Still can't decide

[StevenNevets]

My decision over which CPU I shall buy for my new rig has switched back and fourth many times...

I have no idea which one is for me.. but here some info that may help you, help me

I am NOT an overclocker
I AM a gamer... Bf2, CS:S, Bf 2142, ect...
I am not intersted in SLI, I will probobly get the G80 in the future
My budget is pretty tight, expensive conroe mobos = bad
This is my FIRST build... the least problems the better

My other parts will most likely be <below>... might change ram though
Operating System: Windows Xp home with SP2 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102059
$87.99

Ram: OCZ Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227060
($133.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate)

Case/PSU: Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155
$99.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144415
$64.99

CD/DVD Drive: LG Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE Combo Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827136067
$25.99

Video Card: eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT CO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130283
($139.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card ? OEM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...em-details.asp?EdpNo=2164702&CatId=107
$59.99

Monitor: Acer AL1906AB / 19" / 8ms / 500:1 / SXGA 1280 x 1024 / Black / LCD Monitor
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...em-details.asp?EdpNo=1962523&CatId=170
$159.99

Keyboard: Logitech Internet Pro 967450-0403 Black 103 Normal Keys 8 Function keys Function Keys PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard ? OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126167
$14.99

Mouse: Razer KRAIT RZ01-00110100-R2ML Black 3 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Optical Mouse
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...Details.asp?EdpNo=2265232&sku=R99-1028
$29.99

Speakers: Logitech X-530 70 watts 5.1 Speaker - OEM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...em-details.asp?EdpNo=1068238&CatId=492
$49.99
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My question realy is what would be a better price/performance deal given my situation and the other parts I plan on buying

 

[broly8877]

Drop the sound card, get a better monitor.
Onboard is just fine, the $50 5.1's show you're not exactly an audiophile.

E6300 would be optimal, but going that route would be $90-120 more than a nice X2 3800+ and MB.
The E6300's performance is along the lines of a mid/high-end X2... so decide whether it's worth it or not.

 

[Duvie]

what mobo are you looking at...Most conroe mobos shortt of Ass-rock seem very expensive at this point...Any savings in the conroe may be lost in the mobo price...

 

[StevenNevets]

I don't care tooo much for sound bit I'd prefer to run Bf2 on high... kinda figured sense I want a high sound setting I should get a sound card to take the load off of the CPU..

Whats wrong with the monitor? its a real quesiton, not saying I don't agree... seemed to be ge good and is very cheap for a 19"
__

Thats another thing, I'm still deciding on a mobo.. looking for whatever is cheap in price, decent quality... same as the CPU

 

[CyborgNinja117]

conroe will be a better buy. as they said, drop sound card and get a better monitor, or put ur money on a good conroe mobo like the gigabyte one.

 

[lopri]

Go for a 1680x1050 instead of 1280x1024. The difference will be night and day. Besides, monitors are often considered more or less a durable, long-term investment. (not like video cards)

 

[broly8877]

That LCD is VGA-only... look for a DVI capable monitor, preferably widescreen.

And there's little difference in CPU load between modern onboard and the A2ZS.

For AM2, M2N-SLI.
You get a lot for $130... a similar Intel board is probably $200+

 

[akshayt]

1) Don't drop the sound card
a) better sound, much better normally than onbaord
b) more fps
don't drop the sound card

2) If you pair both Amd and Intel with good mobos and equivalent ram, Intel with 667 or higher, than Intel will hands down beat your Amd.
X2 3800, in fact feel free to compare E6300 with 4200 or even 4400 or even up.

 

[zsdersw]

Gigabyte's mATX P965 motherboard is supposed to cost around $120. It's what I plan on getting... or the mATX version of Asus's upcoming P5B.

 

[A554SS1N]

I'm having similar dilemmas swapping back and forth in choice - for me, I have a maximum budget, so I will not go any higher than that (yeah, maybe a tiny amount, but that's all). The killer for me at the moment is that the Conroe motherboards are just too pricey, and would send me around £60 (UK) over my budget, but then it's all depending on how much the X2's get lowered by pricecuts whether I can go with AMD anyway - if the 50% cut figure is true to it's word, then I'll probably go with AMD, mainly because of my budget - I'm looking at a minimum of 4200+ X2 though, which is the kind of performance level I'm after - the mega performance of the E6300 would only be a bonus if it fits my budget. Fingers crossed I can get a decent dually for my small budget!

 

[Malikhan]

I've been eyeballing my next system upgrade as well and I've been flipping back and forth too.
Right now it's jsut waiting for conroe to release and waiting for mobo's to come out that I can actually stand.
I'm an Epox fan, sue me.

 

[akshayt]

I would suggest against micro atx, cards like 1900xtx may not be able to fit in

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: akshayt
1) Don't drop the sound card
a) better sound, much better normally than onbaord
b) more fps
don't drop the sound card

Drop the soundcard. On-board audio isn't what it was a couple of years ago - All mainstream mid-high end motherboards today have HD Audio and the Quality is pretty damn great and discrete soundcards really don't lower your CPU usage much. Use that $60 from the sound card to step up to a 7900GT. THAT will be a much better route.

Don't skimp on a motherboard - never ever do this. Most PC headaches revolve around motherboards - get one from a reputed Tier 1 manufacturer, preferably one of their mid-end offerings.

And dude, dump that $25 DVD Combo drive...spring for an extra $10 bucks and get a DVD+-RW drive from BenQ, NEC, Lite-On or Samsung. There are $40 DVD drives with support for Lightscribe, Dual Layer and even DVD-RAM.

Originally posted by: akshayt
I would suggest against micro atx, cards like 1900xtx may not be able to fit in

He's already mentioned he's on a budget and stepping up from a 7600GT to an X1900XT might be out of the question (more than twice the price). But yeah...I don't like micro-ATX myself.

 

[theteamaqua]

with bigtypohoon and swap its crappy 120mm fan with a silver stone 110CFM 120mm fan. u can prolly oc E6300 all the way to 2.8, 2.9GHz

 

[StevenNevets]

guys come over to this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1891150&enterthread=y