After 6 years of reliable service....

[willy]

Looks like a bitchin' system, Sam. I'm toying with the idea of building a new one as well. I've always had good luck with the AMD stuff and since I'm not even close to a "power user" I'll probably do it on the cheap and go for a "bang for the buck" build. I picked up a case and 500w power supply on a cheap (free after rebate!) deal anticipating my impending upgrade but haven't pulled the trigger on anything else yet. I'm thinking I can get the rest of the parts for about $500.00 and it will keep me cooking for a few more years. Basically something like this:

AMD 64X2 3800
2 gig DDR667
Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 MB
7300GT / 256m Vid Card
250 gig Seagate SATA2

Any comments / suggestions / advice by some of you brainacs will be welcomed (but not neccesarily heeded, lol).

You can't go wrong with either, Tom..and for what you're looking for..I'd go with what is cheaper.

For the first time in several years..Intel's new Core 2 Duos are winning the gaming tests..but AMD is countering that with excellent pricing.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference in either. NOBODY can..LOL..without Benchmark software. It's gotten that good..which is great for consumers.

 

[BlueStangGT]

Good build, just one thing.

I was diehard AMD until the Core 2 Duos came out. The best thing to do is ditch that 3800+ and get an E6300, sure the speed is "only" 1.83GHz but it's actually closer to a 3.2GHz in actual performance. Plus, it runs very cool. Other than that, looks good.

I'm not sure if I can bring myself to buy an Intel or not... kinda makes me feel like a traitor. AMD has been berry, berry good to me and I'm real hesitant to make the switch. However, I'll definitely take heed of your advice and put a little research time into the cost / performance of the setup and see if I can make myself to at least consider it.

Thanks for the reply, it's much appreciated! Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[BlueStangGT]

You can't go wrong with either, Tom..and for what you're looking for..I'd go with what is cheaper.

For the first time in several years..Intel's new Core 2 Duos are winning the gaming tests..but AMD is countering that with excellent pricing.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference in either. NOBODY can..LOL..without Benchmark software. It's gotten that good..which is great for consumers.

Yeah, I think I'll probably do exactly that. Like I said, if I was a "power user" or hardcore gamer I'd be a little more concerned about the ultra fine points. I've had such good luck with the Gigabyte / AMD combos that it's gonna be really tough to knock me off of them.

 

[Doug Randazzo]

Just curious how this build worked out. How has Vista worked for you?

 

[HEMI6point1]

Don't know yet, the on-board NIC card might be bad (I'm using my old PC right now), I'm going to just format and reload the O/S and install the latest drivers, if that doesn't work I'm going to have to RMA the whole motherboard and spend a day installing it.

Which is a shame because everything else is awesome. Vista loads up in like 20 seconds.

 

[downtime]

I used XP drivers for my gig Linksys card with Vista and it works just fine...
I understanding RMA'ing the board if it is "bad" but could there be a firmware, chipset, or driver issue with Vista?

 

[HEMI6point1]

I didn't think about that, I'll update the BIOS on the mobo and see if it solves it, if not, it's format time.

 

[Doug Randazzo]

Because your new system is so much faster, you probably won't notice any Vista related problems if you do have any. I went from an 800 Mhz system to a 3.6 Gig, both running on XP. Had Vista been released before I used the new system on XP, I would have thought it was perfect as is...

 

[BlueStangGT]

Bringing this one back from the dead...

I finally pulled the trigger on ordering my system so after recycling my current DVD drives here's the tally:


Ultra Case and PS (Fry's / Outpost). . . $000.00 (AR)
Seagate SATA 300 (Fry's / Outpost). . . . 59.99
Gigabyte GA-M57-SLI (NewEgg) . . .... . . 84.99
2 Gig Crucial 6400 (NewEgg). . .... ... . . .64.99 (AR)
EVGA 7300GT Vid Card (NewEgg). . ..... . 51.99 (AR)
Athlon 64 X2 4000 Brisbane (NewEgg). ... 69.99
Shipping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 5.22
Grand Total (AR & Shipping). . . . . .. . . $337.17

 

[HEMI6point1]

$338? That's not bad at all!

 

[BlueStangGT]

$338? That's not bad at all!

Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. I just kept waiting around until the $$$ and the performance level matched what I wanted. I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I start putting the thing together.

 

[HEMI6point1]

What O/S are you going to use?

 

[willy]

Good stuff, Tom..ya did good.

I would still suggest XP Pro at this point.

There is nothing to be gained by running Vista..other than wasting all that memory on eye candy..

 

[HEMI6point1]

I actually have all that eye candy turned off, I have mine set to the "classic" look, boots up a lot faster.

 

[.]

Ultra Case and PS (Fry's / Outpost). . . $000.00 (AR)

Which model case? I've got an Ultra Grid case that I used for a while. For the price I paid at the time (with power supply) I was really happy with it. I changed to an Antec P180B a couple months ago and I like it because it's quiter.

 

[BlueStangGT]

Good stuff, Tom..ya did good.

I would still suggest XP Pro at this point.

There is nothing to be gained by running Vista..other than wasting all that memory on eye candy..

What I'm currently running (and am licensed for) is XP Home, really no need for Pro for this one. I've got networked XP Pro boxes at work but can't find any good reason to pony up the dough for that OS at home. I've got a pre-paid Vista upgrade disk for one of the XP Pro boxes at work but it's only got 1 gig of RAM so I've been a little hesitant to load it up.

Which model case? I've got an Ultra Grid case that I used for a while. For the price I paid at the time (with power supply) I was really happy with it. I changed to an Antec P180B a couple months ago and I like it because it's quiter.

It's an Ultra Wizard steel case and a 500w PS. The rebates came through no prob and I literally ended up with zero $$$ dollars in 'em. Even the shipping was free.

 

[ProStockJunkie]

but I have heard that PC's are FAR more seceptable to Viruses and Hackers.

Around here, they say that is because so few people use Mac's.

For those who use graphics, I understand they are far superior to PCs however.