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shirschmokealot

I have a few questions as to which you recommend for gaming.
1. 350 Watt power supply is adequate(sp)?
2. Would you spend the extra $32 and go from AMD Athlon 64 3800+ to AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+? Or would you go higher than that?
3. Would you spend $9 on three extra case fans?
4. Would you spend $90 on 1GB of DDR2 800 instead of 512MB or does it not make much of a difference?
5. Would you recommend one 250 GB 7200RPM hard drive or two 80 GB 7200RPM hard drives with RAID-0?
6. Is Windows Vista better or worse for gaming?

Thanks for the help.

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blitzed_24/7

1. Go atleast 500watts for the psu.
2.Id spend the xtra 32$ but intel now eats athlon alive.
3.Yes
4.yes
5. 1 hdd.
6.Worse for gaming and it takes alot of ram to run properly, something like 700 mb.

IGemini

1. Before I answer this question, I'd need to know your computer setup. Your video card is the biggest part of this equation.
2. I'd push it a little more if the budget allows. Core 2 is very promising hardware. The lower-clocked Allendale processors are like Conroe-lite, but overclock very well, up to beating performance on the ~$1000 C2E if the motherboard allows. And it's less than 1/5 the price.
3. If case fans are an issue, a case that already has them is a great idea. I certainly didn't pay top dollar for mine, but it looks great, is sturdy, and has two 120mm fans that provide a lot of airflow. I'm crunching $40 on fans eventually since I want peak airflow (and the side LED fan is too bright )
4. Even if you weren't considering Vista, 1 GB should be the minimum if you're a gamer or multitasker. A dual-channel memory setup also makes a world of difference.
5. A lot of gamers crow about the benefit of a RAID-0 setup, but it's really the least cost-effective way of improving performance. It also doubles the fail-rate of your drives. If one goes, everything is lost.
6. This depends on the game. Based on Anandtech's recent benchmarking, the framerates are mostly the same with Direct3D games (which most run on) compared to XP, but suffer terribly with OpenGL (e.g. Quake 4). So in the pure gaming sense, I'd avoid Vista if Doom 3 engine-type games are your primary mode, but either way I'd say hold off on Vista until they do some patch work and/or DX10 technology is something you can afford at this point.

shirschmokealot

I think I'm just gonna upgrade my existing system. Do you think I should buy a new mobo or is my 939 still good? I have to check what kind of memory it uses. If it isnt DDR2 should I get a new one? I think it is DDR2 though. Newegg has a Athlon 64 4000+ for $80. And I have a PCI-E 128MB card laying around, I could use that until my birthday money. And I can use my old hard drives. If a hard drive already has windows on it can you just plug it in with a new mobo and processor and everything and it'll work? And does anyone know how good the 4000's are for overclocking? Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

Darque Pervert

For a newer system, no.
I'd go witht he X2.
Yes.
Yes. there's a noticable performance difference between 512MB and 1GB of RAM.
Single 250GB drive.
Can't say because I have no experience with it.
However, I'd pass on Vista for now, namely because it's new. A new OS will result in compatibility issues with ahrdware, legacy software, etc.

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IGemini

The only thing I can say for certain is that if you're using Socket 939, it's standard DDR. DDR2 is used on Socket AM2.

There isn't a large difference of going from 939 to AM2, and with the amount of money to spend, might as well invest in Core 2. If you're wanting to overclock, this depends on the CPU cooler and the motherboard. The 4000+ is an okay overclocker, but you won't be seeing a massive difference in performance. If you have a vendor computer, overclocking is mostly out of the question unless you do a motherboard change. I assume you're using XP, and if you change motherboards, there's a chance you'll have to reactivate Windows (not entirely sure, though), and they're pretty touchy about that. I have no idea about the video card, since that could mean anything.

Best way to get advice is to know exactly what hardware you have, how much you have/are willing to spend, and the most intensive games you want to play with the upgrades. Poke around for a program called EVEREST. The free version isn't being expanded anymore but it should be able to register your hardware and there are still free versions floating around online. Most important info are the motherboard, RAM, processor, and video card.

shirschmokealot

How about this...
Diablo Black and Silver Case with 400W PS
Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard
Intel Pentium D 830 3.0 GHz (I know, I know, but it was only $80)
Sunbeam Ceramic shaft and bearing CPU cooling fan/heatsink
Patriot 1GB PC2 6400
Nvidia GeForce 6500 256MB PCI-E

All for $488
And if I do have to reactivate Windows I'll get Windows Media center (because of the free upgrade to Vista, for a later time) and a new hard drive. So it wont be that bad if I have to.

shirschmokealot

I think I may get a 4200+ X2. I read about how you can OC it to 2.9GHz while being stable. And theyre pretty cheap right now.

IGemini

Eh...that setup wasn't a bad start, but a Pentium D on a P5W DH is a real mismatch. I assume you're looking on Newegg for these prices.

My recommendation:
Gigabyte P965-DS3 chipset
Core 2 Allendale E4300

The processor runs at 1.8GHz stock and Anandtech was able to overclock it to 3.3GHz using this same setup. And at stock power, it equals or beats the 4200+ in performance.

shirschmokealot

Frys has a refurbed HP for $500 with a Pentium D 820 and 2GB PC4200 DDR2 and a 300GB hard drive. I think it would be a good idea to get this and with my money for my birthday in may I would; get a new mobo along with PC6400, and maybe a new processor. I think this is the best idea for me because of the price.