NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › Building a new rig
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Building a new rig

post #1 of 31
9/1/06 at 1:44pm
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone, I know I don't post much but I could use some constructive criticism or recommendations on a new rig i plan on building either myself or at the store. Im building a gaming rig. Heres the 2 im trying to decide between.

Rig 1:

940 Athlon 64 AM2 4600+ Dual
1GB DDR2 800mhz PC6400 OEM
Asus M2N32SD AM2 940pin DDR2 M2N32-SLI DLX/WIFI-AP
250GB Seagate 7200rpm SATA
Sony 16x DVD+/RW
1.44 MB Mitsumi
Asus 7950 GX2 1GB SLI PCI-E
17" LCD Flat Panel
Liteon HT-761B 400watt ATX
550w 24pin Athena dual SLI
Win. XP home edition

Total : $2292.40

Rig 2:

Core2Duo 6600 2.4G
1GB DDR2 PC6400 800mhz
Intel P965LTB Core2Duo Bulk
250GB Seagate 7200rpm SATA
Sony 16x DVD+/RW
1.44 MB Mitsumi
Asus 7950 GX2 1GB SLI PCI-E
17" LCD Flat Panel
Liteon HT-761B 400watt ATX
550w 24pin Athena dual SLI
Win. XP home edition

Total: $2333.35

As you can see, the only differences are the processors and thats about it. I was thinking increassing the ram from 1 to 2gb and maybe getting a bigger monitor.

I don't know which would be better for gaming. The AMD or the Intel. I understand that the intel is the faster one on the market right now unless im wrong. What do you think could be changed or recommend between the two?
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 31
9/1/06 at 2:13pm
Intel P965LTB Core2Duo Bulk

Im not sure if thats your Mobo..but I heard somewhere that Asus has a board that with an update will unlock multipliers...

I would say definitley go for Intel, for gaming...im not upto date but 2GB ram should help in alteast some games (or will help down the road) and a bigger screen is always nice.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 31
9/1/06 at 3:17pm
Go with the E6600 and get 2GB RAM and why are you using such a killer rig with a 17" LCD?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 31
9/1/06 at 3:39pm
definitely get the Conroe CPU and switch to either the Asus P5B or P5W for the mobo. The P5B can be unlocked right now with the newest BIOS and they're supposed to release one for the P5W also.
Few other things:
Why are you gettting a case with a PSU and another PSU?? I'd just get a case with no PSU and then get the PSU you have ordered, that 400W liteon one isn't gonna handle that build.
Not a big fan of Sony drives and really not a big Sony fan at all anymore. Can't go wrong with Plextor though..
on the 17" monitor. That's pretty silly for a killer GPU like the 5950...
and finally, definitely 2 Gb's of RAM. That's pretty much standard practice anymore...
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 31
9/1/06 at 5:36pm
Thread Starter 
What would be a good sized monitor? It's been several years since I've had a desktop, i 've been partial to this 9860 but it's time to ramp up more power for gamming.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 31
9/1/06 at 5:50pm
with that videocard Im thinking you could run almost anything.... so mayeb head down to your local mall and check out random screen sizes then decide?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 31
9/1/06 at 11:25pm
Personally I'd go with a build like this:

AM2 3800+ x2
X1900XTX or 7900GT
2GB of RAM
Decent sized HD
20.1" LCD

A setup like that will not as powerful as yours, but it should cost about half the price and it will still run everything you want at the highest settings..

I think that the AM2 is more bang for the buck than the conroe, and IMO the 7950GX2 seems kinda overkill for now (DX10 cards are coming soon)
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 31
9/2/06 at 11:11am
If I was to get a new LCD I'd get a 24". 30" would be my fantasy, but the price on them is still pretty high. Right now I have a 19" that will only do 1280X1024 and this 1705 has me seeing the benefits of a WS and 1920X1200 is a great resolution and also happens to be the native resolution for most 24" WS LCDs..
as far as video cards, anything NVidia that's at least a 7900GT. ati drivers ruin the cards
and definitely get Conroe, amd just can't compete right now..
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 31
9/2/06 at 11:40am
change 1.. after reading my e-mail from mwave.com, this 22" Acer is a pretty sweet deal and has great specs. That's less than I paid for my 19" regular screen
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 31
9/2/06 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dman22
If I was to get a new LCD I'd get a 24". 30" would be my fantasy, but the price on them is still pretty high. Right now I have a 19" that will only do 1280X1024 and this 1705 has me seeing the benefits of a WS and 1920X1200 is a great resolution and also happens to be the native resolution for most 24" WS LCDs..
as far as video cards, anything NVidia that's at least a 7900GT. ati drivers ruin the cards
and definitely get Conroe, amd just can't compete right now..
The 24" monitors are still overpriced IMO... I've seen 19" for less than $150, a good 20.1"is about $250, and the 24"is $700+!!
And even though the Conroe are faster than the AMD CPUS, AMD still delivers the best bang for the buck. The 3800+ x2 is a great CPU, a great overclocker, its cheap and the mobos are also cheap...
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 31
9/2/06 at 9:43pm
Thread Starter 
Hmm, I've been planning this for a while now and Im not looking to cut corners really. Thats why Im looking at a powerfull rig and no doubt the conroe seems to win it hands down. Their isn't much of price difference between them either.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 31
9/3/06 at 11:40am
if money is no object then get a 30" LCD and a 5950..
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 31
9/4/06 at 3:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Filippo
The 24" monitors are still overpriced IMO... I've seen 19" for less than $150, a good 20.1"is about $250, and the 24"is $700+!!
And even though the Conroe are faster than the AMD CPUS, AMD still delivers the best bang for the buck. The 3800+ x2 is a great CPU, a great overclocker, its cheap and the mobos are also cheap...

Overpriced? Are you kidding, I paid $1600 for my viewsonic VP201 when it first came out and now you can get a 24" for $750. and forget about AMD, a E6300 is so much faster than a X2 3800+ and it only cost about $40 more.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 31
9/4/06 at 11:12am
hellz yeah..

it's almost depressing to see what sorta LCD I can get now for the price I paid for my Spectre 19"
only thing more depressing is looking at how much cheaper flash memory is.. I got a 512 Mb MicroSD card yesterday for $14.99, real price too, no rebates. That's freaking crazy compared to the almost $200 I paid for a 64 Mb CF card back in 2000....
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 31
9/4/06 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wiz33
Overpriced? Are you kidding, I paid $1600 for my viewsonic VP201 when it first came out and now you can get a 24" for $750. and forget about AMD, a E6300 is so much faster than a X2 3800+ and it only cost about $40 more.
There was a deal last week for a 19" LCD for $105. So yes, 24" is still overpriced. Just wait and see, the prices will continue to drop...

About AMD - thats true, but the conroe mobos are much more expensive
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 31
9/4/06 at 6:43pm
meh, once you get used to WS, 4:3 LCDs look like crap..
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 31
9/4/06 at 7:52pm
I dont think I can ever go back to 4:3
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 31
9/4/06 at 8:10pm
nope, my 19" LCD, while bigger than this 17", looks like crap when I use it. Plus I'm used to easily having two browsers opened at the same time and being able to read both of them plus still have room left for other things
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 31
9/5/06 at 1:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Filippo
There was a deal last week for a 19" LCD for $105. So yes, 24" is still overpriced. Just wait and see, the prices will continue to drop...

About AMD - thats true, but the conroe mobos are much more expensive

Not really. If you don't plan on OCing, then you can get a mobo for under $100 and if you want ot OC, then a $160 ASUS P5B or Gigabyte DS3 will let you OC the E6300 to almost E6700 speed and faster than a OC'ed Athlon 64 X2 5000+.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 31
9/5/06 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlindSword
Hey everyone, I know I don't post much but I could use some constructive criticism or recommendations on a new rig i plan on building either myself or at the store. Im building a gaming rig. Heres the 2 im trying to decide between.

Rig 1:

940 Athlon 64 AM2 4600+ Dual
1GB DDR2 800mhz PC6400 OEM
Asus M2N32SD AM2 940pin DDR2 M2N32-SLI DLX/WIFI-AP
250GB Seagate 7200rpm SATA
Sony 16x DVD+/RW
1.44 MB Mitsumi
Asus 7950 GX2 1GB SLI PCI-E
17" LCD Flat Panel
Liteon HT-761B 400watt ATX
550w 24pin Athena dual SLI
Win. XP home edition

Total : $2292.40

Rig 2:

Core2Duo 6600 2.4G
1GB DDR2 PC6400 800mhz
Intel P965LTB Core2Duo Bulk
250GB Seagate 7200rpm SATA
Sony 16x DVD+/RW
1.44 MB Mitsumi
Asus 7950 GX2 1GB SLI PCI-E
17" LCD Flat Panel
Liteon HT-761B 400watt ATX
550w 24pin Athena dual SLI
Win. XP home edition

Total: $2333.35

As you can see, the only differences are the processors and thats about it. I was thinking increassing the ram from 1 to 2gb and maybe getting a bigger monitor.

I don't know which would be better for gaming. The AMD or the Intel. I understand that the intel is the faster one on the market right now unless im wrong. What do you think could be changed or recommend between the two?

IT would help if you were to tell us what you intend on doing with the rig (i only read your post so far so sorry if you already have stated that)

i would honestly get the AMD rig, take the change you would save, and get 2 gigs (2x1 gig sticks) to be ready for vista and use xp home till then

also, ditch the 17 inch lcd, its pointless to have a rather top end video card on a 17 inch lcd, get a 19, or 23 inch and let that video card fllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy awwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy

youll be more impressed!

but yeah, tell us what you do first, we can prolly save you more money that way

soulsaver
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Desktop and Hardware Discussion
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Off Topic › Desktop and Hardware Discussion › Building a new rig