Need advice on new PC parts
 

I'm looking to upgrade my computer for the upcoming games, such as WoW, Doom 3, and Halflife 2. Here's what I've put on my newegg wishlist so far:

- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Retail w/ heastsink/fan

- GIGABYTE nForce3 150 GA-K8N PRO

- Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series 512MB ECC DDR PC-3200 w/ Platinum-Silver Heat Spreader

- ATI RADEON 9800 PRO

I'm trying to get the biggest bang for my buck, so I was hoping to get some feedback about my choices. Is this a good setup or are there better alternatives.

One thing that I'm wondering about is the CPU. I've read that the Athlon 64 is an excellent chip, but is it really neccessary? I have no problem spending the cash for it, but I don't want to waste any money. What other (cheaper?) chips are a reasonable alternative to the 64? The 64 is going for $282 at newegg.

Thanks

Looks good, but I'd upgrade to 1 GB of PC3200 (same type, just two sticks). That RAM is perfect, but you'll want more for the newer games. Even 768 MB from 512 MB makes a BIG difference in some games, with 1 GB being the most you'll need for games.

Everything else looks good. NewEgg has a damn nice Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro for cheap (it's like $225). Get that one...a 256 MB version won't improve the system much, if at all. You'll save the money, and then be able to get 1 GB of RAM instead of 512 MB. :)

The processor is DEFINITELY worth it. I've heard that the Athlon 64 3000+ is the best bang-for-your-buck in the 64 series, however. But if money isn't an issue, I'd go for the blazing 3200+. If you get it, it'll be one HELL of a system -- those games won't be a problem for it. Just another day at the job for a system like that. :)

-Lasereth

Laserth is correct about the RAM. Originally I had one 512mb stick of the Corsair XMS and I was getting around 27,000 on Aquamark with a 2.8 HT and 9800 pro. I was like what the hell? I added ANOTHER stick of 512 XMS so I could run in dual channel and that alone brought my score up to about 42,000 .

Thanks for the info. I've changed to the Sapphire card (saving some cash) and added another stick of RAM.

Exactly the responses I was looking for. Thanks again

You might want to just get a 2500+ and A7N8X for now, and then upgrade later this year when PCI Express and DDR II come out :) Save some $ now, and get a kicka$$ machine in a couple months. Plus, by then then 64 bit chips will be much cheaper hopefully!

The 1Gig of RAM is definitely worth it, RAM prices have come down quite a bit in the last month or now, so its a good time to buy :)

Please don't do the Saphire card! I had problems with two of them. Their cards are so bad they handed off customer service to ATI because they couldn't handle the load of complaints.

NOOO! I ordered everything last night, including the Sapphire card. I guess we'll see how it turns out...

Well, that exact card on NewEgg has a 5 star rating after a hundred reviews, so I still have to recommend it. Maybe they just shipped a box of broken ones. Sapphire is known for making as good of a videocard as ATI, so their reputation is definitely worthy.

-Lasereth

I know. I read all those reviews on newegg last night, and everyone seemed to be pleased with it so I shouldn't have a problem.

I haven't heard anything bad about Sapphire.

Let us know what you think of the 64-bit Athlon. I know no one yet who has one, and personally I believe the cutting edge is a bit beyond what 98% of people need in a PC. If you see an appreciable difference, I'd love to hear about it.

It won't be any faster than a 3200+ xp.

Unless you're running a 64bit instruction set, right?

Will do. I'm still running a 1.1 Thunderbird with a geforce3 ti|200, so I haven't had a new system for a while now. This should be a nice step up. Thanks for all the replies everyone.

If you read the Newegg disclaimer, negatives are not going to be posted. Go to Price Grabber and read about newegg..., never mind.

I would really like to hear of your experience with the Opteron. Tell us how spiff it is, I have great hopes for it!

Actually, the Athlon 64 3200+ will totally annihilate an Athlon XP 3200+. The 64 has 1 MB of L2 cache, and an incredibly fast theoretical FSB (over 1 GHz FSB). In any tests reviews I've seen, even the regular Athlon 64 3200+ beats out 3.2 GHz P4's with ease. Past that, the Athlon 64 3400+ and godlike Athlon 64 FX-51 simply dominate. The Athlon 64 is a HUGE step above Athlon XP's...the fact that they're 64-bit are just icing on the cake.

-Lasereth