Opinions for upgrade

[ve3sab]

Hi everyone,

Finally going for a new computer with about $3k to spend on it. Will be used for basic computing and occasional gaming (Ranbow Six, Half Life etc.)

Thought I'd get opinions on some of the things I'm looking at. Here is the "basics" list of what I'm considering:

case = Antec - VAR II - Model SX600 II
power supply = Antec - Smartpower Model: SL450 (450watts)

motherboard
(wanted ASUS non intergrated board but they don't make them anymore)
ASUS - A8N-SLI Deluxe
or ABIT = Abit Fatal1ty AN8
or MSI = K8N Neo4 Platinum Edition

processor = AMD Athlon 64 FX @ 2.8 GHz

memory - 500mb DDR2 (possibly 1Gb)

video card = ATI - Radeon X850
or Radeon 9800 PRO 256MB

DVD Drive = LG4120B all-format DVD writer, including DVD-RAM
or HP dvd640i dual-layer DVD writer

hard drive = Seagate - ST3120022A-Barracuda/7200rpm/120 GB Ultra ATA/100
or ST3160827AS-RK - 160 GB SATA

Audio card = Soundblaster Live

What's your experience/opinions/suggestions

Thanks

[Athlon_9800]

You'll want a 1gb of ram, for sure. Are you doing overclocking at all? If not, the Asus is probabley best if it's cheapest. As for the video card, if you are doing gaming, then go for the most expensive one you can within budget. I got the system in my sig a couple weeks ago for around $2900. Another thing, DDR2 doesn't work with any AMD setups.

[DazedNConfuzed]

for your "occasional computer use" and "gaming" with games that seem to run fine on some relatively inexpensive video cards.
you seem to be blowing alot of money out of the water.
the price of the processor alone you could get a DECENT computer with excellent upgradeability.

[MSE OP]

for your "occasional computer use" and "gaming" with games that seem to run fine on some relatively inexpensive video cards.
you seem to be blowing alot of money out of the water.
the price of the processor alone you could get a DECENT computer with excellent upgradeability.

I second that.

[Jackthemeangiant]

for your "occasional computer use" and "gaming" with games that seem to run fine on some relatively inexpensive video cards.
you seem to be blowing alot of money out of the water.
the price of the processor alone you could get a DECENT computer with excellent upgradeability.

I agree. I would do this, then if you really want to spend all $3k, then mabye buy a nice printer, scanner, digital camera or some other cool nick nack.

[Athlon_9800]

Some people like having a beast that'll last, hehe.

[AMD]

I would spend $1500 max on a system like that and put the money towards a high end 21" LCD or something. Once you get past a point (depending on the type of use), there is no point of getting faster hardware. The monitor however is very important if you spend a lot of time on it, and it will last longer than the computer + won't depreciate in value as quickly.

[Cat person]

It's his money!

Why don't you all suggest something decent within his budget, I can't as I don't know what's available in your country. :)

[networkguy]

I agree with AMD, I also don't think you need such a high end processor, if you want AMD perhaps a AMD 64 3500 would suffice, and perhaps a pair of mirrored SATA HD's for redundancy and speed.

NG

[Athlon_9800]

We have to hear more about what this computer will be used for before helping, I think. You can't tell him to lower things otherwise. You're right, though, he probably could do without the FX CPU. Go with the 3500 or even 3700/3800.

[Limey32]

Silly.. if the money is there to spend, wait a month and get the fx-57.

[Athlon_9800]

Silly.. if the money is there to spend, wait a month and get the fx-57.

That's how I feel, too, but some people can't justify it I guess. Some people are more hardcore, hehe.

[Limey32]

That's how I feel, too, but some people can't justify it I guess. Some people are more hardcore, hehe.

If you can afford it, it is going to be the best of the best. No harm in owning it. :) Everyone is jealous, as am I.

[Cat person]

That's how I feel, too, but some people can't justify it I guess. Some people are more hardcore, hehe.

Some people are very stingy with other peoples' money!

I have a friend who upgrades to the latest every 6 to 8 months and all he does with the machine is play online poker, email and a bit of office work.

[DazedNConfuzed]

Everyone is jealous, as am I.

jealous? :hys:

i'm sure everyone here loves spending thousands of dollars on a single component alone while it will simply degrade in value and performance months down the road.
so good luck wasting that money. after all he only needs it for something as mundane as "general computing" use. it's completly justified.

waste your money kid. thats my opinion.

[Athlon_9800]

jealous? :hys:

i'm sure everyone here loves spending thousands of dollars on a single component alone while it will simply degrade in value and performance months down the road.
so good luck wasting that money. after all he only needs it for something as mundane as "general computing" use. it's completly justified.

waste your money kid. thats my opinion.

Could you be any more bitter? It's a hobby, get over it.

[DazedNConfuzed]

Could you be any more bitter? It's a hobby, get over it.

not sure how i'm "bitter" if i'm merely thinking logically.:tch: maybe you took the comment to heart?

i'm still waiting for the thread starter to chime in and respond to his own post.

[Athlon_9800]

not sure how i'm "bitter" if i'm merely thinking logically.:tch: maybe you took the comment to heart?

i'm still waiting for the thread starter to chime in and respond to his own post.

Oh yes, your comment affected me greatly:eri:

Anyways, I don't see what business it is of yours if someone wants to spend money they have on something they will enjoy, that's all.

[DazedNConfuzed]

Oh yes, your comment affected me greatly:eri:

Anyways, I don't see what business it is of yours if someone wants to spend money they have on something they will enjoy, that's all.

call me crazy but...





What's your experience/opinions/suggestions

Thanks

you're welcome.

[Diana]

Hi: take a look at ****.ca. Their new systems for summer special are really good and I think around 1,400 enough.

[Athlon_9800]

call me crazy but...



you're welcome.

Ha, opinions on the hardware... not the fact of him spending the money on a computer. He had already said he had 3000 he wanted to spend on the computer, so... what were you trying to prove by quoting that? Clearly he didn't want you to tell him where his money should and should not be (besides on what computer parts). This is a computer forum, you think he detestes the idea of having a good computer? Or that he doesn't like computers enough to invest into his new one?

[DazedNConfuzed]

waste your money kid. thats my opinion.


plus he asked for suggestions. i suggested he allocate his money elsewhere. be wise.

[bpbpbp]

Unless you're a hardcore gamer and want to play all the latest games, save up some of that dough. Personally, i hate making big compulsive purchases, because i know several months down the road something new is gonna come out and i'd have no money to buy it! A hurting wallet is a depressed me. sigh.

.... but if u have waaay too much "pocket change" ... forget what i said.

[ve3sab]

Hmmmm,

Didn't expect my post to envoke this much. Perhaps I should have been more specific as mentioned.

I thought that hearing the good/bad experiences anyone had with those particular components/manufacturers would help me avoid any pitfalls. As we all know, manufactures promotional info ain't all it's cracked up to be sometimes.

As I said in my original post, those were the basic components I was considering. I wasn't planning to sink the whole $3k into the "inards". That figure was the max I was going to spend on everything (I also was going to get a 19" lcd monitor and a good speaker system as well). I already have a 25mpixel camera and a good scanner and photo printer so I won't be needing to buy those.

Computer use would be about 50% general computing (word processing, image processing (I do free lance photography), email and web surfing) and about 50% gaming. No over clocking will be done.

I'm not one for upgrading every year (my present computer is 10 years old if that is any indication) so I wanted to get something that will have some lasting power (hence the 64 bit procressor) and that would not need upgrading in 6 months because of some incompatibility with future OS's or hardware that come along in the future. Not necessarily bleading edge but cutting edge would do.

The ATI cards seems to be the favorite among my gaming friends and have seen what they are capable of, which is why I settled on ATI.

DVD seems to be the way of the future and the one listed covers all formats (until they come out with a quad layer ((he,he)). I assume that someone out there has experience with LG products and how well they hold up.

I was going with Kingston for the memory with 500mb as the minimum. 1Gb is looking more likely as Microsoft's upcoming OS recommends 500mb as the minimum for it.

Thanks Athlon_9800 for the info on the DDR/AMD conflict. Will keep that in mind.

[Pedar]

Overall system looks pretty great. Just a couple of possible suggestions.

For sure you should go for at least 1 gig of ram.

Radeon x850 is much newer and faster than the 9800.

I have not had any problems with any of my LG burners. Just keep in mind that the 4120 is an older model and I doubt you would be able to find it. The 4163 is the newest drive.

For your hard drive I would at least go with 160 gigs

Personally I have been using MSI motherboards for a couple of computers and have been pleased with them. Easy to update drivers, programs and BIOS through LiveUpdate.

An LCD moniter would be the way to go especially since you are a photographer. I have an LCD on my wifes machine and love it. 19" for sure. Best adivise would be to go to FS or best buy and take a look at the monitors. Specs are not everything, seeing images on different monitors will really help you decide which one is the best for you.

Hope this helps!
Pedar

[Miceandmen]

this maybe a stupid thought, but have you thought about trying out the pci express, alot of what i have been reading is that agp sooner or later is on its way out?

Like agp did kill the original video cards that ran on the pci... Well what does anyone think will eventually agp give way to pci express.

Stupid question right, i feel if your buying a new system get the best you can for the least you can that would not be obsolete next week right?

[ve3sab]

One of the motherboards I was concidering is pci express only. Would be a bit limiting until manufacturers start making the hardware for it enmass.

I was thinking of going to 2 gigs of ram and using some as a ram drive.

[AMD]

Every single (current) good AGP video card is available in PCI-Express. There is no benefit presented by going for a standard which is soon to be obsolete.

2Gb of RAM is crazy at this point unless you run 20 intense application synchronously or use the system as a terminal server with many users logged on at the same time.

[sybil]

One other thought - if you do photography and then image editing, (and cataloging), dual monitors are very useful.

[awesomejs]

there is no demand for pci express..no games or programs are needed for it at this time..agp i can't see dieing off for a few years yet..sli/pci u won't see the true affects of this feature for a year or 2 when games start taking higher graphics..the x800,6800gt have been out for a year and run doom3 or halflife like butter...if u really wana go with pci i would wait till sept or oct when the new ati pci card is avaiable..

i would get a good cpu,good ram,a nice case and a good ps,a pair of sata drives u could even go with sata 300kb,a good lcd monitor,video card,etc etc etc

if your only playing the odd game then pci isn't really needed..u can buy a 3500 very cheap now,get good cooling and pump it up to 2.8ghz with ease..but as everyone is saying if u wana blow your money go nuts

[AMD]

there is no demand for pci express..no games or programs are needed for it at this time..agp i can't see dieing off for a few years yet..sli/pci u won't see the true affects of this feature for a year or 2 when games start taking higher graphics..the x800,6800gt have been out for a year and run doom3 or halflife like butter...if u really wana go with pci i would wait till sept or oct when the new ati pci card is avaiable..

Performance is not the issue with AGP (if offers plenty of bandwidth); ability to upgrade in a few years is.

PCI-Express is not more expensive - there is no logical reason to stick with something which is on it's way out unless you have an existing card that offers sufficient performance.

What isn't available that will be in a few months?

[glitch]

there is no demand for pci express..no games or programs are needed for it at this time..agp i can't see dieing off for a few years yet..sli/pci u won't see the true affects of this feature for a year or 2 when games start taking higher graphics..the x800,6800gt have been out for a year and run doom3 or halflife like butter...if u really wana go with pci i would wait till sept or oct when the new ati pci card is avaiable..

i would get a good cpu,good ram,a nice case and a good ps,a pair of sata drives u could even go with sata 300kb,a good lcd monitor,video card,etc etc etc

if your only playing the odd game then pci isn't really needed..u can buy a 3500 very cheap now,get good cooling and pump it up to 2.8ghz with ease..but as everyone is saying if u wana blow your money go nuts

Sorry but I disagree with your advice. It's almost 2006 and AGP is dead --almost.