Need advice on a new computer...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric
  • Start date Start date
E

Eric

Hi there, I'm hoping some might be kind enough to help me out as I
know nothing about computers anymore and would rather not do 20+ hours
of research...

What I do:
Surf and play poker on-line: Not power intensive.

What I would like to do:
Play newer shoot'em up games: Very power intensive.

While I like to play games I care far more about the game play and
less about the graphics. I want to play on line against others so I
need it to be smooth but I don't care about the graphics that have to
do with ambience like reflections and how light and shadow is cast. I
would just like it to be smooth, not choppy and no lagging or bogging
down.

I would like suggestions for components that will work well together.
I definitely want AMD and can't afford top of the line so would like
to have a motherboard that will likely be able to take a good upgrade
cpu in 9-12 months.

Motherboard?
CPU?
RAM?
HD?
Video Card?

I can put it together myself and can overclock and do minor things
like that.

any other thoughts or suggestions?

thank you very much
Eric
 
Hi there, I'm hoping some might be kind enough to help me out as I
know nothing about computers anymore and would rather not do 20+ hours
of research...

What I do:
Surf and play poker on-line: Not power intensive.

What I would like to do:
Play newer shoot'em up games: Very power intensive.

While I like to play games I care far more about the game play and
less about the graphics. I want to play on line against others so I
need it to be smooth but I don't care about the graphics that have to
do with ambience like reflections and how light and shadow is cast. I
would just like it to be smooth, not choppy and no lagging or bogging
down.

I would like suggestions for components that will work well together.
I definitely want AMD and can't afford top of the line so would like
to have a motherboard that will likely be able to take a good upgrade
cpu in 9-12 months.

Motherboard?
CPU?
RAM?
HD?
Video Card?

I can put it together myself and can overclock and do minor things
like that.

any other thoughts or suggestions?

thank you very much
Eric
Click to expand...

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (socket 939) $165.00
Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 $28.00
ASUS "A8V Deluxe" $129.00
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 $140.00
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive $72.00
Radeon 9600XT ~$140.00
Antec SLK3700 BQE $73.00
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive $64.00
Mitsumi Floppy Drive $6.50

Quality stuff - cool and quiet.

regards

Dud
 
Eric said:
Hi there, I'm hoping some might be kind enough to help me out as I
know nothing about computers anymore and would rather not do 20+ hours
of research...

What I do:
Surf and play poker on-line: Not power intensive.

What I would like to do:
Play newer shoot'em up games: Very power intensive.

While I like to play games I care far more about the game play and
less about the graphics. I want to play on line against others so I
need it to be smooth but I don't care about the graphics that have to
do with ambience like reflections and how light and shadow is cast. I
would just like it to be smooth, not choppy and no lagging or bogging
down.

I would like suggestions for components that will work well together.
I definitely want AMD and can't afford top of the line so would like
to have a motherboard that will likely be able to take a good upgrade
cpu in 9-12 months.

Motherboard?
CPU?
RAM?
HD?
Video Card?

I can put it together myself and can overclock and do minor things
like that.

any other thoughts or suggestions?

thank you very much
Eric
Click to expand...

not tested this board yet but it looks cool, if you are on a budget a
MicroATX socket939 board might be just what you want

it uses PCI Express however and i knpw PCI express gfx cards are pricey but
i have found a resonabley priced one that will play most top end games quite
well

all products taken from http://www.overclockers.co.uk and include VAT added
at 17.5% if you live outside the uk please deduct 17.5% of the cost from the
cost.

FoxConn NF4K8MA-KS nForce4 Micro ATX (Socket 939) - £64.57
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester 90nm (Socket 939 includes HS/fan) - £117.44

alternative hs/fan...
Akasa AK-859 Copper CPU Cooler (Socket 754 & 939) - £21.39

Corsair 512MB DDR RAM XMS3200XL Platinum CAS2 - £91.06
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120GB SATA 8MB Cache - £53.76
AOpen GeForce 6200 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - £79.31

TOTAL in British Pounds - £380.59
TOTAL with alternative hs/fan - £401.98
TOTAL in US dollars - $732 ish
TOTAL with alternative hs/fan in $'s - $773 ish

plus whatever postage costs

plus a power supply (over 400 watts i would reccomend)
plus optical drives (CD/DVD etc)
plus a floppy disk
and a case

you get a skt 939 which is fx55 which are like £450 each it can support them
so future upgradability is safe

you also get PCI express slots which is the replacement for AGP and is going
to be what most future devices are going to be compliant with, its a good
deal. I think anyhow
 
Christo said:
not tested this board yet but it looks cool, if you are on a budget a
MicroATX socket939 board might be just what you want

it uses PCI Express however and i knpw PCI express gfx cards are pricey
but i have found a resonabley priced one that will play most top end games
quite well

all products taken from http://www.overclockers.co.uk and include VAT
added at 17.5% if you live outside the uk please deduct 17.5% of the cost
from the cost.

FoxConn NF4K8MA-KS nForce4 Micro ATX (Socket 939) - £64.57
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester 90nm (Socket 939 includes HS/fan) - £117.44

alternative hs/fan...
Akasa AK-859 Copper CPU Cooler (Socket 754 & 939) - £21.39

Corsair 512MB DDR RAM XMS3200XL Platinum CAS2 - £91.06
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120GB SATA 8MB Cache - £53.76
AOpen GeForce 6200 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - £79.31

TOTAL in British Pounds - £380.59
TOTAL with alternative hs/fan - £401.98
TOTAL in US dollars - $732 ish
TOTAL with alternative hs/fan in $'s - $773 ish

plus whatever postage costs

plus a power supply (over 400 watts i would reccomend)
plus optical drives (CD/DVD etc)
plus a floppy disk
and a case

you get a skt 939 which is fx55 which are like £450 each it can support
them so future upgradability is safe

you also get PCI express slots which is the replacement for AGP and is
going to be what most future devices are going to be compliant with, its a
good deal. I think anyhow
Click to expand...

remember though if you arent from england and you order from
overclockers.co.uk u may be immune to VAT s you can take 17.5% off the total
 
...I want to play on line against others so I
need it to be smooth but I don't care about the graphics that have to
do with ambience like reflections and how light and shadow is cast. I
would just like it to be smooth, not choppy and no lagging or bogging
down....
Click to expand...
This is less about graphics and *all* about lag. You can always turn
down the detail for an online game, anyway.

What you'll need is to make sure of your Internet connection - high
bandwidth and no server throttling or the like. Also, not all online
game servers are created equal. Even if you have the phattest pipe, you
may still experience game lag if the server is under load.

HTH.

CK
 
Hi there, I'm hoping some might be kind enough to help me out as I
know nothing about computers anymore and would rather not do 20+ hours
of research...

What I do:
Surf and play poker on-line: Not power intensive.

What I would like to do:
Play newer shoot'em up games: Very power intensive.

While I like to play games I care far more about the game play and
less about the graphics. I want to play on line against others so I
need it to be smooth but I don't care about the graphics that have to
do with ambience like reflections and how light and shadow is cast. I
would just like it to be smooth, not choppy and no lagging or bogging
down.

I would like suggestions for components that will work well together.
I definitely want AMD and can't afford top of the line so would like
to have a motherboard that will likely be able to take a good upgrade
cpu in 9-12 months.

Motherboard?
Click to expand...

Who's your favorite manufacturer? I suggest Abit, Asus, MSI
or Gigabyte. Soon nForce4 will have arrived, if you can
wait that might be the best option.
CPU?
Click to expand...

Determine the budget first, since you already plan on
upgrading the CPU, go socket 939 and whatever fits the
budget.
RAM?
Click to expand...

1GB as 2 x 512MB modules of name-brand CAS2.5 PC3200 or
3500. CAS2 if the budget allows but there are better
performance increases in other areas for same $$.
HD?
Click to expand...

What's your favorite brand? Do you need more capacity or
performance? Seagate has good warranty, good drives, is the
value choice in ~ 160GB. Maxtor Maxline is a fast larger
drive around 300GB. WD Raptor is faster still if you don't
plan on filling it, as it's only 74GB then the slower end of
it would be once it's getting full. If budget allows two
drives consider a Raptor for the OS and Seagate 160GB for
bulk storage (or even larger drive if budget allows).

HDD performance won't make much difference to smooth gaming
except that having a dedicated partition near the front of a
drive may decrease level & sublevel load times.
Video Card?
Click to expand...

Largely depends on the budget. Geforce 6600GT is a nice
compromise, since your described use is gaming I wouldn't
get anything slower than that, nobody wants to pay over $100
and have a card that seems sluggish within a year's time.
I can put it together myself and can overclock and do minor things
like that.

any other thoughts or suggestions?
Click to expand...

Get a nice heatsink with low-RPM, quiet 80x25mm fan. Your
ears will thank you. Get a name-brand power supply with a
little reserve power to spare and allow further upgrades,
350W will normally do but 420W+ gives you more breathing
room.
 
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