Hello all, I am selling my current computer to my brother, and I am going to build a new AMD machine. I am not a huge gamer, maybe twice a week, but I want a system that will run BF2 and upcoming games well. I am not going all out on a 2000$ computer, just a reliable gaming machine. I have been thinking about Performance/Price ratio, and have chosen between the 3200+, 3400+, 3500+. I am not a big overclocker so keep that in mind! I have not yet decided on which Brand/Type of motherboard to get. Is SLI neccessary for the type of computer I want? I have read very good reviews on the Asus SLI Deluxe board, but it is also $160, which puts a dent in the budget. I have also heard good reviews on the Abit boards, and MSI boards. Any suggestions on boards would be appreciated. I was thinking about a 6600gt video card or a 6800 vanilla card (PCI-e) because my AGP 6800 is doing nicely. I belive I am going to keep my 80GB Western Digital Hardrive, because my brother has a hardrive he will put in it. My Thermaltake 480W hardrive is doing very well, but I will be selling it, so should I get the same one? I just need some advice/suggestions on this purchase. Thank you for the help! RED
For a good gaming/budget system id probably recommend the following (remember everyone this is just my opinion) AMD 3200+ ABIT NF7-S/NF7-S2G (rock solid stable) Use your AGP 6800 No less than 512MB RAM and maybe get rid of your thermaltake PSU and go for Antec True power one all this wont put a huge dent in your budget!
To play BF2 you will want ABSOLUTELY no less than 1 gig of RAM. I would also recommend an AMD Athlon 3500+. You can see my specs at left<<, I did that for around $1200, but I did have some parts laying around.
Yes, currently I am looking at the DFI Lanparty Board and the MSI K8V Neo4 SLI board. Also I am pairing it with an AMD 3500+ Venice core. Along with that, 1Gig of Corsair Pc3200(DDR400) Dual Channel kit. I am keeping my 80gig hardrive from my old system so that will save some money. Any other suggestions on the Motherboard would be helpful!
I do not want DFI, but MSI looks like a very solid board, what is the difference between the Asus A8N SLI and the Asus Deluxe SLI board. I would rather not spend the extra for the deluxe. I have read reviews saying Abit boards are rather buggy....please give opinions and reasons for your opinoins thanks!!
MSI is very bad. It is really buggy, bad support, poor performance. Stay away from them. I think the deluxe has built in Wi-fi or no fans or something. Look at it on newegg.
I believe I will go SLI for future upgrading. What do you think of this board. http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16813127207 If you have anymore recommendations, please post links directly...Thanks!!!
im getting a epox 9npa ultra.. they also make a sli board. and that board has beaten most of asus, abit and msi boards in shootouts at www.anandtech.com. as far as playing bf2, my friend has a msi neo 4 platinum (not sli) and a 7800gt vid card and 2 gig of ram and he is able to play it with everything truned up. that system cost him around $1400. but thats cause he got a X2 processor as well lol. so i dont think you need sli to play bf2, and it might also not need the 7800gt... maybe 6800gt at least... dont go for a 6600gt. :good:
That is an excellent board redneck. Epox does fine in benchmarks but it loses the war in the long run, along with MSI. He won't need SLI or a 7800. He would just need them to play it well.
SLI isn't really a that useful in the long run as the card you put in later will have to be exactly the same make and model and will have less features and punch then even the lower end cards of the future. Just get a nice card like the X800 or X800 Pro, the X800GT is also very good for the price, if you can find one. Gigabyte makes stable boards for sure, just not ones for overclocking really, but you don't need that. The only problem is they're usually fairly expensive. For ABIT go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127212
