Looking For Tips On New Computer

[The Deceived]

I was pointed in the direction of this forum by a friend because he said that anything these guys don't know about computers isn;t worth knowing! I know very little about the internal workings of a PC, and was hoping you guys could help me.

At the moment, I am running:

Intel Pentium 4 Northwood 2.4 GHz (BUS Speed 531.4MHz)
Radeon X800 Pro 256Mb
40Gb DDR-SDRAM
512Mb RAM

I wish I could give you more details, but it's the family PC, and my parents bought it as a package (apart from the graphics card, it originally came with a Radeon 9000) and I don't know much about the specs of the machine.

But basically, I am going to university in september, and I am looking at building a new PC from scratch. I'm willing to spend around $2200 (£1200), maybe a bit more, and it will be mainly used for gaming and computer games programming.
Here are the list of parts that I am thinking of getting:

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ Socket 939 512KB (possibly the 4400+ version)
Motherboard: Abit AX8 Socket 939 K8T800 AGP ATX
Hard Drive: 2 x Diamondmax 10 250GB ATA133 7200rpm 16MB Cache
Graphics Card: Radeon X800 Pro (unfortunately my parents had already bought this for me, limiting me to just an AGP motherboard)
Memory: Kingston 1Gb x 3 (still thinking about that one)
DVD Re-Writer

That's the basics of the computer (apologies on the little amount of information I've given you), so can anyone give me any pointers on any better components?

Thanks very much!

 

[binj112]

That spec should be perfect for gaming to be honest.

Wish I had that much money to spend on a computer

lol

ben

 

[The Deceived]

haha thanks!! I've had my friend look at what I'm getting and he said exactly the same

The one thing I'm still worried about is where to get three sticks of 1Gb RAM from. Anyone got any ideas?

 

[ckfordy]

haha thanks!! I've had my friend look at what I'm getting and he said exactly the same

The one thing I'm still worried about is where to get three sticks of 1Gb RAM from. Anyone got any ideas?

go to www.tigerdirect.com or www.newegg.com they have good prices on memory

 

[drunkbum222]

sunkend.com here is one of the best for the price. Then you can just get a good CRT or LCD.

 

[TheChef]

You might want to invest in a mobo with an nForce 4 Chipset, like an Asus A8N-SLI, or a DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D .

 

[The Deceived]

Thanks for all the info guys!! I'm checking all their prices now!

 

[The Deceived]

Yea, I was thinking of getting an Asus mobo, would anyone else recommend that mobo?

 

[Lax]

No gamer needs 3Gb of RAM. Buy 2 512Mb chips and stick with that. As for a gaming machine the one you have should be ok to play most of the games you've got. Upgrade the RAM and see what the board can handle CPU-wise.

 

[The Deceived]

Oh right, well the problem is that as I said, it's the family PC and I can't take it to uni with me because my brother is gonna need it. As for playing games on it, it doesn't play them all that well. But like you said, if I upgrade the RAM then it should play them ok.

One other question I have is should I sell my Radeon and buy a PCI-Express card like the GeForce 6800 GT?

Thanks again for your help!!

 

[apj101]

You might want to invest in a mobo with an nForce 4 Chipset, like an Asus A8N-SLI, or a DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D .

Good boards but he needs agp.
Good board would be
ASUS A8V DELUXE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131510

MSI K8N NEO2 PLATINUM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130468

 

[Praetor]

I wish I could give you more details, but it's the family PC, and my parents bought it as a package (apart from the graphics card, it originally came with a Radeon 9000) and I don't know much about the specs of the machine.

You've provided the basics enough ... if you're personally curious, have a look at question101 to see how to find out the other stuff

Motherboard: Abit AX8 Socket 939 K8T800 AGP ATX

Forget ABit for K8/K9 boards and forget the AGP and K8T800Pro (not to be confused with the K8T800) ... boards like the MSI K8N Neo4 (series) and DFI LanPart UT NForce4 series are vastly superior. Do note that they are PCIE boards ... if you want AGP, MSI's K8N Neo2 is the board to beat

Memory: Kingston 1Gb x 3 (still thinking about that one)

2Gb is enough

Graphics Card: Radeon X800 Pro (unfortunately my parents had already bought this for me, limiting me to just an AGP motherboard)

In that case, MSI's K8N Neo2 (platinum) board is the one to have

DVD Re-Writer

Have a look at cd101 for ideas

The one thing I'm still worried about is where to get three sticks of 1Gb RAM from. Anyone got any ideas?

A store? Unless yer looking for very specific sticks?

Yea, I was thinking of getting an Asus mobo, would anyone else recommend that mobo?

Absolutely positively not (in addition to not reccemending the K8T800Pro chipset)

No gamer needs 3Gb of RAM

Generally speaking, no gamer wants 3GB either

Buy 2 512Mb chips and stick with that

Or 2x1024 sticks

Good board would be
ASUS A8V DELUXE

So far so good, except for the A8V Deluxe

 

[apj101]

So far so good, except for the A8V Deluxe

hmm, what wrong with the a8v/k8t800pro, i just picked a via chipset board to compare to his choice.

 

[Praetor]

hmm, what wrong with the a8v/k8t800pro, i just picked a via chipset board to compare to his choice.

The very fact that it IS a via chipset (although if you must, the ASUS board there is one of the better ones)