First Post....What to do???

[RangerX]

Just wanted to say "hi" and see what you guys think about doing another system upgrade. Not new at all to computers..I started out with an old Packard Bell 386sx 12Mhz with 4 megs or ram and a 20MB hard drive with Dos 3.3, that's how far back I go....it sucked... trying to squeeze the 640k base memory for all its worth and optimizing drivers just to play Ultima 7.5 or Running Win 95 on it.

I'm on my 4th computer since then...started out building a Pentium 150mmx, then a Pentium II 300, then a AMD K6-2 450Mhz, and now currently have a Athlon XP 1700+ ( current specs in my signature) using the case and 230 Watt power supply used for my AMD K6-2. Yeah I know....need better power supply. What's funnier... I just finally upgraded from Win 98 to XP...god what a difference! I just like to wait I guess. Now that I'm not so much of a gamer after college it hasn't really mattered to get the latest hardware but now I found another reason(s) to build again.....Video Editing and burning VHS to DVD. So what should I go for? I would like to spend about 500 to 800 bucks and I already have a flat panel monitor that I like. It's going to be AMD because after my building my K6-2 I'll never go back.

Here's what I go so far
AMD Processor Athlon or Athlon 64 (leaning towards the 64)
Motherboard (I really like the Giga-byte or Asus Boards)
80 GB or 120GB harddrive
500 MG to 1.0GB DDR 400 Ram

Here's what I need help on:

1) Video Card...there's a new one out every day and I have no idea what to go for. I just know my Geforce 2 MMX 400 with 32 Megs or ram is sad.

2) Sound Card...I thought when I got my SB Live 5.1 X-Gamer that would be it...no more buying sound cards...I can't even tell sound cards apart anyway...so again leaning towards Audigy but how is it better than my SB Live 5.1...maybe less CPU usage??

3) Case...something black, cool looking, and under 100 bucks with power supply...what should I go for??


I have a 16X DVD burner and a video capture card and great speakers, and Win XP.

Sorry for the rant but with all the new stuff in the last few years and as much as I work...just can't keep up with all the tech

Thanks for your help in advance

 

[lev2323]

Video card- nothing fancy,...if you are not into the new games, dont get anything better than an Ati 9600pro. They are super cheap and a good card. Some say go Nvidia, but for older cards I think it doesnt matter (new is different story). Damage= $115
Sound Card- I love my Audigy 2 ZS...7.1 and amazing, made a huge difference in the sound quality,...I know no one that has been anything less than amazed with it. Damage= $91
Case- there are butt loads of cheap cases w/PSUs for under a $100, look around (newegg.com,..btw, that is where my prices come from)

As far as the rest of the stuff, it is whatever you can afford. I would recommend asus motherboard, but if you are doing video editing, a P4 has a little advantage,...most say AMD for games, Intel for work. For a hard drive, if you can cough up enough money, get a Western Digital Raptor (74G, but 10,000rpm!). They are really fast and would help with speed on video editing. Oh ya, definately get a gig of ram (DDR400/PC3200). For all the above, $800 is a squeeze, but if you dont get the fancy hard drive, you could get under your cap. Hope that helps!

 

[RangerX]

Thanks

I had not even thought of going for a 10,000 rpm drive. I'll check out the site you mentioned for cases or my personal favorite Pricewatch.com.

I know the Intel's got the edge on video editing but I really like AMD for an all around system and who knows maybe I'll get back into playing games past Diablo II.

I also think I'm gonna skip the Barton Core and go right for the AMD Athlon 64. But which socket?? 754 or 939?? I hear the 939 is the future so maybe that way??