Gotta question for everyone and I hope everyone feels free to give a shout out.

My friend, after listening to me talk about the "bug" that's bitten me this past week, asked me to help advise him on building an ultimate gaming system. He said that he'll obviously use it for other desktop applications, but his priority is now gaming. Here's some Q&A's that we discussed....

1. What type of processor?
He definately wants to go with the AMD brand, but he thought the 64 would be good whereas I thought that the XP would be better. I also suggested an ATX12V board with a minimum 450 watt power supply (but may go with something bigger). I also suggested that the mobo not have a built-in ATI Radeon chipset but use the AGP slot for that. In addition, I thought maybe a mobo that uses PC2700 instead of PC2100 for the RAM (with 1G the minimum).

Also, I didn't know what kind of heat sink he should have on the board. He doesn't want a water cooled system due to any possible future problems.

2. What kind of video card?
Well, I suggested an ATI RAdeon (which he wanted, too) but I'm at a loss for which one. I imagine he's gonna want to run the digital cable into it so I thought about one of the All-in-Wonder cards (he's got broadband). I've tried to review some of the cards but it's kinda hard when all of them say that it's a perfect card for multimedia/gaming.

3. DVD/CD drives?
I imagine almost all of them are the same, but I was wondering about the "blue laser" technology and how far down the road that's going to be. Since he wants this within the next two months, red may be the only way to go. As long as a decent drive is available, I told him to use those.

4. Sound card?
I recommended one of the Audigy cards from SoundBlaster. I don't know if he wants to dish out the extra money for the Platinum Pro or even the Platinum. I do know that he wants the 7.1 surround that I just recently purchased (but have yet to use due to power supply issues). Creative Labs has a set of 7.1 surround sound speakers on sale for $100 at Circuit City (normally $130) which he likes.

5. Internal tower/lighting/fans?
He's a big, big HALO fan right now and wants to do the online thing with it. So, I was suggesting is a Xoxide Green UV Reactive Clear Case with the UV reactive fans, IDE cables, etc. I know that I've seen somewhere either a custom fan grill and/or applique that was HALO. I don't know how many UV blacklights I need on the inside of the case for it to all light up, but I imagine no more than two, right? He also thought about using a green UV paint on the power supply cover, drives, etc, but I told him that I think that having them appear "black" would enhance the overall image.


If anyone else has any ideas, suggested improvements, or know where I can find some HALO specific fan grills, appliques, etc (I came up blank with all the sites I searched), please let me know. I'm supposed to help/advise him on building this so I'll definately have pics to post once it's completed.

Thanks everyone!!!

Rob

Processor AMD 64 FX53 found here
ASUS nForce3 Pro150 Chipset Motherboard foundhere
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card found here
LiteOn Combo Drive found here
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card found here
As far as cases go you can pick ur favorite at www.xoxide.com

If you wanted to save some cash you could go with a 64 3400+ with a nforce 3 250 board or a kt800 board..

Get a new 9800 Pro 256MB and flash it to 9800XT, on the home page there is an article from Xbit Labs i think, lemme find the link for it....

edit: here ya go

http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread.php?threadid=16568

To answer your question I dont know whats in my CPU - its to small to see inside.....not that I would be able to tell whats in it if I could.

CPU =


Sorry if this offends anyone but its one of my pet peeves. CPU = processor......not the big thing that has all the drives in it, thats a case. If I read this wrong and you know what your talking about then Im sorry.

CPU
Abbreviation of central processing unit, and pronounced as separate letters. The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.

Thanks for the replies, guys!

So the vibe I'm getting is that the 64 is better than the XP for gaming?

Oh, yeah, I know what a CPU is. I just thought it was a funny play on words with the Capitol One commercial...you know, wallet=money=great cpu. No offense taken as I know co-workers who to this day talk about (in a redneck voice) "I reckon I should pick me up wonna those see pee you'se someday".

Rob

P.S.
Don't mean to offend anyone with the word redneck. Heck, I'm one myself.

Ya basically for better performance the 64bit is gonna kick the ass of the XP series chips, especially that FX-53

Yep, and be sure to check out Lateronmly's guide to All Things a64.

#3: Radeon cards/AIW cards CANNOT decode digital cable. They can only capture 125 channel analog cable (usually the first 100 channels only on cable). Future cards(1year+away) will be able to decode high-def bradcasts, but thats probably not what you're thinking of.

You'll need an audigy2 ZS series for 7.1 and at that range of card i recommend NOT using creative speakers.

Wow, just freaked my buddy out. He knew they were the 64's were expensive, but after looking at the cost of the FX53 at nearly $800, he's wondering about a good recommendation between the $100 to $200 range. It looks like the 64 Opertons are starting generally around the $150 range. Anyone know of a good AMD 64 for gaming around there?

Thing is, he's not going to be taking this to any gaming competitions. He's more of a "Yeah, this is really cool" sit at home playing PC games for enjoyment kind of guy instead of a selling the first born child to have the absolute best of the best kind of guy.

Thanks,
Rob

Eh.. I'd wait for 939s AMD CPUs at this point.

a64 3200+ is about 280 anywhere online. combine that with the asus k8v deluxe (60 refurb, 150 new) and some ram (100-300), youve got yourself a nice system.

you can get a 3000 for a tad over 220 and get a 2800+ for under 200. The 3200 is the best performance for the price.. Do not wast your time for the opterons.. They are server cpu's not gamming cpu's..

Don't know how that happened...I think I refreshed the page after hitting the back key.

Anyway, Mr. Kruta, that sounds like a really sweet setup which I'm going to recommend to my friend when I see him tomorrow. I might even dump this wild and crazy idea to mod my "pre-packaged" Sony (which is becoming very unique with the mods I'm doing...almost to the point that I should've built new) and go after this.

Thanks again everyone, and please keep the ideas coming.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I found a black UV reactive applique (12") HALO sticker that will look awesome inside the green UV reactive tower.

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by mtmanrob Thanks for the replies, guys! So the vibe I'm getting is that the 64 is better than the XP for gaming? Oh, yeah, I know what a CPU is. I just thought it was a funny play on words with the Capitol One commercial...you know, wallet=money=great cpu. No offense taken as I know co-workers who to this day talk about (in a redneck voice) "I reckon I should pick me up wonna those see pee you'se someday". Rob P.S. Don't mean to offend anyone with the word redneck. Heck, I'm one myself.

Redneck!!

what is your friend's maximum budget anyways?

Quote: Originally Posted by mtmanrob Don't mean to offend anyone with the word redneck. Heck, I'm one myself.

I'm born and raised in Florida, you aren't a redneck until you have fished Farm 13 (also known as the stick marsh) and 8-foot gators are the norm

I have a Jeff Foxworthy CD and so much of that is so true

Enko -

Not for sure what his maximum budget is as we're still researching costs of other items. Guessing I would have to say around $1500, give or take $500 each way. Doesn't answer your question, I know, but we're working on it and we'll get back to you.

J-Dogg -

If you've ever "cut hogs" and had mountain oysters for dinner...you might be a redneck. In addition, if the words "road trip" bring to mind late nights, cheap beer, and gravel roads to get to a cornfield, you might be a redneck.

I know. I've done both growing up all my life livin' in the backwoods of Illinois just north of St Louis.

Havent cut hogs but you might be mroe of a redneck than me

everyone here says deer meat is too gamey but I love me some deer stu, good stuff, although nobody can seem to cook gator tail correctly here.