want to purchase gaming machine
04-22-2005, 11:45 AM
#1
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want to purchase gaming machine
i am in the market for a decent gaming machine. nothing too outlandish.. i don't need to latest graphics card...
I use to put computers together, and did research, but i have been so out of it, that i don't know what is what.
so, i need to find a place that will sell me a great gaming system at a reasonable price. somthing like ibuypower or cyberpower...
any suggestions?
I use to put computers together, and did research, but i have been so out of it, that i don't know what is what.
so, i need to find a place that will sell me a great gaming system at a reasonable price. somthing like ibuypower or cyberpower...
any suggestions?
04-22-2005, 04:58 PM
#2
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If you'd have posted 3 days ago, I would have told you about the Dell $700 off $1400 dimension system coupon (now expired). I spec'd out a 3.0Ghz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, radeon x850xt pe, SB audigy 2, Klipsh 5.1 speakers and it was $730 shipped. The video card alone retails for ~$500. I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger though.
This is the 3rd crazy good deal I've seen from Dell in the past 3 days. I'm guessing they are trying to make end of quarter numbers or something. I wouldn't be surprised to see another deal before the end of the month. Oh, you need to know about them ahead of time because the coupon codes sometimes expire in the first hour due to the popularity.
This is the 3rd crazy good deal I've seen from Dell in the past 3 days. I'm guessing they are trying to make end of quarter numbers or something. I wouldn't be surprised to see another deal before the end of the month. Oh, you need to know about them ahead of time because the coupon codes sometimes expire in the first hour due to the popularity.
04-23-2005, 12:38 PM
#3
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yea that is crazy...and certainly below cost.
honestly, for gaming, athlon64 systems are just much better. see tomshardware or anandtech for benchmarks and such. One should not look at clock speeds when comparing intel and amd...often 1.8Ghz AMD systems are faster than 3.2Ghz P4 systems in many games, somtimes by a hefty margin (and that is with all other components equal). P4's are a little better in video encoding, but gaming is what matters to you.
BTW, the dual core chips coming out soon are no faster in any game. maybe next year, but now games are only written for one cpu.
for a graphics card, i would suggest a nvidia 6600gt or ati x700pro. A 6800 or x800xl are good choices for a little more. Anything lower is just not worth it today as they lack the pixel processing power. If you are only spending $60, the old ones are good, but don't spend $150 on anything last generation...unless it is an older high end card like a 9800pro. the geforce 5xxx cards have some real issues with performance in new games...i would stay away.
honestly, for gaming, athlon64 systems are just much better. see tomshardware or anandtech for benchmarks and such. One should not look at clock speeds when comparing intel and amd...often 1.8Ghz AMD systems are faster than 3.2Ghz P4 systems in many games, somtimes by a hefty margin (and that is with all other components equal). P4's are a little better in video encoding, but gaming is what matters to you.
BTW, the dual core chips coming out soon are no faster in any game. maybe next year, but now games are only written for one cpu.
for a graphics card, i would suggest a nvidia 6600gt or ati x700pro. A 6800 or x800xl are good choices for a little more. Anything lower is just not worth it today as they lack the pixel processing power. If you are only spending $60, the old ones are good, but don't spend $150 on anything last generation...unless it is an older high end card like a 9800pro. the geforce 5xxx cards have some real issues with performance in new games...i would stay away.
04-24-2005, 02:01 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
would you really?
i don't have a firm budget, around 1K to 1500
just something i can play doom3 on i guess. a nice graphics card, nice HD, the standard harddrive space
decent motherboard.
a cool case that will actually keep the machine cool since i leave it on all the time
a nice sound card
doesn't have to be the fastest processing speed, but pretty fast
2g mem is fine
if you need anything else, PM me. lets talk!
i don't have a firm budget, around 1K to 1500
just something i can play doom3 on i guess. a nice graphics card, nice HD, the standard harddrive space
decent motherboard.
a cool case that will actually keep the machine cool since i leave it on all the time
a nice sound card
doesn't have to be the fastest processing speed, but pretty fast
2g mem is fine
if you need anything else, PM me. lets talk!
04-24-2005, 06:42 PM
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For 1000-1500 you are best to build your own. Most company gaming machines, Dell, Alienware, Falcon cost as much as used cars.
AMD 64 939 chipset
Nvidia 6600 or 6800 PCI-Express
Almost all the motherboards are about the same performance stock, if you plan on overclocking than get a DFI.
For ram, any performance edition of OCZ or Corsair. At least 2 gb PC3200+
Stay away from DDR2, AGP video cards, and P4.
Make sure to get at least a 350+ power supply.
Last but not least, I was reading in Maximum PC magazine that socket 939 for AMD64 will support dual core.
Now I haven't checked the price but... here is what I would recommend:
AMD 64 3200+ Venice core, you can overclock it from 2.0 to 2.8 ghz comes out first week of May and it should be about 200 bucks.
Video card, Nvidia 6800GT. You can SLI (dual vid card) and get another 6800GT when the price gets lower. You should pay about 350-400 for one right now. Get another when it gets lower.
Motherboard: Asus for the goodies, DFI for overclocking, and Gigabyte for everything inbetween. Try to get Nforce4 Ultra chipset. Expect to pay around 150-200.
As for Ram, at least 1-2gb, dual channel, low latency DDR PC3200 or faster. Prefer Corsair or OCZ, expect to pay about 150-200 for 2x512.
Last but not least, RAID. You could go the extreme route and get two 10000 rpm harddrives, or you could just get regular 7200rpm SATA drives.
CPU: AMD 64 3200+ Venice Core 939 $200
Mobo: Any Nforce4 Ultra board $150
Ram: OCZ or Corsair Performance ram $150
Vid Card: Nvidia 6800gt (try to get any XFX or eVga brand) $350
That's a guesstimate of $950 excluding case and harddrives. I think you can do it. Also in the future you could upgrade to SLI with another 6800GT, and also upgrade to possible dual core or just one AMD64 FX-55 chip. Right now its like 900 for a FX-55 wait a little on that.
Hope this helps! I plan on buying everything listed above except getting a 6600gt video card instead. PM me if you want any more advice.
AMD 64 939 chipset
Nvidia 6600 or 6800 PCI-Express
Almost all the motherboards are about the same performance stock, if you plan on overclocking than get a DFI.
For ram, any performance edition of OCZ or Corsair. At least 2 gb PC3200+
Stay away from DDR2, AGP video cards, and P4.
Make sure to get at least a 350+ power supply.
Last but not least, I was reading in Maximum PC magazine that socket 939 for AMD64 will support dual core.
Now I haven't checked the price but... here is what I would recommend:
AMD 64 3200+ Venice core, you can overclock it from 2.0 to 2.8 ghz comes out first week of May and it should be about 200 bucks.
Video card, Nvidia 6800GT. You can SLI (dual vid card) and get another 6800GT when the price gets lower. You should pay about 350-400 for one right now. Get another when it gets lower.
Motherboard: Asus for the goodies, DFI for overclocking, and Gigabyte for everything inbetween. Try to get Nforce4 Ultra chipset. Expect to pay around 150-200.
As for Ram, at least 1-2gb, dual channel, low latency DDR PC3200 or faster. Prefer Corsair or OCZ, expect to pay about 150-200 for 2x512.
Last but not least, RAID. You could go the extreme route and get two 10000 rpm harddrives, or you could just get regular 7200rpm SATA drives.
CPU: AMD 64 3200+ Venice Core 939 $200
Mobo: Any Nforce4 Ultra board $150
Ram: OCZ or Corsair Performance ram $150
Vid Card: Nvidia 6800gt (try to get any XFX or eVga brand) $350
That's a guesstimate of $950 excluding case and harddrives. I think you can do it. Also in the future you could upgrade to SLI with another 6800GT, and also upgrade to possible dual core or just one AMD64 FX-55 chip. Right now its like 900 for a FX-55 wait a little on that.
Hope this helps! I plan on buying everything listed above except getting a 6600gt video card instead. PM me if you want any more advice.
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04-24-2005, 08:03 PM
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Here is a link to how you can overclock the AMD 64 3200+ Venice aircooled to 2.8 ghz.
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=127
I know monarch computer is doing presales on this chip. It's worth the extra 10-20 bucks over the .90 micron 3200+
www.monarchcomputer.com
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=127
I know monarch computer is doing presales on this chip. It's worth the extra 10-20 bucks over the .90 micron 3200+
www.monarchcomputer.com
04-24-2005, 08:28 PM
#10
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Thread Starter
ASPIRE X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $59.00
THERMALTAKE CL-P0114 120mm Cooling Fan/Heatsink $48.99
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JB 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard $99.50
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2PT 2x =$270.00
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard $137.00
COOLMAX CX-400B (Black) ATX 400W Power Supply $38.00
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BIBOX $190.00
eVGA Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card $379.00
This is what i priced so far. i still need some cd drives maybe a cdr and dvd
what you think?