Thinking of Future Computer Upgrades...
 

I just though I'd get some opinions, links and whatnot as even though I got myself a brand new graphics card Im still not satisfied... I spose its a curse of gamers, no matter how fast, its not fast enough... anyways the 2 upgrades Im planning right now is:

Right now:
New power supply as im running 300 and would prefer some more as Im pretty sure im on borderline, thinking 400-500 Watts+ more fans (during the summer she runs just to hot to game for long periods of time and Im to the point of throwing her on standby every couple of hours to cool down) and Im planning on giving her a new case since usualy you get pretty good deals if you get a Case + PS

After that:
Since Im pretty Confident on my processer right now Im gonna wait till early 2007 before I start worring about that but I wanna get some price checks ( Im a cheapskate) Right now Im running a "Amd Athlon 64 Processer 3200+, MMX, 3Dnow ~2.0 ghz" I've though about dual core but from what ive heard its a bit overpowered right now... (BTW Im guessing since the computer is only a year old that its running a 939 socket board)

As im only 16 price is always right there kicking me in the butt, and I dont have my drivers liscense yet... (not a big fan of cars, yet Im not afraid of depth charges in SHIII :hmm: ) so no job except for chores and every summer I get to be a slave and bale hay on our farm (which helped pay for my GFX card)

yes Im doing everything myself and am pretty confident with my Amateurish computer building abuilties, and I have plenty of m8s who are experts in the field.... but really who isnt these days... theres like 20 people from my old guild wars guild who builds computers....

Tiger Direct and Newegg are awesome sites, and I use them both, Tiger Direct seems to have better supply of cases while Newegg has better internals...

anyways you are now free to move about the post...


P.S. If you even suggest a cable made by intel I kick your behind into next year... (AMD FTW)

Just a tip, whenever building a computer ALWAYS wear a static strap!, even just slight movement with your feet on the carpet can create enough static to blow a motherboard. Electrical Static Discharge (ESD)

An ESD shock of 30 volts can destroy a computer circuit.

An ESD shock you can feel, such as on a doorknob, has around 3,000 volts.

An ESD shock you can see carries about 20,000 volts

Just 30 volts can ruin your day.

Got one =) :88)

I get kinda freaked about static, specially when I was working on my bros computer, and also when I was giving my comp her gfx card..... If I didnt have my computer....well deep depression would follow :P

The Beast and the Beastie (New Zealand $$ so most likely cheaper in US)

The Beast TOTAL PRICE: $12583 :o
CPU: AMD Athlon FX-57 - $1541
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe - $349
RAM: 2GB Mushkin XP Redline PC4000 - $379
COOLING: Swiftech H20-Apex Liguid cooling kit - $395
POWER: Turbo-Cool 850 SSI 850W PSU - $680
VIDEO: 2x XFX Geforce 7800GTX 512MB in SLI - $2198
SOUND: Creative X-Fi Elite Pro - $759
SPEAKERS: Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 THX - $590
OPTICAL 1: ASUS DRW-1608P2S DVD Burner - $75
OPTICAL 2: Samsung 16x DVD-ROM - $32
STORAGE: 4x Seagate 500GB SATII 7200rpm 16MB HDD - $2108
DISPLAY: Dell :hmm: 3007WPF 30" LCD Monitor - $2898
CASE LIAN-LI PC-V1100B - $395
INPUT: Logitech G5 laser Mouse and G15 Gaming kb - $184

The Beastie TOTAL PRICE: $2045
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice - $305
MOBO: DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra D - $161
RAM: 1GB OCZ Value VX BH5 - $189
PSU: Antec Smart Power 2.0 500W - $109
GRAPHICS: Sapphire ATI RADEON X800XT 256MB - $495
SPEAKERS: Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers - $89
OPTICAL: Sony 16x DVD Dual Layer Burner - $39
STORAGE: Western Digital 200GB 7200rpm SATA HDD - $121
DISPLAY: 17" Magview 8ms LCD - $295
CASE: Antec Super Lanboy Case - $122
MOUSE/KB: Logitech Deluxe KB, Razer Diamondback Plasma Mouse. - $68/$21

EDIT: mix up, was reading the wrong magazine the beast spec written up here is from the March issue not July

We used to use these back in the old days, but if you understand electricity and make sure you touch the case before you touch your board to the case, all should be good. The static strap is good if you are building computers all day one after the other though since it protects against carelessness - which will happen if you build systems day after day.

-S

Wow! I have a system that is 'beyond" your Beast, and it cost me less than half what you list! I take it New Zealand currency is worth about 50 cents on the dollar?

-S

Are you serious :o

That info i put up actually comes from Australian PCPowerplay gaming magazine they put up a beast/beastie every issue, thats their latest (July 06) Dont forget the beast has '4x' HDD and 2 Graphic cards in SLI mode, Dell 3007WPF 30" LCD Monitor. How much is the Dell 3007WPF in the US? NZ & AUS prices differ slightly, it works out a few 100 dearer for kiwis!

OMG I need to go to the US!:hmm:

Yeah - like your 7800 GTX is even out of date. My single x1900 XTX will score double what your dual 7800 GTX's do - just tested it on a friends system. I got nearly double 3dmark2006 points to his single 7800 GTX, although my dual core (Dual CPU) CPU does add to my score a bit to his single CPU. Also, a 7800 GTX over here costs about $350 where it looks like it costs over $1000 over there - OUCH! And this is for a last generation card too! The current new NVidia board is a 7900 GTX, and they even have a dual card 7950 GTX that has two of these boards sandwiched together. Anyway, there has to be a currency exchange thing going on here I think.

-S

PS. And yes - I am running multi HD's on RAID 0.

PPS. THere is a problem though - my computer has turned into a mini room heater - gets hot in my room now from its heat output!

Found it, but even then, your components are still a bit overpriced as compared to here:

1 New Zealand dollar = 0.6173 U.S. dollars

:yep: $900 - $1159 :damn: And its $350 in the US :damn: Then again isn't Geforce a US base company? Thats very cheap and worth buying. Hell i got a relation that lives in Los Angeles i should send her over some cash get her to buy "4" 7800GTX cards for $350 each, send them back to me and sell them for $900 each here. Thats 4 grand! :hmm: :lol:

Why buy old tech? Get her to send you some 7900 GTX's or x1900 XTX's and sell them for $2K each! :) Sounds like you'd be the only source in the country for those, so you might command $3K each!

-S

12 volts can ruin the day with modern 90nm fabrication. It used to be 20 volts with 180nm fab.

As for grounding yourself, I always take off my shoes and socks and rest my foot up against the computer case. If you leave the PSU plugged in, turn off the ATX switch on the back (if it's got a switch -- if not, unplug the power button from the mainboard), the case stays grounded. Simple and easy ESD prevention.

As for dual-core, it's not "overpowered" right now. Most games (like SH3) use serial threading. So if you get a dual core, you're only going to be running the game off one core, so you need to get a high-end dual core to be able to keep up with games. If you get a 2ghz dual core, each core is only running at 2ghz, and you'll be playing the game with a 2ghz processor. If you go the dual-core route, as a gamer, don't consider anything under 2.6ghz. And at that cost, you're better off getting a single processor.

There are a handful of games which are multithreaded, in which case, you can easily get by with a 1.8ghz dual core. Half-Life 2 and the Counter Strike: Source people are the ones that will truely benefit from dual-core and SLI/Crossfire systems (and a Dell 24" monitor). The Source engine can use both processors to fully load both video cards.

AI is getting so advanced, it takes more processing power than the graphics. If anything needs to be multithreaded, it needs to be the AI engines.

Add a more - Falcon Allied Force, Quake 4 and Oblivion to the dual core list. Probably most future games too.

Save for a holo-deck.