Help 4 a newbie

[Daphix_]

First of all I would like to ask those who know better (than me) to help me with some oppinions on the following problem:
I would like to buy a new computer, since my P3 is old enough now. The PC would be used for gaming. From the start I want to say that I dont have a big summ to invest, around 800 euros, more or less.

First, somebody told me that i should start building it from the video card. I thought about Leadtek A360 TD VIVO, Chipset: FX5700, 256 MB, which is about 219 euro in my country.. I cant go much higher than that.
Than what should I chose? P4 3.0 GHz BOX, FSB 800 MHz, 1M L2 cache or better Athlon MP2800 BOX cache 512KB, FSB 333 or Athlon XP 3000+... I dont know... The P4 I would match up with an ASUS P4C800 Intel 875P motherboard.

In conclusion, what would you recomend? Should I chose a good video card and give less importance to the cpu... Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[Martin_89]

Welcome to HWC

Id go with an AMD Athlon 2500+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
2X 256MB sticks of PC3200 Ram
ATI Radeon 9600XT or 9700PRO if you can afford it.

This system should come in alot cheaper as the AMD will be alot cheaper than an Intel and the 2500+ can be overclocked to 3000+ and 3200+ speeds anyway so their is no point in getting a 3000+.

as for the video card id go with an ATI as they are leading the Race between ATI and Nvidia at the momment. they also have a better image quality than the Nvidia's.

[RDX]

As far as the CPU goes, could you afford a Athlon 64 3000? At least for gaming purposes, this is the top chip to get. As Martin_89 said, a xp 2500+ would be a much better purchase than a xp3000+. The top end athlon xp chips are overpriced, when you can get a mid range chip for so much less. The P4 also wouldn't be bad. It would offer performance somewhere between the Athlon 64 and the Athlon xp. The athlon mp chip would be a total waste of money. With your budget, you can't really afford a dual setup; so the mp is really a waste.

I also tend to favor ATI cards right now. The FX5700 is a nice performing card, but I think it's a little overpriced. For over 200 Euros you should be able to get something a little beefier.

[Daphix_]

Ok. I can afford an Athlon 64 3000+ (cache 512kb, fsb 800), but i am afraid to buy it because some said things like: it runs only on linux system... (???) Then again, there arent any motherboards for it here in my town, incredible enough.
The Athlon XP 2500+ is around 80 euros so that is quite cheap...

Another thing, people say to me that: Pentium 4 cpu are not such a good deal since they are more expensive than Athlon XP, and for the "extra" money you dont get much more performance, for games lets say. Is is true? What do u think?

About the video cards, my friends said that the ATI ones are better, so now i am convinced of that. So, lets say: ATI Radeon 9800 SE / 325 MHz, 128 MB DDR / 580 MHz or ATI Radeon 9600 pro ? Which one? Are they good enough?

One last question, about motherboards: again, "some people" told me the following: the Dual Channel DDR option of these boards is an option one needs to have and I should request that on my motherboard to have two PQI DDR 512 MB PC 3200 since if they are 2x512 MB it will improve the performance of the system... or something like this. What can u tell me about that?

Ok, thats all. Sorry, about the stupid questions. Maybe if u know a site where i can find some tests with hardware, comparisons, etc you can post the url for me.

Thank you.

[RecklessLeper]

Originally posted by Daphix_
Ok. I can afford an Athlon 64 3000+ (cache 512kb, fsb 800), but i am afraid to buy it because some said things like: it runs only on linux system...

LOL! Oh my goodness, that's some strong crack they're smoking

The Athlon64 is fully compatible with current versions of most of the popular Operating Systems, including Windows 2000 and XP

[Arris]

Maybe they meant for 64bit processing it only runs linux at the moment as the 64bit Windows XP isn't out yet.

[RecklessLeper]

Originally posted by Arris
Maybe they meant for 64bit processing it only runs linux at the moment as the 64bit Windows XP isn't out yet.

Ahh of course Sorry daphix_, I'd just got back from work at that time and I wasn't thinking straight

[Martin_89]

lol the athlon 64 is the better buy as its more future proof.

[Daphix_]

No problem!
Now, more or less, the config. of my new PC, takes shape.
Bearing in mind that I want to have something that "likes" games, i will probably go with an AthlonXP 3000+, with an Radeon ATI 9800se graphic card and an Abit AN7, nForce2Ultra400 SATA MotherBoard. Adding 2x PQI DDR 512MB PC3200 and a HDDof 80GB SATA, 7200rpm.
This should be enough... i hope. Anyway, i can't afford more than this configuration. Its about 700euros+ taxes, around 820euros.
I hope i make a good choice.
If there are any other suggestions, leave a message, if not, i want to thank again all who took the time to answer me.

[Richard R.]

You may want to get the 9800pro at least. (what is an se anyway)

The system I have below is doing fine for me believe me !

I'd love to get a newer cpu, but am waiting to see whats up soon in the future with some things.

That 2500+ I believe from what I read is not oc'n to good any more unless it is an M version, mobile that is. Correct me if I am wrong.

[RDX]

I would also reccomend going with only 512mb of memory, and upgrading the video card to a 9800pro. A gig of ram is nice, but the better video card will make a much bigger difference.

[Daphix_]

ATI Radeon 9800pro is very expensive, at list in my country, around 425euro. Thats half of my money! Cant buy that!
Something i see in my catalogue: the 9600pro is more expensive than the 9800se! Is it better, regarding games performance? what means "pro" and "se"?

[RDX]

Ouch! Yes that is very expensive. How much does the 9800se run you? The 9600pro is slighly faster than the 9800se straight out of the box. The 9800se can something be modded to increase its performance quite heavily though. There is a big difference between a 9800pro and a 9800se. The 9800pro will almost 2X as fast as the 9800se is many applications. How much does the 9700pro cost over there? Or how about the 9800 non-pro (but not the "se" version, there is just a straight 9800 card but it can be hard to find)?

[Daphix_]

Here you have all the cards from which i can choose, with their prices without taxes. Anyway, the list:
1)Sapphire:
ATI Radeon 9600pro, chipset:ati radeon 9600, 128 mb ddr=100e
ATI Radeon 9600, chipset:ati radeon 9600, 256mb ddr=111e
All in Wonder 9600PRO,chipset:ati radeon 9600PRO, 128mb ddr=212e
Radeon 9800 SE:ati radeon 9800SE/325Mhz, 128mb ddr/580 Mhz=172e
2)Leadtek:
A360 TD VIVO, chipset:GF FX5700, 425 Mhz chipset, 256 mb ddr=177e , version with 128 mb ddr=159e
3)Abit:
GF FX5700, chipset:NVIDIA GF FX 5700, 128 MB DDR / 425 MHz.
===
Couldn't find the 9700pro in the catalogue, probably they dont have it for some reason. So you see, thats why i'm asking. I dont know really what to choose? 9600pro, 9800se, or what! It's enough that from 10 friends, 5 say "buy AMD", the other 5 say "buy Pentium" ... now i cant decide for which video card...
Well, what do you say? I'm no expert in o/c so, for now, i wont "go there".

[eagl]

If it were me I would wait awhile and get the Radeon 9800 Pro.

That's what I have now but I had to save up for almost 2 years to get a good graphics card because I'm on a disability pension but I'm a true-blue gamer and wanted something good.

I had many others inbetween including the ATI Sapphire 9500-9600 and it pales in comparison with the Radeon 9800 Pro, not to mention the fact that I bought cheaper priced cards because I couldn't afford the good and better one only to find that I was wasting my money because the other cards couldn't keep up to the newer games that are coming out.

I know it's hard to do to have to wait, but I think you'll be happier with your decision in the long run. And, Radeon has excellent Tech Support and warranty service. I've only had to RMA one card but it was done within a week without a hitch.

Hope this helps

It's decision I will never regret.