Technical wizardry(help building a pc)

[Furious5k]

Alright guys(and girls?), i am one of those people who like to play games, like to play them a lot, but i don't know all too much about computers, especially when it comes to indepth stuff and i'l probably end up buying a pre-build pc and we don't want that.

So, please help me out, by suggesting a computer (by parts) which would suit me good. I use it mostly for games and internet stuff, i multi task often but with a good proccessor/ram it won't be an issue for me. I want, hopefully, an affordable but still a gaming pc.

Now what i need, is 2 pc build ups, one should be somewhere around 1000$ and another at 2000$, if you can be bothered to come up with two.

Also, it would be nice if you would tell me why something is better then the other, because i won't be able to tell the difference and umm how new the parts are/how long should i wait for prices to go down before buying etc.

I am thinking about one of the Athalon 64 processors for a start, but do suggest different ones if better. Oh, and do tell, what stuff should i steer clear off (as in, it will get out of date soon).

Thanks.

[aud19]

Well if I was building a top of the line gaming PC it would be an Asus socket 939 mobo with SLI PCI-E, AMD64 (single.. or dual core if you can afford one :P) CPU, NVidia 6800 (or higher) SLI (dual card) setup, one or more Samsung SATA II hard drives (or WD Raptors if you want a little more speed at the expense of noise) and 2 x 512MB (total of 1GB) dual channel DDR-Ram (or 2 x 1GB, total of 2GB, again if you have the money). Onboard sound should be fine for gaming. That will likely be much closer to the $2k mark

For a cheaper version... A non SLI Asus mobo, a slower single core AMD64, single PCI-E video card (no SLI) and just the two 512MB memory sticks. That should knock it down in price a fair bit but still give you pretty darn good performance

[Furious5k]

Alrighty then, i considered what you said and came up with some hardware picks of my own and now i would ask you (and anyone else who cares to tell his opinion) to tell me if it's any good, wether i'd be better off going for a different hardware (like i said, i don't know much in depth as what's the better then what).


Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (according to an article, the prices have just dropped) ~350$ [do suggest any different proccessors around the price of 400$ and is it any good at all for gaming and how much better is the 500$+ athlon 64 x2 4400+??]


Some sort of Asus mother board avg.150$ (100-200$, tell me which to go with, especially what to take if i am going to/not going to upgrade this pc in the future). [i have about 0 understanding which is better, so suggest a model please and i'l look it up]


2x1GB RAM 200-250$ [again suggest one. also what's so revolutionary about the 1GB Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM (with LEDs) ~130$, suppoused to be a big deal or so i understood from an article]

Seagate Barracuda ST3300831ARK 300GB Hard Drive ~135$ [once again, little to no understanding what's what, other then the capacity. Suggest any other options, around the price of 150$ or tell me if and WHY i should go for a different hard disk]


As for the video card, i have honestly no idea. I need to ask you guys if i won't be screwd if i go with one of the 200$ ones and if i do, what should i pick. [what's the difference between AGP 8x and PCI-EXPRESS x16, is that like pipelines or something, not that i really understand what those are, but the more the better..i think. also why does this video card eVGA GeForce FX5500 Video Card (256MB, AGP 8X, DVI, 2D/3D w/ TV-Out) only cost 60$, seems kind of inconsistant since others, with same specifications cost 200$)


I also need advice on stuff like cd/dvd both RW drive, coolers, case, any other small stuff i need to add into computer, like lan card, audio card, how much does it cost to have someone put all that togeather and wether it's easy to do it myself (noting i haven't done much more then cleaning the computer myself).

And, ofcourse, i need an advise on which site should i purchase from, i am currently in uk, so that's probably gona be about 100$ shipping, so any advice on what sites ships fastest/cheapest/safest would be much appriciated aswell.



BIG thanks goes out to anyone who is kind enough to read through all of this and help me, your really making it much easier on me, being the computer hardware illetarate that i am, and i appriciate it very, very much!

[Furious5k]

Question - is there a point in getting a dual core processor if i'm going for gaming? I mean, is it actually better when your not multi-tasking? And if so, are the single ones more bang for the buck when gaming? Advice on what single core to get?

[aud19]

Personally I'd wait for a dual core CPU until their prices get down closer to the $200-$300 range. If you get a socket 939 mobo you can upgrade to a dual core down the line when they're cheaper anyways Otherwise just get the fastest CPU you can afford. if it's a 3000+ great, if you can afford a faster one, even better :T I usually try to find the one that's the best price/performance. For example a 3000+ might me $150, a 3200+ $165 and a 3400+ $245. In that case the 3200+ is your biggest bang for the buck.

As for the mobo I'd probably be looking at the 939 boards with NVIDIA chipsets. Have you figured out if you want to go with SLI video cards or not (two video cards working in tandom)? As that will go a long way to dictating which boards to look at. I'd recommend the ones with PCI-E, not AGP, as well so that should narrow it down pretty well for you. They should have onboard networking and sound as well so you don't have to worry about those seperate cards.

Just get good quality RAM. I have no idea what the LED RAM is... sounds gimicky

Seagate's and Samsung HD's are known for being good quality and quiet HD's. Either is fine. The Western Digital Raptors are a bit faster but also nosier and I believe slightly less reliable.

As for the video card. Trust me, for gaming get an Nvidia 6800 or higher series card. The one you listed is an old, inferior chipset, which is why it's so much cheaper. That and it's only AGP (yes PCI-E is faster).

I personally like LiteOn DVD-ROM/ DVD-RW drives (they make a lot of the "brand name" drives for them ) but most any decent quality drive should be fine. A good place to check out quiet power supply's and other quiet gear is http://www.quietpcusa.com/ and http://www.silentpcreview.com/ The CPU, should come with a standard heatsink and fan that should work fine unless you want to go with something custom for better cooling (overclocking) and/or noise reduction.

[ThomasW]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103539

[aud19]

Yes the 1mb cache is nice :twisted: If you can afford it, get it :T