Need some comp help/advice.

[SkateR]

Hey all. I'm looking to start saving up for a new computer. I would like to build it from scratch with some decent gaming stuff. Anyways, Im pretty bad with computers so I need all help I can get.

Looking to get:

New decent gaming comp (Want to be able to play q4 etc.)
Only want to spend around 500.

Id really appreciate it if you guys could help me out, basically tell me everything I need and reccomend parts. Thanks a lot.

[jitspoe]

I'm not sure what the 7800GT's run for now, but I used one in my new machine, and it's excellent.  It has yet to crash and runs current games on the highest settings very well.  I'd suggest checking out this thread: http://dpball.com/forums/index.php?topic=1468.0 -- those components are probably cheaper now.  Maybe not as cheap as $500, but they should give you a starting point.  If you can afford it, get 2 gigs of memory instead of 1, though.  That was my one mistake.

[SkateR]

Nice, hopefully I can spare some parts from my comp. I dont really need a DVD or CD burner, i dont care about that.

[jitspoe]

Here's what you need:
- Motherboard
- CPU
- Video card
- Power supply
- Memory

You probably already have:
- Hard drive(s)
- CD/DVD drive(s)
- Case
- Mouse, keyboard, etc.

Building machines is fairly simple now.  Things like network cards and sound cards are integrated into most motherboards.  All you have to do is plug in a cpu, video card, and memory, connect all the cables, and that's about it.

I'd suggest looking for an AMD cpu (Opteron's are great if you can get ahold of one, otherwise go for some of the other 64bit processors), a motherboard with the nforce4 chipset, and a geforce series PCI express video card (7800, if you can afford it, if not, work your way down -- try to get at least a 6800).  I'd probably start with a single 1 gig stick of ram and save up for a second, so you can run it in dual channel.

For the power supply, I think you need at least 500W.  Try to go with a quality brand like seasonic.  Cheap power supplies can fail and potentially damage the rest of your components.  The memory doesn't matter too much, in my opinion.  The quality/price ratio isn't that great.  Just grab some Kingston "value ram" or something like that.  Quality ram is really for the overclockers.

I'd suggest visiting http://forums.anandtech.com -- there are always people in there asking for/giving advice on budget gaming systems.  Also, the hot deals section can help you find good prices on various components.

[SkateR]

ahhh thanks so much Jitspoe, that really helps. I think my comp has only like 80 gb HD and I've got a 512 and 256 mb ram sticks. But at least I can spare some stuff.

[KnacK]

skater,

make sure your memory matches as far as type.  Size doesnt matter, just the attributes.

[jitspoe]

Your old memory probably won't be compatible.

[jitspoe]

This CPU is popular for budget machines: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535 - $154.00
This video card is about as low as you'd want to go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150130 - $134.00 - $35 rebate
Some memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 -- $79.99
The motherboard I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188002 -- $79

Total: $447 - $35, which leaves you about $90 to get a power supply.

Edit: Interesting, a 7300 for $69: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150128 -- wonder how it compares to a 6800.

[SkateR]

so all that would give me everything I need, if I use some of my stuff now? I would use my hd, disk drives and whatever I could use. The memory I have now is like DDR or something.

[jitspoe]

You need PC3200 memory.

[SkateR]

Ok, cool. Im really gonna look into getting that stuff, my bday is in august so I have time to save plus get bday money, and it will probably be cheaper

[jitspoe]

After doing a bit of research, it sounds like the 6600GT is faster than the 6800XT and 7300.  I really hate the naming conventions these days.  It's impossible to tell what's better.

[SkateR]

haha sweet. Cant wait until I get this, I appreciate all the help. Hopefully the total price will go down a bit before I get the stuff. Anythign else I should know?

[SkateR]

I was searching new egg for 6600gt and theres a ton of diff ones. Do you reccommend a certain type?

[jitspoe]

They should all be pretty similar.  I'd take a look at the reviews for different cards.  My evga card is solid.  Some of them come with stock overclocking.

[TinMan]

I built a new box not too long ago with an ATI card that seemed awesome for about a month, then drivers went to hell and the card burned up real bad and returned itself to the firey pits of hell from which it came.
So I'm looking into an nVidia and am either going to get a 7800GT or a 7900GT, I don't know if the performance gap between them is worth the cost gap though. And input on it?

And here's the box I threw together:
http://neonpulse.net/index.php/2006/04/02/new-computer/

[jitspoe]

Well, the 7800GT is great for any game out today.  You'd have to look at some benchmarks to compare the two.  The GTX is also considerably faster, I think.