Some PC Help

[wallernotsowelsh]

Ok, for christmas i told all my relatives and friends and stuff, that i would like money to spend on a brand new shiny pc.

Then after thinking, i realised that i have a distinct lack of knowledge on the subject, so this is a request for some help on either a pre-built or a ready made machine, including speakers, keyboard, mouse, but not monitor (my council is sorting that out thanks to my dadB)).

So anyway my budget is ~£400-500, preferably closer to the first figure. Any input would be most appreciated and i will be forever in your debt.

 

Ideally, i would like something that would run half-life 2 type games, and newer ones with decent settings, thanks again.

[Dark0ne]

Check out this thread: http://mwsource.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11171

[Marxist ßastard]

Will you be upgrading this machine on a piece-by-piece basis often enough to warrant a higher price on components compatible with standards that will be used more heavily in the future?

 

Will you be using Windows on this machine exclusively? Additionally, are the majority of the games that you plan to play OpenGL or DirectX based?

 

Would it be a major concern if a component would not overclock well?

[wallernotsowelsh]

Thanks for link Dark0ne, read it, but I dont remember posting there <_<

 

@MB, I dont plan on upgrading it for a while after i have brought it, but surely with the new standards, come new adapters right? (i hope)

 

It will be used solely with windows XP, its what I got now, not sure about the open GL, or the directx question, but I checked the boxes and most of the ones I own know are directX. Some words on the open GL would be appreciated, sponges have gotta absorb knowledge, could be useful one day ^_^

 

And I have never overclocked before so I guess it wouldnt be a problem

[Marxist ßastard]

Well, the major thing to consider with regards to early adoption is CPU socket type, and its implications on what sort of chipset you'll have available. There are no bridges between different socket styles. Your options are as follows:

1. Socket 462
   This is the cheapest solution available, with decent CPU and mainboard combinations coming in at $US120 and below. However, this still relies on the x86 processor architecture, which is being depreciated, and not AMD's newer and higher-performing x86-64 architecture. The best chipset for use in a Socket 462 mainboard is the nForce 2, IMIO -- this chipset is somewhat old, and supports a single AGP 8X slot, along with a good many PCI 2.2 slots. This variety of interfaces should keep you satisfied if you keep to the R420 / NV40 series of video cards and below, and you don't plan on installing any I/O cards with high bandwidth requirements.
   
2. Socket 754
   Socket 754 CPUs offer the primary performance benefits of the x86-64 processor line, and at a cost of around $US200 for a processor and motherboard combination. Mainboards built for these processors currently use the nForce 3 series of chipsets, which offer the same sort of slots you'd find on an nForce 2 board, but with more features, such as the integrated hardware firewall available in the nForce 3 250 Gb. Both the nForce 4 and ATi Xpress chipsets will have socket 754 variations available soon, bringing PCI Express support with them. However, IIRC, the socket 754 versions of these chipsets will not support SLI (which is discussed in the Socket 939 section), and thus the only practical applications of the PCI Express capabilities in these boards will be using PCI Express PC cards, which, outside the realm of video cards, are still far off.
   
3. Socket 939
   A socket 939 motherboard and CPU combination will cost $US250+. Socker 939 CPUs are the current top performers as far as gaming rigs go, and the 939-pin CPUs are going to be manufactured far longer than their 754-pin counterparts, making this the obvious choice if future-proofing is a high priority for you. In addition to having better performance and being compatible with processors of the future, the nForce 4 SLI chipset is going to be produced for motherboards with this socket style. SLI will enable you to use two nVidia NV4x and above cards at the same time, granting large increases in performance. This means that if you buy a GF6800GT for use in this machine, and, some time in the future, you desire better performance, you can just slip in another 6800GT instead of getting an entirely new video card.
   

Note that there are no current motherboards offering PCI Express for the AMD platform, and that the nForce 4 chipset -- particularly the SLI-capable version of the chipset -- will come with a sharp increase in mainboard price. PCI-E motherboards for AMD processors are expected in the first quarter of 2005.

[wallernotsowelsh]

Ok, it was written decently, but i have no clue what any of it meant :( thanks anyway