Need help in were to start. Building a New Pc.

I used to know what was going on in the pc world but I have been out of the loop for about 2 years now and my pc is getting to old to play my games at a decent fps.

I consider my self a medium grade power gamer. I try to make a computer that will last for a around 2 years. (Upgrades as needed in the 2 years "just not major things like Mobo's or procs" if I do those I just build a new pc) I would say I would like to spend around $1500 with a max of $3000. Depending on the gain I would get for the dollar amount.

Please send any web sites or post any setups for me. I need to get back in the hardware market. I no longer know what the best combo of components is, what works together and what doesn't. List what would be the best setup and ill look into with further research if I can find a good web site for that, all my old ones closed down.

I also need to get it soon the computer I am on seems to be crashing every week or two and is getting annoying. So please any advice will help. I prefer AMD always have was think of a x2 unless you can persuade me otherwise.

Thnx a lot ahead of time. I'm starting my research today as long I I don't have to reformat my computer for the 20th time. TheQuestion.

 

Learn: http://www.anandtech.com/
Shop: http://majorgeeks.pricegrabber.com/ or http://www.newegg.com/

 

check this thread out

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=66932&highlight=building+computer

Its mostly me running my mouth off,---SO ITS A GREAT THREAD

 

Ok here is what Im looking at getting so far any feed back would be great. Im still debating about the processor if I should go FX or stick with an X2 4400 or 4800. Since the 4400 is the better deal. Also debating about starting with one graphics card. And suggestions would be appriated memory is not my cup of tea. Also input on a Dvd burner and Dvd Drive would be great.


Update Thermaltake Armor VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: VA8000BWS



Update DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR



Update XFX PVT70FUNDE Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: PVT70FUNDE


Update OCZ PowerStream OCZ600ADJ ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: OCZ600ADJ


Update AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4800CDBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA4800CDBOX


Update OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory Model OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K - Retail
Model #: OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K

Thx, Thequestion

 

what are u like rich or something....geez...yea...that will def run u about 3000 or maybe even more..the question is....do you really need all that?

 

Right now, a dual core processor is not really needed. There is not much performance gain over the single core processors unless you are running multi-threaded apps. I'd go for just a regular 64, but if you want to spend the money, go for the FX over the X2.

 

Sage words of advice. Never tear apart an old computer, to make a new one run. Why? Because when something goes wrong, it takes forever to put the old one together again, in order to talk to someone to make the new one work.

I personally suggest, buying motherboard and processor as one unit, to make sure they are compatible. I know some people can tell at a glance, but I'm not one of them, and if you aren't totally sure, that's probably less expensive.

Second, make sure that if you intend on going SLI, that the card you buy now, is compatible, so that you don't have to buy a full pair later on.

Finally, make sure that if you buy ram, it's not from the same batch/set, however they make it. This means that if there's a glitch on one stick that's the fault of the manufacturing, you've still got a good one. I got caught. I got a replacement for the bad one, but was lucky that the other was the first one from the next batch.

 

TOTALLY DISAGREE

When I buy ram I want it from the same-manufacturer,factory,batch,wafer,inline serial numbers,hell I want the same coffee stain on both ram sinks where the quality control guy tested it and when I hold them together the coffee stain matches up,be it a bad batch they both have to go back anyway,thats if you buy at least a pair which you have to to make use of dual channel on any modern motherboard,if its a good batch you have 2 perfect sticks

 

One last question who makes the best proc. fans for a AMD FX or an X2 processor. Just in case I want to OC a little. And if their are any other little extras you may think I need.

I got an extra DVD burner and DVD-ROM (IDE but oh well for now). I'm really wanting to get Windows 64 bit even though not much supports it right now, If I remember it is backwards compatible to 32 bit?

Don't think I'm going to get a floppy I cant just pull mine out of an old computer and exchange it as needed back and forth. (In other words very very rarely).

Thx TheQuestion

 

I was talking to a techie at the tiger direct store one day and I was asking him about the tube cooling system that I pasted the link to below....he said that he has an Athlon 64 at home and this thing work awesome!!!!

Here is the link to what i'm talking about....

http://support.dell.com/support/troubleshooting.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Roger