Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

See topic. I need a new PC for my gaming needs and have a budget of about 1300 $ (1050 €).

What i want

CPU: Core2Duo, E6600
HD: 250 GB ?
Ram: 2 GB
Drives: 1x DVD-Burner from LG ? No lightscribe
Sound: want serious sound something like Audigy 2 ? NO onboard.
Graphics: 7900 GT or X1900 (?)

There you go !

thanks !

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

That E6600 processor seems a little expensive... 400 dollars on newegg. Plus it seems to be consistently out of stock.


Asus Geforce 7900GT for 306.99$.

250GB Harddrive for 72.99$.

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 for only 64.00$.

That's all I have so far, still needs the case, RAM, CD drives, motherboard, and processor. But we're only up to about 450$ so far.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Continued... I'm used to AMD so I'm using that.

Micro ATX AMD Motherboard for 84 dollars. It has onboard audio, but couldn't find a board that doesn't have onboard audio. But you can just disable that and the onboard video in the BIOS, having a backup in case your sound card or video card isn't working.
CORSAIR 2 x 1 GB memory for 219$. Fairly fast, and probally good for gaming since that seems like what you're going to use it for.(Also with 40 dollar mail-in rebate!)

About 600$ left to spend on stuff... let's go with the case, CD drives, and power supply next.

COOLER MASTER aluminum case for 46 dollars. Fans not included, though, so need to buy those seperatly. Nice and small, so should be easy to carry this to any LAN parties, and Fyron will like that it's not a very flashy case...

Evercool 120 mm fan for 10 dollars, which is for the front.

Evercool 80 mm fan for 20 dollars for both fans, still superquiet. Plus, non-flashy.

Continuing in another post....

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Continuing...

450W MicroATX power supply for all your power needs. Definintly should power everything you got in that tiny box. People have given feedback with heat issues, but from reading the other descriptions of power supplies it seems like you just need good ventilation. Which you should have. 66 dollars.

AMD Athlon 64 4600+ Dual Core for 266$.Some newer games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion supposed threading, plus this processor is fast enough that you won't have to buy a new one for quite a while, I think.
LITE-ON 16x DVD burner, black. 33 dollars, but not a LG item. Still looks good, though.

Up to 1147.98 or so so far... now the monitor!

Widescreeen LCD with DVI connectors for 183 dollars. Along with a 5ms response time, and 1440x900 resolution.

Okay, we're about 30 dollars over... but it would be nice to have surround sound for your games, wouldn't it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Creative 7.1 Speakers for 86 dollars. No wall mounts, though, so might have to buy those seperatly or place them on bookshelves. Or if you want you could just headphones or your old speakers.

And for tying up all the cables in your computer...

Generic cable ties for 9.49. The case reviews recommend tying down the cables, so you'd probally want this.

Without the speakers, this system costs 1340.47, which is around your budget. With the speakers, it's 1426.47 dollars, 126.47 over your budget, but you get 7.1 surround sound.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Check out this article:

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/...ide-200606.ars

Sound: want serious sound something like Audigy 2 ? NO onboard.

Serious sound is not anything from Creative. Something based on the Envy24 chipset, such as the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 (or 7.1) will get you much higher quality sound. There is also the Chaintech AV710 for the budget consumer.

Serious speakers are not computer speakers at all, much less Creative ones... For good speakers, you need to veer away from the stuff made for PCs and get actual stereo speakers (and an amplifier). But that can be pricey... At the least, try to stay away from Creative.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Question is how long are you going to keep the system before upgrading any components. Using that, plus the knowledge that coming in right behind the technology curve will still produce good, lasting performance, will save you hundreds. Obviously the mobo/cpu are more labor-intensive to upgrade so you may want to go as high as reasonable with those, but dropping memory and video card down a notch or two will yield substantial savings.

Also, go with a CRT. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Nah, LCD has better picture quality, and blacks can really be black if you have the brightness and contrast at the right settings. Black for me is acutally pitch black.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Just make sure you always view it at the same angle.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

I'd stay away from LCD and go CRT. After all, you'll get something a 21" CRT for the price of a 17" LCD. To me, that matters more than some indistinguishable inprovement in color quality.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

There's also reductions to glare/eye strain as well with LCDs.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

I will sell you my P75 for $1,199.00 if your interested. It comes equiped with a blazing fast 850 meg hard drive, 4 mg matrox video card, and a whopping 8 megs of ram. This baby is so hot that it can play Doom and Dark Forces lickidy split. It comes with a 14" 200 pound monitor, an ACER key board and mouse, and two desk top speakers. This is one damn fine machine and is a real bargin for the price being asked.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

A good site to look for computer components in addition to Newegg is www.tigerdirect.com

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

I have seen better jokes from you, AC :p

thanks so far

Fyron: When i stated "serious" sound, i meant serious sound compared to the onboard sound i had for the last 8 years :p
ty though

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

It's not just color, LCDs at it's natural resolution has perfect geometry. Plus that LCD screen uses a digital connection instead of an analog connection, so that means better picture quality, and that you never have to adjust the geometry. I think.

Great quality without having to adjust any settings except contrast and geometry.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Also a fixed resolution- if you need to go outside the native resolution the quality drops. If the new resolution isn't a multiple of the old, it drops even farther.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

You have just enough money to get a 17" iMac.

If you want to play games, you'll have to spring for your own copy of Windows (unless you have a spare Windows CD laying around), but the iMac has almost everything you're looking for.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

And how much does a LCD that runs natively at 1600x1200 cost? $800? $1000? No thanks! Kids, just say no to LCD! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Dont be fooled, buddy. You can get much better PC equivalents than what you get with that iMac; 512mb RAM!? At least I thought it was 2006 and not 2001 still. The X1600 card isn't that shnazzy.

Saw a $300 20" LCD on sale at NewEgg the other day, it hasn't been that much for 16x12 for a few years. For me at least, it's worth not having 40lbs and several square feet of desk space eaten. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Until Core 2 Duo and motherboard prices descend from the stratosphere, the smart money is on AMD. The even smarter money is waiting until Sept or October for the video card. ATI will be dropping mid-life cycle product refreshes this month or next, and it's almost a gaurentee that NVIDIA will slap them with the G80; codename for their next-generation DX10 based card. Wait a few weeks after release and pick up the mid-range version, you'll be set for a solid couple years at 16x12.

Regarding dropping resolutions on 16x12, even low-mid range cards these days can power 16x12 with a lot of eye candy off, sometimes even higher res than that.. a modern new card wont have to drop res for any game coming out in the next few years, therefore thankfully meaning people with LCDs wont have to leave native resolutions.

X2 3800+ is only $147 and 2.4 to 2.5ghz on air isn't uncommon. Some very, very lucky souls get 2.7-3.0ghz with water. 7900GT is a deal currently if you can't wait for G80. ATI's AMD chipsets I know are solid, I'm using an ASUS deluxe board now, nForce5 if its on the market couldn't be bad.

No matter what you do.. avoid P4's as if they were the plague and you'll end up okay. $1300 is enough for a monster rig if you do it right, even enough to play with watercooling ($100 DIY kits out there).

Oh, and no mention of a PSU anywhere?! tsk tsk. Use the one that comes with your case as a paperweight and go get yourself a manly PSU that'll feed smooth juice to your parts for years. Running a Seasonic S-12 600w myself, its silent, dual 120mm fans. PCPerspective.com for any PSU you consider purchasing; hands down the best PSU reviews there. Do yourself a favor and dont stray from the "80%" and above efficiency club; efficiency translates in to a lower light bill, cooler room, and less noise. Don't get one of those fancy ones where you can disconnect cords if you plan to cast three sails to the wind and OC like mad, but if you dont plan on maximum OC, then they're awesome for cable management!

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Try www.KREX.COM they have reasonable prices and they deliver. I just purchased a desktop P4 3GigHz 2Gig RAM, ~$780) from them and it comes with everything you need (Onboard Video, DVD recorder) to get started. You can always upgrade at a later time with some of the other options, and use your current installation disk for the OS(-$90). Try Yahoo shopping for a monitor. I picked up a 21" Viewsonic LCD for $535 so for a total cost of $1315. I picked it up as I live in the area. Shipping will be extra. Check it out, you have nothing to lose. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Wrong.

Widescreen LCD for only $284.99.

1600x1200 LCD for $294.99 after the mail-in rebate.

Both are 20 inch monitors. The 1600x1200 one has a response time of 5ms. There are other monitors like that for about four hundred dollars. Fyron, your shopping skills need work.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

You know, I was being sarcastic... Compare that to like $60 for a good used CRT.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Compare that also to the CRT being huge, bulky, having to mess with the settings to get just the right picture... Plus CRTs tend to not have DVI inputs.

While a LCD screen you can just install, set the brightness and contrast once, and you're done. Not to mention you can't get any better picture quality than with a LCD screen.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

I've seen plenty of CRTs with better picture quality than LCDs. With a CRT, you just adjust the settings once and it is done... The CRT will remember them for various resolution settings. Who needs DVI? It's not like it is actually better than VGA in any meaningful way (for non-gigantic, non-HD displays). Digital != better.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

It may be better if you actually like to play video games with the best graphics possible. The LCD vs CRT debate is mostly preference I suppose.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

CRT's do give slightly better quality for fewer dollars but for me, the desk real estate is a big issue. With CRT's 19" and up, space is a problem IMO. To me, LCD is worth it and the quality difference is negligible.

I don't like spending more money for an LCD but in terms of my overall PC budget, going to an LCD vs. CRT is only about 5-10% more money overall when comparing *new* equipment. Yes, you can get good deals on CRT refeurbs and such but if you look, you can find refurbs and used LCDs as well.

</$.02>

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Okay for spamming the entire thread with OT stuff about a DAMN screen. Something more about the actual SUBJECT may be nice.

Thanks go out to those that already supplied REAL help.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Monitors are part of "new computers," so I fail to see how it is OT or spam...

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Already gave help, in the form of everything you need for a top of the line computer at the beginning, some assembly required. I could look for some alternate stuff if you want, I don't mind searching for computer parts.

Besides, I can imagine in my head it's me that's ordering those parts. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Fyron, sorry, but from my defination a PC (topic) is the bare machine itself, without any peripherie (mouse, speakers etc) and without a screen. Same goes for scanner/printer, obviously.
Just the bare thing.


NullAshton: Yes, thanks for your help. Im still wondering if i should buy a 7900GT or a X1900XT though.
Plus i really want a E6600. Would you mind reconsidering your suggestions, granted the E6600 is a MUST ?

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

Personally, I'd go with the 7900GT Ragnarok-X. I've never had any difficulties whatsoever with Nvidia cards (I've had my current card, a 6600GT, for a year now with no problems at all), and from what I've read, Nvidia cards are slightly better than ATI when it comes to driver difficulties and compatability.

Re: Experts here, i need a new PC, budget: 1300 $
 

One up, since i will probably decide within the next few days.