Need advice on parts for new System...

[Schmidget]

OK...say I have about $1100(USD) to spend on a mid-high end gaming machine, what parts would you recommend? I'm going to sell my old system, and make a small profit, but this amount is about what I'm expecting. I don't want to make the same mistakes I made with my last computer, and go cheap on the parts, then end up replacing them a month later.

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Also, for my binder computer (if you are not familiar with it: http://www.itsallpc.co.uk/index.php/topic,897.html), what is the most powerful PCI (not PCI Express) graphics card I can buy?

[Schmidget]

Anyone? :-\

[Eric]

Best PCI graphics card is a FX5900 i think (maybe be 5700).

As for the custom PC, do you care about Intel or AMD?

I'd look into an Opteron based system (s939), 1GB of RAM at least (PC3500 or higher, OCZ is my fave), A name brand mobo that takes RAID (asus, abit, DFI) with an NF4 chipset, a SATA/RAID HDD (possibly 2), and at least a nVidia 6800 or better graphics card. That should leave you with money left over for OS and case and all that nice stuff.

[Schmidget]

As far as the HDs go, I am probably going to go with dual 7200RPM 160GB in a RAID 0 array. I know where to get them for about $66 each.

I'm not biased toward AMD or Intel. The only thing I'm concerned about as far as the CPUs go is more gaming processing oriented. Not like the Pentium D which, at the lower clockspeeds, seems to only perform great in a multitasking enviroment. I was thinking something like: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego - Socket 939. That's about $215.

So far thats about $347.

I don't want to go cheap on the mobo since that could cause a load of trouble later, so how about this Biostar N4SLI-A9 Socket 939/nForce 4/Dual Core/ATX mboard MFN N4SLI-A9 RETAIL Specification N4SLI-A9 CPU: Socket 939 For AMD Athlon 64 x2 (dual core)/ 64 FX/ 64/ Sempron processors; Although this price isn't too bad: $82.50

$429.50 so far.

Mobo only supports PC3200 or below. Is that too slow? I've never seen any problems with it before. Anyway, 2x Patriot "Extreme Performance" 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 @ $60 each so, $120

$549.50...

Another thing I don't want to go cheap on: the PSU. I want to be able to supply enough stable power to all the components of the computer; I don't want to suffer another nasty incident like this one: http://www.itsallpc.co.uk/index.php/topic,860.html. Had that replaced .

Xion PowerReal XON-500F14T-201 ATX12V V.2.01 500W Power Supply - Retail --- the rails are pretty strong in my opinion, +3.3V@35A, +5V@45A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@20A

That is $90 so...

$639.50 so far

Next the DVD+/-RW DL is about $50; I'll just rebuy the one I have currently.
And the DVD-ROM, about $30

...$719.50...

Important for gaming: the GFX card! :P XFX GEFORCE 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 16X PCI-EXPRESS W/ DUAL DVI & VIVO...$300

So, $1019.50

Almost forgot: ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu LED 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail---for a little better than stock CPU cooling. Wouldn't want any heat problems. $30


I already have a case, monitor, I'm fine with onboard sound, using stereo's aux for speakers, have keyboard/mouse, so I think that's it.


Grand total: $1049.50

Tell me if I miscalculated, I did it in my head on the fly. All the products are from online vendors that I have used before, like newegg, ewiz, and monarch computer.

What do you think about the above? What would the equivilant DELL computer cost? That is just for my own personal cost-bragging rights.

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Is there a better PCI GFX card than the 5700LE?

[Eric]

Well the BioStar board isn't exactly quality, that tends to be a cheaper brand, almost an off brand. Abit, Asus, and DFI are all very large name brands ties with good quality and excellent features for the advanced use. If you're interested in overclocking at all BioStar won't get you there.

If I was going for a good reliable PSU I'd look into an Enermax or a OCZ Powerstream. They are both very high quality and come from well known brands.

An equal Dell XPS gaming rig might run you $400-$500 more, at a guess. But you have to include case and operating system and monitor if you dont have them already.

Everything else you spec'd out seems to be good. CPU is powerful, as well as gfx. That RAM is good, but if you get a different motherboard you might be able to do better than PC3200. PC3200 is fine for a gaming machine, but if you're overclocking you might consider going higher so the RAM isn't as stressed.

[Schmidget]

How about this mobo: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$126.38

Unfortunately, that mobo only supports PC3200 also, but the RAM, according to all reviews, is very good. Most people were able to get timings like 2-3-2-5 at 500MHz with 2.7v going through it. Sandra memory benchmark gives it 7000 Megabytes a second overclocked in dual channel


ENERMAX Liberty ELT400AWT ATX12V 400W Power Supply, Output is +3.3V@26A, +5V@28A, +12V1@20A, +12V2@20A---78.99



That brings me to $1081.99

That good?

[Eric]

Yah that mobo is definetly a good one, what i planned to buy when i had money lol. What is important to realize though is that it will take higher than PC3200, that's just the speed it's "intended" to run at. If you can overclock the RAM then no worries.