By "close" do you mean better or slightly worse?

If I can still find the 6800GS, should I get it, or go for the 7600GT?

$228 is probably in my budget, but that's cutting it close...

One more question: what is the difference between GT, GS, XT, etc. and which is best ?

They are almost identical, but it looks like the 7600GT even has a slight edge over the 6800GS

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/geforce-7600-7900/index.x?pg=10

That plus the fact that is has a lower power consumption, and runs cooler I would say make it a better choice over the 6800GS.

.... if you ever figure that out, can you come back and fill us in? lol.

You mean you don't know either? puke: heh

Well is there a major difference between 128-bit (the 7600GT) and 256-bit (the 6800GS) that I should be concerned about?

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Edit:

Your link is the 7600 GT CO, right? I found a review for it, but it says 7600 GT CO Superclocked:
http://www.penstarsys.com/reviews/video/evga/7600gtco/index.html
Is the one you posted "Superclocked"?

Edit2:

Obviously I can't read, because I scrolled down the list and saw this:
EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT CO Superclocked 580MHZ PCI-E 256MB 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out Video Card
$283.26

I really don't want to spend that much (my parents probably wouldn't let me anyway ), but the review above is for the Superclocked one and it has great results...


And I don't really know what the difference between this and this is. The first one says *Bundle Only*.
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Even the regular 7600GT beats out the 6800GS. The 7600GT superclocked is probably one that has been pre-overclocked for you by the maker so that it is still under warranty.

As for the difference between the "bundle only" version and the regular version, it is not clear on that website. I'd fire them off an email and ask them. I'd assume it is referring to the software/games that come with the card, but "bundle" is usually a GOOD thing. When they say "bundle ONLY" I wonder what it is they are leaving out... the box?

Good idea, just sent them an e-mail asking about it.

Here's a list of what I'm looking at so far:

Video:
EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT CO 580MHZ PCI-E 256MB 128BIT 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out Video Card
$228.00

Motherboard:
ASUS A8N-E Motherboard ATX S939 NFORCE4 Ultra DDR PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN
$112.98 on sale until April 4, reg. $120.75

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor S939 Venice 2.0GHZ 512K L2 Cache 90NM Retail Box
$183.99 on sale until April 4, reg. $210.38

Memory:
Corsair Value Select PC3200 1GB 2X512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
$105.80

Case:
ASPIRE X-PLORER 17IN ATX TOWER CASE 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT 2X80MM FAN WINDOW LCD TEMP. DISP. BLACK
$80.92

Did I forget anything? Hard drives, optical drives, IEEE1394 card all come from my current computer.

Total: $711.69 CDN all from NCIX, plus two 7% taxes GST and PST is $811.33.
That is way too much for my budget...

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Edit:


(Maybe) Power Supply:
Aspire Clear-Top 500-Watt ATX Power Supply
$80.99 at TigerDirect.ca

That makes the total $903.66 with taxes.


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P.S. sorry my budget is so crappy that it's making it hard for you

Yah, that is a pretty nice system alright. If you can afford that system, the only change I'd recommend is a different PSU. Aspire is known to make questionable PSUs. Get something like this and you can't go wrong:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15513&vpn=TPII-480&manufacture=ANTEC

If you want to make some price cuts, start with the PSU/case combo. Here is a good one with a very reliable PSU in it at a decent price:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15422&vpn=SONATA II&manufacture=ANTEC

Another thought: Downgrade your graphics card to a 6600GT with plans to upgrade later?

Yea...but I'd really like to get a clear-panel case like the Aspire X-plorer so nice lol

I wanted the X-Discovery at first but NCIX doesn't have it.

And I'm pretty sure I don't wanna have to spend more money upgrading the video card later after buying a 6600GT.

Thx again for all your help tho.

Ok the Athlon 64 3200+ S939 Venice 2.0GHz...

What is the processor speed? 2.0GHz, or is that the FSB speed? My current Celeron is rated 2.4GHz with 400MHz FSB. I don't want a slower CPU (2.0 vs. 2.4GHz)...

Crap...do I need XP 64-bit version too?

Will my current IDE hard drive work on the new SATA2 mboard?
What about my current IDE optical drives?

Anything else I should know before buying anything?

Thank you.

The FSB is 200MHz for the 64 series Athlons, then there is the CPU multiplier, which for the 3200 case is 10, thus the 2.0GHz. (200X10). The thing with AMD CPU's is they do the work and speed of a P4 at a lot lower frequency, so much so that the device naming (nomenclature) that AMD uses reflects this. Thus the Athlon64 3200+ is equivalent to the P4 3.2GHz at least. This will blow away your 2.4GHz Celeron.

"Crap...do I need XP 64-bit version too?" No WinXP 32 bit is what everyone uses right now.

Will my current IDE hard drive work on the new SATA2 mboard?
What about my current IDE optical drives?
Yes , but just check how many IDE slots your new mobo says it has.

Cheers.

Just in the meantime, should I flash my BIOS to see if anything improves?
Motherboard = DFI NB72-SC
EVEREST says my Award BIOS is dated 11/14/2001 (but manufacturer is Phoenix...) and recommends updating it.
Is this (2nd file) the right one?
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Support/Downlo...D=1004&CATEGORY_TYPE=MB&STATUS_FLAG=A&SITE=US
Anything I should know before flashing BIOS? What if it screws up?

Hmm, or is it the fourth file escription Support P4 1.6A/1.8A/2.0A/2.4B & P4 Celeron CPU.

If something goes wrong, like a power failure while it's in the middle of this process you're screwed. That's the risk of updating BIOS. If the BIOS is corrupted the PC will not POST. You would then need to take it in and have the Eprom flashed.

If your CPU is running at 2.4GHz I wouldn't bother with the BIOS update. Usually these are for mobo which need an update to support a higher CPU or it gives it a little extra features in the BIOS for small tweaks. If you're good at OCiing and running around in the BIOS then maybe go ahead and update it. If not then prob best to leave it alone.

Cheers.

How long does flashing BIOS take? Like if it's like one minute, I'm gonna go for it because I don't think a power outage will come at that exact time that I'm flashing BIOS lol

And I consider myself a PC nerd so I think I know most of what I'm doing in BIOS

I'm probably using this computer as a dedicated Source server when I get my new one so I want it to be pretty good. Still, keeping updated could help my performance a bit.

One more thing:

How long will it take for this PC to get "old"? I don't want to buy a computer, then have to buy another one in like less than a year to keep up w/current technology and game requirements