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Help selecting a graphics card, CPU, and RAM
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ps22man
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16. May 2006 @ 15:46 |
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He guys i am building a new pc. So far i have a mother board and a hard drive. I am going to need to buy a CPU, vidoe card, and RAM.
Anyways here is my mother board, the A8N-SLI Premium.
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=539&mode...
My hard drive is also here, Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA 300GB 16MB Cache.
http://maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/d...
Okay so those are my first two parts. now i got those at good prices. Now i need a good computer but i am not the guy who is going to go and spend money for all the best parts on the market. However i need performance.
Now i just got an xbox 360 with a samsung drive while i plan on modding for backups. It wa simportant that this mobo has nforce 4 chipset which comes with the 360 firmware pack to flash your drives firmware.
Now backon topic so i am not going to be playing alot of game son this PC because i have a 360.
I am looking for a graphics card that is reasonably priced and will give you the most performance for your money (must be PCI-express for mobo). Again i still might enjoy playing games just i am not going to die if i cant have the most cutting edge graphics but more performance for money.
A hard one for me is selecting RAM. could i have some RAM reocmednatiosn that give most bang for your buck. However I am willing to spend more on RAM than a video card. I also am confused what type of RAM i need for my mobo.
Lastly i need a cpu i want a AMD 64 (has to be cause my socket 939 mobo). Now could i have a recomendation for a CPU that again give you bang for your money. Is the dual core worth it or are the single core 64 bit good to?
Keep in my mind i am more multitasker than playing games. i might game occasionally on the PC but not much. Most of my PC use is using bit torrent, converting video formats, burning to disks, patching files, programs like photoshop,etc. Basically i dont play alot of games but use my PC hard on other stuff. But these apps can all be running at once and on my PC i have now it can get really slow.
So that is it and i would like it if someone could help select me parts that give me great perfoamnce without buying all the most expensive parts. Thanks.
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16. May 2006 @ 22:20 |
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I haven't looked at the mb specs yet, but you opened a can of worms asking those questions here. The fun part of building a computer is researchig the components and making sure you are satisfied. I'm looking at your board now, 4 x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR 400/333/266, ECC, non-ECC, un-buffered memory Dual Channel Architecture. The more the merrier. Along with the processor the memory is most important. Don't scrimp here. Get the most and highest grade you can afford. All of the new os's and programs are memory mongers. AMD=cookin. Been a while since I had an AMD. I'll let someone else pitch in on that. But as I have said before, speed=money. How fast do you want to go? CD.
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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17. May 2006 @ 03:34 |
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If you are leaning towards multitasking then dual core is the only way to go.
Best bang for buck CPU would be the 3800x2, it will over-clock quite happily to 2.5Ghz on air.
The 512KB cache Manchester dual cores over clock better than the 1MB cache Toledo dual cores.
So for as little as £170 UK you can get the OEM version of the 3800x2 with the performance of the 4600x2. (lowest on the web) free delivery.
If however you want the cheapest and best over-clocking option, then go for the Opteron 144, at 1.8GHz it will easily over-clock to 2.5, possibly up towards 3.0GHz, this is for about £110, but you get no dual core for that.
Either option, would ideally be best purchased as OEM as you then don't pay for a heatsink.
You would need to change it otherwise to either an arctic freezer pro or ThermalRight XP-120/XP-90 and add a descent fan such as a Panaflo.
Memory for that board, I would use Corsair, it is very stable, very reliable and over clocks well.
You need to get 2 sticks of the same memory, then you can run in dual channel mode and double your memory access bandwidth.
I used to use 4GB 4x1GB PC4000 XMS, but have now changed to the PC3500LL, as it has far better timings, look for the LL not LL pro, as you otherwise pay for the LED?s.
Cost for the 3500LL is currently £152 on Scan.
As for video card, it then comes down to how much you have left, and how much you want to spend.
A 6600GT would be the bottom of the choice, anything above that will obviously give you a better gaming experience, but that comes down to preference.
You obviously have to apply local knowledge to obtaining parts if you aren?t in the UK.
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ps22man
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17. May 2006 @ 16:44 |
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i am getting the 6800 GT. but i need more graphics cards advice.
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ps22man
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17. May 2006 @ 17:31 |
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i am getting the 6800 GT. but i need more graphics cards advice.
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Senior Member
3 product reviews
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17. May 2006 @ 22:57 |
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What advice do you need, you already know which card you are getting.
Not sure what other help you require.
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ps22man
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18. May 2006 @ 10:07 |
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cant get that one now. i can only spend 300 $ max and am looking for the bets card i can get with that money. must be pci-express and preferably nvidia.
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trgrpullr
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21. May 2006 @ 11:49 |
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might want to pick a different brand hard drive. There are some known compatibility problems with the ASUS A8N series mobos and Maxtor hard drives. Can usually be fixed by upgrading hard drive firmware, but why not just use western digital. Nothing wrong with Maxtor per se, just has problems with that particular series of mobos sometimes.
Athlon64 San Diego core 3700+, ASUS A8N-E, Sapphire X1900XT, 320GB WD SATAII HD, 2GB Gskill mem. Win XP Pro SP2. Pioneer DVR111D. Nero 6.6.1.4, DVD decrypter 3.5.4.0. ,PS2 V7 w/no-solder and swap magic
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