New Gaming Computer

[masonyes]

Hopefully in 2 months I will be in the process of buliding a new gaming computer. Once I sell the 2 computers I have now I'll have about 300-350 dollars. Plus about 250 of my own money to spend. Total budget:550-600.
300 dollars for the cpu/motherboard(bare bone systems seem to be a good deal)
150 for a video card
100 dollars for ram?(Should I invest in 4 gigabytes or 8 gigabytes,total number is more important than speed)
also maybe 50-100 dollars for a creative soundcard. How good is motherboard sound now; also I have a 150 dollar logitech 2.1 sound-setup, so would that warrant buying a soundcard.

What should I buy? An intel quadcore or a phenom 2? The i7 will be to exepensive right with ddr and a new motherboard tech. Also the future is a big consideration here, my current gaming computer could play the latest games for 4 years. So I want my new computer to be capable of the same ability.
Also for the video card I'm considering a ati 4850 or a 9600gt/9800gt

The Bottomline: Best bang for the buck

[8bitCaged]

+$500 for a copy of vista
If I where you I would get a intel dualcore and not a quadcore because of the faster clock and most games don't use 4 cores so you will just have 2 cores working there ass off.
for ram just buy 4 you can all ways buy more later (save money)

[Pulsar_t]

Your speakers have analogue connectors right? Builtin audio has improved considerably and it won't make much of a difference unless you go the extra mile and buy speakers with S/PDIF input and an accompanying soundcard.

I also agree with 8bitCaged regarding Dual cores being sufficient. Unless you're doing some CAD or Photoshop design I wouldn't worry about quad cores for the time being.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cor ... ,2113.html

This article should be of great value!

[masonyes]

Thanks, but what about the future. Similar to when dual-cores came out, they were useless until serveral years later. Won't the same scenario enable quad-cores to be the next front-line of cpus, and aren't dual-cores being phased out? I don't think intel is devloping any new ones. Also what do you guys think about the phenom 2?

[marurun]

Check out the Ars Technica Budget Box system guide. Use that as a base and build from there.

[fox099]

alot of mobos even have built in spdif and optical audio out now. no point of buying a sound card these days unless you are a pro or mixing music and need a break out box. memory will not cost you 100 bucks. you can get 4gb of crucial balistix for 20 bucks right now on frys.com. dont forget about harddrive, power supply, etc. the psu will put you back maybe 80 bucks in order to adequately power a new video card! think about going modular too.

[Pulsar_t]

Thanks, but what about the future. Similar to when dual-cores came out, they were useless until serveral years later. Won't the same scenario enable quad-cores to be the next front-line of cpus, and aren't dual-cores being phased out? I don't think intel is devloping any new ones. Also what do you guys think about the phenom 2?

The first Phenom was a disappointment. Phenom II is too new to be deemed worthy of its asking price and most sites are biased and/or cheat in their benchmarking. I personally don't keep up with hardware that often so asking around on specialised forums can yield very helpful advice. As for the dual vs quad argument, you can't future-proof your PC no matter how much you splash out on its components. Game developers are beginning to get to grips with dual core CPUs and it'll be quite a while before they move to quad cores. You can always wait till the picture becomes clearer and decide between a Core i7 or a Phenom II.

It's also a myth that Intel is ceasing production of C2D processors.

[Niode]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cor ... ,2113.html

Build that.

[masonyes]

I think intel has stop devloping new models and will continue producing the current duals. Anyways I'm going with a 6660, maybe an i7 if I can get a good deal on a mobo/memory or the phenom 2, if it benchmarks better than the quadcores for the price point.
Also I'm thinking whichever package I buy, I'll do a barebones deal. Here is an example.
http://www.portatech.com/catalog/viewit ... 51&O=25461

I don't care about the motherboard or the case nor any additonal componets.
However, what about the power supply. For 2 sata hard-drives, motherboard/cpu and a video card(probaly a radeon 4850 or nvidia gta 9800/9600 gt) and no overclocking whatsoever. Is 450 watts enough power? If not, is it worth it to upgrade 30 dollars for a 600 watt?

Also should I buy 8 gigs instead of 4 gigs? Also ddr3 isn't a worthwhile investment right?

[Niode]

IT matters not what power it says on the box.

NEVER EVER skimp on PSU.

Buy the best PSU you can afford. Personally I always buy Enermax, they've never caused me a problem. Many people highly rate Sparkle and Tagan too. Have a look at them

DO NOT BUY GENERIC

Never trust the psu that comes with a case. They are nearly always rubbish things put in to make it seem better value.