StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I'm working on a new computer for gaming purposes, and would welcome your recommendations on places to improve for not very much more to the price. (I only have about $120 of flexibility) There is currently only the on-Mobo soundcard, but I don't think I left anything else out.

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$139.99

Power supply:
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply - Retail
$55.99

Mother Board:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$134.99

CD/DVD:
LG 18X DVD±R Lightscribe DVD Burner Black IDE Model GSA-H44LK $31.99

Video Card:
BFG Tech BFGE86256GTSOCE GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI $219.99
Edit: this went out of stock while I was compiling the rest of my list, so alternate suggestions might be good. Or they might get another pallet in a day.

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model $113.00

RAM:
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804
$114.99

Hard drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$76.99

Monitor:
Acer AL2223Wd Black-Silver 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - $239.99

Accesories:
Mouse:
Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail
$39.99

Headphones:
eDimensional Audio FX 3.5mm/ USB Connector Circumaural Force Feedback
$34.99

Total: $1250-ish before rebates and Newegg synergy deals.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model $113.00

A Core2Duo would be much nicer imo.

I recommend a power supply from a more well-regarded brand, like Enermax, or Fortron, or Seasonic, or Tagan.

Have you considered buying an Intel processor rather than AMD?

I recommend a Seagate hard drive, if only because of the longer warranty. (Five years, as opposed to probably either three or one on that WD.) Also, if you're willing to chip in another $25, you can snag a 500GB hard drive.

Edit: this went out of stock while I was compiling the rest of my list, so alternate suggestions might be good. Or they might get another pallet in a day.

Alternatively you could get a different brand of video card? eVGA has a good reputation for their video cards.


What the fuck are "force feedback" headphones?

Can you re-use an old monitor? That's a big money-sink there. Otherwise, I'd say get a Core 2 duo, since general consensus in tests show that it's better.

Check out these articles for tips and info:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 693,00.asp
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 641,00.asp

If you do change to intel, I would recommend a P965 chipset board, I have one myself and it's stable as fuck with good performance.

I've never personally seen the point of buying a HDD based on warranty. Replacing a drive is really quite cheap, and it's not as if a warranty safeguards your data in any way. If you really care about physical data security on a HDD, get two cheapies and RAID-1 them.

Howedar wrote:I've never personally seen the point of buying a HDD based on warranty. Replacing a drive is really quite cheap, and it's not as if a warranty safeguards your data in any way. If you really care about physical data security on a HDD, get two cheapies and RAID-1 them.

I suppose the idea is that a 5-year warranty on a drive implies that it should last longer (which it may well not).

Uraniun235 wrote:What the fuck are "force feedback" headphones?

Probably headphones that produce a vibration in synch with extra bass.

Uraniun235 wrote:I recommend a power supply from a more well-regarded brand, like Enermax, or Fortron, or Seasonic, or Tagan.
...
Alternatively you could get a different brand of video card? eVGA has a good reputation for their video cards.


What the fuck are "force feedback" headphones?

I've only ever bought a couple power supplies, so I'll look up those brands. I'll also look over eVGA... graphic card manufacturers have rolled over just about %100 since I bought one of those also.

The headphones are mostly because I like having a headset-mike all in one for ventrillo type applications, and that pair seemed like the best reasonably priced option. The head rattler feature is... a minor bonus.

Hawkwings wrote:Can you re-use an old monitor? That's a big money-sink there. Otherwise, I'd say get a Core 2 duo, since general consensus in tests show that it's better.

Check out these articles for tips and info:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 693,00.asp
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 641,00.asp

My old monitor is a big fucking CRT. It's something I'll want to upgrade eventually, so I figure why not now?

I don't have my heart set on any particular processor, just thought I'd start with one of AMD's duo-cores and see how people took it.

Thanks all for the advice so far, I'll try whipping up another system tomorrow.

Sriad wrote: Mother Board:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$134.99

Is there any reason to spring for this particular board?
I personally swear by ASUS, as they've always treated me well. Some say you pay more for ASUS's reputation for reliability, and you can get just as good from other manufacturers like MSI, Abit, Gigabyte, etc. They're not wrong; I've had good experiences with all of the above as well. It's just a personal preference for me to buy ASUS all the time, if it's yours too, that's fine.

Now about the model itself, why that one? NVIDIA does make the best AMD chipsets, but there are cheaper nForce boards, and do you really need SLI?
You never double your performance with SLI, and you're almost always better off with a single better card. You can buy a 8800 GTS 320 for $280, which will do far better than 2 8600 GTSs for nearly $500. Hell, $500 is GTX country.

For example, this is almost the exact same board, same chipset, minus SLI, for $30 less.

This board I know 2 people who have, and it works fine.

Video Card:
BFG Tech BFGE86256GTSOCE GeForce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI $219.99
Edit: this went out of stock while I was compiling the rest of my list, so alternate suggestions might be good. Or they might get another pallet in a day.

I have nearly the same monitor as you, and it's great. You'll never know how you put up with a 17" CRT before.
I'm still running on my old Athlon XP 2600 with a 7600 GS AGP though, so I have to turn all the settings way down on some games.

If you like eye candy at 1680x1050, a 8800 GTS 320 is only $40 more (after rebate).

I'll second eVGA for video cards. They have a reputation for good reliability and customer satisfaction.
Other good brands, XFX or BFG.

Here is an eVGA 320 GTS for $280, or $260 after rebate.

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model $113.00

You can't go wrong either this one or the Intel equivalent E4300. The E4300 overclocks way better, if you're planning to.