What could you do with a 600 dollar budget?

[simkiller]

I want to build a new computer and have roughly 6 to 7 hundred bucks to work with.

 

What I want in the computer: (I don't need a monitor!!!)

 

1)I want it to be reliable (something that won't crap out on me in a year)

 

2)Able to play Doom3, HL2, CS:Source and any up and coming new games that require a nice video card. (I don't want to have to set settings for these games on the minimum just to be able to play them smoothly).

 

That's really about it. I just need a few good ideas on what mobo, cpu, v-card, case, and memory. Thanks guys!

[bear^]

check this place out...

 

www.sharkyextreme.com

 

they write guides almost every months on their pick for a value gamin pc, a high end gaming machine, or an extreme gaming pc

 

give the atricles a read, its worth the time : )

[simkiller]

Thanks I'll do that. But I also want your guys opinions.

[Clueless]

I've been using AMD cpus for a few years and been very happy with performance and you can save a few bucks. Alot of the new mobos have very good onboard sound,mine has 6.1 and its every bit as good as my Audigy which is now sitting on a shelf. Another thing to consider to save $$$, is reusing your existing case and power supply if theyre up to snuff. The main cash dump should be in vid card in my opinion, I use ATI and love em, the customer support is awesome and if your power supply is at least 350 - 400 you can use it, if you go Nvidia, they require a lot of juice if I remember correctly about a 600w supply.

 

My comp.

AMD64 3000

MSI K8N Neo Platinum

512MB PC3200

ATI X800 XT Platinum

Antec case

Creative 5.1 Surround speakers.

 

Good Luck!!

[ConGregation]

Can you re-use case, cd/dvd drive, even HD? HD's drive the price up.

 

1Gig of RAM ~120

Decent MB and CPU ~300

 

Only leaves 180 for Vid Card. Might have to go for an x700 or 6600GT (mid range but good deals)

[All Kill3r]

Nvidia doesn't require a 600w psu, 600w psu's haven't even been out long.

 

Re-using stuff can really make or break what you can build with this money.

 

CHAINTECH "SK8T800" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL

Specifications:

Supported CPU: Socket 754 AMD Athlon64 Processors

Chipset: VIA K8T800 + VT8237

FSB: 800MHz

RAM: 2x DIMM for DDR400/333/266 Max 2GB

IDE: 2x ATA 133 up to 4 Devices

Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 5x PCI

Ports: 2xPS/2,2xCOM,1xLPT,1xLAN,2xUSB2.0,Audio Ports

Onboard Audio: C-Media 5.1-Channel AC97 Codec

Onboard LAN: VIA VT6103 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet

Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x SATA 150, RAID 0/1

Form Factor: ATX more info-> N82E16813152039

$60.75

 

$60.75

 

SAPPHIRE ATI Radeon X800 PRO Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, DVI/VIVO, 8X AGP, Model "102A-26107T" -OEM

Specifications:

Chipset/Core Speed: ATI Radeon X800 PRO/475MHz

Memory/Effective Speed: 256MB GDDR3/900MHz

BUS: AGP 8X

Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub) + VIVO + DVI

Support 3D API: DirectX 9, OpenGL 2.0

Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@85Hz

Cable/Accessories: DVI-I to VGA adapter, VIVO cable, HDTV cable, Power extension cord, Manual, Driver CD more info-> N82E16814102413

$415.00

 

$415.00

 

AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail

Specifications:

Model: AMD Athlon 64 2800+

Core: Newcastle

Operating Frequency: 1.8GHz

FSB: Integrated into Chip

Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/ 512KB

Voltage: 1.5V

Process: 0.13Micron

Socket: Socket 754

Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+

Packaging: Retail(Heatsink and Fan included) more info-> N82E16819103452

$130.00

 

$130.00

 

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail

Specifications:

Manufacturer: Mushkin

Speed: DDR400(PC3200)

Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM

Error Checking: Non-ECC

Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered

Cas Latency: 2.5-4-4

Support Voltage: 2.6V

Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s

Organization: 64M x 64 -Bit

Warranty: Lifetime more info-> N82E16820146219

$69.27

 

$69.27

 

Subtotal »

 

$675.02

if you can re-use hdd's and psu.

[simkiller]

Killer is it worth spending 415 bucks on that card? Is there a huge difference between let's say that card and a RADEON 9800 Pro 256MB or even a RADEON X700 Pro 256mb which is 185 bucks on pricewatch.com. I just don't know enough about vid cards yet to make a wise decicion for the money I'm spending.

[All Kill3r]

yea, i had a 9800pro and x800pro and it's twice as fast for me, and with higher resolutions and AA/AF filtering levels. If your able to reuse some of your old hardware, then i would really try to fit the x800 into your budget.

[ConGregation]

Might consider what I did. BFG 6800 OC from outpost for 250. It is the vanilla 6800 with only 128 RAM but you can unlock it to 16 pipelines. Performance was not as good as a x800Pro but it wouldn't be far behind.

[Guest zerodamage]

Might consider what I did. BFG 6800 OC from outpost for 250. It is the vanilla 6800 with only 128 RAM but you can unlock it to 16 pipelines. Performance was not as good as a x800Pro but it wouldn't be far behind.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What Con said.

[simkiller]

Thanks for the ideas.

[Penty]

I'm building a new system next month. I'll probably buy a $200-250 card either a X700pro (with 256mb) or the 6800 they mentioned above. Big decision for me will be if the nForce4 boards are available yet.

[simkiller]

$448 - RADEON X800 XT 256mb

$321 - RADEON X800 Pro 256mb

$185 - RADEON X700 Pro 256mb

$239 - RADEON 9800 Pro 256MB

$249 - RADEON 9800 XT 256MB

These prices are what's listed on pricewatch. I have no freaking clue which one of these are going to be best for my gaming experience (for the money). If someone could tell me if these pretty much will all be good for HL2, Doom3, CS:Source and up and coming games that would help out a lot.

[TheBugs]

if i were you i would definatly spend the extra on the video card, so you wont have to upgrade in a year or less.

[simkiller]

I agree and I will most definitely do that. But if the cards I listed above are more or less the same except in price then I'm gonna have to pick the cheaper of them.

[Penty]

Here is an Anandtech guide to the various chipsets.

 

Here is a quote from Beyond3D

 

If one of X700's goals was to bring last years high end performance down to a mainstream price then, for the most part they've succeeded with the X700 XT outperforming the 9800 PRO in most graphics limited cases, and the X700 PRO being close in most tests. Thanks to the much increased vertex shader rates and slightly higher fill-rates, hence pixel shader power, due to the increased clockspeeds, the X700XT and PRO should always have the upper hand in non-bandwidth limited cases. In the tests used here we did see that the X700 XT managed to outperform the 9800 PRO even in high bandwidth situations, and we suspect that this is down to the texture filtering optimisations present in X700 which will not only assist in texture performance critical operations but can also assist by reducing bandwidth from a lower use of multiple mip-maps which will require bandwidth when there is insufficient texture cache.

Edited November 14, 2004 by Penty

[simkiller]

Wow! Nice article, I think I'll put my brain back together now!

[simkiller]

Let me know if I'm wrong here. That part of the article is basically saying that, for money the $185 - RADEON X700 Pro 256mb is by far the best buy?

[Penty]

If you want to stick with ATI, yes. If you are willing to consider Nvidia; according to HardOCP you might want to look at the 6600GT. At the same price and a hair better preformance.

 

Both those cards are PCIe; if you want to stick with AGP than the 6800 OC at Fry's is your best buy.

[simkiller]

Can you tell me the biggest difference in gameplay with agp cards vs. pci cards?

[Guest zerodamage]

NOTICE: THE X700 is a PCI Express CARD only right now. I do not believe there are any AGP versions of this card. So if you are going to get this card, you will need to wait for Nforce-4 so you will have the PCI Express bus. It is different from the AGP so you want to make sure you get the right one.

[Guest zerodamage]

Also, I would NOT get the 9800 cards at all if you are going to spend that much money. The x800 or x700 series are what you want.

[Penty]

At this moment there isn't any real difference in gameplay between the two standards.

 

Zero, Nforce isn't the only chipset comming out, you have ATI and VIA with PCIe solutions as well.

 

However he is correct in that if you are buying an AMD system today; your only option is AGP chipsets. The new PCIe boards are just hitting the market next week with Gigabyte's K8NXP-9.

[Guest zerodamage]

Yeah Penty. I just think Nvidia has the best.

[simkiller]

Penty what would you buy?