Newegg?

Because I didn't see the Abit IP35 Pro on there...

Most people would say that 4GB is more than the average user would need.

I would say just get 2GB now and upgrade to 4GB when you find a game that needs more...

... though Hellgate: London recommends 3GB...

 

[Ajax413]

Are you going through that buyxg site? Or are you going to build your own buying from sites like Newegg?

Because I didn't see the Abit IP35 Pro on there...

Most people would say that 4GB is more than the average user would need.

I would say just get 2GB now and upgrade to 4GB when you find a game that needs more...

... though Hellgate: London recommends 3GB...

It depends really. If I get comfortable enough with my ability to build a computer, I'll probably go through newegg. It'll be a little lesson for me and I'll get better bang for my buck and a better selection of parts.

I guess I'll just go with 2GB then. Hellgate: London will just have to wait. I guess it's just as well it doesn't really appeal to me too much