getting new pc, but what to get for gaming?

Unstable

right, I need a new Pc. My P3 500mhz is finally acting her age. After buying Battlefield 1942 my computer struggles with the minimum settings of the game, even with 384 megs of Ram. I haven't build a machine from scratch before, but I'm confident I'd know where all the bits go, its just that I'm worried that I'll buy incompatable hardware and waist money. I've got about €1400 to spend on a Pc that will run B1942 smoothly

If anybody could give me a list of hardware, I'd appreciate it cause I'm not that upto date on the latest video cards, motherboards etc

Col_Loki

Hey if your worried about building a pc yourself & compatability why not get elara to build one for your?? Very good prices, the systems are aimed toward gaming and you can choose from a massive stock range. For €1400 how about This One .

The sonata case is suppose to be excellent & super quiet. Gigabyte mobo is worth the bit extra, cause you can overclock with it. The 2.4C 800FSB is soo overclockable - can hit 3.4ghz on stock voltage and cooling. The RAM is very fast and perfect for gaming. I know im €2 over but sure what can ya do.

BoobeR

http://www.watercooling.de/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=178

Can o/c a p4 3ghz to 4ghz.

Ny0m?

Col_Loki

Yea but you have to be lucky with the chip that you get and fork out the €'s for a vapochill case.......

The 2.4C will do 3.4ghz on stock everything including air cooling!! Have heard of a guy gettin his to 3.8ghz stable !!! Now thats an achievment.

BoobeR

Wow! that sure is something alright!! Lucky man Payed less for lots more

Col_Loki

If only i can get that lucky when i get the 2.4C. Generally been lucky i suppose Xp1800+(1.53ghz) @ 2200mhz , Xp2500+(1.83ghz) @ 2300mhz !! Could be worse i suppose

Unstable

thanks for the advice, but I've just been over to komplett and found this bundle on sell:


AMD Athlon XP2100+ 1.733 GHz 266 MHz bus Socket A (Palomino) prosessor
Gainward AGP GeForce4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR, TV-Out, Retail
Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower Case Black w/door w/360W Power
DDR-DIMM PC2700 512MB DDR CL2.5 Minne 184-P (for DDR-PC333MHz)
EKL PAPST CPU Fan w/heatsink Socket A up to 1,4 GHz, and XP2100+
Seagate Barracuda V 120GB IDE 7200RPM ATA/100, Hard Drive 2MB cache ST3120023A
LG DVD-spiller IDE 16x/48x (DRD-8160B) Retail med "Power DVD" DVD-software !
Mitsumi Floppy Drive Black 1,44 MB Internal Floppy Drive
MSI KT4V-L Mainboard with sound VIAKT400, LAN, 133,Raid, ATX, USB2.0

for €715. I dont really want to start messing around with overclocking, all I want is to get it setup so i can play the game would this pc do the trick, or would i need better equipment. If you think I should upgrade something from this list, plz tell.

PS, I'll be using my current monitor/speakers/keyboard etc on the new pc

Col_Loki

Personally im not mad about MSI mobo's , would go for this myself....

116590 AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz 333 MHz bus
- Socket A (Barton) processor, 512kb BOXED In stock: 20-49 105,84 105,84

The "BOXED" version comes with a fan so you dont have to get one.
Definetly dont go for that Xp2100+ , its the old palmino core (not good).

114239 Asus A7N8X Deluxe/GD mainboard Socket A
- nForce2SPP/MCP-T/Ultra 400,1394,Dual LAN Maybe
07.07.2003 139,09 139,09

115063 TwinMOS PC2700 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2
- Memory184-P (for DDR-PC333MHz) In stock: 50-99 99,34 99,34


Super Motherboard, the processor is a very good performer, the ram is slightly faster (CL2 as apose to CL2.5)... For the few extra euro's you wont regret it.

PS i wouldnt get a case from komplett, the carraige is €55 ish, go to elara and get one - €9 delivery. Or build a simular system from them..... Best of luck you shouldnt have any probs!! Will run the game no probs.

Calman

Why not just get a Dell with similar specs and get the Gainward AGP GeForce4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR separately? It would be cheaper, you get lifetime support and a year warranty.

Col_Loki

If you want any bit of upgradeability dont go for a dell !! Building a computer yourself is so satisfying and if you do have to upgrage its soo simple. If you want a pre-built system get one from elara, building it yourself go komplett & elara. Thats just my opinion.

Calman

Fair enough, thought someone might kill me for asking that question lol

Col_Loki

oops my last post mite have seemed a little aggresive, erm sorry!! Guess you should really read over it b4 you post *note to self* . Ahh in fairness dell are ok, have bought a system of the in the past. They are good on price and help keep the market compeditive - always a good thing. Only thing is they dont allow you much options afterwards, ie u stick with the system they build you or you will prob run into problems.

Love building pc's , and its great to know what your system is capable of. Overclocking is the next step and is less intimidating than it sounds

Unstable

ok, for some reason komplett only let me put 5 items into the basket, but i dont really need a floppy drive or dvd player


114239 Asus A7N8X Deluxe/GD mainboard Socket A
116590 AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz 333 MHz bus
115063 TwinMOS PC2700 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2
115048 Gainward AGP GeForce4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR
108590 Chieftec Dragon MidiTower, w/Door, Black

total €685

Feck, thats much cheaper than I taught it would be
and this is ok? not missing anything vital?

Col_Loki

I dont have a floppy drive either, DVD is always nice specially if you have a good system to run em.

What about a hard drive? Komplett's best seller the 120gb Western digital c/w 8mb cache is definetly a great drive!! The price is second to none.

What about a good set of speakers? The built in sound on the Asus board is very good & supports surround sound. Erm mabye creative speakers? Ive got them and the sound is great!!

PS that is a good case but u should look at the Xaser II or III in elara, will work out around the same price (caraige bout €55 with case or €17 w/out case from komplett.) . Take a look at the Thermal take Xaser case and u will see why im promoting it.

xen

I got that mobo(A7n8x),chip(xp2500+) and 120 wd 8mb cache harddirve and some other bits and pieces from Komplett .

The mobo is sweet!!It runs really quick and i couldn't be more chuft at the moment!!!

The 8mb cache makes a big difference as well!!!:D

Col_Loki

Yea have the A7N8X and Xp2500+ , such a good package never had any probs & a good preformer. My board isint the Deluxe - that board is even better & supports the 200mhz FSB. WD hard drives are brilliant & 8mb cache does make a nice difference. Wouldnt recomend sumethin unless i was sure bout it, cheers for the backup Xen

radiospan

This might be just a minor point, but the cases are by far the heaviest component, so it will add a lot to the delivery charge on Komplett.

You might save some money having a look around in town first.

whosurpaddy

*just a little tip

get your case from elara (there in dublin - komplett r in norway) they only charge a tenner or so for delivery in dublin. itl save u a lot as opposed to ordering one form komplett

paddy

GRAHAM2002

Why not just buy a new Processor,h/d & mobo get the rest second hand if you want save ur self a fortune and get the same performance.

Don't forget that the industry is constantly changing and todays new hardware is tomorrows second hand market.

Just take a good look around u would surprised how many people are selling either pretty good second hand machines which may need say, a new graphics card or a bit more RAM to bring them up to spec.


Good Luck

jesus_thats_gre

I am not a fan of DIY PCs..... They never compare to the overall quality of a PC from the likes of DELL... I know I sound like a corporate whore monkey, but I know a larg number of people who have taken both roots and the people with the Dells are happier.... And before you suggest the DIY people didnt know what they were doing, they have just graduated with degrees in computing and are proud geeks.

Dont get an Athlon either, they may be cheaper but they do not perform as well as a well spec'd P4.



Standard Features: Intel 875P chipset with support for Intel® Pentium ® 4 processors with 800MHz system bus
Dual Channel DDR Memory
Midnight grey mini-tower with 8 USB 2.0 ports, 4 PCI slots and AGP 8x slot
Intergrated 10/100 Pro Ethernet Network Card


Online Saving - Free Delivery!: FREE Delivery

Processor Upgrade: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.4GHz

Memory: 256MB Dual Channel DDR 400 (2x128MB)

Floppy Drive & Additional Storage Devices: No Floppy Drive

Hard Drive: 80GB IDE Hard Drive (7200rpm)

Monitor: Dell 17" Value (15.9" VIS) Monitor

Video Card: 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Graphics Card with DVI Dual Monitor Support and TV - Out via S-Video (+ EUR EUR 350.00)

CD ROM, DVD, Read-Write Drives & Zip Drives: 48x/24x/48x/16x CDRW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive

Sound Card: Integrated 5.1 audio

Speakers: Stereo Speakers

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (Why not upgrade to Windows® XP Professional?)

Modem: Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem

All for: EUR 1,368.21 inc VAT


Top of the range chipset so that bad boy will go beyong 3.2 GHz if the urge takes you!!!! The graphics card is one of the best on the markey also!! Deadly

Sleipnir

I dunno about the "quality of Dell's compared to a DIY job"
I just upgraded my system from a P3 500 with 64 MB ram (a cheap machine I picked up, just for the case, psu and HD really) to a P4 2.4 GHZ with 512 RAM all for about 250 yoyo's so i think it's worth the saving. Plus, Dell uses their own cases and they're not manufactured with upgrading in mind.

Venom

Never ever buy a Dell. I made that mistake and it cost me big when It came time to upgrade. Dell while making good pc's tend to give you the very basic and use non standard mainboards and case's so your very limited in what you can upgrade later. This boils down to an ok systemunless you pay a fortune to get one of there top of the line models, which you could sourse yourself for much less. Dell only score well in there low to mid range models for price savings.


Suggesting 256mb (2x128) is having a laugh. 512mb would be the minimum needed these days and 1024mb is just right for most newer games. DDR 1024mb 3200 can be picked up for under €200 and named ram as well.

17" monitor, I think not. Get at least a 19" as your eyes will love you later.

The rest of you post reads like an advert from Dell and Im not gonna comment on that. The one thing you got right was suggesting a P4 class chip, tho for the little extra Id go for a p4 2.8c.

Venom

Originally posted by Kananga
I dunno about the "quality of Dell's compared to a DIY job"
I just upgraded my system from a P3 500 with 64 MB ram (a cheap machine I picked up, just for the case, psu and HD really) to a P4 2.4 GHZ with 512 RAM all for about 250 yoyo's so i think it's worth the saving. Plus, Dell uses their own cases and they're not manufactured with upgrading in mind.

I 100% agree with you mate. Jesus the grey is talking through his hole about DIY vs Dell pcs in build quality. I just put togeather a monster system and its running like a dream now. I also know exactly what is in it both program and hardware wise. Not to mention I no longer have any of that spyware crap that Dell fills there pcs with

juno75

I am not a fan of DIY PCs..... They never compare to the overall quality of a PC from the likes of DELL..

I could not disagree with you more.

Nothing beats a well planned and constructed DIY PC ,
For the same money you will be getting a far superiour
PC in terms of component /build quality and then as a result of
component quality you get a far longer lease of life out of
the machine.

I worked for gateway for a while and I know first hand the ethos of pre-fab manufactures which comes down to selling the
cheapest machine for the max price no matter what kind box they put it in or what kinda bells and whistles they put on it.

2 years down the road guess which PC has performed better in that time.

Though most of the time the main issue is 12 - 18 inches in front
of the monitor.

jus my 2c.

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by juno75
I could not disagree with you more.

Nothing beats a well planned and constructed DIY PC ,
For the same money you will be getting a far superiour
PC in terms of component /build quality and then as a result of
component quality you get a far longer lease of life out of
the machine.

I worked for gateway for a while and I know first hand the ethos of pre-fab manufactures which comes down to selling the
cheapest machine for the max price no matter what kind box they put it in or what kinda bells and whistles they put on it.

2 years down the road guess which PC has performed better in that time.

Though most of the time the main issue is 12 - 18 inches in front
of the monitor.

jus my 2c.

I'd tend to agree that the big guns go with whatever's cheapest, except in those areas that people are advised to look - that usually is just the CPU and the graphics card.

On the subject of the last point you made, there's an old acronym that's handy in these situations:

PEBCAK ("Problem exists between chair and keyboard")

Gadget

Col_Loki

Hey Jeasus_the_gre , erm you said the people putting their pc's toghter were computer grad's. 2 be honest that makes almost 0 difference, the course doesent tell you anything about building pc's or motherboards etc....

2x128mb Ram ... like venom said thats a joke!! Min 512mb, and you only get a real advantage of dual DDR if your going for an intel system.

Personally i couldnt be happier with the systems ive built, totally upgradeable and i know what its capable of.

"Top of the range chipset so that bad boy will go beyong 3.2 GHz if the urge takes you!!!!" Erm its a dell what are you thinking , From what ive heard there not that overclocking friendly - cheap mobo's. Grab an IC7 & that chip and ur talkin 3.4ghz + at the min.

Have went dell before and havent been happy, if you get stuck building your own the boards are always helpfull. Save a bit of money and get a more upgradeable, better looking system. Not to mention original - has 2 be worth a bit.

zAbbo

In response to the original poster, perhaps they would consider buying a 2nd hand machine, one that is custom built.

Such as mine here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102814

Of course i can tailor the machine more to the buyers needs, and drop the price a bit too

netman

Originally posted by Unstable

114239 Asus A7N8X Deluxe/GD mainboard Socket A
116590 AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz 333 MHz bus
115063 TwinMOS PC2700 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2
115048 Gainward AGP GeForce4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR
108590 Chieftec Dragon MidiTower, w/Door, Black
[/B]

Since you're going for a dual channel motherboard, why not get two sticks of RAM and make use of it? It probably costs the same to get 2x 256MB as it does to get 1x 512MB.

Col_Loki

AMD mobo's dont really take advantage or the Dual DDR capability, Id prefer 2 go for one 512mb Dimm which leaves you with the option of upgrading to 1gb if you want to later on.

With the 2x256mb you would have to sell on or discard the ram . The asus A7N8X only supports pc3200 / pc2700 in 2dimm slots btw.

maxheadroom

AMD mobo's dont really take advantage or the Dual DDR capability, Id prefer 2 go for one 512mb Dimm which leaves you with the option of upgrading to 1gb if you want to later on.

But, the Nforce2 chipset will take advantage of the two memory channels, especially when using memory bandwidth intensive applications.

Venom

COL_LOKI - I couldnt agree with you more

Dell mobo's cant be overclocked as there bios is as basic as it gets and tends to contain nothing more than an on/off option.

For overclocking of any kind you need a serious amount of options on every possable component + the cooling power to stop it going boom.