Since it appears you wanna build a gaming system, you might wanna consider AMD Athlon64 instead. But if you're gonna build an Intel system, get a motherboard that's based on an Intel chipset, not ATI.
The barebones that you chose is just the case, ATI motherboard, & power supply...& I highly doubt the power supply is a good one. There is no CPU included...that will have to be bought separately.
The RAM you chose is OK. I'm not all that sure about the HDD. The Deskstar used to be known as the "deathstar" because so many of them died an early death...lol.
I think you should do some more research. Give us an idea of how much you're willing to spend & what games you wanna play.
Hey Im really a newb I know how to connect the wires but thats about it
Is AMD really a much better gaming system?And Im willing to spend Near $1000
The Only reason Im not buying a whole computer is because Im only 14 and my mom wont let me get a new one. So I told here I could build one, She Agreed because she thought it would be a good experience for me
It was until Intel came out with Core 2 Duo which pretty much beats the current AMD processors hands down in 3/4 of the test.
Get an Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 processor., Intel (LGA 775) 965 chipset, 2 gigs of DDR2 800 ram, 320 gig SATA II 7200 8mb or 16mb cahce hard drive, an Nvidia 7600 along with a ATX 2.0.1 power supply.
All of this should run you around the 700-800 dollar mark.
Hitachi's are fine drives. I've built numerous PC's with them over the last few years. The "Deathstar" days are behind them. Seagate are good as well, and represent the pinnacle in reliability, but Hitachi is so close in RMA rates, they might as well be equal.
"Is AMD really a much better gaming system?"
Currently, yes. Until the Core Duo's become available (we probably can't get our hands on the until late Q3/early Q4 as Dell will buy them all up), both AMD single and dual core processors are significantly better gaming CPU's than Intels for the money.
Best bets are the Athlon 64 3700 San Diego for $109, and if you want dual core, the Athlon 64 X2 4400 for about $250.
What video card? I sure as heck wouldn't do a 6200. It's not powerful enough now to play many games that well, including FEAR and Oblivion.
I would look closely at the 7600GT, the 7900GT, and the ATI X1800XT. Of those, I think the 7900GT is probably the best bet for price, performance, and longevity, although you can't expect graphics cards to last but so long these days as better, faster ones come out so quickly.
"I told here I could build one, She Agreed because she thought it would be a good experience for me"
It is a valuable learning experience! I started building PC's in 1997, and I'm now a network engineer. I still build my own computer because I enjoy doing it.
"It was until Intel came out with Core 2 Duo which pretty much beats the current AMD processors hands down in 3/4 of the test."
Try EVERY test. Core 2 Duo's are bad to the bone.
The issue is availability. Don't expect it them to be available to people like us until Q3/early Q4. Large system builders like Dell and HP are going to buy the vast majority of the initial ones up.
"Try EVERY test. Core 2 Duo's are bad to the bone."
Well you are talking in one area Core 2 Duos don't fair as well in 64bit mode or in some cases nearly as well as they do in 32bit mode. That's where AMD 64 processors gain 10 and in some cases 15% more ground in 64bit mode on the Core 2 Duo. So the lead shrinks in that area, thus is why I said 3/4 of the time.
"If these are so good then yes I would want to get it but is it out or not?"
Like I said, you probably won't be able to get your hands on one until late Q3/early Q4. If you want to wait that long, that's your call.
"if its not out what would be the next best thing?"
Athlon 64 X2's. The X2 4400 would be the most powerful processor you can get for a reasonable price ($250). However, remember that most games don't take advantage of dual core today, but they increasingly will tomorrow. Still, you may want to consider the Athlon 64 3700 San Diego for $109. Personally, I'd try to get the X2 4400 between those two, but your call.
If your budget only allows you either the 7900GT video card OR the X2 4400, you'd be much better off with a better video card. There's a tendency for people to put way too much priority on the CPU. Graphics cards have far more effect on game performance.
Some interesting about the Core 2 Duo and that is when running single threaded apps the cpu disables one part of the multi-threaded cache and uses the cpu like a single core.
Asus Sli motherboard (Ai Lifestyle gaming) that supports pci express
ATI Radeon x300 se Hypermemory 512MB PCI-E A good video card like this with 512MB of onboard memory! WOW!! Just what we need for top end games! RIGHT? Now this setup will run BF2 great on medium, with 50-60 FPS! lol With a geforce 6600gt (only 128MB) or an ATI x800(256MB) you'll get low frame rates on these settings, meaning game play will freeze, lag and be choppy.
Video Memory is logical isn't it? The more the merrier! The better the graphics! The faster the gameplay! lol
P4 D - 2.66GHz 1024MB DDR2 RAM ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra 256MB PCI-E Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum 2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB
"ATI Radeon x300 se Hypermemory 512MB PCI-E A good video card like this with 512MB of onboard memory! WOW!! Just what we need for top end games!"
Talon,
Are you being sarcastic or are you that clueless when it comes to video cards? The X300SE is only marginally better than onboard video & is not a good gaming card. It wouldn't matter if it had 1024MB memory...the "geforce 6600gt (only 128MB) or an ATI x800(256MB)" will kick the crap out of it!
Raptors are not cost effective, and the performance increase in games is marginal. Besides, these seagate drives nearly meet their performance. Why that hard drive when you can get one >4x more capacity at about half the price?!
There's a combo deal on a Thermaltake case with that PSU, but whatever you want on a case. Just make sure it's ATX with a few places for case fans. Fill those spots up with case fans. Retail boxed CPU comes with it's own heatsink and fan.
Don't forget a DVD burner (Lite On $40), Floppy drive for emergencies or flashing BIOS, etc. ($12), an OS if you don't have one already ($90 for XP Home), and that should cover it...
"Like I said, you probably won't be able to get your hands on one until late Q3/early Q4. If you want to wait that long, that's your call."
Are we all on the same internet? AFAIK you can already get these CPUs right now (a few etailers have 'em in stock) especially the entry level E6300 & E6400, the kicker it at all is - you may have to pay about $40.00 (after shipping) over Intel's announced prices per processor.
You don't need as big an external as backup as what you have for an internal hard drive since backup software will compress the data. Would suggest using NTBackup. You can install it using your XP home CD.
There's NO WAY that PSU is a true 630W. Go back to the thermaltake I recommended earlier!
Go with the 7900GT! The video card is far more important than the processor for gaming.
Why are you jipping yourself on the hard drive? The 320gig drive I referenced to you before is faster, more reliable, and twice the capacity for less than double the price.
why buy such a processor? Its useless for gaming! sorry but its just a waste of money! go with AMD. Video card is fine if on a budget, there's really no need for a 7900GT unless youre a hardcore gamer. Motherboard, Abit is horrendous! For that kind of money, even less probably, you could buy an ASUS! And don't buy that power supply! That is an el-cheapo power supply. A normal 630W would cost $200 not $28!!! Bigger is not neccessarily better! With a generic power supply like that you could be putting your whole system at risk. Go with a normal case and a 400W power supply included like from Thermaltake. Hard disk is also barely adequate. sorry, we're not in kansas anymore, :D))pardon the bad pun. 120gig just doesnt cut it in 2006. maybe in 2003.... Be careful.
P4 D - 2.66GHz 1024MB DDR2 RAM ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce 6800 Ultra 256MB PCI-E Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum 2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB
"why buy such a processor? Its useless for gaming! sorry but its just a waste of money! go with AMD."
Talon, go look at benchmarks of the Core 2 Duo! That processor is under $200, and gives even the FX-62 a run for it's money.
I don't mean to keep nailing you, but stop trying to help people when you clearly are not up to speed on this stuff. It doesn't do any good, and it makes me feel bad when I have to tear your argument to shreds. :-/
"Video card is fine if on a budget, there's really no need for a 7900GT unless youre a hardcore gamer."
I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore gamer, and I thoroughly enjoy my 7800GT. While I don't advocate spending $300+ on a video card, the fact is the video card is far more important for game play than the processor.
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