It's Time

[Stupendous Man]

I was last trying to spec a computer together for myself in Nov/Dec. At the time I wasn't completely ready to build one up... didn't have the money gathered, time was an issue, and surely hadn't got my facts and information needed to spec and build a computer (from scratch for the first time) etc. etc. Its now been 2 or 3 months and although i now have the money (2000 CAD) I am even more lost on how to spec out my new computer. I've been looking and trying to understand all that needs to be. Just wondering what you guys can quickly spec off for $2000 CAD. I am definately going AMD and Nvidia. I need everything but OS, Moniter, Speakers, Keyboard/Mouse. Hopefully I can get some help and maybe a spec or two to see if I'm in the area. Thanks

BTW, sorry for another BUILD ME A COMPUTER thread.

 

[Cromewell]

someone will probably tell you to get a NF4 SLI board so I'll be the first
You can get an NF4 Ultra based board for a lot less cash and you don't lose much (only the SLI, but that should be obvious ) For a processor something like an Athlon 64 3500+ is good, but again someone will probably say get an FX55 or something along thos lines. Video, 6800GT is good or for something less pricey but still good perfomance go for a 6600GT. RAM: whatever brand (I like Corsair, but Kingston and Crucial are popular too), PC3200 or faster (but stay in DDR, don't pick any DDR2 AMD doesn't support it) and at least 512MB, more than 1GB is getting excessive though.

 

[mgoldb2]

Since you definally going amd. on your budget I would definally go with the athlon 64 3500+ without a thought. mother board I would go either NF4 Ultra or NF3 ultra. The difference between these two is one pci-e and the other is agp. Pci-E will be better for the future but if you go with a geforce 6800 GT agp will save you money on it and get the same performance. This where purpose comes important. If you DONT plan on playing games I would almost definally go with agp and just get a cheap video card. If this computer is ment to play video games then I would either get a geforce 6800GT or 6600GT. The 6800GT is significant better then the 6600GT but so is the cost difference. For ram get between 512mb-1gb of decent ram.

Usually I would look up and recommend exact parts but I dont know the candian cost for parts and I feeling lazy today.

 

[Praetor]

someone will probably tell you to get a NF4 SLI board so I'll be the first
You can get an NF4 Ultra based board for a lot less cash and you don't lose much (only the SLI, but that should be obvious)

Or you could even go AGP .... by the time a current gen AGP card is seriously a problem, any PCIe setup you have now will be obsolete

but again someone will probably say get an FX55 or something along thos lines

Thats cuz "someone" doesnt actually pay for it themselves

and at least 512MB, more than 1GB is getting excessive though.

1GB is a good matchup ... a fine balance between utility and cost

As for my reccomendation,

Core
MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum (185)
Maxtor 200GB 16MB (150)
512MB KingMax PC4000 (115)
512MB KingMax PC4000 (115)
Thermaltake Silent PurePower 420W Active PFC (70)
Thermaltake Venus 12 (45)
Solid case (90)
Subtotal $770


OPTION A
XFX 6800GT (520)
MSI 6600GT(275)

OPTION B
AMD Athlon64 3500+ (325)
AMD Athlon64 3800+ (500)

Min $1370
Max $1790
Not a bad setup and you can (and should) save your money