Just needing the following upgrades, was wondering if it was any good. I dont need some "omg wtf 1337 yo' computer, jsut one that can run css and hl2 games. Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813188008 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16819103741 VideoCard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130056 Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820145153 Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16835192009
My suggestion: go for C2D (you had to know that was coming.) Your total at that build: $672 Lets see what I can whip up. The E'6300 can easily beat the processor. Did I mention it's only $20 more? Processor: $189 Intel Core 2 Duo E'6300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16819115005 You don't need to spend nearly that much to get a quality motherboard. Motherboard $104 Biostar TForcePT 965 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813138037 (Albiet not the BEST overclocking board, but I got a decent overclock to 365 Bus. Just a suggestion: do not use Biostar's Bios Updater, do yourself a favour and do it correctly via DOS. If you want RAID, I'd suggest a different board.) For memory, I would suggest 2GB. With your money saved from the different motherboard (and a little more chipped in), you can get the same model, except 2x (with mail in rebate). Memory: $277; $40 MIR Corsair XMS 2x 1GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820145034 My Total: $746 (minus $40, makes it seem better ) Also, what is your current Power Supply. If is an old craptastic one, drop the memory I suggested, stick to 1GB, and get a new PSU.
either way you go i think u need more then 1gb of ram, also idk about that video card never owned any evga stuff, plus that card only has 256mb of ram on it, i think you would be happier with a 512 card in the same series (7900+)
get an x1900GT for around the same price, it's overall rmeo powerfull at stock offers marginally better image quality and OCs better. it's also aroudnt he same price. unless you want to use and abuse evga's stepup program which if that's the case the 7900GS is not a bad card at all. also go c2d and w/ that biostar board and the only reason john get's such a low FSB is because he doesn't know how to use and abuse it heh... or at the very least hardly got a chance to before a bad BIOS flash.
well it does, but only at fairly high resolutions, don't even worry, 256mb is fine to around 1600*1200 or so. for the record i do overexagerate the VRAM is useless thing, but really memory bandwidth>memory capacity when gaming. the reason i emphasise it so much is the cards peopel look to buy are the cheapest 512mb cards. like an x1300. These cards will never use past 128mb in most scenarios as they siply won't have enough power in them to play at the levels that need the memory.
Well like I said it doesn't have the be the best comp, just one that can run hl2 games. I was pretty happy with the mobo and cpu I picked out and what I mainly look at is the average amount of bad reviews to good reviews. That Biostar doesn't look so hot review wise. Unless you guys want to pick whole new ---- out for me under $710, imma stick with this
I wouldn't always trust those Newegg reviews: often you find that the majority people who have reviewed the product are those who have received faulty parts or are particularly annoyed with it. (Not always, of course ). If you want to stay under budget then stick with John's parts but go with 1Gb of RAM instead. That leaves you with around $100 spare to keep or spend on PSU, better components etc.
I have the motherboard, it works just fine. Those reviews on there are retarded, most of the time there is a bad review it is some one whining that there is no RAID, or there is not enough PATA slots, or the 20/24 pin ATX cord is in a bad location; they're all nonscense bull---- considering in the specsheet and in the pictures they should already know what the ---- they are getting.
in reality, if two motherbaords are running at the same settings and both are stabel the diference between the two while gaming or running benchmarks is VERY small. also here is a better heatsink. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16835185037 onyl con to it is it has a hardtime fitting in some motherbaords(should fint in that biostar board though, John has a cythe ninja in his and tha'ts bigger)