Thread: Help me build my new system :)

Checked my monitor's specs on the site and it did say 1280x1024 native. Guess I had it wrong for some reason. I'll have to see what my desktop resolution is when I get back home; I know I'm running native resolution there.

Made some major changes to the wishlist here, namely all of the parts except the HD have been changed. Will be using a Thermaltake 430W PSU in a Coolermaster case now; price is about the same overall. Was recommended an EVGA nVidia card (main reason I didn't go with nVidia from the start was I don't know any nVidia manufacturers besides BFG), and made some upgrades all around for about $50 more overall. Going with Corsair RAM on recommendation (friend of mine has used 16 sticks in various systems he's built with no issues), though I still think the Mushkin RAM with its blue heat spreaders is much, much prettier :P

I don't see the need for a 500W PSU right now simply because I don't think that the stuff I'll be running will require that much juice. Maybe if I get a second 8600 and run them in SLI, or add two or three more drives I'll need that much, but I'm pretty sure a 430W can handle everything I'll be running with plenty to spare. Saves on electricity, too.

We're going with a 4800+ (here) right now. The 5000+ looks pretty sexy, but it doesn't come with a fan+heatsink combo, and a proper combo would make it cost too much for my current budget. I can always upgrade later.

I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. If I spend any more on this computer after building it in the next six months, it'll probably be to pop in a cheap $40 sound card and maybe some new 2.1 speakers.

With the exception of gas, things seem to be getting cheaper, not more expensive.

Oh, shipping is certainly more expensive and most places that previously would offer free shipping have either increased the threshold for that, or have removed it altogether - I ordered a small paperback book from Amazon today and the fuckers charged me $3.99 for standard shipping; almost 50% of the book's cost!

But if you watch prices on components that aren't top-of-the-line, you'll notice they've been going steadily down, not up.

As an aside, I decided to give my ethernet and USB ports a try for no real reason tonight, and it seems they've decided to work again. Assuming they remain working after rebooting to apply Windows updates for this month, building my new rig will become a little less urgent, probably meaning it'll be pushed back to late July or early August. Maybe prices will go down enough that getting that 5000+ with a high-quality fan+heatsink combo will be feasible

Well, I'm having a lot of heat issues with my aging 2600 XT right now, and they seem to have gotten worse from before (I thought it was the CPU that was having heat issues, but apparently it's the video.)

The damn thing idles at about 70-74 Celsius, even with the fan forced to 100%, and breaks 100 Celsius before crashing while running games (I've been using World of Warcraft to test, and I'm not doing anything but just standing around in a nearly empty area.) It's possible the fan isn't working at all, or isn't working properly - I haven't had an opportunity to check to see if it's running, because I can't hear it (it's a teeny little bastard, probably 40mm or less, so it may not make much noise to begin with.) Assuming it starts up during the computer's POST, I can power on the system while I have the case open and look there. If not, I may have to get creative

At any rate, I'm thinking it's just about ready to die, and I've been looking for upgrades to it on NewEgg. Problem is, I don't know much about video card choices anymore, since manufacturers don't seem to want to conform to numeric standards (i.e. a 2600XT is now obviously better than the 9600XT.) This is even more of a pain in the ass when comparing nVidia to ATi.

The idea is to get a card that'll fit the bill and extend the life of this beast for another few months, so that I can save up a little more money and get a good mid-range or high-end system later on (spending maybe $800 instead of $550, for example.)

What I've got right now: an old Sapphire ATi Radeon 9600 XT with 128MB RAM. ATiTool says the core clock speed is 499.50 (500MHz), and the memory clock speed is 297.00.

I'm trying to stick with reliable brands here, and selection's pretty thin. ASUS has a couple of Radeon HD boards, and Sapphire has a few as well. BFG Tech has a couple of GeForce 7000-series boards (7300GT looks like the best of the lot), but EVGA doesn't have anything particularly recent. There's a few other manufacturers like Diamond and Chaintech, but I don't know much about them.

I'll be picking up another stick of RAM assuming I can get my existing card to work - or find a replacement for it - and that'll probably bring my total up to at least 1GB or 1.5GB, depending on what size(s) it's available in. I'm running an AthlonXP 2500+ on a DFI Infinity 2 mobo (I think; it's an nForce 2 chipset at any rate) with a 350W (might be 380W, I need to check next time I have my case open) Antec PSU.

Or do you think it'd be better to just scrap the idea and use this rig as a glorified word processor until I can build a new one?