help with building a computer

[cpt_azad]

Ya, lynx actually put it into better words then I could ever imagine lol. AMD really is for gamers, Intel is just for people who want "brand name" products regardless of quality, I'm not saying that AMD is unpopular nor that Intel's product quality standards are low, I'm just saying that AMD is the more smarter choice. I had an Intel once (1.7ghz) and it was POS, my uncle gave us an AMD which was about 1.2 ghz, and lemme tell u something it was almost as if it was a 2.0ghz machine . If you want to play FEAR to its full potential, AMD is really the only way to go since it's better and in most cases CHEAPER than Intel.

[ApacNTS]

oh im sold on AMD now, see heres the thing, i dont know how amd works, i see where it says the core clock is 1.8ghz, but people say it will run higher, so how do i know what results i could achieve? also this isnt with oc'n is it? likewise if the chip is cooler i can buy a cheapo case and it'll be fine.

as far as intels. heh let me say this, every intel i've had, which now is about 4, has bottled up beyond belief, locked up, jammed, and in some cases just crash. so moving to amd is probably the smartest move i can make.

i'll probably...no i will need help with choosing the cpu and mobo, dont think i can screw up the ram or ata drive, but i'll ask just to be sure, any suggestions? for reference atleast my budget still sucks like paris hilton on a night vision camera :p

[clocker]

likewise if the chip is cooler i can buy a cheapo case and it'll be fine.

Wrong.
Although the CPU itself does run considerably cooler ( the Venice/San Diego/Winchester 90nm cores will idle in the low to mid 20's), the northbridge and video cards are little furnaces.

Airflow will still be of paramount importance.

Furthermore, cheap cases usually come bundled with cheap power supplies and that will be the kiss of death for your PC.
Figure you will need a minimum of a quality 450w PSU- higher would be better.
The Antec 480w Neopower is the lowest rung PSU I would recommend and the real good ones (Seasonic S12 600, fer instance) are even more expensive.

Recommendations:
-DFI LanParty motherboard
-AMD a64 3000+ Venice
-Patriot "EP" RAM
-XFX 6800 GT video card

I can vouch for all of these (and the combination) cause that's what I('ve) run so I know it works.
You can spend more on the CPU (if you want) and more memory is always a good thing (shoot for a gig), but this platform will do what you want.

The rest you can figure out yourself.

[ApacNTS]

heh i see you spared no expense, would make a hell of a gaming station. surprised the ram was that cheap, to be of that quality. nice price for the cpu to. that mobo is something else. thanks for the links man

about the case, i figured as much, like i said in one of my other post about the "coffin" effect.

[clocker]

heh i see you spared no expense

I thought I showed quite a bit of restraint actually.
Personally I would go for a 2.2GHz San Diego chip and a 7800 vid card.

The parts I posted would be for a "budget" gaming machine.

[ApacNTS]

it wasnt the cpu that threw me, more the mobo. i know video cards can be outrageous in both price and performance. out of curiosity what specs do you have for your system?

[clocker]

case: CM Stacker or Silverstone TJ-06 ( the Silverstone has been extensively modified for watercooling, the Stacker is now aircooled- but that could change at the drop of a hat)

Motherboard: DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR

CPU: 3500 Winchester s939

RAM: 2x 1GB Patriot EP ( I use 2x512MB for benchmarks, but they may be sold soon)

Video: 2x XFX 6800 GT (only one card installed while I work out the cooling)

PSU: Seasonic S12 600w

HDD: 3x36GB ( two installed with one in the mail) WD Raptor (RAID 0) and 1x 120GB Seagate SATA

Optical: Plextor 716 SATA DVD-RW

I am currently working out the cooling for the Stacker.
The goal is to not modify the case exterior at all ( a big challenge for me, I tend to be a bit trigger happy).
As I progress pics will be posted...Sprocket is a total attention whore.

[JunkBarMan]

Recommendations:
-DFI LanParty motherboard
-AMD a64 3000+ Venice
-Patriot "EP" RAM
-XFX 6800 GT video card

That board and that video card aren't *budget*.

This guy said he has like $350.

[clocker]

That board and that video card aren't *budget*.

This guy said he has like $350.

Then the first chip he gets to ante into this game is his innocence.
That machine is barely capable of running Vista much less cruising through F.E.A.R.

With $350 he can buy an Etch-A-Sketch and a nice piggy bank.

[lynx]

oh im sold on AMD now, see heres the thing, i dont know how amd works, i see where it says the core clock is 1.8ghz, but people say it will run higher, so how do i know what results i could achieve? also this isnt with oc'n is it?

Most AMD processors have a performance rating.
It is roughly based on the performance of the original Athlon chip. So the Athlon XP 3000+ has a rating which is approximately equivalent to an Athlon chip running at 3000MHz (or 3GHz).

The original Athlon easily beat the P3 running at the same speed for most tasks. Early P4's still lagged slightly, mid term P4's about matched, and later P4's probably have a slight edge.

So a P4 running at 3GHz is probably marginally faster than an AthlonXP 3000+. I'm not sure how that pans out with the Athlon64 range, the comparisons are slightly different, but it is fairly safe to say you would still be in the same area of performance. Intel, now that their "speed is everything" myth has been dispelled, have instead gone for a processor numbering system which tells you nothing about relative performance.

When people say the chips will run higher, they are indeed talking about overclocking. My motherboard gives a 4% overclock as standard, but it is simply to knock that back if required. However, I've boosted that to 15% on stock cooling without any problems.