New Rig

CaptinSxb

I'm planning on bulilding a new computer for mainly gaming,some school work, and a little video editing. I want it to be powerful enough to play D3 and HL-2 on high settings but I'm on a somewhat limited budget so the less expensive it is the better. I know a little about computers so I might overclock it if theres a large enough gain. So can anyone help me out with what parts to get?

MythicaL

Start by getting a video card... I'd say a Radeon 9700 or 9800, and maybe even a 9800XT, since you said you were on a budget.

mainman

What kind of budget are we talking about?

CrapolaJola

I'd use an AMD based comp. Here's some suggestions

1. Mobile 2500+ w/ a good HSF (these are cheap and can easily be overclocked to 2.4ghz+ provided you have a good HSF)
2. nice nForce2 mobo
3. 9800 Pro or 6800NU depending on your budget (6800NUs overclock nicely and there will soon be a softmod to unlock another 4 pipelines to make them 6800GTs with a lil overclocking (mod wont work on all cards though), if your budgets low found your self an 9700NP/P
4.512mb of Corsair XMS PC3200 OEM, this stuff is cheap runs $120ish and can do 2-3-3-6 @ 2.6v, some of the sticks can even pull 2-3-2-6, either way 2-3-3-6 to 2-3-2-6 wont net you any huge performance gains
5. 17/19" CRT monitor, LCDs are far too pricery
6. Case just buy w/e since your on a budget, no need to buy some uber case with all the fancy this, fancy that, led this, led that, etc.
7. Sound - covered by nForce 2 mobo
8. Cheap 2.1 creative set
9. I know PSUs are important but don't lsiten to all these PSU phreaks don't go buy some $150 high qual 520w psu for this comp. I have a comp using simialr specs to the oen I mentioned and I'm gettign good voltage readigns and stability with some halfass 420w thermaltake psu.

Meh too lazy too think of other options. I'll correct mah gramma and add more options tmrw. sleepy tiem for me

MythicaL

Try the Asus A7N8X mobo

CaptinSxb

sry should have bee na little more specific my budget is about $1500. Thankf for all the help so far.

Also I already have a case, monitor, and a generic 400w psu that came with the case.

tastyweat

you wanna spend the majority on the graphics... so I'd say x800pro for your budget... get a 2.8 Pentium 4 with an Asus P4C800/Abit IC7/MSI Neo - make sure it's the 875P chipset... prescott has the higher gain at stock speeds but the northwoods are better for overclocking... price tends to be very similar. As for ram... you want a minimum of 1 GB - get low latency stuff if you can afford it... the Crucial Ballistix seems to be the best value for money so far. The stock cooler one the 2.8 northwood should get you to 3.4/3.6GHz no prob

So:

2.8 P4
Abit Ic7/Asus P4C800/MSI Neo/Gigabyte
1GB (2x512MB) Crucial Ballistix - get pc4000 if you are going to overclock and pc3200 if you are not
X800Pro
Whatever optical drives you would like... I would recommend a cheap DVDRW
Whatever size hard drives you would like... I have 2 Western digital raptors and would recommend them to anyone... but they are quite pricey... make sure you get 7200rpm and 8mb cache hard drives minimum... the speed of the hard drives will affect loading times.

Logla

Yeah I'd go with that setup - the P4s rock when it comes to video work.

CaptinSxb

Sweet thanks, now any good places to buy stuff for good prices?

Zardon

im not in the USA but everyone seems to think newegg is a good online store for parts.

CrapolaJola

Ehh if you're only doing a little video editing then shoot for the Athlon 64. I'll post some part suggestion ya lata.

tastyweat

nah... p4 would be better for him imo... even with a little video editing the performance difference between A64 and P4 is huge! and he will notice the difference.

As for parts... one of the best online places in the US is newegg.com... i've found one place that's cheaper for some things though... a huge retail store called Fry's ... www.frys.com ... check the site to see if there is a store near you

pr0digal jenius

yes..i'd go P4, or if video editing is the main priority, perhaps even Xeon if you can afford it as some fo the lower end chips are pretty cheap now a days. and video card wise, 9600 XT 256 is what I'd reccomend

CaptinSxb

Video editing is just a minor thing. Mainly gaming and programing.

Would I be better off getting one good drive like the WD Raptor or getting 2 cheaper drives and putting them in a raid format?

dipstick

If you're building a gaming rig the A64 is a far better choice. You can also get the A64 3000+ for less than a 2.8 P4 and it will be MUCH faster in gaming while slightly slower in media stuff(if that). I think the A64 is a better choice for what you are looking for. Go to some of the big tech sites and read some review on them

CaptinSxb

Yeah Ive been looking at the reviews sounds like I should go for an A64 based on my needs. Now the question is which one and which parts to go along with it?

El Kapitano

Try and get a "clawhammer" 64 if you can, 3200's are pretty cheapish and the extra 512K L1 cache makes a difference.

CaptinSxb

Ok 99% positive on the amd right now so tell me if you think this mobo EPoX EP-8KDA3+ nForce3 250Gb will go good with this processor AMD Athlon 64 3400+. One of the people I know just upgraded their system and gave me their old ati 9800 so i decided to get a better processor and mobo with the money saved. Tell me if you think thats a good combo or if I should get a weaker processor and oc it, or if you think I should get something totally different.

Vampyromaniac

I'd try to sell that 9800 and get a nvidia 6800GT. an A64 and 6800 card together will run Doom 3 and HL2 very well. good choice on the other parts.

edperks

I would agree with Vampyromaniac the best video card for the buck at the moment is the 6800 GT, and If video editing is a bigger deal for you then def get a P4 they smoke AMD in that area and still compete with them in the gaming but tend to be a fraction slower.