help me spend my money on a new puter

[crzystng]

The time has now come to build myself a decent gaming and application intensive rig. I have been out of the building game for a while now and have found myself way behind the times and now very uncertain of what to go with for the best overall performance. My old rig uses a Asus K8N4-E Deluxe MB, AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 2GB OCZ platinum EL DDR 400, Leadtek 7900GT vc, Chaintech av710 sc, 250GB main “windows hdd” 160GB storage for burning, sorting, and moving files, 250GB for music/movies/programs, and a cooler master acly 450W PS. It has done me good for some years now but it’s time to do some upgrades so I can get into some of the newer games and process, decode, rip files much faster.

I have always been a fan of AMD cpu’s (cheap comparative reliable power) but it looks as if Intel has a lock on the power for a while. Asus’s new MB’s are not getting great reviews, they are going downhill. Also it seems that AMD’s newer MB chipsets are geared more towards ATI vc’s than nvidia. What happened here? LOL, it’s always been AMD/Nivdia like peanut butter/jelly. Is this a sign that Nvidia is going south now? Also now that the lappy is running vista 32bit, I am thinking of just going along and running that on the new machine as well. I don’t really want to get into the 64 bit version just yet as I still have a ton of programs that are 32 bit that I am not willing to give up.

Anyways, I have about a grand to play with here and am hoping to fit in a 22” LCD to go along with the new rig. I am going to need a SATA 500GB hdd in here though. I think I will stick with my old case as it has been modified to utilize 6 120MM fans on a controller so I can adjust the air flow as needed and not intrude on any of the necessary parts, and I don’t feel that I should spend $100 to look pretty when the old case more than gets the job done, and I like having a tool less case. Anyone want to help build this machine? Maybe give some insight as to what’s going on in the puter world? THX

[qrs321]

If you can use a $250 moniter that leaves you $750.

Intel C2D E8400 3ghz. $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

Evga mobo- $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188026

2gb crucial ballistic-$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565

Evga 8800gt 512mb.-$210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130319

I think your HD's should be good (hopefully 7200RPM, or more). If your doing a lot of media editing you might want to get newer ones. I recommend windows vista basic for gaming, but then again if your doing alot of media stuff you might want premium. I like basic cause its DX 10 without the bloat. I don't know the condition of your power supply, but 450w should be enough to run everything here. My prices are without rebates, so that opens a little extra moola. With that you may want to get a new PS just because yours might be a lttle old. When writing this about $70 in rebates.

Good luck!

[RamonGTP]

I would highly recommend staying away from nVidia based chipsets when going to an Intel setup. Intel chipsets are considerably better. They consume less power, they perform better, they run cooler, they're more stable and have less compatibility issues with RAM. The ONLY reason anyone should even consider nVidia on Intel IMO is if they are going to go SLI as Intel does not support SLI ATM.

[SoloCamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crzystng

Also it seems that AMD’s newer MB chipsets are geared more towards ATI vc’s than nvidia. What happened here? LOL, it’s always been AMD/Nivdia like peanut butter/jelly. Is this a sign that Nvidia is going south now?

Just for the record, Ati and AMD merged as one company