New Gaming Rig questions please...
 

Looking to build a new gaming rig, upgrading from an AthlonXP 2100+, 9800 PRO.
Budget: $700-900 for the processor, video card, motherboard.

Processor: AMD, socket 939. Would you guys go high end Athlon64 single core, or entry level Athlon64 dual core?

Videocard: One-card system. Should I be looking at AGP or PCI-e? Not sure whether to go ATI or NVidia. 6800 or 7800 series? Or Radeon X-series? I don't use super high resolutions for gaming, usually 800x600, sometimes 1152x864, but I want a very good framerate with all the visual goodies on. Just a barebones, hardcore gaming card - optionwise, all I need on the card is a monitor output.

Motherboard: Stability is the priority. Will not be overclocking. Again, just a simple, basic hardcore mobo, don't need a million different options. PCI-e or AGP? Not sure which chipset to go with. I'm partial to Asus, but willing to pay less if I can get Asus-like stability and an excellent chipset.

Thanks.

Processor - I would go high-end 64bit single core. There isn't enough to justify dual core sexiness quite yet.

Video card - I've been over this time and time again. Perhaps i'm a hippocrit for advising people to buy AGP cards because there is no immediate threat to them, when I have a PCI express card (also ironic that i advise people to buy AMd when I have an Intel.). Look, everyone knows the stuff about the bandwidth of PCI express being double AGP's, and how we really don't come anywhere close to filling the AGP gap ....... but there isn't a giant price difference, there's nothing to lose, it's good to embrace new technology, cards are being natively designed for PCI express, and despite the lack of immediate need for PCI express, manufacturers are working to push AGP out. I highly reccomend a 6600GT (my card) for a midrange solution, and a 6800 ultra for a high end solution. Nvidia graphics + nvidia chipset on motherboard = good.

Motherboard - Personally I can reccomend Asus and ABIT as top-notch motherboard makers. MSI is also apparently one of the top-notch folks (although, their TV tuner has let me down), and DFI is "hardcore" :) My reccomendation is - get an Nforce chipset to go with the video card. Things have been very smooth with the afformentioned combo.

One question... you upgrading the RAM, too? (Unless you already have fast RAM, you should.)

Apart from that, I'll go along with MikeSty. Get a good Athlon 64, socket 939.

For a graphics card, probably go with a 6800. It's noticably faster than a 6600 GT without too much of a price jump. A 6800 Ultra or better would be more than you would need, if you're playing at low resolutions. And definitely go PCI-E, if only for upgradability.

Motherboard: I've never had experience with ABIT, but I know that Asus is awesome, and I've been very pleased with MSI (despite their mediocre reputation). DFI is excellent, but most of the time totally unnecessary. Get a good mobo with support for your processor, enough PCI slots, enough space for RAM, HDDs and opticals, one PCI-E x16 slot, and USB and firewire capability if you need it. Overclockability isn't really a factor for what you're looking at, so you shouldn't really be spending more than $100 on a board.

I'm guessing about $300 for the processor, $400 for the graphics card, and $100 for the motherboard. $800 should get you more than enough machine for current generation games.

DFI does have a lot of overkill crap I must say, and ABIT and ASUS are both well-equipped, but are always missing something. For example, ASUS didn't give me a SATA disk, ABIT did. ASUS gave me SATA power cables, ABIT didn't.

I know this is a tired subject, but if gaming is the primary use then you'll get better framerates dropping to a lower cpu and putting the money into the video card.

A boxed Athlon64 3200 939 goes for ~$160 vs. ~$300 for a 3800. Even with the same video card you won't notice a difference between the cpu's. The 3800 won't do anything for textures or AA levels, or provide more than a couple frames/sec improvement. Put the $140 difference into a better card of whichever series and you'll see a proportional improvement.

I do like DFI, but agree it's a bit much unless you catch a sale. Abit has always worked well for me.

Thanks guys. I've always wondered about the balance between videocards and cpu power for gaming. Maybe I'll have a look at an SLI motherboard solution. 2 videocards might be the way to go, if I can find a configuration that won't break the bank. Certified SLI power supplies are $200 though!

Psh, certified SLI power supplies? Blasphemy!

I will definately keep the GPU > CPU notice in my head.

Heh...so you're saying that SLI motherboards can use any old PS?

Honestly, I don't know. I've never heard of an certed SLI PSU, but I honestly think it's a load of blasphemy. If you are just careful with what PSU you get, then you're good to go :)

In my experience, buy the best single card you can get before buying two of a lesser variety. Quite a few operations do better with a single killer card if buying two means you had to compromise the video RAM, clock rates, etc. There are always some benchmarks that look better with two, but for uniform gameplay the same money in one card is more effective.

As for "SLI certified", it's a sticker. Many companies make PSUs with more than adequate specs for a loaded SLI system. Buy something with enough connections and adequate current at each voltage for your total system needs. Buying a reputable brand means there's less chance it was spec'd & tested in a refrigerator (you won't have to double your current requirements for safety).

I don't have enough time to make exact model recommendations, but I'll just say that you want to spend a majority of your money on the videocard, get a least 1 GB of RAM, and then less money on a CPU. You won't need any faster than an Athlon 64 3200+.

-Lasereth

Some newer games are getting more and more CPU intensive so i wouldnt suggest cutting back on the cpu anymore. I know day of defeat source is very cpu intensive and your framerate will suck with a low end processor. I would say spend about $200-250 on a processor. the top end ones are never worth the extra money. As far as motherboards go i would get a gigabyte very good buy for the money. i have been using them for the last 6 years and have never had any trouble at all. I would get pci express for sure just so you know you can upgrade for a while. With video cards i dunno what to suggest everyone has a diffrent opionon on them some swear by one while others swear by another. some do better with some games others with other games. But i wouldnt spend the money for the top of the line one ever. get a step down from the best and save yourself $100 or so.

Yeah, this is my philosophy as well. Top of the line inevitably drops to middle of the pack in 6 months anyway, so I won't be paying $550 for a 7800GTX 512mb card. I'll probably go SLI motherboard and fill it with one 6800GS for now, and another 6800GS in a few months. It's strange, some games seem to be CPU-intensive (but not GPU-intensive), while others are GPU-intensive (but not CPU-intensive). DirectX/OpenGL issues perhaps.

I'll get a proper PS, nothing fancy. I've seen reliable name brands down around $60-70 with enough juice to power a 2-card system.

Still undecided about the CPU, but leaning towards a middle of the road CPU (3200+ seems about right). But, I understand the dual-cores are very nice for fast DVD ripping/encoding, which would be a plus for me. Still thinking about it.

Thanks again, gentlemen.

I know of 2 Asus mobos that were junk out of the box, personally one was mine.

Just throwing that out there for ya.

Appreciate that.

All I know is I've built 2 deskotp systems in the last 3 years with ASUS boards and they've been bulletproof, zero problems. I realize I've probably just jinxed myself, so...nothing ruled out at this point.

If i was in your place and was planning on building a new game system on a budget and i am btw =P i would go to newegg.com and read through all the reviews for everything your thinking about getting. that way you will know what to expect. i just spent a couple days digging through the reviews on everything i would want for a computer and it looks like $1200 or so for one hell of a nice game rig. amd 3700+ 2gig ram 7800gt 256mb vid card spiffy 250gig sata western digital hard drive and everything else needed for a new computer other then a keyboard and moniter. Oh yeah i decided to get a asus board this time instead of gigabyte just to give it a try. =) but gigabyte is one hell of a board if your on a budget. same features as asus at half the price and they basicly encourage overclocking. Only reason im not getting one this time is because i know some have trouble using a USB keyboard for some reason. And im using a microsoft egronomic thats USB only wont work with ps2.

i love that site good cheap place to get stuff but even if you want to buy local or whatever just reading the buyers reviews is worth the info. might want to check out tomshardware.com as well they have alot of good reviews.