going to get a new custom PC, please give suggestions
#1

my budget is 2000 dollars. Not going to buy AMD anymore :lol: . I also want a 45nm processor.

thanks for the suggestions Big Grin
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#2

Motherboard: Intel based P-35 for single graphics card or X-38 chipset if you plan on using two cards. My brand preference is Gigabyte as they seem to be reliable and durable. I do think that a motherboard that will support DDR2 and DDR3 RAM may be a bit of a future proofing purchase. Make sure your motherboard will support the latest Intel CPU's (Wolfdale CPU's).

Intel E-8400 or 8500 CPU. Get an aftermarket cooler as you will want to do some overclocking in order to get the most out the CPU.

RAM: Fast DDR2 RAM is fine. DDR3 is promising, but is also very expensive at this time. You can do very well with some high end DDR2 that will also overclock. I'm a big fan of Corsair brand RAM.

Hard drive: Personal preference here, I like at least two so the operating system (I still prefer Windows XP) can be on one drive and the page file on the other drive. It just seems a bit faster. If you want really fast, then identical drives set up in RAID 0 fashion.

Sound card: On board sound is ok, but a good sound card is better. I'm still using a Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS.

Video card: I'm an Nvidia fan. I'm also a simplicity fan, so I really don't like running 2 cards. I prefer to buy one card and make it the fastest card I can afford. The only exception to that rule is value. Nvidia's top of the line cards may cost 20% more than the next step down, but may give only a 5% increase in performance. To me, that is a poor value, so do your research.

CD-RW/DVD-RW: Personal preference, read some reviews before buying, you don't want to buy one that is known to have problems.

Power supply: Often forgotten, until it goes "BANG!" Buy quality, not cheap. PC Power and Cooling, Fortron, Antec, and I know there are a few more really good ones that I can't remember. I would not consider anything less than 650 watts and make sure it has at least +12v lines, each line providing 18 amps or greater. Yes, this is truly overkill, but PSU's lose there ability to provide power over time and if you start with one that is barely able to keep up, it will fail prematurely.

Case: Think about ventilation. You want smooth airflow, preferably with air coming in through the front and exiting through the rear and top of the case.

That's about all I can think of right now.
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#3

thank you so much on your suggestions. much appreciated!

going to get

intel E8400
8800GTX 640meg
can't remember of a motherboard
4gb of 800mhz Corsair RAM
320gb hard drive

and windows vista ultimate 64bit(personally i hate vista, but need it to run some fancy programs)[/code]
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#4

I doubt there is an 8800 GTX 640MB. In order of performance, there are these 8800s :

GTS 320MB
GTS 640MB
GT 512MB
GTS 512MB
GTX 768MB

Although it depends on the game and resolution, the last 3 can be switching positions. There are also 1024MB versions of the 8800GT, but they have shown no improvement over the 512MB version. With the CeBIT show happening, nVidia has given permission to card manufacturers to show the latest; the 9800GX2:
http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=5245

It's basicly two 8800GT 512 cards in SLI stuck onto one heatsink. As you can clearly see in these shots, there's a card with PCIe connector and one without:
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=230836

The 9600 is a new generation that replaces the 8600. It doesn't perform as well as the 8800GT 512MB.
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#5

yes sorry for confusion there is no 8800GTX with 640meg.

yea i have been doing some research about video cards.
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#6

Be careful if buying an 8800, the older ones use the G80 core, the new ones use the G92 core, which is superior in performance. All 8800GT's use the 92 core, some newer 8800GTS's use the 92 core. Basically, the 8800GT out performs the older 8800 GTS with the G80 core and is close to the performance of the 8800GTX, but far less expensive. It is a good value.

I'm watching the new cards. The 9600GT is being delayed, but should be a great performer and really, the whole 9600 line has a lot of promise. I don't know when we will see a full line of 9600's as Nvidia's line of 8800's pretty much beats anything ATI can put out. I fear that we may not see anything new from Nvidia until ATI or Intel deliver something that will beat the current line of Nvidia products.

Oh, and Nvidia may end up purchasing AMD/ATI, if that happens Intel will be the competition and honestly, Intel has not been know for great video cards or even good on board video.
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#7

yes i read about G80 and G92 cores. definitely going to wait for 9800 if i can Big Grin

going to get a new pc in april because i dont want my new computer interrupt my school :lol:
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#8

Just noticed this post...got a couple of thoughts.

The PSU is going to be the most inportant part of the system. DON'T get a cheap one. It will only cost you more money in the long run when it dies and takes out you MB, or vid crd when it does.

Right now for best quality across the whole range it's almost impossible to beat the CORSAIR PSU's. If you want modular, then the 620HX will power your system nicely. They have the 1000HX coming out soon, but that would be total overkill. For non-modular they have the 650TX and 750TX. While it 620HX is only rated at 620w, it's rated at 620 continious at 50C, and that's equivilent to other mfgs 700W+ whm rated at 25C which is what most of them do. At any rate, the 620HX, 650TX, or 750TX will all work for you. It would mostly depend on how much mony you want to spend. Check out this page http://www.jonnyguru.com/index.php for PSU reviews. He's about the best there is for PSU information.

One thing you didn't mention was a CASE. Since you are looking at an 8800, you have to remember that those rascals are LONG. If you have the 'average' mid-tower, it's going to be a tight fit. I can HIGHLY recommend the Cooler Master CM690. It's a 'largish' mid-tower, but has plenty of room to put in the new LONG vid cards, but still dosen't take a huge amount of desk/floor area. Plus it's VERY easy to work with when installing your new 'goodies'. I was using the Cooler Master Centurian 5 which is a nice case, but my x1950 jusr barely fit in it. I upgraded to the CM690, and now have lots of clearance from the card to the HDD's.

Here's a good review of the CM690: http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/ ... /index.asp

And, a nice pic of one with very nice cable management. Note how much room there is from the 8800 to the HDDs here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/ ... 010282.jpg

The CM690 has one more advantage. It's quite reasonably priced.

Hope this helps you a bit.
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