I'm sure lots of people ask this but...

[kinslayer]

I read others posts about building new systems but I'm real confused still. The most I've done is swap out ram and video cards in a PC so I am not very knowledgable about what is compatible with what.
I (of course) have a tight budget but want something that will easily play games like WoW, HL2, and Doom3. Since my current system chokes a bit on some of them.

So can someone suggest a good setup?

I need a new:
mother board
processor
video card
ram

Here is what what my current comp is (as far as I can remember, I'm at work)
amd athlon 2800 on an asus board
nvidia geforce fx 5600
80g + 60g HDs 5400rpm(I think!)
400watt powersupply (again not sure on this maybe lower )
512 RAM DDR
Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[Trifid]

Whats your budget? Are you overclocking?

As far as parts go, (on budget)

AMD 64 3000 winni (cheaper than venice)
DFI lanparty board
6600gt - pci express
1gb of ram (not performance.) (are you keeping your old pc, if not just get 512, and use the old ram.)
and the rest.

If you don't want to use any of your old parts, for everything in the box (so excluding monitor etc) that would cost you just under $800, probally nearer $750.

 

[kinslayer]

Well I don't really have a set amount to spend on a new pc but I am just trying to see what the best parts i can get for as cheap as I can, lol. I suppose under 1k. Since I can use my same case, powersupply is fine I think...right now for ram I have 2 256 sticks so I'd have to get all new ram to get 1gb. Is the price you said for just those parts or for a full new comp with those parts in it? Because if it's for a whole new case, etc that's not a bad price.

 

[Him]

Since you dont really know how to build a rig, I'm going to say that you arent going to overclock either. Now, are you going to go Intel or AMD? Since it is mainly for gaming, I would recommend an AMD. For a board, maybe an Abit, DFi, maybe a Gigabyte. DFi is mainly for OCing, I mean it is still a great board for a non-oc'er, but still.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128263
Motherboard
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152
Motherboard (Extremely high end board)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103501
CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145505
Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153007
PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220
Video Card


That is a rather good setup. If anyone has any suggestions, throw them up, he;s going to need all the help he can get.

 

[emeraldice]

What you have currently is a very nice rig. I personally think that you will not notice the difference between your current comp and a new one. Are you running your games on high settings? I would personally suggest a new graphics card, and that would make things run faster.

All those games you told us about should run at least on low settings, if not higher, w/ no lag.

 

[Trifid]

This needs a case, but you could use your old one.

It has everything in the box except the box, lol.

Prices are from newegg.


Update MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: K8N Neo4-F
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$86.00 $86.00
CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update NEC Silver IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A - OEM
Model #: ND-3520A SV
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$48.99 $48.99
Internal Hard Drives
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380013AS 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST380013AS
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$75.00 $75.00
Memory - System
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX - Retail
Model #: F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX
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$101.50 $101.50
Power Supplies
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update THERMALTAKE Silent Purepower W0013RU ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: W0013RU
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$60.00 $60.00
Processors
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3000BIBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3000BIBOX
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$148.00 $148.00
Video Cards & Related Devices
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: 128-P2-N368-TX
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
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$174.00 $174.00
Subtotal: $693.49

 

[kinslayer]

Emerald, I have to play those games with low settings. They still look ok, but I've seen them on higher end systems and can see the difference. Since I'll have to buy this stuff in sets I'll probably get a new vid card first...since you said that would probably give the most improvement. This comp is used mainly for gaming, but I do alot of stuff in 3DSM and photoshop as well, I assume that what's good for gaming would be good for this lol. Thanks for your help so far I'll look at this stuff.

 

[Him]

What you have currently is a very nice rig. I personally think that you will not notice the difference between your current comp and a new one. Are you running your games on high settings? I would personally suggest a new graphics card, and that would make things run faster.

All those games you told us about should run at least on low settings, if not higher, w/ no lag.

That is a rather low end system. With a few minor improvements, he can get alot out of it. I have the 5600, and it is not a good card. I can play Doom on low settings, but it is terrible. He would see a HUGE difference between that comp and a new one. If he went with a 64 bit AMD, he would be haulin!
.
But like emmerald said, get a new vid card first. With that, you would see a noticable improvement. Then get your MoBo, then everything else.

 

[kinslayer]

I saw that you put a PCI express video card...my current mother board doesn't have a pci spot (that I know of??) so would it be worth it to still get an agi version of the card or is the pci version that much better that I should get the mother board first then the video card? Since I'm not sure if I can get both at once.

 

[Him]

You cant get both at once. The one I posted is the same card as the one Trifid posted, it's just AGP.