Need new computer, got some questions

[grimreep3r]

I am going to get a new computer. The one I have currently I built with pieces and parts. Now I am currently looking at both kit built and pre-built. My current PC has 2 IDE 250G HD's, 1 CD R/W, 1 DVD ROM, Nvidia Gforce 6600 card 128M , 512M ram, and Pentium 4 processor 2.66Ghz. Also running XP SP2.

My main questions are these?

Intel or AMD? I was looking at the AMD X2 5000, or the Intel 2.2GHz Duo. Any suggestions? My last CPU was AMD and I have no preference either way.

Onboard or seperate video card? I don't game heavily, mostly FS X.

Have been looking at the Dell and HP along with the other kit sites.

Any suggestions would be great.

 

[sutahz]

Whats your budget? Though it almost always comes down to Intel. Any/98% of modern mobo's only have 1 IDE header so you'll have to decide which 2 of those 4 you want to keep (can also buy IDE->SATA converters). Of course replacing both opitcal drives w/ a combo drive is a sound choice (make it sata and you can keep both your hdds).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..._X#System_requirements
What resolution do you game at? Off the top of my head I'll suggest 3850, 8800GT 256MB. Intel CPU's OC very well. Some lower end ones OC 100% I've read.
You won't be able to OC a pre-built (in general, unless lots has changed), but then again... too many variables right now... Do you want the 'hassle' of building your own rig (I've heard that complaint a few times).

 

[cozumel]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Intel is outperforming AMD currently and probably will be for next year. So I recommend an Intel based system.

As far as graphics is concerned an IGP board will always be outperformed by a board that does not have video on-board. But it would all depend on your budget and exactly what your requirements are. You only said you don't game much but haven't said what you will be doing and what your future uses / upgrades may be.

 

[thebeyonder]

I recently was looking at the same thing. OEM or home brew? it seems if you go with the low end base model OEM, they got you beat on price every time. midrange and up, looks like you could build it yourself but you get a free OS. that's the only thing you save on $$.

the difference being, you get exactly what you want when you build it yourself. and you can spend more $$ and get nicer parts that light up if you want.

AMD vs. Intel? if you're not a gamer, performance isn't that much of a consideration. I think AMD is still a better bargain, especially when it comes to the top end CPU's, even if they don't perform as good as an Intel. my strategy was to start off with a low end AMD and later on when the cost of something like a 6000+ comes down later on, I can get one of those for cheap. try doing that with an Intel. you'll still pay out the nose because they'll still be relatively expensive.

I'd recommend building it yourself, and get a socket AM2 motherboard.

 

[grimreep3r]

Thanx for all the suggestions.

As for the resolution of my games, I would like to max out resolution for Flight Sim X. Other than that, the other game I last seriously played was Half Life 2 and it seemed to run pretty good on my current machine.

My budget is somewhere in the range of $500 to $800.

Otherwise, my machine is just a daily home use machine, email, web browsing homework for the kids and their games.

The OS was one of the reasons I thought about going with pre-built, but was not sure if it wa worthwhile to upgrade to Vista or not.

Thanx!

 

[grimreep3r]

As far as graphics is concerned an IGP board will always be outperformed by a board that does not have video on-board.

Not sure what you meant by this statement.

G

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: grimreep3r

As far as graphics is concerned an IGP board will always be outperformed by a board that does not have video on-board.

Not sure what you meant by this statement.

G

IGP is Integrated Graphics Processor. Any motherboard's integrated video chip will be outperformed by a separate video card.

 

[grimreep3r]

How about this from NewEgg

Biostar Tforce TF520-A2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Brisbane
G.Skill 2GB SDRAM
Asus EN8500GT 512M GeForce

Thanx!

 

[MegaVovaN]

Do not buy 8500GT it's crap for gaming. And SDRAM you sure that's DDR2 RAM?

 

[grimreep3r]

Yeah I am certain it's DDR2 memory.

Thanx.