Hi,

I have $1000 to spend on a new:

Case
Motherboard
CPU (intel)
Video Card
RAM
Soundcard?


I'm a noob, so far all I know is the case, and that I want Intel cpu:

Antec Top Quality Sonata II Quiet Black Case $180.00

I won't be playing any games until some of the later generation ones come out, so should I get an SLI m/board so I can throw in another v/card later to save on costs now? Is SLI worthwhile or is it just better to continually upgrade a single video card?

Are there any m/boards with SLI and onboard Audio which aren't overly expensive?

RAM - Should I get 2gig of slower ram, or 1gig of faster ram? (if that works out at similar cost, which is better?)

is the creative 5.1 soundcard for $35 sufficient for music+games? or is it going to be s***? Other option is the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Sound Card $109.00.
I cbf spending money on a soundcard unless it will have a noticable difference over an onboard or cheapass soundcard. I'm running an amp and bookshelf speakers from my computer...

ta

i hear gimpy is free
http://qgl.ausforums.com/?agn=thread&id=2501560

:(

last edited by Le Cock at 15:00:15 09/Feb/07

Hey all new to the forumz

Should be easy to get something for that price. Always found service at www.qldit.com.au pretty good. Plus theres a warning with Vista and Sound cards.

Cheers, Rick

Antec Top Quality Sonata II Quiet Black Case $180.00

Excellent case, -very- quiet. I have one but it gets a bit warm in there, which isn't a problem if you have aircon. I'd recommend the Antec 900 if you want to have a case that will make all of your components (and hard-drives) cool to the touch without making much fan noise. Unfortunately it will probably be over your budget.

Is SLI worthwhile

No.

Should I get 2gig of slower ram, or 1gig of faster ram?

The price difference between fast and slow DDR2 memory is not that big.

Anyway, 1GB is too little. If budget allows, aim for 2x1GB of branded 667MHz memory (Corsair, G.Skill, Geil, OCZ). Stock speed Intels (6x00 series) run memory at 533MHz, so the 667MHz should allow you to overclock adequately if you desire later on, and costs the same as 533MHz RAM.

is the creative 5.1 soundcard for $35 sufficient for music+games?

Yes.

Anyway, for an actual system combo I'd recommend looking at these options:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_boxes

Check out the $1250 systems, as they'll drop to $1000-ish once you remove the hard-drive and cdrom from the list. At your price range, you might be looking at only 1GB of memory :/


last edited by parabol at 15:13:26 09/Feb/07

Ok thanks parabol - that whirlpool table is great. Wtf is with the MSY website though. I think I'll be sticking to umart.

So there will be no noticable difference between the $35 creative 5.1 and the $109 creative audigy 4? I only run a 2 speaker setup (DSE amp+bookshelves setup) but I wanna make sure it sounds as good as it can.

Wtf is with the MSY website though. I think I'll be sticking to umart.

Overlook the crapness of the MSY site as it genuinely misrepresents the company. They're actually pretty good to buy from. Ignore most of the site and just read the price PDF. Though still, Umart is probably a better place to buy multiple major parts from, due to their better handling of warranty.

So there will be no noticable difference between the $35 creative 5.1 and the $109 creative audigy 4?

Well I went from a cheap Ensoniq PCI64 (been using it since 1997) to an Audigy4, running foot-high speakers on a decent 320W amp .. and I couldn't tell the difference in quality :/

It's usually worth getting a decent sound card for digital setups, etc.

last edited by parabol at 15:54:28 09/Feb/07

parabol is right. MSY are tops.

Crappy onboard 5.1 sound -> $100 5.1 big name sound card = no difference unless you have DAMN expensive speakers and ears to match.

Ok if I get 1gig of RAM now whilst planning to upgrade to 2gig later, should i buy now:

1x1gig stick
or 2x512meg sticks?

???

Ok if I get 1gig of RAM now whilst planning to upgrade to 2gig later, should i

I usually recommend getting all the RAM in one go (a single matched-pair, ie: 2x1GB), even if it means waiting a week or two for the extra cash to be available.

I find the risk of using unmatched memory (buying now, adding later) and possibly ending up with instability isn't worth it :/

Though some people mix the worst memory possible and have no issues whatsoever, I've had nothing but trouble mixing memory over the years, even by the same manufacturer.

last edited by parabol at 16:57:10 09/Feb/07

yet again, i agree with parabol.

With the RAM issue I to agree with parabol.

Always found service at www.qldit.com.au pretty good.

haha, thank you for your subtle advertising? Are you chief ceo of qldit?

he's right though their service is off the hook! literally.

http://www.qldit.com.au/mycustompage.htm

I'm just using the onboard sound from my motherboard. It does me just fine for music/games in case you want to save a bit extra & not get a soundcard at all (unless your mobo has no onboard sound)

edit:

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whoa what is this? 1990?

last edited by whoop at 02:11:54 11/Feb/07

Yep the motherboard suggested on whirlpool has onboard sound so i'll use that