Need advice on a new rig

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

We had a storm here that wiped out both computers last month, so I'm reduced to posting from work.

I'm looking at spending $1000 max. I'll need a processor, mobo, RAM, and vid card. HDD's should still be fine, I already have a spare PSU, and I'll be reusing the Kandalf LCS case.

Fire away with your suggestions. I'm probably going to go Intel again.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

The Core 2 Duo chips are good. I have the first one... the E4300. It's faster than my P4's and runs very cool. The sweet spot for max bang for the buck is probably the E6550.

mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

Well, for what it's worth, I can recommend this combo from personal experience:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache ~$165
DFI BLOOD IRON P35-T2RL ~$110
This board is an OCing beast! No FireWire though. It's also not picky at all when it comes to memory, but I use this:
Mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 Model 996533 ~$40 AR
EVGA 640-P2-N828-A1 GeForce 8800GTS KO ~$295 AR
Not up on ATI offerings, but they likely have something comparable.

Less than $650 AR.

If you must have onboard 1394, ASUS is probably the way to go, though I can't personally recommend one.

Xal · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:18 am Post subject:

Don't bother with ATI atm. They don't have anything to compete with Nvidia as things stand and their driver support is taking a while to deal with the takeover by AMD.

Mojo's reccomendation looks good, it should be more than fast enough to make you wet yourself after using a P4 for so long

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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Hey, I'm poor........and the 2.8ghz has only been in use for a little over a year.

I'm doing some bartering, scraping together an iterim rig, until I can afford a new setup. ASRock mobo, 3.0ghz Prescott, 9800 Pro vid card, FireWire 800 card, and whatever is left working on my old rig. Probably need RAM, but that's cheap for DDR. Just need to get back online, I'm eventually gonna get in trouble for posting from work.
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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

I'll be doing Newegg credit, I don't have any real cash to burn. I was really hoping to make it another year on my old rig.............

Could be worse, I could be reduced to buying an eMachines........... Shock

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sandness · Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:50 am Post subject:

I haven't been on here in quite some time, but if you need I've got some parts I'd be willing to let go for cheap. I've got an Intel E6300, a E2160, a micro-ATX Intel DG33TL mobo, and a legit copy of Vista Home Premium. Nothing special, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case you are interested.
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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

That's "50 hours per week for 2 1/2 hears"...

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

"hears" = "years"... (I'd look a lot less stupid if posts could be edited...)

HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260