I have $500 for cpu and motherboard.

[reduxz]

I don't know much about cpu's and motherboards, but I do know that I need a new pc. I want a pc only for gaming because right now battlefied 2 is unplayable at 20 fps. Right now I have a 4600 dell 2.4ghz, 9800 pro, 1 gig of 3200 ram, and thats about all I know. I think that my motherboard and cpu is bottlenecking my video card. I also think that video cards will go down near the end of this year, so I can wait for that. I want to buy at the knee of the curve-in other words as you go up in quality/efficiency the price goes up, but at a point the price is ridiculousy high for the amount of change. So I want an amd because I hear that they are better for gaming. I've read the buyer guides on the forums and I was looking at the 3200-3800, for video cards, 6800 gt I think is the way to go ( as soon as the price goes down), and motherboards, I really have no clue what is what. I pretty much want a stable gaming machine that will last 2-3 years. So based on my budget, please give me recommendations on what to do what to buy or to wait until <insert date here>. I'm not a guru on the components of computers by any means, so I came here for help.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Hatphones]

is 500 your total budget and if not what is.

There is no patch for human stupidity

 

[Guest]

And second do you plan to reuse the Case PSU, that could be a problem.

As for the ram you can almost cetrainly keep it so thats good!

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[reduxz]

If it is possible to use the case that i already have, then I will use it. If not then I will buy a new case and I will surely need a new power supply. I just want to get the best value for my money. I would like to spend under $500 for cpu,motherboard,case,power supply, etc..

 

[Hatphones]

your dell case will almost definitely not be reusable because it is proprietary and the cooling design conflicts with most motherboards.
here is my rec for $500:
keep your current mem
buy a dfi lanparty nf3 250gb for about $100 shipped
get a sempron 3000+ and OC it to about 2.4ghz for $90
get a leadtek a400 gt video card for about $280 and OC it to ultra levels
stick with current hard drive and optical drive and get this case and PSU: <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811148022" target="_new"> here </A>

There is no patch for human stupidity

 

[RichPLS]

Cant you still get adapter connectors for dell to standard ones? You used to be able to.

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Guest]

rather good recommandation, dont know about the case but on tight budget...
Later on if you need more bunch you can grab a A64 up to 3700+ speed so you have a certain amount of upgradapility.

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Hatphones]

if he slaps 2 80mm fans into that case and uses the PSU without any extenders or splitters he will be fine and its cheap as hell.

There is no patch for human stupidity

 

[Guest]

yup, but you sually get what you pay for heheh, but as I said looks like a great choice with his budget...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[reduxz]

I heard that Venice cores are good all around and for overclocking. I also read that some guy overclocked his 3000+ to 2.7ghz. So my question is should I get a 3200+ venice core (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535), or should I get a 3000 venice or sempron? Once I recieve my system, I will have to find out how to overclock, so I will have to read up on it and post here too.

 

[Guest]

I you cana afford a venice definitvly go for it. I do beleive venice are only on Socket939 thought! Mobo might be more expansive too.

And yes venice's are superb Ocer, 3200+ will do 2.6ghz on stock cooling most of the time

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[reduxz]

This looks promising, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123243.

The 3rd comment down has a venice 3000+ and overclocked to 2.6ghz and he said the motherboard is great too. So, do I go with a venice 3000+ for $146
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=Go&DEPA=0&type=&description=3000%2B+venice&Category=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
or a venice 3200+ for $190?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by reduxz on 08/04/05 02:58 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Rugger]

Inexperienced OCer - go with the 3200+ for the easier OC...

__________________________________________________
<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[reduxz]

I think im going to go for an Amd athlon 64 3200+ venice with a EPoX EP-9NPAJ Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard. I'll stick with my 9800 pro for now and wait until the 6800 goes down in price. One more question, what power supply will I need?

3200+venice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

Epox:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123243

 

[Guest]

NF4 use PCIe video card, you video card is AGP...
Wait for Uli chipset to be released, you'll have both.

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[reduxz]

Oh yeah I forgot about that.. Thanks

 

[evinbrown1]

Hey, when you want to buy, check out TGStores. They have this button that lets you choose multiple components to see which company will give you the lowest price - I've found it helpful.