Re: First Home-Built PC

"Ethan" <ethanhello@xxxxxxxxx> wrote...
I actually started out looking at Intel systems, but another board
advised me that I was probably buying more power than I needed... How
about this? (Everything else being equal...)

BIOSTAR TForce TP43D2A7 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Processor Model BX80571E7200

While Intel has the edge in top-of-the-line performance, AMD may yield a better
price/performance ratio at the mid-range. Take a look at the comparable specs
for CPU and MoBo, and then decide by price. Either one will do you fine.

Note also that this CPU takes half the power draw of the AMD, which will
minimize cooling issues.


POWERCOLOR AX3650 512MD3-P Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI
Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

If you have $10-15 to spare, there are a few 3850 cards available in the price
range that would be more in the performance range of the original nVidia 8600
you specified:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201305520549%201069633099%20106792462%201068310557&bop=And&Order=PRICE&CompareItemList=N82E16814125084%2CN82E16814131096%2CN82E16814131075

A couple other thoughts:

- I do have an XP Professional disc from school that I have modified
with nLite that I could use, and I would always be able to upgrade to
Vista if I still wanted to.
- I am kind of on a $600ish budget so the above configuration without
Vista would definitely hit that mark.
- And, unfortunately, at this point I'm ready for pretty much
*anything* better than the computer I've been using for the last 4
years. I like to think of it this way: The CPU would be 3 times faster
than right now, 8 times more RAM, 16 times more video memory, and I
don't even want to know how fast my RAM and FSB are now:)

So, the big choices are AMD vs Intel, and nVidia vs ATI! Then fit it all into
the budget!


.

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