building gaming pc

phawkins576 · 26 Jul 2006 at 14:06

Hi there, going to build a smallish budget gaming pc, dont want to spend more than £1000, but i already have
Socket 939, amd64 3000, 1gig (2x512) dual channel pc3200, 200gb hdd SATA150, geforce 6600gt agp and a good sony 17" TFT.

so really what i need to upgrade is mobo, cpu, graphics card, physx card if its worth it? memory if switching to intel or am2.

what you guys recon i should do... amd socket AM2? or do you recon socket 939 is still good goin?

phawkins576 · 26 Jul 2006 at 15:00

yeah but at the end of the day i need more power for games.. so i need to bother!! looking to get a nvidia 7900GT or GTX... which platform would you go for now though? intel, amd 939 or am2? if i go 939 i can keep my 1gb memory

phawkins576 · 26 Jul 2006 at 15:14

thanks sky3.. thats awesome i will bear that in mind. i have a tagan psu 500Watt with dual pci-express power cables for sli.

priced up a few things on ocuk
Socket AM2
£184 BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£82 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-165-AM)
£105 Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£48 Samsung SpinPoint P SP2004C 200GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
£60 GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£57 Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)

£516

Socket 939
£340 BFG GeForce 7900 GTX OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-017-BG)
£78 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BPBOX) (CP-116-AM)
£66 Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
£48 Samsung SpinPoint P SP2004C 200GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
£57 Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)

£589

those are just the more basic packages to give me a bit more power at more of a budget.

So what do you recon i am better doing.. going to AM2 with a 7900GT and DDR2 memory, or sticking 939 with a 7900GTX 512mb... i recon the better graphics card will make a lot more difference than DDR2 memory.

phawkins576 · 26 Jul 2006 at 15:20

I meant to say i am limited to gaming at 1280x1024 with my tft anyway so a 7900gtx would be more than enough. love playing half life 2 and especially counter strike source, would just be class to play it at 1280x1024 with everything on high along with 4xAA and 16xAF. And the same in F.E.A.R. and any other multiplayers.

phawkins576 · 26 Jul 2006 at 16:00

thats pretty sweet mate thanks a lot for your help!! I am a graphics / website design by day. and work from home. my sony 17" tft does me fine i think at 1280x1024 and it looks really class too.. i dont really see the need in having a bigger monitor or running games at any higher res.. id rather just stick to 1280x1024 res and have higher AA and AF, and amazing high framerate. theres also just something about ati cards i dont like, had 9800pro and hated the ati drivers. pc is in my bedroom also and i have 5.1 surround sound, used to have a tv card but it broke so i took it out , would not mind having remote control for tv card / music etc also.
Although i have said i have a budget off £1000, i also would not mind spending about £500 i dont really care if i have socket am2 or not, although as you say i am changing cpu and graphics anyway so i might as well get am2.

phawkins576 · 27 Jul 2006 at 11:19

my monitor is not crap, it may only be 17", but its good quality, looks great and 1280x1024 is more than enough res for me, youd have to be blind to need a bigger screen than 17"

phawkins576 · 28 Jul 2006 at 12:15

yes mate, do you think it is worth waitin nearly a year to get the direct x 10 cards etc? and wait til am2 is a bit more common?

phawkins576 · 29 Jul 2006 at 12:54

im sorry i must seem like a noob now, but i havent been in the computer hardware stuff for about a year and a half now.. whats a conroe? is it a new type of amd or intel platform?

phawkins576 · 29 Jul 2006 at 13:15

SYSTEM 1 CONROE
£180 Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
£117 Abit AB9 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-105-AB)
£260 HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3
£250 Patriot 2GB (2x1GB) PC7200 900MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

£807

SYSTEM 2 939
£78 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BPBOX) (CP-116-AM)
£66 Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
£130 GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC)
£184 BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

£458

SYSTEM 3 AM2
£82 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-165-AM)
£105 Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£184 BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£250 Patriot 2GB (2x1GB) PC7200 900MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

£621

Right guys this is it, the 3 systems, what do you recommend going for? bear in mind i am like 19 and i know i could spend up to 1000 on upgrading, i dont neccessarily want to unless performances would be blisteringly faster. i dont neccessarily think any of these systems would be slow / much slower than the other, whats the new conroe proccessors like? good for gamnig? as amd used to always have the ballpark there!