CPU upgrade question

[volitan]

I've been in the process of upgrading my CPU and I'm having trouble deciding on what to buy. I'm a huge gamer and I'm looking to get something that'll last for at least 2-3 years. I have already purchased a BFG 6800GT and 470w PSU, but now I'm looking to finish off with a processor, mobo, RAM and HD.

I'd like to get a great system, but not a cutting edge one in order to save some cash. I've mostly decided on an AMD64 3200, but i'm not married to it. I also want 1GB of RAM and prolly around 120gigs of HD space. So basically i'm looking for suggestions on a setup that is awesome without forking over a lot of cash on gear.

I currently have a p4 1.9, 512 RAM, the BFG 6800GT and an old intel mobo. I'd really appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[gothitbycar]

Be warned that if you get the 3200+ your upgrade path will be limited to up to a 3700+.

If your going to stay with S754 then the MSI K8N Neo Platinum is supposed to be good. Throw in 2 quality sticks of 512 mb DDR 400. Searching on the web you can find a bunch of good deals on harddrives. Just make sure that it has 8mb of cache.

All together it will run you about $600.

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oh, its a nice day. TO EAT CHILDREN!!!

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get A64 3200+ (Newcastle, 2.2 GHz, 512k L2 cache) with MSI K8N Neo Platinum

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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

 

[BeyRevRa]

Yeah, get the Neo Platinum, I have it and I love it, easiest install I have done with lots of bells and whistles. Ram... depends on how much your looking to spends but I would stick with Corsair, I wish I had gotten them instead of Kingston but I was new to computer building when I got them.

AMD 64 3400+
MSI K8N Neo Platinum
1 GB Kingston HyperX PC3200
ATI AIW 9600XT
WD Raptor 74GB

 

[P4Man]

>Be warned that if you get the 3200+ your upgrade path will
>be limited to up to a 3700+.

Sure, but he wants to hang on to the rig a couple of years anyway, so .. after that time he'll most likely need/want a new (PCI-E) motherboard anyway. Seems silly to spend more on a S939 system to save on a motherboard upgrade you'll need eventually anyway

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[volitan]

hey everyone, thanks for the input. I'm gunna go with the msi mobo for sure now. I've got my HD picked out as well, but i'm not sure what RAM to buy. I know which brand names are good, but not which chips i should look at over others. I've been reading some forums on msi's site, and the Crucial Ballistix seems to be popular, but i can't find a gig of it on the sites i've been looking at. I also gather that other than that, people like Corsair or OCZ but no one makes a compelling arguement either way on which is better, or which chips to buy from them. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions on RAM.

Thanks

-==Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff. - Jack Handey==-

 

[Obtuse]

If money is your biggest concern, get corsair value ram, 1 gig will run you about $150-$160. It's not super-low latencies, but it'll run and it's got a good name backing it up. Crucial is also rock-solid, and I've heard some good things about ballistix, but you'll pay more (usually) than comparably clocked RAM from Corsair or Mushkin, who are IMO reliable also.

"It's too late now anyway. That song is stuck in my head and the only way to get rid of it is to blow it out. With a bullet!! - Carl

 

[DonnieDarko]

I agree with everyone on the a64/MSI combo. For harddrive, you can get 2 wd raptors and raid 0 them. Or you can do what I perfer and Have a raptor as a boot drive and a seperate 100 or 120 gb drive for music/movies/data.

Watch out for the <b><font color=red>bloody</font color=red></b> Fanboys!

AMD64 2800+ :: MSI Neo-Fis2r :: 512mb Kingmax ddr400 :: Sapphire 9800pro 128mb :: 10K WD Raptor

Addicted, finally.