makin a new comp.... help please!

[Yousuf04]

hey guys, ive decided to make a new computer but i dont' want to spend too much money... i was thinking around $600 would be good enough. i already have a good vid card in my machine right now so that i dont' want to replace.... running a 7600gs 256mb... have a fairly new psu but its 350 watts so i was thinking about making a gaming machine so any help on what parts i should get would be great thank you for your help!

ps: im not a hard core gamer but the games i play i play them alot.... halflife 2 and world of warcraft... so whtever works best would help ^.^

[freakitchen]

Is your current card video card PCI-Express? Does that budget have to include a screen and peripherals, or just the computer itself?

FK

[Yousuf04]

just the computer i have a good screen and everything 7600gs is an agp

[minsonngo]

Check out the suggestions in this thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=163341


The build budget was $500, but this did not include the OS. With the OS, it will be somewhere around 600 bucks.

Oh and since you have a video card already, you can spend the extra money you save on the video card on a better processor, HDD, case, or whatever floats your boat.

[freakitchen]

The fact that your vid card is AGP puts you in a bit of an awkward situation, since AGP motherboards for modern sockets are few and far between. There are, for example, only 10 socket 939 AMD motherboards with an AGP slot on Newegg, and none from a top quality manufacturer with a top quality chipset.

Before I give any more advice, what are the full specs of your current system, and in what area are you hoping to improve performance?

FK

[blue60007]

Honestly, building a new system with outdated technologies (AGP) isn't really the greatest of options. What does your current set-up look like, maybe we can just suggest an upgrade of some sort.

[Yousuf04]

ya... after i made the post i started thinking about the mamaboard and ya i was wonderiing wht kind i would be able to find since the vid card IS agp afterall... runnin a 1.8ghz p4 right now with 1gig o ram and 7600gs vid card... 350watt psu which i just replaced since my old 300watt went kablooie. the system is a good 3-4 years old got it when i was still in highschool.

[jayb1234]

Is that a name brand machine or self built?

You could reuse the drives, either way. Case and power supply might not be reusable if it is a name brand.

Name brand factory installed OS wouldn't be reusable.

$600 would be too much to drop in that old machine, but by recycling some parts, you should be able to put a halfway decent build together for that budget.

[Yousuf04]

ya it is a name brand comp... i guess ill just wait another few months and get a complete new build. thnx for your help!

[minsonngo]

Good luck and let us know when you start the planning stage for the new build.

[Yousuf04]

ok i did some looking around for a new build and this is what i found... how does it look? for a gaming machine? where can i improve? what could i save money on? if i had a bit more $$... what could i get?

here we go...

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811129154

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131013

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814141025

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817103937

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103735

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820134045 x 2

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16821103202 x 2

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835118223

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16837116194

well there ya have it... hope to heare from ya soon!

ps... a bit cheaper is always better....and like always.... thanks for all your help!

[freakitchen]

For a gaming system, you want to spend as much money as possible on a video card, the 7600GT is kind of at the bottom end. Consider a 7900GT, which will play modern games at top settings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130015

To afford this, you can save money elsewhere. Swap the case and power supply for the Antec Sonata II - a great case with a quality power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129155

You can also save money by going for an non-SLI motherboard. Getting one is a false economy - they're more expensive, and you'd need to spend more on other things like a certified power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131022

You also don't need an aftermarket heatsink and fan, the retail boxed processor comes with a good one. Why would you need two floppy drives?

My other suggestions will raise the cost unfortunately. You NEED to get DDR2-800 memory for an AM2 system - anything less hurts performance. We;ve had reports of this memory working well with the M2N-E

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145034

I also don't see an optical drive, or hard drive in your list.

FK

[newbuilder14]

You included the Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade, did you intend to do this, instead of the full Windows XP Home Edition?

[freakitchen]

Indeed, you may as well get a standalone copy for the same price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16837102059

FK

[Yousuf04]

hmm ya the upgrade was accidental i ment to put the whole thing in not just ht eupgrade so non sli mobo wont' affect performance not by a landslide atleast?

forgot to paste link for hdd lol

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148144


and what is the difference between these two cards except for the price?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130033 and http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130015

and also what is the difference between m2ne and m2v assus boards?

[jayb1234]

Nope, no effect on performance from the sli to the non sli version of the same motherboard.

[Yousuf04]

and as far as m2ne and m2v go? what is the big difference?

[freakitchen]

M2N-E has the nforce chipset by Nvidia. The M2v's chipset is by VIA. The former is of better quality and stability.

FK

[Yousuf04]

ok so after a bit more looking around and changing a few things... this is what i came up with... a critique on it and wht i could do to improve it be great

the bare necessities

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813128321
VIDCARD
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130033
PCU
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103747
HDD (raid performance)
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148107 x2
OS
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16837102059

i already have a 500watt antec psu that im planning on using.. thinking about using the drives that i have right now in my current computer.

[minsonngo]

Looks good to me.

Just be sure you get DDR2-800 memory modules for the best performance and stability.

Pick from the QVL list here for the best results: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/..._m55sli-s4.pdf

[jayb1234]

Also you will need a floppy drive to install the SATA controller.

[freakitchen]

I re-iterate my suggestion to get a non-SLI motherboard. For the same price as the Gigabyte board you chose, you can get the ASUS M2N-E, which is of higher quality.

Regarding JayB's comment about the floppy drive, I'm pretty sure that SATA controller is native to Nvidia chipsets. Nevertheless, it may be worth you picking one up anyway in case problems arise that require diagnostics (or 'borrow' one from an old computer)

FK

[minsonngo]

Your correct, the SATA controller is native, so all you need to do is boot from the OS CD and install the OS. No need to load the SATA drivers.

[paJAMbla]

Hey Yousuf04.... if you decide you want to unload that AGP video card let me know......you can just PM me.

[Yousuf04]

hey fk... thanks for reminding me that but can't u use sli-atx to piggy back a second vid card? can u do the same with the asus m2ne?

ps... i was plannin on reipping the floppy drive off my old computer as well ^.^;

[Alaron]

To use two seperate video cards, you need an SLI board, such as the Gigabyte you chose.

The M2N-E only has one PCI-E slot, so you can only use one video card. Asus is a higher quality manufacturer compared to Gigabyte, so if you don't need SLI, I would go with the M2N-E instead.

[minsonngo]

And if you do go SLI, make sure you get a SLI certified PSU. Here is a list: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizon..._powersupplies

[freakitchen]

I'd put investing in SLI on the same level as Overclocking. When done right, it can give you a performance boost - but its not something to be done to save money. Adding a second video card in the future is a fine idea - but it requires a certified power supply and a more expensive motherboard. Furthermore, two identical cards are nearly ALWAYS beaten in performance by one higher powered card.

I suggested you drop the SLI board for these reasons - plus the fact that you said you already have a 500w Antec power supply. Whilst high quality, the lowest powered SLI certified Antec unit is the 550w truepower.

FK

[jayb1234]

Once again, you will need to use a floppy.

From the motherboard manual p78.

(4) Making a SATA Driver Disk To install operating system onto a serial ATA hard disk successfully, you need to install the SATA controller driver during OS installation. Without the driver, the hard disk may not be recognized during the Windows setup process. First of all, copy the driver for the SATA controller from the motherboard driver CD-ROM to a floppy disk.

See section 4-1-4 Configuring SATA Hard Drive(s) pp71-81

[minsonngo]

Hmm... I done it plenty of times without installing the SATA drivers from the floppy.

Maybe that is because Windows XP installation already has built in support for SATA controllers. I could be wrong though, but this is from my experience.