Help with Building PC

[foofdawg]

I know this gets asked every 5 minutes around here, but I havent found a post that meets my needs. I'm looking to build my own computer, and already have a few parts from my current machine I am going to use (hard drive & dvd drive, possibly case too)

I have around $800 to spend and will be using it for gaming (battlefield 2 specifically). Right now, I am leaning towards the abit fatal1ty barebones system from tigerdirect (3.0ghz processor, socket 775 mobo, 512MB pc4200 RAM, cpu fan, PSU, cool looking case) for $510 (incl tax/ship/rebates). Along with that, I would be buying a new copy of XP home for $90, and another 512MB stick of pc4200 RAM for $45. I also am willing to spend around $200 for a pci-express graphics card. Obviously my question is whether or not I should buy something different for the same amount of money that will perform better for gaming, and what type of graphics card I should get that will fit my budget. I have looked into the 64bit processors from AMD, but cant seem to figure out the differences between mobos/processors/gfx cards in general, so comparing the socket 939/775 mobos and various processors and pricing is just overwhelming me. Help me build a new pc so I can play without choppy motion! I also want onboard sound and lan on the mobo, and it must have 2 IDE for my current HDD and DVD burner.

Thanks in advance! I know you guys are the ones to ask!

 

[julius]

here is a good system:
a64 3200 s939 venice
nforce 4 ultra mobo, dfi if you want to overclock, epox or abit if you dont really need to, theyre more stable
tough choice for video card, 6800 and hope it unlocks 4 pipes is reasobable, or a x800
2 gigs of ddr400 ram is recommended for bf2
and whatever else you need


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by julius on 10/28/05 01:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Rugger]

AMD is the top dawg for gaming. Take a look at something like this:
1. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535" target="_new">A64 3200+</A> = $152
2. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146299" target="_new">Mushkin Dual Pack{/url] = $70
3. Super-Flower SF-201T</A> = $70
4. <A HREF="http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270402" target="_new">Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P</A> = $88.49
5. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049" target="_new">Chaintach VNF4 Ultra</A> = $70
6. <A HREF="http://" target="_new">MSI NX7800GT</A> = $329 (after MIR)
After S/H = $798.67

To save a little on the vid card you could go with a <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102574" target="_new">Sapphire X800GTO</A> for $177.99 (shipped) and that would take your total down by $156.01 to $642.66. You'd then be able to get the XP Home and still come in under the $800 budget.

*Steam rising*
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BUNNY STEW FOR DINNER!!

 

[foofdawg]

What do you mean by "hope it unlocks 4 pipes"? I'm still pretty new to the building a pc community, although I've upgraded several components in the past, and feel comfortable building my own pc.

 

[Rugger]

The vanilla 6800 has 12 active pipes for data transfer, but there are physically 16 pipes on the card. Using a tool like Rivatuner, it is possible to unlock the remaining 4 pipes for etter performance. There is no guarantee, but it is at least worth trying - if you get an AGP board.

There were a lot of gaps in what he told you. Most nF4 boards are PCIe and that trick is most common for the AGP versions of the 6800. When you start looking at PCIe, the price/perf of the 6800 can be overshadowed by cards like the X800GTO.

*Steam rising*
|<font color=red>(\__/)</font color=red>|
|<font color=red>(='.'=)</font color=red>|
|<font color=red>(")_(")</font color=red>|
~~~~~
BUNNY STEW FOR DINNER!!