A $1400 Build ....

[MysticRose]

Hey everyone,

I have a budget of about $ 1400, n i want to invest in a gaming rig, but since my knowledge is limited, can u guy recommend me some of the followings ???

1. Processor. I've read from quite some places that going Dual Core is trendy at the moment. Then i have some questions:
a. If i'm playing a game, then it will be only 1 programme executed at a time ? Then it will be virtually 1 core working on the game, and the other not doing any thing. So is dual core a real boost to gaming performance ?
b. If i do gamming, then many would recommend a Operaton 160 ( or 170 ) or a 4400+ Dual core. I heard that both Overclocks well. Then which one i should get ?
c. One of the 3 properties of a CPU is its FSB, Cache and clock speed. I sort of understand what clock speed means, but what of FSB and Cache ? What do they do ?

2. Graphic Card. This one is brain teasing. Since i want to spend no more than $250-300 in graphic cards, which one should i get ?
a. A Series 7800 Invidia graphic card. Probs the 7800 GT 256 MB ( which make is the best btw ? ).
b. Two 6600 GT DDR3 128 MB ( Prob the same money huh ? )
c. Pobs spend the big money for a 700GTX. But is it worth the money ?

BTW what does PCi Express and SLi means anyway ? And what should i look at when assessing a graphic card ? Core clock speed ? RAM ? Or any other thing ?

3. Mobo. This one i'm ignorant. OK.
a. As far as i know, i should buy a mobo that is compartible with my CPU in terms of type ( AMD or Intel ); socket (939 or 754 ) and supporting X2 or not.
b. About RAM i need to know the mobo supports DDR or DDR2, or dual channel or not.
c. So what about graphic card ? Does all graphic card could be plugged in and run with any mobo ? Or i should buy one that is particular to Nvidia or ATI, or otherwise ? Some mobo says something about PCI E or 16x etc, what does that mean ?

4. RAM. RAM i think is more straight forward. I need to buy RAM that is of the same type as my CPU( eg PC 3200 or 4000 etc ), a lower-latency one if possible, dual channel RAM if the Mobo does support it, and the type of RAM ( DDR or DDR2 ). Is there any more thing that i must take into consideration ???


5. Finally. Could u plz recommend me a system for gaming with my $1400 budget ?

Tnx a lot guys. Sry for the long post.

 

[JoshSB]

1. Dual core is like having two processors, say your playing a game and suddenly another program like nortan wants to boot up and scan your system, the other core deals wiht it so you have to alt tab to notice it. Do not do overclocking myself so no idea.

2. I got a 7800GT, runs very smooth I would not suggest getting 2 6600GTs since later if you upgrade SLI with one 7800GT you can just buy another 7800GT.

PCI-Express is just a video card slot, SLI means there are 2 slots that will run the cards in unison, althoug hsome games are not programmed to run off of both the cards so the other one is somewhat of a waste atm unless used on specific games.

3. X2s are generally 939 pin ports, generally AMD only runs with DDR, not DDR2, although it is still fast considering AMD runs the ram better.

Graphics anything above the 6800GS will be PCI-E, better connectivitiy as far as I know on that one.

4. 3200 generally for AMD machines since the MoBo is built for it, generally 184 Pin.

5. I will later tonight when i get home =)

Anyways, on the processor I would suggest getting the AMD, since they run cooler, faster and generally more memory efficient.

The other guys here can expand on my post and alter it if I got something right, still kinda new to the whole dual core but to the best of my knowledge everything I said is correct.

Good luck, I will check in when I get home to make sure someone else helped ya out.

-Josh

 

[MysticRose]

I kinda understand more ^^
Tnx Josh for the post...

 

[NickFas]

do you need a monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse?

 

[Kitire]

Originally posted by MysticRose [/i]
Hey everyone,

I have a budget of about $ 1400, n i want to invest in a gaming rig, but since my knowledge is limited, can u guy recommend me some of the followings ???

1. Processor. I've read from quite some places that going Dual Core is trendy at the moment. Then i have some questions:
a. If i'm playing a game, then it will be only 1 programme executed at a time ? Then it will be virtually 1 core working on the game, and the other not doing any thing. So is dual core a real boost to gaming performance ? __ Yes it is, the other core is usually doing the background tasks, IE- OS, firewall, messagers, and the other crappy programs...__
b. If i do gamming, then many would recommend a Operaton 160 ( or 170 ) or a 4400+ Dual core. I heard that both Overclocks well. Then which one i should get ?__If you are into overclocking, which you arent, then get the 160-165-170. If not, like you arent.. Go for the x2 4400 O_O...__
c. One of the 3 properties of a CPU is its FSB, Cache and clock speed. I sort of understand what clock speed means, but what of FSB and Cache ? What do they do ?__Cache really doesnt matter THAT much, defference between 512 cache and 1mb cache is roughly 200MHz on L2 cache.

2. Graphic Card. This one is brain teasing. Since i want to spend no more than $250-300 in graphic cards, which one should i get ?
a. A Series 7800 Invidia graphic card. Probs the 7800 GT 256 MB ( which make is the best btw ? ).
b. Two 6600 GT DDR3 128 MB ( Prob the same money huh ? )
c. Pobs spend the big money for a 700GTX. But is it worth the money ?__It is not a brain teaser. If you have 120$-6600gt, 200$-6800gs, 300$-7800gt. Get a single 7800gt, dont mess w/ sli at the moment__

BTW what does PCi Express and SLi means anyway ? And what should i look at when assessing a graphic card ? Core clock speed ? RAM ? Or any other thing ? __ Look at number 2c. SLi is dual cards.... It sucks right now basically. PCI-E is just the slot a PCI-E GPU goes in, like an AGP card goes in the AGP slot. Really, most of the things on the graphics card and other hardware are too confusing for newbies, or even computer illiterate people... Basically, there are main cards for certain budgets, go with what i said above...120$-6600gt, 200$-6800gs, 300$-7800gt. On CPU's, look at the opterating frequency. and L2 and L1 caches._

3. Mobo. This one i'm ignorant. OK.
a. As far as i know, i should buy a mobo that is compartible with my CPU in terms of type ( AMD or Intel ); socket (939 or 754 ) and supporting X2 or not. All recent CPU's are 939, get a 939 mobo__
b. About RAM i need to know the mobo supports DDR or DDR2, or dual channel or not.
c. So what about graphic card ? Does all graphic card could be plugged in and run with any mobo ? Or i should buy one that is particular to Nvidia or ATI, or otherwise ? Some mobo says something about PCI E or 16x etc, what does that mean ?

4. RAM. RAM i think is more straight forward. I need to buy RAM that is of the same type as my CPU( eg PC 3200 or 4000 etc ), a lower-latency one if possible, dual channel RAM if the Mobo does support it, and the type of RAM ( DDR or DDR2 ). Is there any more thing that i must take into consideration ??? Just get whatever is in your budget


5. Finally. Could u plz recommend me a system for gaming with my $1400 budget ?

7800GT - 300$
AMD X2 4400- 470$
2GB Corsair - 150$
Case- 80$
PSU- 50$
DVD drive- 30$
S&H - 50$

-1130$

ACCESORIES-------

CRT 17'' - 150$
OS x64 - 140$


--- TOTAL---- 1440$_______
And save up an extra 70$ or so if you want to get a decent keyboard and mouse.... or if not, 23$ will do you for a bit.
Tnx a lot guys. Sry for the long post.


Crap i messed up that post.. Oh well.

 

[Kitire]

Sorry if you cant read my post, i will redo it if you would like...

EDIT: Do you need an OS?

If not, go with a X190XT istead of 7800GT

EDIT::: Wait... I am confusing myself.. Didnt you just post above me?

 

[NickFas]

Alright i looked on newegg and came up with a pretty decent solution...

COOLER MASETER

edit: disregard this post...i acidentally pressed post instaead of preview

 

[MysticRose]

Sry, i did post above u, but i found that 2 b confusing so i deleted it.

Sry if i made u confused. And tnx for the explaination ^^.

 

[NickFas]

I looked on newegg and i think i came up with a pretty nice solution if you do not require speakers, monitor, keyboard, mouse

Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811119068
Cooler Master Centurion 5 - $49.99

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144203

Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB - $79.00

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130491

MSI K8N Neo4-F ATX Mobo - $80.00

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130267

eVGA 6800gs 256mb - $189.00

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103929

Antec TruePowerII 480W - $85.00

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231039

G.Skill Value 2gb (2x1gb) - $147.00

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103546

AMD X2 4400 - $470

DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827106013

LiteOn Black IDE DVD Burner - $40.99



Total: $1,135.98 when DVD and CPU are in bundle together

Now that all that copying and pasting is out of the way...I left the sound card out because i wasn't sure if you were an audiofile or not. Also I suggested a 6800gs because you can then save up the money you didn't spent on this rig and buy the g80 when it comes out and that should rip up any GPU out there IMO. The only concern that i have is that the 480 watt PSU wont be able to handle that card when it comes out. I could be totally off on that but I know newer and newer vid cards need lots more power. I also didn't put in an SLI motherboard because i dont think that SLI is practical. As many people have said throughout the forums, it is 100% more money for 30% gain. I also was assuming that you weren't overclocking which is why i got you value ram. If you do decide that you are overclocking, i reccomend the G.Skill Extreme Series or the OCZ dual channel unbuffered Platinum because they are really low latencies

 

[The_Tobes99]

NONONONONONO
that much cash DEFINITELY equals 7800GT & FOR GODS SAKE DONT GET A LITE-ON BURNER!!! Get an LG burner & 7800GT thats all im going to say + consider this case + PSU combo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129158