Building A Gaming Rig: Good By Todays Standards?

[OXM Madman]

Hello, everyone.

I am planning on using the Thread titled 'Building A Gaming Rig' as a guide, and it seems adequite. But, I am not sure wether or not some of the selections are good by todays standards of gaming. I am planning on upgrading to the following (by ??? I mean not sure):

ATI Radeon X1650 (Graphics Card)
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Processor)
??? (PSU)

Is the following compatible with the rest described in the guide, and is this good?

[Nick Smith]

what CPU do you currently have? and what socket motherboard

[BUFF]

these days most people would probably point you towards an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU & a 965 chipset board.

if you give an idea of your budget & what you mainly use/play on your PC people will make appropriate suggestions.

[dave87]

I think you'd be best off getting something like an e6300 conroe (or wait for the e6420 - 4mb cache, but the price of an e6300 - Intel are planning price cuts)

x1650 aint bad, but the x18/1900s are dropping in price, due to the arrival of DX10 - they'd make a better investment

PSU wise - Seasonic/Tagan/Corsair would be my recommendation, about the 500w mark

Hope this helps,

Dave


(edit - have no idea how this corresponds with the build a gaming rig thread, but this is more up to date, and pretty much what I'm planning )

[OXM Madman]

I am asking on building a totoally new PC, not upgrading an existing one.

By the way, Dave, thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'll keep the Processor.

I looked around for some reviews, and it seemed that that processor performed the best in gaming compared to rivals.

Is there a recommended PSU I could use?

EDIT: I would mainly play games such as CS:S, Max Payne, Max Payne 2, etc.

Nick, I am using the Motherboard from the 'Building A Gamign PC' thread.

[Nick Smith]

or wait for the e6420 - 4mb cache, but the price of an e6300 - Intel are planning price cuts

oh....poo, ive just gone out and bough my self and E6300

and also, in my opinion, intel dual cores are better than AMD, ive been running on an AMD system for the last 2 years, and have never been to impressed with it. Its never been..well quick! But, it has ran all games and applications i've have thrown at it, its..just never been amazingly quick.

so imo go for Dual core

[dave87]

Not to belittle your choice, but it will seriously stunt your gaming ability - core 2 duos are king atm - and for the price, a much better bargain (the e6420 will be about £110) . It will also be more future proof than the AM2 socket which is seen as a stepping stone, or 939, which is pretty much an old technology now.

Recommended PSU wise - Seasonic S12/M12 500-600w should do you fine

Dave

[dave87]

oh....poo, ive just gone out and bough my self and E6300

heh, I'm sure with a little overclocking you could minimize the difference

[Nick Smith]

i hope so

[amjedm]

Recommended PSU wise - Seasonic S12/M12 500-600w should do you fine

Dave

Or the Corsair 520 (made by Seasonic).

[dave87]

Indeed - hence the inclusion of Corsair in my first post

[ajbrun]

Another thing to think about since it's a gaming machine is DX10. I don't know when directx 10 only games will appear, but if you're going to want to play them, then you'll need a DX10 graphics card (nvidia 8800 is the only one about atm afaik) and windows vista.

Also, I'd listen to what these guys are saying about core 2 duo .

[OXM_Madman]

Hmm, ok, thanks.

Ok, I might change to the Intel Core Duo. What motherboard would still be compatible with my other choices?

[MadduckUK]

i think im going to HAVE to jump over to a e6420 or similar when they become available. that is unless AMD follow good advice and bring in some new S939's to hold me off till the proper next-gen'ers arrive.

[ajbrun]

Hmm, ok, thanks.

Ok, I might change to the Intel Core Duo. What motherboard would still be compatible with my other choices?

Any socket 775 motherboard.

Are you thinking of getting a DX10 capable machine too?

[OXM_Madman]

DX10 = Too Expensive

DX10 In A Few Months = Considering.

Could you please provide a link to the Intel Core Duo for the e6420 Motherboard?