Needs Some Suggestions!!1

NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
edited June 2004 in Hardware
Ok... well, unfortunately I didn't get a job this summer so my dad is giving me jobs when he thinks of them and for his work (Linux Networx) he needs some custom circuit boards made by a certain deadline and he is going to let me build them. I will earn about $400 for building all of the boards and then another $75 for some work I did last week for him. That would put me at around $475.

Unfortunately again, there are always soo many good pieces of hardware that I want so I would like to ask you guys for suggestions on what to get.

First possibility :
Corsair TWINX1024-3200XLPRO 1GB Kit DDR400 XMS3200 Xtra-Low Latency Dual-Channel ProSeries Memory = $362 + Free Shipping

Reason :
Battlefield Vietnam and Far Cry especially look like they require a gig of ram to play at my desired settings smoothly and I can't find 2 more sticks of my PC3500C2PT stuff.

Second possibility :
Antec TruePower True550 550W Power Supply = $101.99

Reason : 350W definately isn't enough for my future plans or future hardware so an upgrade would do me well.

AND

(Some Brand) GeForce 6800GT 256Mb OR "MAYBE" an ATi Radeon X800PRO (They would have to drop the X800 down under 375 for that to work though)

Reason :
My 5900NU is fine and all but I could use better performance in Battlefield Vietnam and Far Cry and an upgrade here would help me out quite a bit.

Third possibility :
Custom built by Performance-PCs Lian Li PC-V1000 (92MM Blowhole, All cables sleeved, Temp. sensor bay, drive/floppy covers (to match case)) = ~ $300

Reason :
Right now I have a fairly small and cluttered Raidmax 268 Mid-tower w/ 350W PSU that I think has been on my desk almost long enough. :)

AND

Custom built by Performance-PCs Antec True550 550W Power Supply (All cables sleeved) = $149

Reason : ...gotta have a PSU in the case!!1

Forth possibility :
Hand picked by ME! (and my online buddies) full watercooling kit for CPU/Chipset/GPU = ~ $300-475???

Reason :
I could do some overclocking and enjoy silence and/or low temperatures.

Now, if you have any comments or specific suggestions about anything please share!

Comments

  • verselloversello New
    edited June 2004
    Wow, choices...

    I would personally get 512 megs of RAM instead of 1 gig. You save a lot of money and you are reffering to a future upgrade... by that time, DDR2 will prolly be mainstream and here you'll have a pile of DDR mem that won't work. FarCry and BFV run silky smooth w/ 1 gig btw.

    The other thing I'd get is the power supply, for reasons you mentioned - future upgrade.

    Hold off on the gfx card - you know Nvidia always has something up its sleeve, and prices will go down promptly afterwards. I dont actually see why you need a new gfx card at the moment... with my 5900, BFV runs awesome, but then again, I have 1 gig of RAM.

    You should have some $$$ left over afterwards anyways.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Here's my pick....
    NeoFX wrote:
    Third possibility :
    Custom built by Performance-PCs Lian Li PC-V1000 (92MM Blowhold, All cables sleeved, Temp. sensor bay, drive/floppy covers (to match case)) = ~ $300

    Reason :
    Right now I have a fairly small and cluttered Raidmax 268 Mid-tower w/ 350W PSU that I think has been on my desk almost long enough. :)

    AND

    Custom built by Performance-PCs Antec True550 550W Power Supply (All cables sleeved) = $149

    Reason: You have nice Ram, and a nice Graphics card. :thumbsup: Also, get the PSU and sleeve it yourself and save the $35 bucks and you will not only have fun, but your rig will be so much more personal. Gnome and myself have sleeved before and we can give ya tips to make it easier.

    Thats my two cents. :D
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    Actually... I will be getting rid of this PC3500C2 so I will just have the gig of PC3200. I know it seems like a downgrade but then my ram will match up with my CPU and I should be able to overclock because right now I think that this PC3500 can't run at it's labled speeds. I cannot run the CPU:RAM at 1:1, I have to run 5:4 if I overclock the FSB to 250. Which leaves the ram at 200Mhz... If I have it at 1:1 I can only reach about 211 on the FSB before It doesn't post...
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    NeoFX wrote:
    Actually... I will be getting rid of this PC3500C2 so I will just have the gig of PC3200. I know it seems like a downgrade but then my ram will match up with my CPU and I should be able to overclock because right now I think that this PC3500 can't run at it's labled speeds. I cannot run the CPU:RAM at 1:1, I have to run 5:4 if I overclock the FSB to 250. Which leaves the ram at 200Mhz... If I have it at 1:1 I can only reach about 211 on the FSB before It doesn't post...

    Sounds like you just answered your own question. ;) Right?
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    Well... IF I get the ram option, I will get rid of my PC3500C2 lol... And it's running fine, but I would like to have Far Cry and Vietnam run smoothly but I think if I got a new videocard that would make the difference too, maybe in a more major way than upgrading to a gig of ram.
  • verselloversello New
    edited June 2004
    NeoFX wrote:
    Well... IF I get the ram option, I will get rid of my PC3500C2 lol... And it's running fine, but I would like to have Far Cry and Vietnam run smoothly but I think if I got a new videocard that would make the difference too, maybe in a more major way than upgrading to a gig of ram.

    You're right, getting a new vid card will make a drastic difference, but think logically here. There's great performance and there's best performance. How much are you willing to spend to achieve best performance?
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    Well... I have another opportunity to make some boards for a different project for my dad so I think I'm going to deal w/ 512Mb for now because airsoft gun season is in full swing right now around where I live and I don't have a nice gun yet :P So I'm gonna spend this wave of money first on a nice AEG and some other airsoft stuff ;)
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited June 2004
    Radeon x800Pro:http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=313030&pfp=SEARCH
    Kingston Ram:http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-141-424&DEPA=0
    Fortron Source 530W psu:http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-968&depa=0
    That's 2X$80+$75+$399=$634
    I don't know your original budget for ram,psu and videocard, but it looks like it was a lot more than $634. Sell your ram that you have now for $160 or more if they are what i think they are.
    Those 3 products kick ass, i have the psu myself and it's the best thing since sliced bread. Start with those and i'll help you out with the watercooling gear later.
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    FoA... My original budget will be around $500. I think I'll either get a gfx card and a PSU or RAM and a PSU.

    Wow... never seen CompUSA have cheaper gfx card prices than the online stores :P That's cool. Unfortunately I still don't think I want to go ATi, I've been hearing to many good things about the 6800GT.

    As for RAM, I would really like to go the $$$ way and get the best when I do have the money so I probably won't be getting anything other than Corsair PRO or maybe that Mushkin "222" Special stuff.

    I will have to look at that powersupply. I have seen more and more of those around and they're a wee bit cheaper than the Antec ones.
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited June 2004
    Trust me, the psu is gold. I have used Antec's for years before this one and it isn't in the same league. MUCH quieter abd colder and at the same time it provides much better voltage lines.
    IF you wan't new memory and you want to pay premium, since you are on Intel at the moment, go for the OCZ PC3700 EB series. Mushkin Special, that uses Winbond BH5, needs zillion voltage to perform over 245 fsb. Over that, and you need to voltmod your mainboard and use 3.5-3.7 volts on the memory. The new EB series (uses Micron chips)is pretty unique. At 200-215, you can use 2,2,2 timings, but over that, it performs very well with "Intel" timings at respectable voltage. As for the 6800 v. x800, it's really a hit and miss. The x800 is much better with all the bells and whistles on and in high resolution. Which resolutions do you play games in? Over 1200, buy Ati.
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    I play 1280x1024/960 usually.
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited June 2004
    The beuty of Far Cry at 1600 with all the Bells and whistles is completely different my friend.
  • yaggayagga Havn't you heard? ... New
    edited June 2004
    Hey, getting back to the psu, I seem to think I read that you were going to maybe get it custom sleeved or something. The Antecs are already sleeved, atleast the main motherboard power cords are.

    I would probably go with the memory, though. If they only had PC4000XL/PC4000XLpro then I would be very eager to upgrade and ditch my current stuff.
  • NeoFXNeoFX Utah, US of A
    edited June 2004
    ...I bet Mackanz, lol.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Neo,
    Not sure if you have read this already or if this will help muddy your issue or not, but more info is always a good thing in my book. ;)

    how much of a factor CPUs are in today's gaming.
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