Judge my new rig...

[KC Jones]

So, my current machine is something like 6 years old now. I'd say I've gotten my money's worth, but at this point if I want a new game I look for something in discount bins that was a big hit 3-4 years ago. Well over time for an upgrade. So, here's what I've got in my wish list thus far:


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
MSI G41M-FD LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive


That's $500 on newegg right there and not a bad little budget gamer core. I'm not sure yet if I'll move my current stuff into an older case and stick with what I have, or go for a new case. Assuming I go with a new case, power supply, DVD drive, etc. I can probably add another $1-200 to the price tag.

I seriously considered a similarly priced quad core, but based on the gazillions of comparisons and articles I read, there still aren't that many games or software that really take advantage of them. This dual core has some good write ups for being easy to clock up to 4-4.6GHz and remain stable. I'll probably leave it at stock for a while and wait to see if I'm ever cpu bound.

Thoughts?

Going up much in price really isn't an option, but if you see an opportunity to get similar performance for less $$$ let me know.

[pr_capone]

So, my current machine is something like 6 years old now. I'd say I've gotten my money's worth, but at this point if I want a new game I look for something in discount bins that was a big hit 3-4 years ago. Well over time for an upgrade. So, here's what I've got in my wish list thus far:


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
MSI G41M-FD LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive


That's $500 on newegg right there and not a bad little budget gamer core. I'm not sure yet if I'll move my current stuff into an older case and stick with what I have, or go for a new case. Assuming I go with a new case, power supply, DVD drive, etc. I can probably add another $1-200 to the price tag.

I seriously considered a similarly priced quad core, but based on the gazillions of comparisons and articles I read, there still aren't that many games or software that really take advantage of them. This dual core has some good write ups for being easy to clock up to 4-4.6GHz and remain stable. I'll probably leave it at stock for a while and wait to see if I'm ever cpu bound.

Thoughts?

Going up much in price really isn't an option, but if you see an opportunity to get similar performance for less $$$ let me know.

Any particular reason you are going with a MicroATX board or is a full ATX board an option here?

If mATX is a must... I would go with this motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157137

It is $5 more expensive but the MSI has to be overclocked to reach the full potential of the memory unlike the ASRock motherboard (daughter company of ASUS) which will accept it with no overclocking needed. Overclocking an MSI is a pain in the ass.

If you are married to nVidia, then I would go with this video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133246

same specs as the evga but at $100 after mail in rebates (which newegg has yet to fail on delivering one to me)

This hard drive gives you more cache for the same price and also free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I like your choice of memory and processor.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Any particular reason you are going with a MicroATX board or is a full ATX board an option here?

If mATX is a must... I would go with this motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157137

It is $5 more expensive but the MSI has to be overclocked to reach the full potential of the memory unlike the ASRock motherboard (daughter company of ASUS) which will accept it with no overclocking needed. Overclocking an MSI is a pain in the ass.

If you are married to nVidia, then I would go with this video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133246

same specs as the evga but at $100 after mail in rebates (which newegg has yet to fail on delivering one to me)

This hard drive gives you more cache for the same price and also free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I like your choice of memory and processor.

I think I need your help with finding a new laptop, brah. The one I got now has served me well but it's getting old. I'm still not 100% that I'm going to get a new one, but would like to. Depends on my $ situation over the summer. If I got one I'd want to be able to watch and record tv on it so I can record college fb games and do some "scouting." The one I got now sucks for games and I can live with that since it's not a desktop or a gaming laptop. I'm just not sure what I should do. I took some computer classes in high school and know the basics of what to look for, but it's a bit overwhelming.

[KC Jones]

Any particular reason you are going with a MicroATX board or is a full ATX board an option here?

If you are married to nVidia, then I would go with this video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133246

same specs as the evga but at $100 after mail in rebates (which newegg has yet to fail on delivering one to me)

This hard drive gives you more cache for the same price and also free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I like your choice of memory and processor.

I can go full ATX, although I was toying with getting a smaller case. I'm not married to nVidia, but from what I've read the GTX+ is superior to anything in the same range by ATI. Thanks for the heads up on the HD too.

[Hammock Parties]

Don't bother with the 9800. Get a 260.

You couldn't pay me to get a Micro ATX mobo. Working on full size ones is hard enough.

[htismaqe]

Make sure you get a good power supply. That'll run you $100-$150 easy.

[htismaqe]

I can go full ATX, although I was toying with getting a smaller case. I'm not married to nVidia, but from what I've read the GTX+ is superior to anything in the same range by ATI. Thanks for the heads up on the HD too.

Do you have a space reason to go with small?

If not, go full ATX - better airflow will give you better temps. Plus I'm not a fan of trying to install stuff in a micro case.

[Fish]

Don't bother with the 9800. Get a 260.

You couldn't pay me to get a Micro ATX mobo. Working on full size ones is hard enough.

Agree with the 9800 GTX+. Those have been trouble.

[KC Jones]

Thanks for the input guys. I pulled the trigger last night and here's the final specs:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
ASUS 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-22B1ST Bulk - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OCE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

I'll re-use my current case - it's a nice Kingwin. That right there came to $690 and there'll be $60 in rebates coming back to me. I couldn't find anything about problems with the 9800 GTX+ on any tech forums. However after looking over the specs I decided it was worth it to move up to a 260.

Can't wait to get this puppy put together and try out some recent games.

[Braincase]

If you can get 64-bit Vista drivers for everything, go with the Windows 7 64-bit release candidate.

[Fairplay]

Looks great to me.