Time for a new box...

S

Spike..

Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
666
I'm kicking around the idea of building a new box some time in the next 6months onward. I haven't really kept up with the new stuff going on, is there anything coming out that is worth waiting for, or that will drive down pricing on the current stuff thats out? I was wanting something somewhat budget oriented and would like to get away with a solid box in the sub 700~ mark. Thanks for your thoughts/time in advance.
 
new nvidia cards will drive down the prices of the 8xxx and 9xxx series even further. i dont know about ati stuff. i am pretty sure they dont sell that in the western hemisphere anymore. there is a new intel architecture coming out this winter, so intel prices will continue to fall. the other manufacturer, amd, went out of business around 2 years ago. motherboards are getting more and more expensive, $250 to $300 the going price for a good board with a recent chipset. altho there are decent cheaper boards around, depending on what you need.
if you are going to game

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...FORM&cm_mmc_o=ZzypR2VCjC-KeCjCdByAFlCjCdByAFl - $229


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 - $209

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143137 - $259

this is assuming you have case, drives, hs/f, decent psu and you dont want to wait for the availability of the new nvidia cards which may be priced out of your league anyway.
this gives you a quad core system on a semi recent chipset with ddr3 memory and a top end vid card for under 7 bills. and a game to start with. i am sure there can be a substitution or 2, but this is off the top of my head.
 
Change the mobo/ram combo to a decent P35 mobo (Neo2-FR, DS3P, P5K-e, DFI DK, IP35-Pro, etc.) and 4gb of ddr2. You can get a good mobo for around $100 and a good set of ram for around $80. Change the video card to the ECS 8800 GTS 512mb which is currently going for $167 AR, but I would actually wait for the new cards to come out. That should save you a bit of money, I second the choice of the Q6600, only other choice would be if you wanted to save more money go for the E7200 :p
 
Amd did not go out of business 2 years ago BTW.

They make good stuff for the budget conscious.. The mom and pop who doesn't care what's in their computer as long as it works. If you want something that's future proof yeah a nice P35 board with a quad depending on what you are gonna do. If u don't do much multitasking then a dual core e7200 or e8400 oc will do it for you.

But to totally say Amd is currently out of business is total disrespect!
 
lol i knew enough to know they were still in business, lol i have heard about c2d stomping phenom and assumed thats what he was talking about. I primarily use my comp for the occasional gaming, f@h, Torrents, and generally as a media pc. As far as parts go i have a couple 300 gb sata hard drives i was going to swap over to my new box when i eventually do build it I was also going to install my old xfi platnum sound card, and a dvd burner i had laying around. The rest of the stuff i have laying around is dated so beyond that im starting with a blank page. When is intel's new line going to be launched? are there any decent articles i should be reading?
 
Wow looks like i have a bit of reading to do, thanks guys. I had a question that will likely sound stupid, but here goes. Back in the old days (lol 3 years ago) when i built my last box ddr400 was sort of the hot thing, however 99% of the motherboards could not support 400 speeds when you had all 4 slots full, is there any similar issue with ddr 3 or will a motherboard with all four slots full perform to the rams full potential just as one with two slots would? hope that makes a bit of since and doesnt make me sound like too much of a noob... Also though im not really looking for specific parts at the moment is there any mid-full tower case that really stands out? I went for large and loud my last build, and this time around i think id prefer something mid to small in size and somewhat quiet with decent cooling. I like alot of the lian li stuff but its a little spendy. Once again thanks in advance for your two cents.
 
I've been reading some forums and seems that some are having problems with too much memory if they try to install an os.

Do u plan on putting Vista in yr new box? If so you should get 64 bit because it supports more memory. Right now I see a trend of 2gb of memory in yr box as minimal, 3-4-8 gigs is becoming the norm. When I built my box 2 years ago 2gigs was the norm.

Yeah with Nehalem yr better off saving yr pennies for that but build a p35,p45,x38,x48 box. Nelalem will be x58 and u will need a whole new mb for it.
 
Spike.. said:
Wow looks like i have a bit of reading to do, thanks guys. I had a question that will likely sound stupid, but here goes. Back in the old days (lol 3 years ago) when i built my last box ddr400 was sort of the hot thing, however 99% of the motherboards could not support 400 speeds when you had all 4 slots full, is there any similar issue with ddr 3 or will a motherboard with all four slots full perform to the rams full potential just as one with two slots would?
Click to expand...

There is a similar issue with both DDR3 and DDR2 RAM but it relates to overclocking. At stock speeds, yes the system will perform just as well with 4 sticks as it does with 2 sticks. However if you're planning to overclock, 4 sticks of RAM will limit your overclock. So go for 2 sticks if you've planning on overclocking.

Oh and some case recommendations:
Cooler Master Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $40
Cooler Master Centurion 534 ATX Case - $50
Cooler Master Centurion 532 ATX Case - $55
Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $60
Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $70
Cooler Master Mystique RC-632S-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $75
Antec Solo - $78
Lian Li PC-7B Plus II Silver ATX Case - $80
Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case - $90
AeroCool Masstige ATX Case - $105
Antec P180 ATX Case - $105
Gigabyte Aurora GZ-FSCA1-ATB ATX Case - $115
Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS Full Tower ATX Case - $120
Antec P182 ATX Case - $130
Thermaltake Armor VA8003BWS Full Tower ATX Case - $150
Lian Li PC-A16A ATX Case - $150
Coolermaster Cosmos 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case - $155
Lian-Li V1000A Plus II ATX Case - $180
Cooler Master Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case - $192
Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case - $230
Lian Li PC-V1200 ATX Case (Silver) - 180
Lian Li PC-V1200 ATX Case (Black) - $214
Lian Li PC-V1200B Plus II ATX Case - $215
Lian-Li PC-V1100A PLUS II ATX Case - $220
Lian Li PC-A71B ATX Case - $220
 
CM 690 FTW, also you don't need DDR3, just stick with DDR2 no real performance difference between the two atm.
 
Waiting 6 months won't get you much better performance than what you can get now... maybe 15% at most improvement. So, if you need something now, get it now. Otherwise, waiting about a year will give you even more performance improvement with mainstream nehalem parts.

There's a ton of build lists in GenHard... be sure to check them out and post your own once you've a list goin.
 
enginurd said:
Waiting 6 months won't get you much better performance than what you can get now... maybe 15% at most improvement. So, if you need something now, get it now. Otherwise, waiting about a year will give you even more performance improvement with mainstream nehalem parts.

There's a ton of build lists in GenHard... be sure to check them out and post your own once you've a list goin.
Click to expand...

I may just do that, ill have to see where were at in 6 months. im in no rush, and frankly its just a want not a need. i have wanted a htpc for a while so i was planning on turning my current main box into one and updating my rig. but just the same i have wanted to get back in the game a bit and very much appreciate everyones input.
 
Spike.. said:
Wow looks like i have a bit of reading to do, thanks guys. I had a question that will likely sound stupid, but here goes. Back in the old days (lol 3 years ago) when i built my last box ddr400 was sort of the hot thing, however 99% of the motherboards could not support 400 speeds when you had all 4 slots full, is there any similar issue with ddr 3 or will a motherboard with all four slots full perform to the rams full potential just as one with two slots would? hope that makes a bit of since and doesnt make me sound like too much of a noob... Also though im not really looking for specific parts at the moment is there any mid-full tower case that really stands out? I went for large and loud my last build, and this time around i think id prefer something mid to small in size and somewhat quiet with decent cooling. I like alot of the lian li stuff but its a little spendy. Once again thanks in advance for your two cents.
Click to expand...

Look at the Lian-Li PC-A17 case...sounds like what you are looking for but it is around $180... if you're looking for cheaper they have lots of models in the 100-150 range for mid tower as well. Try to stick to 120mm fan atleast. You might like the antec p-182 also.

I'm on a case hunt too XD last case I built in for myself was a chieftec dragon :eek:

You might also like the new antec sonata cases... you can find deals on them for $99-125 and they come with a 500w antec earthwatts psu. Antec psu's went down the crapper after the awesome true series. The trupower were turds though(but earthwatts is good).

gooduck!
 
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