Raymond Luxury Yacht on 28/1/2011 at 19:11

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As a follow up to the original purpose of this thread:
My 128MB GeForce 6800 is running F.E.A.R.2 just fine. Obviously the settings aren't at max, but they're not all at minimum either. SO that's a well-spent 30 bucks.

For my next setup, I wonder about video cards. For a guy who's going to run mostly older games, but wants to be able to get the newer ones, what's the best card?
I have three or four in mind, based on what I want to pay for a new computer, but I don't really know the difference, or what will do well enough for me.
My choices from which I am choosing are:
Radeon 5570, 5670, 5770
GeForce GT430, GTS 450
My Main concern is that I buy a computer that I know will be good for a long time. I don't mind spending an extra 200 dollars for a better card and more memory if I know it'll be worth it.

Also, is it better to get a Phenom 925 2.8GHz processor or the 965 3.4GHz? I know the 965 is supposed to be faster, but is the speed noticeable?
Or, is the i5 2400 3.1GHz a better bet?

lost_soul on 28/1/2011 at 23:49

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I recommend the card I posted above. Unfortunately, I think you just missed the cut-off date for the rebate. It is an overclocked GTX460 with 1 GB of memory. The core is 765 MHz and the memory is 1850, rather than the stock core of 675 MHz.

It is $179 right now and apparently they've got one left.

Renzatic on 30/1/2011 at 18:28

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The only thing you need to worry about when installing the motherboard is making sure you put the risers in. I've seen some first time people forget to do that, which results in a complete short of the mobo because it's making contact with the metal in the case. Don't forget them. To figure out where they go, lay your mobo in the case, and make sure the USB, network, and audio jacks line up with where they'll go on the back of the comp. If it's laid up properly, then every screw hole on the board will line up with a hole inside the case. Mark which ones they are, screw in the risers, lay the mobo on top of those, then screw the mobo into those.

Processors are easy. Most of the time, they'll only fit into the socket one way (DOUBLECHECK THE MANUAL TO MAKE SURE). So just pop up the little arm on the right side of the socket, pop the processor in, push down the little arm, then screw in the heatsink. Heatsinks are pretty easy to do these days. All you have to make sure of is getting the thing in there tight, but don't get so tight you crack the mobo. After that's done, plug the fan on the heatsink into it's little 2-3 pin power outlet, and you're set.

Then comes the annoying part...getting all those little case specific power dongles in the right place on your motherboard. These are for your LED lights, power and reset buttons, and USB hubs on the case. Get a good flashlight, open the manual, and prepare to check it over and over again. It's a little scary the first time, but overall it's not that hard. Just tedious.

Once you've got these done, the hardest part is pretty well behind you. After that, pop in the ram, graphics card, sound card, network card, harddrives, whatever else you've got, then lastly, the PSU.

If you've got everything in right, and you don't have any DOA parts, then it'll fire right up. Go into the bios, make sure everything looks good (you shouldn't have to do much of anything here), then install your OS.

Since this is your first time building a computer, I'll say it'll take you about 3-4 hours to slap it all together and install Windows. If you're like me, you'll be nervous as hell, all checking out the manual every step of the way, and expecting to blow something up at any given moment. Really, it's not that hard. Nowadays, I can build a computer from tearing open the boxes to first Windows bootup in about an hour.

And yeah, you can use your Dell XP disc in any computer you want. It's a good option if you want to save a bit of money, but I recommend biting the bullet and getting a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade disc for a hundred.

lost_soul on 30/1/2011 at 20:08

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Keep in mind that the motherboard I linked above does not have USB 3.0 or SATA3.

lost_soul on 30/1/2011 at 21:27

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My components were purchased for me as a gift. The relative was willing to spend $600. I went with all the stuff I listed above and a Phenom II X6 1075t because I do compiling and six cores helps.

If you're getting the case I linked above, don't bother with an extra fan. It already comes with one in the back, just above the card slots. My GTX460 idles at under 25 degrees C and everything else is nice and cool too. The system is pretty quiet, and the window on the side allows the lights on the motherboard to shine out like a night light. Of course you can turn those lights off in the BIOS if they bug you.

As for a sound card, I would at least give the on-board sound a chance before you spend more money. The audio on the board I linked above is quite good, with very little background noise and low latency performance in Linux.

USB-3 is something like 10X faster than USB-2, which all modern devices still use. Your external hard drives aren't even going to touch the speed limits of USB-3. I just fitted an E-SATA bracket in there, so I get external drive support with SATA-2 speeds for dirt cheap. SATA-2 is also faster than any mechanical hard drive as far as I know. Most of the SSDs listed online are still only SATA-2.

SATA-2 = 3 Gb/s
SATA-3 = 6 Gb/s
USB-2 = 0.48 Gb/s (aka 480 Mbps) but never even reaches this speed

When I looked at motherboards, the USB-3 boards were like $30 more than the ones with only USB-2. BUT... AMD will be releasing a new CPU socket soon and the new chips will not fit in the current AM3 motherboards. So, I got a cheaper board and I might replace it in a couple years if I need a faster CPU (unlikely) or I need USB-3) (unlikely).

Everything went together and fired up immediately without any problems. I was nurvous because the board I chose only listed quad-core support and folks said that a BIOS update may be needed for my CPU to work. The thing is 100% stable.