$3500 to spend, help me build a nice AMD rig

C

Captain Kirk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
288
$3500 to blow. Build me a box. Here's what I'd prefer/want in it:
  • AMD 64 FX/X2
  • 2x BFG 7800 GTX Ultra OC 512 MB
  • >= 2 GB Corsair RAM
  • ASUS or ABIT motherboard
  • DVD burner with dual layer capability
I'd like to buy the majority (if not all) the stuff at New Egg.
 
With $3.5k, you should be able to easily get your hands on everything in that list. Except maybe for the 7800GTX 512MB... I think Newegg is out of stock.

What're you using the system for?
 
Do yourself a favor: put away at least $1500 of that in an account for future upgrades.

For a gaming system a A64 4000+ will do just as well as a FX series proc in actual real world play, or get a 4200 or 4400+ instead of the top of the line 4800 and OC it for half the price.

Get one 7800GTX or one X1800XT instead of wasting money on SLI that high end, no games need dual 7800GTX 512s right now, unless you plan on gaming at 2560x1600 on an ACD or something.

You will get better performance by making the smart buys right now and putting the money away for some upgrades a little down the road, unless you make like $200,000 a year or something and can afford to spend without regard.
 
deathstar550 said:
With $3.5k, you should be able to easily get your hands on everything in that list. Except maybe for the 7800GTX 512MB... I think Newegg is out of stock.

What're you using the system for?
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Gaming :). I have this silly obsession that if the game "lags" during single-player, it's time for a major upgrade.
 
NulloModo said:
Do yourself a favor: put away at least $1500 of that in an account for future upgrades.

For a gaming system a A64 4000+ will do just as well as a FX series proc in actual real world play, or get a 4200 or 4400+ instead of the top of the line 4800 and OC it for half the price.

Get one 7800GTX or one X1800XT instead of wasting money on SLI that high end, no games need dual 7800GTX 512s right now, unless you plan on gaming at 2560x1600 on an ACD or something.

You will get better performance by making the smart buys right now and putting the money away for some upgrades a little down the road, unless you make like $200,000 a year or something and can afford to spend without regard.
Click to expand...

Listen to this man.
 
 
NulloModo said:
Do yourself a favor: put away at least $1500 of that in an account for future upgrades.

For a gaming system a A64 4000+ will do just as well as a FX series proc in actual real world play, or get a 4200 or 4400+ instead of the top of the line 4800 and OC it for half the price.

Get one 7800GTX or one X1800XT instead of wasting money on SLI that high end, no games need dual 7800GTX 512s right now, unless you plan on gaming at 2560x1600 on an ACD or something.

You will get better performance by making the smart buys right now and putting the money away for some upgrades a little down the road, unless you make like $200,000 a year or something and can afford to spend without regard.
Click to expand...
I was debating between the 4400 and the 4800. I really want to do SLI on this system. Future-proofing it, at least for awhile :).
 
QFT on the 7800GTX 512MB being excessive. Unless you game at 1920x1200, you really don't need one of those (let alone SLI ;))... Speaking of which, if you do manage to get your hands on SLI 7800GTX 512MB, then make sure you buy a large monitor to go with it (if you don't have one already, that is).

The rest of the stuff should be pretty routine. For the FX/X2 processor, I second NulloModo's suggestion: the A64 4000+. 2 GB RAM looks good.
 
Captain Kirk said:
I was debating between the 4400 and the 4800. I really want to do SLI on this system. Future-proofing it, at least for awhile :).
Click to expand...

The best future proofing is a clear upgrade path and money to do it down the road. You can spend 3500 right now and have a system that kicks all other's asses, or you can spend a little over half that much and have a system that does effectively the same thing, and be able to upgrade it a year or two down the line so that it is still on top of the game.
 
NullModo: I appreciate the advice. I don't want to O/C this machime, so I'll stick with the 4800. I really want to try SLI on this system...

Here's the New Egg wishlist I came up with. Comments?
 
If I were you, I'd settle for onboard sound right now and wait for those Creative cards to come down in price. $400.00 for a sound card is just WAY too overpriced. Ridiculous, if you ask me. There are a few AMD boards out there right now that actually have onboard Audigy2, can't remember which though. I just think that is a waste of money. NO soundcard is worth that much, expecailly from those cats.
 
Scroatdog said:
If I were you, I'd settle for onboard sound right now and wait for those Creative cards to come down in price. $400.00 for a sound card is just WAY too overpriced. Ridiculous, if you ask me. There are a few AMD boards out there right now that actually have onboard Audigy2, can't remember which though. I just think that is a waste of money. NO soundcard is worth that much, expecailly from those cats.
Click to expand...

Agreed, unless you do a lot of midi interface stuff, you don't need the elite pro. Go with the Extreme Music edition or the Fagality if you have to have the X-ram. Also, go with a NEC 3550 over the Plextor. Plextor is not what it once was, and you get no benefit from having a DVD-RW on the SATA interface.
 
NulloModo said:
Agreed, unless you do a lot of midi interface stuff, you don't need the elite pro. Go with the Extreme Music edition or the Fagality if you have to have the X-ram. Also, go with a NEC 3550 over the Plextor. Plextor is not what it once was, and you get no benefit from having a DVD-RW on the SATA interface.
Click to expand...
Ah, okay. I thought Plextor was still the cream of the crop in burners. The NEC will work out nicely with my silver Thermaltake case :). I went ahead and downgraded the Sound Blaster.
 
You should definitly spring for the 256mb cards instead of the 512s... they arent worth the extra money... =/.

Also, why arent you looking to OC? OCing the processor can save you a ton of money that you could put toward upgrades in the future.
 
Captain Kirk said:
Gaming :). I have this silly obsession that if the game "lags" during single-player, it's time for a major upgrade.
Click to expand...

according to your sig, your last major upgrade was like 4 or 5 years ago.

i dont see why anyone who would dyi their own machine would not be interested in oc. is there a reason you would actually like to spend twice as much or more for hardware?

anyway. listen to these guys. buy the mid end stuff for half the price or less, put a small bit of time and effort into it and you will have an equal or better machine.
like the man said, put away 1500 for upgrades. or college. or take your girlfriend to vegas for the weekend.
 
It's fine and dandy you have that much money to dump into a gaming computer, but it's still a waste of money. The diminishing returns after about $1700 just isn't worth it. But if you desire the all powerful epen0s, then that's a different story. Because that's all spending that much will get you.
 
Don't forget the really, really big monitor.

PoweredBySoy said:
It's fine and dandy you have that much money to dump into a gaming computer, but it's still a waste of money. The diminishing returns after about $1700 just isn't worth it. But if you desire the all powerful epen0s, then that's a different story. Because that's all spending that much will get you.
Click to expand...

It's his money - he earned it so don't lecture him.
 
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