New Computer

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

Don't get too eggcited, it's just something I'm considering doing in June. However, I'm trying to get the hang of what to look for and how to shop for this shit, so I was just posting here to get some people's opinions and thoughts on what to look for, what to do, and on things that I put on here. I was on Tom's Hardware tonight looking at benchmark comparisons between HDs, CPUs, and GFX cards. Ultimately, I'd like to keep it around $1,100-1,200. I'm also thinking that by then, prices will have fallen some for these items (and new items may be out). From looking at the benchmark things, these were things that caught my eye (some are obvious as to why):

GFX cards:
[list][*] NVidia Geforce GTX 280 (~$420-450) [highly unlikely I'd want to pay that much]
[*] NVidia Geforce GTX 260 ($290) [also don't think I'd go that high]
[*] ATI Radeon HD 4870 ($260-280) [possibly, but I like me some NVidia.. sorry Sneye lol]
[*] NVidia Geforce 9800 GTX+ (~$200) [this is the one I'm most interested in right now][/list:u]

CPUs:
[list][*] Intel Dual Core Duo E8500 ($188)
[*] Intel Dual Core Duo E8400 ($165)
[*] Intel Dual Core Duo E6850 ($171)
[*] Intel Dual Core Duo E8600 ($269)[/list:u]

HD: (didn't look at this TOO terribly long or in detail, just picked some that looked decent... I know nothing about HDs)
[list][*] Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB ($50-$135)
[*] Western Digital Caviar 250GB ($65-$110)
[*] Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ($89-$151)[/list:u]

I know I should start at motherboards, but I struggle with that. I'm guessing I'll probably want DDR2 slots since DDR3 tends to be so expensive (unless it's going down, or does go down even more by then). I'm also unsure of what case size I would want to look for (and brands).

[[THANATOS].-Hades]

$1000-1200 is an easy budget to work with. I can vouch for the 9800gtx+, cause that's what I'm using (was a free replacement for my 8800gtx, which I miss dearly).

[[THANATOS].Homebrew]

I'll sell you mine. Brand new, in box, dead.....

[[THANATOS].-Hades]

I would've bought it if I had the money, it's obviously not completely dead. Just a small fault that's messing it up. I suggest rebuilding, might fix the problem as you do that.

[ENFORC3R]

vid cards are between the 4870 and 260, the older production 260 werent as powerful as the 4870, the new production ones are a little better, if not the same as the 260. For me the 4870 has been amazing i can run any game on maxed setting with no problems at all.

e8400 is best bang for your buck every tech site has said it.

mobo, x48 chipset is pretty good, ddr3 doesnt really improve anything with the old c2d cpus like the e8xxx, but it does improve things for the i7 so ddr2 is the best again, but you should get like 4+ gigs or something.

but yea, 1200 us for a new comp is alot you can get a really good pc.

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

Based on some of the things you guys said, and some of the things I've kind of been teaching myself, here:

MOBOs I like:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131296</a><!-- m --> ($145 - leaning towards this one, since it is more upgradeable RAM-wise)
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131299</a><!-- m -->

RAM:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227405">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227405</a><!-- m --> (4GB 1200 DDR2 [2x2GB] OCZ) $111

GFX: 9800GTX+ (for now, I'm going on this) $200

CPU: E8400 $165

So far, at $621 approximately. Thoughts?

[[THANATOS].-Hades]

Decent. Will you ever use SLi?

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

[THANATOS Wrote:.-Hades"]Decent. Will you ever use SLi?

I'd like to have the option there in case I ever decide to. I know this MOBO says it is CF capable, but is it also SLi? It doesn't say, I just kind of assumed. I like having the option to upgrade down the line so it lasts as long as possible (hence the 16GB capability of the MOBO I like better).

[ENFORC3R]

you need to get a mobo that says its sli enabled, or both sli/ crossfire if you plan on doing dual nvidias.

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

Meh... minor detail, that can easily be ironed out later. I doubt I'd ever do SLi anyways, tbh.

In other news,

Case (w/PSU):
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119153">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119153</a><!-- m -->
$61 (430W PSU)

That makes it $682 so far, and that's almost everything but the HD, CD/DVD drive, and CPU fan, right?

[ENFORC3R]

nice deal but you may want to look in a bigger case, your vid card is huge, you probably could fit it in but it would be tight.

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

ENFORC3R Wrote:nice deal but you may want to look in a bigger case, your vid card is huge, you probably could fit it in but it would be tight.

What minimum dimensions would you suggest?

-- Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:51 pm --

Starting to try to learn about Hard Drives... (thank god for HowStuffWorks.com... thanks, Metal lol). I think these would work with the primary MOBO I've been looking at:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152052">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152052</a><!-- m -->
500GB HD for $55

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136149</a><!-- m -->
500GB HD for $60

Speakers atm... not too set on getting amazing speakers:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836150041">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836150041</a><!-- m -->
$20

[[THANATOS].-Hades]

That PSU is shitty, you will be disappointed. I doubt it will even run the 9800gtx+, which is now a mid range card. I suggest a mid-ATX tower if size is a problem. Full ATX cases are bigger, keep things cooler, and are easier to work with; although, they are slightly more expensive. If you are not going to use SLi then that motherboard is fine, but you will need at least a 500w psu. However, it's not all about the wattage rating but also the amps. I suggest a power supply with at least 2 12v rails that have at least 16 amps each. If you want a decent psu that doesn't waste a lot of electricity then look for one that is also 80+ or 85+ efficiency certified (you can get such power supplies for $60-70 on sale, sometimes cheaper).

[[THANATOS].Shiver-]

[THANATOS Wrote:.-Hades"]That PSU is shitty, you will be disappointed. I doubt it will even run the 9800gtx+, which is now a mid range card. I suggest a mid-ATX tower if size is a problem. Full ATX cases are bigger, keep things cooler, and are easier to work with; although, they are slightly more expensive. If you are not going to use SLi then that motherboard is fine, but you will need at least a 500w psu. However, it's not all about the wattage rating but also the amps. I suggest a power supply with at least 2 12v rails that have at least 16 amps each. If you want a decent psu that doesn't waste a lot of electricity then look for one that is also 80+ or 85+ efficiency certified (you can get such power supplies for $60-70 on sale, sometimes cheaper).

The PSU calculator I used estimated around 395W for the GTX 260 along with a lot of the other things I was looking at, not 500W.

[[THANATOS].-Hades]

You'll regret it later. Go for it.