Another, Building New System Advice Request

[Prtssguy]

Hmm, I'll just start by putting this vital information outthere. I don't know much about computer hardware. . Im here to get some advice on building my first computer, and I need some help. What I want out of this machine is support for current and future games for at least a few years. An investment I say!

Im currently running -
AMD Athlon XP 2.2GHz
1 GB (2x 512mb) Corsair Value Select RAM (2700)
ATI Radeon x700 PRO (AGP)
SB Audigy 2 ZS
NVIDIA nForce2 IGP 400 MHz
140 GB 2MB Cache Segate

Im shooting for at 2 gigs of ram and a better processor. Im most likely going to use the x700 in my soon to be built PC, I recently bought it. For sure going to use the sound card, but dont know what to do with the ram. Probably give it to my cousin ;x. Anyway I have about $800 max to buy make my computer.
I don't know what processor I should be looking for, and since im a novice at best im going to look for the higher GHz. As for motherboard and RAM, and again for being a novice, im going to look for a motherboard that supports a high number value like DDR 400 (PC 3200). I heard somewhere that 4 x 512MB is better than 2 x 1 GB for ram. Does the harddrive have a big impact on preformance? I always see stuff about 0 RAID and such. What about HD cache and RPM?
Again, I have at most $800 to work with (case, processor, ram, possible hd)
Oh, and why are AMD processors loved more than Intel processors if Intel gives more GHz?

 

[attack]

Hey, welcome to the forums

I'll try to answer some of your questions and then give you some advice.
For components we'll try to pic out what's best (your right with going for high supported speeds, but it's very easy to buy components which don't work together).

4x512 or 2x1gb doesn't really matter, Back in the day when the p4 just started using DDR 4x512 was better...but as far as I know that's no longer the case.

Hard drives have zero impact on performance once the game is loaded. I wouldn't mess around with RAID and such or higher end hard drives on a budget.

AMD processors are liked for gaming because they perform better in games than intel chips. Intel chips are better at encoding and stuff...most people on these forums game that's why you see AMD mentioned a lot. As for ghz...it gets complex, but basicly AMD chips get more things done per clock cycle than intel chips...intel chips do less but do it fast...different ways of doing things but both give good performance.

Now for your computer....you might want to hold onto that X700, but the card just isn't that strong.
With 800 bucks and your current computer, I'd recommend:
7900GT 300 bucks (powerhouse card, unbelieveable performance)
2x1gb of PC3200 valueRAM 140 bucks
3200+ retail 160 bucks
case up to you really figure 50 bucks
mobo EPoX EP-9NPA7I 75 bucks
psu...not up on these but 75 should get ya a good one
use current opticals, HDD and sound card....that's 800 bucks and one hell of a gaming rig

 

[Prtssguy]

thank you very much! ill check into this. ill pm you or something :x

 

[Prtssguy]

does brand of the video card matter?
what 3200+? amd 64?

 

[Bacchana1]

yeah, definitely don't do raid0

as for vid card...that is a can of worms...every brand is a little different even with the same chipset. it is all about core/ram clocks and what features they give you.

The AMD model numbers don't really mean anything, but they are semi-useful for comparing one amd chip to another. GHz means very little anymore. There are different cores, cache sizes, and sockets in the same model lines, so selecting a processor can be a little confusing.

I'm not sure how much of a hurry you are in to buy...there is always the perpetual wait for the next great thing, but AMDs new socket AM2 is going to be coming out this summer/fall, and that may be worth holding out for. What you're looking at now really isn't going to be a night/day difference from your current set up. However if you're really in a hurry your best bet is an AMD socket 939 platform, Athlon64 processor (single core for your budget), PCIx video card.

The problem is, if you want to use your current card, you have to get an AGP motherboard, and AGP is basically obsolete. I'm not really up on the current chipsets, but choose wisely when buying your motherboard as it is basically the heart of your system. You can't really do too much research here. You can learn a LOT on these forums and also places like anandtech.com.

I'd do 1gig sticks of ram too, makes it easier to upgrade in the future if you ever want to.

Get a quality psu. Sparkle/Fortron, Antec are all pretty good values. Be careful buying a case with an included power supply (unless its an antec or something like that), the included power supplies are often cheap.

Another thing...you might want to include WindowsXP (OEM is fine) in your budget. If it means you have to save up for another month...its worth it.

Also the whole Intel/AMD (clock speed efficiency) thing may flip flop in a year with the death of netburst (pentium4) and the introduction of conroe if early benchmarks mean anything...but who knows where AMD will be by then.