your thoughts?

[dyouredgeco1]

I am building a computer for my friend, he is using it for gaming. i have most of the compnenets picked out. 6600gt, 450w antec, 160g ide hd, corsiar value 1g. but as for the cpu I can decide whether to go with a anthlon 64 3200, in socket 754 or 939. his budget is around 600 and he would save 40+ dollars if i put in a 754, but if i go with 939 he would be future proofed with upgradebility. Then agian he doesnt really think he will be upgrading it, but you never know. your thoughts?

edit: any better card you suggest in the 130 dollar price range.

[flawedreality5]

939. You always want to make a computer easily upgradable. If a game comes out in a year or so that he really wants but his graphics card is outdated, on Socket 754, you really wouldn't be able to upgrade if needed. Assuming you're getting an AGP card and motherboard (PCI-express for 754 are pretty rare because it's already an outdated socket). Go for a Socket 939 processor and motherboard with a PCI-express 16x slot, which is for present and next generation graphics cards. Also, with Socket 939, you'd be able to get dual channel ram for pretty much the same price and a have a little performance edge.

[jayb1234]

Go with the 939. It will probably be cheaper, because decent AGP video cards are getting hard to find and the prices are getting higher on them because of that.

[flawedreality5]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 Go with the 939. It will probably be cheaper, because decent AGP video cards are getting hard to find and the prices are getting higher on them because of that.

That was true for me when I bought my Radeon. The PCI-e version of my card was quite a bit cheaper actually.

[kosova]

PCI-express for 754 are pretty rare because it's already an outdated socket)

I just looked on newegg, there are 24mobo with socket 754's (and1 x16 PCIE) while there are 65 mobo's in socket 939 (with PCIE). I wouldn't label socket 754 as dying, look at socket A, there are still a lot of people that use it. I would advise for your friend you go with 939 because you will have 1000 FSB/HTT not like 754 who have 800 FSB/HTT.

[glc]

The 6600GT is the king of $130 video cards. I'd definitely go 939, there are some really decent 939 boards available for under $100 now. The 3200+ Venice is an excellent processor for the money. You really don't want to use substandard components for a gaming rig, gaming stresses a system more than just about anything else.

[dyouredgeco1]

I would never of even thought of not going pci-e, and he is not a hardcore gamer, just once in a while ,maybe css or bf2. not to meantion that he kinda wants me to get it as cheap as possible, yet semi good. I also thought that if in the future he need some more power to play games he would just have to upgrade the video card. Personally i wont have deffinitly gone 939, which i have, but he is on a tight budget, with saving up for a car.

[flawedreality5]

Originally Posted by dyouredgeco1 also thought that if in the future he need some more power to play games he would just have to upgrade the video card

If you go socket 939, in the future, he could also upgrade the processor if needed too.

[glc]

BF2 is not hardcore? That's one of the most demanding games out there!

[dyouredgeco1]

he just wants to be able to play it, doesn't really care about all high settings. and that set up will be fine. It would cost about 60 dollars more to go with a socket 939 and i asked him and he even said he doubts he doesn't think he will be playign computer games for anylong than 2 years, due to college. So i guess a socket 754 would suit him fine. he doesn't really know anything about computers also so i doubt he will be upgrading it.

[kosova]

40-60$ is worth getting a newer socket or better yet an extra 200mhz on a processor. If you invest now, he will save later. It will better down the line just having to upgrade the processor then wanting to buy a new computer all together.