advice needed for new system

[coolaid]

please help me make the right decision in builting my new pc


celeron 2.5ghz

356ram

geforce 6200 (maybe intergrated, maybe not, i dunno)


---now i have few question, i heard that the geforce 6200 had a intergrated/crappy version, in which the card only has 32mb vid memory, the rest of the 89 mb of vid memory the card takes it from your system memory... is that true? i really don't want that on my new pc if that's the case, what other good yet cheap video card should i get then?

for example: ati readeon x300 does exactly like i said above.


---i can't affored a pentium 4 so i'll have to go with the latest celeron, but some ppl tells me that i should just get myself a cheap amd cpu because it's even faster, so what other cpu should i get? i could get a old pentium4 2.0ghz, but i heard old p4 are slower than the latest clelron, so what other are my other options besides celeron and old p4?



---i saw a lot of games didn't support geforce 4, but this only applys for the MX version right? all the other geforce4 versions is supported by recent games right?



---is geforce 5 a good card or even worst then geforce 4? if it's better, should i get it or go with somthing else?


---Will my new pc be able to run recent games like half life 2 or doom 3 or star wars battlefront 2 at medium setting and a healthy 15fps?



thanks for the help, i really appreicate it, thanks.

 

[DonNagual]

Hmmm.... How can I put this nicely.....

If your primary purpose for this new machine you are building is for new games, like HL2/doom3 etc as you say above, you are going in the wrong direction.

The specs you are listing above are going to have a very hard time running things.

1. I'd recommend you look at an AMD based system as their CPUs give you much more value for the dollar, particularly when it comes to performance in 3D games. Celeron CPUs are a very bad choice for gaming.

2. I'd say 512mb should be your absolute minimum for ram... and I mean absolute. If you are on a real tight budget, then 512. REAL tight budget. Otherwise 1Gb is the way to go.

3. Integrated graphics in general are not really designed with gaming in mind. Again, if you are on an EXTREMELY tight budget, then a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do of course.

How about this, give us your budget (specific budget) and let some people try and put a gaming system together for you. Also tell us what the budget needs to include? Windows? Monitor? etc.

 

[flavin]

hey coulda ne of u guys help me out with a gaming comp? my budget is less than 800. for gaming. i need EVERYTHING

 

[Wasp]

Save 3,000 more and get an Alienware.... :hotbounce

 

[DonNagual]

Windows XP Home Edition OEM - +$87
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102151

Case: Antec Solution w/ 350watt PSU - $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129148

Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4 (nForce 4 Ultra chipset) - $64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049

Memory: 512MB Corsair Value Select PC 3200 DDR RAM - $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145477

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

Graphics Card: GIGABYTE 128MB Geforce 6600 PCI Express - $94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125184

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA - OEM - $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144414

DVD/CD drive: NEC ND-3550A - Dual-Layer DVD±RW - $43
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152055

Keyboard/mouse: Logitech Cordless Desktop Express - $28 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126157

Monitor: NEC FE772-BK Black 17" CRT Monitor - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824002286

Total so far: $719

The system above will be able to handle today's games at decent settings with decent framerates for that price. And the best part is, it is EXTREMELY upgradable. It is socket 939 for the CPU, and PCI-e for the graphics. The sky is the limit as far as upgrades go.

With the remaining cash:

Option 1:
That motherboard includes a decent sound chip, so you don't need a sound card, but the above does not include speakers. You can use headphones if you have some, or use the remaining cash for speakers.

Option 2:
Upgrade your video card to a 6600GT or better

Option 3:
Upgrade your monitor to a flatsceen, or to a 19"

Option 4:
Upgrade to a gig of ram

Option 5:
Upgrade to a higher CPU

Option 6:
Upgrade to the Antec SonataII case. It comes with a 450w power supply. The one I have linked you to above is a 350w psu, which should be enough for now, but if you ever plan on upgrading, it'll soon be too small for your system.

 

[coolaid]

ok

ok my parents agree to give me some extra cash to fix up the system a little.



pentium 2.5 ghz (support 64 bit with 1mb something)
Geforce 6100 AGP ---or--- ati readeon 9550
512 ddr ram
Nec 16x double layer dvd burner.
80gn HD




please help me make up my mind thanks.


-oh and will i be able to run quake 4 with medium setting and 20fps?


-also i heard there's a really crappy/intergrated version of 6200 called the "6200 TC" that's sucks memory from your pc, is my geforce 6200 AGP that card?


- should i get the geforce 6200 or the ati readeon 9550?


thanks again for helping

 

[flavin]

i have no suggestions. and need help too.

people help us out

also that mobo that was suggested was a mobo i had been wondering about

 

[DonNagual]

I am not sure what it is you need flavin. You asked for a system within your budget, and the one I outline above is about as good as you could possibly get for that kind of money.

As for coolaid, I'd still say the same thing as I did earlier. If it is a GAMING machine you are looking to build you are going in the wrong direction (in my opinion).

Are you upgrading your motherboard? If so, to what make/model? If not, what is your current motherboard?

If you tell us exactly what you have, and what your budget is, we can try and put together a nice system for you :bounce:

 

[kirock]

Coolaid (and falvin, it might apply):

Unfortunately Don is correct as usual. The system you are outlining and the games you suggesting to play do not mix. Those games are the very lastest in 3D graphics and look fabulous (btw), and need a pretty good CPU and graphics card. Here is qoute from the linked site:

Specifications
The first interesting bit of news came from Valve itself quite a while ago. The minimum system that you need is as follows:

1.2GHz Processor
256MB RAM
DirectX 7 graphics card
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

It seems an unbelievably low level of requirements so it was put to the test. No processor type specified? Celeron it is then. That might seem an almost evil choice but it seemed only fair at the time. The recommended specs appear much more likely:

2.4 GHz Processor
512MB RAM
DirectX 9 level graphics card
Windows 2000/XP

Here's the site and gives you the minimums you need to run a game like HL2:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19405

Good luck, what you need to do is get Dad into playing HL2/Counter Strike and you'll have a brand spanken new gaming rig in no time
PS. I'm a Dad and my rig specs are in my profile. shshshsh.

 

[escarvajal]

Buy this for $629, then upgrade GPU to a 6600GT for $150! TOTAL: $779 plus Tax
Dimension 5150




Catalog Number / Description Product Code SKU Id



Processor:
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB) CZ630B [221-9886] 1


Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [420-4834][412-0688][412-0721][420-4927][463-2282][420-5477] 11


Operating System Backup & Recovery:
PC Restore recovery system by Symantec PCR [464-5503] 135


Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (4x256M) 1GB4 [311-5492] 3


Dell Service & Support Plans:
90 day On-Site parts and labor, 90 day phone technical support B90DNO [900-3961][960-6480][981-9287][960-7380][412-0359][983-2207] 29


Mail- In Rebate:
$100 Mail In Rebate 515M100 [464-5502] 81


Keyboard:
Dell USB Keyboard EK [310-5234] 4


Mouse:
Dell® 2-button USB mouse SM [310-6264] 12


Productivity Software Pre-Installed:
No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only COREL [412-0803] 22


Security Software Pre-Installed:
No Security Subscription NS2 [412-0850] 25


Financial Software Pre-Installed:
No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial QBSSP [420-5136] 83


Document Management:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 AAREAD [412-0705] 15


Internal Hard Drives:
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 80S [341-0883] 8


CD or DVD Drives -- Read, Write and Store Data:
Single Drive: 48x CD-ROM Drive CD48 [313-3720] 16


Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included NFD [341-2274] 10


Monitor:
17 inch E173FP Analog Flat Panel E173FP [320-4135] 5


Video Cards:
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelator 950 IV [320-4270] 6


Sound:
Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability IS [313-2758] 17


Speakers:
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) N [313-2198] 18


Digital Music:
Musicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music- Entry level with 90 days of On Demand MMBASE [412-0842] 27


Digital Photography:
Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos DPS [412-0845] 28


Modem:
No Modem Requested N [313-3607] 14


Internet Access Service:
6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLSMB [412-0586][412-0670] 37


Network Card:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet IN [430-0412] 13

 

[escarvajal]

Buy this for $629, then upgrade GPU to a 6600GT for $150! TOTAL: $779 plus Tax

Dimension 5150 comes with 17" Flat Panel Monitor




Catalog Number / Description Product Code SKU Id



Processor:
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB) CZ630B [221-9886] 1


Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [420-4834][412-0688][412-0721][420-4927][463-2282][420-5477] 11


Operating System Backup & Recovery:
PC Restore recovery system by Symantec PCR [464-5503] 135


Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (4x256M) 1GB4 [311-5492] 3


Dell Service & Support Plans:
90 day On-Site parts and labor, 90 day phone technical support B90DNO [900-3961][960-6480][981-9287][960-7380][412-0359][983-2207] 29


Mail- In Rebate:
$100 Mail In Rebate 515M100 [464-5502] 81


Keyboard:
Dell USB Keyboard EK [310-5234] 4


Mouse:
Dell® 2-button USB mouse SM [310-6264] 12


Productivity Software Pre-Installed:
No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only COREL [412-0803] 22


Security Software Pre-Installed:
No Security Subscription NS2 [412-0850] 25


Financial Software Pre-Installed:
No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial QBSSP [420-5136] 83


Document Management:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 AAREAD [412-0705] 15


Internal Hard Drives:
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 80S [341-0883] 8


CD or DVD Drives -- Read, Write and Store Data:
Single Drive: 48x CD-ROM Drive CD48 [313-3720] 16


Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included NFD [341-2274] 10


Monitor:
17 inch E173FP Analog Flat Panel E173FP [320-4135] 5


Video Cards:
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelator 950 IV [320-4270] 6


Sound:
Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability IS [313-2758] 17


Speakers:
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) N [313-2198] 18


Digital Music:
Musicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music- Entry level with 90 days of On Demand MMBASE [412-0842] 27


Digital Photography:
Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos DPS [412-0845] 28


Modem:
No Modem Requested N [313-3607] 14


Internet Access Service:
6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLSMB [412-0586][412-0670] 37


Network Card:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet IN [430-0412] 13

 

[flavin]

anybody got any custom amd suggestions?

 

[jaroddog]

Head to newegg.com. Upon arrival, get the cheapest socket 939 processor you can find. Get a substantial power supply. (get your case from tigerdirect.com, they've got a special right now for a free case after rebate, all you pay is shipping). Get one of the lower end socket 939 motherboards, 80 gig harddrive, 512 MB of RAM, Geforce 6600GT vid card. Salvage some cd drives/monitor/floppy/keyboard/mouse from an old computer. You'll be up and gaming before you know it! Again, get everything but the case from newegg.com, it's hard to beat their prices without spending days of pricing research (really not worth it).

 

[flavin]

from what i have heard is that tigerdirect sucks especially for rebates.

 

[jaroddog]

Yeah,I don't use tdirect unless they have just a really great deal, but as u saw in my post, I recommend newegg. So get building!