Well bought my new LCD and I find out my Video card is the problem.... wtf! No biggie as I wanted a new LCD anyway - just pushes me to get a new one :)

So here is the deal. Should I get one now or wait til the Dual CPU's come out ?

Needs: CPU, RAM, Video, Sound, Mobo. Have everything else. No real budget so throw some ideas at me. <3

really depends on what you have now and wether or not your getting an expesive vidoe card...but id say wait till dual core comes out looks sweet, other options is buy an AMD 64(939) then just upgrade the CPU

I have a P3 and GF2 :) So fire away. I dont play that many games but I'd like a decent video card cause I think I'll get back into them when i get my new system

ok well id sugest an
--AMD 64(939)--3500+(or something not to expesive, if you planning to upgrade tp a dual core)
--if you go for PCIe then id say an nVidia 6600GT should do well
--1Gig of Ram,(i sugest Corsair TWINX, but its up to how much money you have)
--Antec Plus 1080AMG Case with 430W PSU (i have this case and its awsome)
--ASUS A8N-SLI nForce 4 SLI Socket 939 Motherboard(not to sure about mother board but i hear nforce4 > *)
--HDD of your choice(they are all crap,imo)
go to www.umart.com.au for prices

last edited by Irhabi at 18:39:55 18/Jun/05

Don't get the 1080 if you move around a lot. If you move ya pc a lot get something thats smaller and possible made out of alu.

The clear choice in hard drives, IMO, is still the 74 GB WD Raptor. They're still quite a bit more expensive than everything else but still extremely fast. Considering hard drives are still the biggest bottleneck in a modern PC, you may as well put more money into getting a fast one than anything else. 6600 GT should also let you play BF2. Asus A8N-SLI would be my choice for motherboard if I were going to buy one.

Ok good start, I'll refine a bit further. Already have a good case and PSU capable of holding upto todays standards, antec 550 and case. HDD's I have enough for now. So the general consensus is the Asus SLI. Can that board run the new Dusl core's ? I think they can but I'd like to make sure. Where can I get a plain 6800 not a GT or Ultra ? Who has them ?

Dual core would be future proof, but for now way to expensive but if you can afford it go for it, wait for the G70 to come out price drop in 6800U's or get a G70,budget wise Nforce 4 sli + 6600GT + 3200+ Venice for the win!

last edited by 0z at 20:50:04 18/Jun/05

You'll probably need a new powersupply - most if not all new motherboards use 24-pin ATX connectors. Even though there are adaptors to fit a 20-pin ATX connector onto it, you might run into stability issues and that's if it works at all.

Is the Venice core any better than the "normal" core ?

AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor Retail (939)
or
AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor Retail (939)(Venice)

Damn will need a new PSU as well.

Looks like I want the Venice core by the looks of it.




last edited by Skitza at 22:10:27 18/Jun/05

Venice cores are smaller manufacturing process
Venice = 0.09 micron + Intel SSE 3 instruction set
Winchester = 0.15 micron

smaller die cores means they run lot cooler and over clock lot better, added bonus of SSE3, and they also have better on chip dual memory controller for mixed dims

god i sound like a tech head :P

anyone wanna hire a pc tech? :D


last edited by 0z at 22:17:07 18/Jun/05

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce 4 SLI Socket 939 Motherboard
Asus Extreme EN6600GT-TD-128 PCI Express TV DVI
AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor Retail (939)(Venice)
2G GeIL PC3200 400MHz DDR Dual Channel Series (2X1024MB)
Powersupply Antec ATX TruePower 550W ver2

How's that look ? Will this video card play the latest games at like 1280? Also does the Geil Ram work ok with this board ? Anyone have a combo similar ?

That all looks fine skitza, tho if you want 1028 res might want to consider a 6800 insted, 8 pixel shaders dont cut it,6800's are unlockable with rivatuner to 16 pipes :D
Info on unlocking masked pipe's on 6800's
Make sure you check up on the fake 6800's in the forums.

last edited by 0z at 22:48:11 18/Jun/05

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce 4 SLI Socket 939 Motherboard
Asus Extreme EN6600GT-TD-128 PCI Express TV DVI
AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor Retail (939)(Venice)
2G GeIL PC3200 400MHz DDR Dual Channel Series (2X1024MB)
Powersupply Antec ATX TruePower 550W ver2

*Drool*

I have the following and its awesome

Asus A8N-SLI
2 x 6600GTs in SLI
AMD 64 3500
74gig Raptor
1 gig of ram

It hammers , so yours will be awesome

I take it you no longer have any money either?

Do you really need 2gb of ram? Is it still accurate that the 1gb chips have nowhere near as good a latency as the 512mb chips?

As far as I can see, most things will run considerably slower with 2x1gb slow chips vs 2x512mb fast chips.

I take it you no longer have any money either?

A system like that won't break the bank, maybe if you put in two 6800 Ultras.

hahah @ all you nerds spending that much on computers.



<3 my 1.4ghz t`bird.

Personally I think you are better off going with ATI with the video card. The ATI X800 is like maybe $50 more than a 6600GT and will in a lot cases compete with a 6600GT in SLI. The X800 XL which I just recently bought is going in the low to mid $400's now an competes and out performs the X800 XL. Anyway that is just my thoughts...

Supporting articles:

http://www1.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040504/ati-x800-38.html
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/index.html

Yeah, I've got the X800 Pro 256 card and it's f***ing awesome. Twas $700 when I bought it but it's now at least $100 - $200 cheaper now. To be the best, you gotta have the best.

8-)

another vote for the X800.

Mine is the 12 pipe 256mb version but runs the same clockspeeds as the XT.

It slaws everything ive thrown at it.

And it only cost me $300.

I take it you no longer have any money either?

Shutup peasant

Hehe thanks for the replies...

I wouldn't be buying a new system if my video card was fine. But I'm due for a new one anyway to compliment the new LCD :) Yeah I've never really thought about the Ati stuff, admittedly I'm an Nvidia fan boy. Might look into it. This one will last me for... along time :)

well youll definatly need a system you can easily upgrade to Dual core if you want to run windows longhorn, according to an article in APC mag, Longhorn will need dual core running at 4~6Ghz, 2gig ram, A very decent vidcard, 1T hdd space..etc, ect, etc.
really kinda stupid that an OS requires so much but meh..

last edited by Irhabi at 13:32:09 19/Jun/05

I was an Nvidia fanboi until I discovered the X800 XL :)) I'll admit I used to laugh off ATI cards until now.

I have a P3 and GF2 :) So fire away. I dont play that many games but I'd like a decent video card cause I think I'll get back into them when i get my new system

I hate to advise the Ati option, but I figure you're looking for a GexCube Ati 9550 Ultra.


there's no point in buying a new pc if your P3 is still going hard - unless you thought that BF2 is actually worth spending $1500 in a new system for - (I figure it isn't)


The old P3 1000 running Media Centre 2005 currently runs GTA:SA perfectly.. I actually need a good reason to jump on the P4 (video editing being the only one I can think of atm). If a decent game comes along that 'demands' I jump back up to the P4 I'll do it... 'till then...

last edited by koopz at 19:49:16 19/Jun/05

I was an Nvidia fanboi until I discovered the X800 XL :)) I'll admit I used to laugh off ATI cards until now.

ATI cards were pretty crappy untul the 9700 range came along. I've had a 9700 pro and it was f***ing amazing. And now i've got the Asus X800 pro and it kicks even more ass all over the place.

/hugs video card

Well its starting to get slow now koopz :( Im not buying this to play games, its going to be an all rounder PC. I wouldnt buy this just for games and not having 2 PC's ( I Dont need 2 ) This will have to do everything so it might as well be a semi decnet one to last another 5 years.

Don't get the 1080 if you move around a lot. If you move ya pc a lot get something thats smaller and possible made out of alu.

or don't be a weak nerd and grow some muscles :)

my case is heavy as but moving it isn't really a problem since it only goes: house -> car... car -> lan venue then back again in reverse order. Its not like you're going to be carrying your pc to the LAN so imho case weight concern is for scrawny people or lazy people.