PC Upgrade time

[m32001]

Time to upgrade my PC. This P4 has been running great for a long time now, and I think its time to upgrade.

Still havnt decided if I should keep this one and just build a whole new system, or sell these parts off. WIth the new house im moving into next week I will have an extra room for my office so having an extra computer for the g/f to use or whoever wouldnt be a bad idea.

Any hoot. I primarly build my PCs for my gaming pleasure. BUt I do, usually have a grip of programs running at the same time which is why I usually opt to go with the P4 - HT goodness.

Here is what im looking at thus far, with a price range of $1500-2000:

Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe - P5ND2-SLI-Deluxe - $228
Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz - P4 640 - $270.99
CORSAIR XMS 1GB DDR2 675 - XMS DDR2 675 1GB - $218
BFG Tech Geforce 7800GTX 256MB PCI-e - BFGR78256GTXOC - $619
Maxtor Diamond Max 10 250GB SATA150 - 250GB SATA150 - $120
Lite-On DVDR/CDRW Combo - SOHW-1693S Black - $46.99

Grand total so far is $1502.98 with room for a few accessories.

Now go ahead and tell me why AMD is so much better than intel and how much of a better system I can get, so that I can respond with how much I hate AMD for no apparant reason.

Anyways; can anyone recommend a good monitor for Gaming, and a nice water cooling system, preferably reasonably priced.

I have a Samsung 191T LCD which I have been gaming on for quite some time now and it works great for me, but I have noticed a lot of LCDs that look better than mine so If I can squeeze one in there with the new system that would be cool. I gotta have at least a 19" though, LCD or CRT I dont really care as long as it looks awesome, and comes in black.

ALso, please feel free to comment on the other system specs I have picked out thus far.
Thanks for any input.

[BLaZeNxXx]

You might be better off with an Intel D 820(dual core). Its faster then a 640 in multi-use applications. and its almost $40.00 cheaper then the 640. The dual core puts the 640 HT technology to shame.

[BobbinThreadbare]

I would say forget the SLI motherboard. You are only getting one graphics card anyway. Go for a intel board, it has a better disk controller, and better reputation for stability.

[Usacomp2k3]

Dell has the 2005FPW, a 20.1" Widescreen LCD for $434 here
I'd recommend that or the 2001FP, another 20.1" that does 1600x1200 for the same price.

For mostly gaming, I would agree that the a64 will net you much better performance, especially for a 7800gtx that was seen to take advantage of a faster processor.

Lets get a system for you. The cpu/mobo/ram you listed totaled $717.
$170 DFI nforce4 socket 939 motherboard
$128 OCZ PC3200 2x512mb
That leaves more than $400 for a cpu, so
$370 Socket 939 Venice A64 3800+

That totals out to $668, saving you $49.

[m32001]

You might be better off with an Intel D 820(dual core). Its faster then a 640 in multi-use applications. and its almost $40.00 cheaper then the 640. The dual core puts the 640 HT technology to shame.

I did consider one the 8xx CPUs but from reading the reviews, I see that they do not perform as well with single threaded gaming. Now like I said, I usually do have a lot of programs running but they arent very CPU intensive programs. But im going to keep doing some research on the D 8xx and maybe ill change my mind.

I would say forget the SLI motherboard. You are only getting one graphics card anyway. Go for a intel board, it has a better disk controller, and better reputation for stability.

I also considered the fact that I probably wont be getting another 7800GTX anytime soon at that price. But, in a couple years the 7800s will be down a hell of a lot in price just like the 9800Pro dropped off like crazy, and at that time Im going to wish I got the SLI board. Plus I like to have the extra overclocking features that Asus boards always offer.

Dell has the 2005FPW, a 20.1" Widescreen LCD for $434 here
I'd recommend that or the 2001FP, another 20.1" that does 1600x1200 for the same price.

For mostly gaming, I would agree that the a64 will net you much better performance, especially for a 7800gtx that was seen to take advantage of a faster processor.

Lets get a system for you. The cpu/mobo/ram you listed totaled $717.
$170 DFI nforce4 socket 939 motherboard
$128 OCZ PC3200 2x512mb
That leaves more than $400 for a cpu, so
$370 Socket 939 Venice A64 3800+

That totals out to $668, saving you $49.

Thats actually the monitor I was looking at. It looks pretty sweet, and is at a great price compared to the $620 I paid for my 19" Samsung a couple years back.

That perforamnce increase in that testing was on the FX-57: A $1000 processor. FUnny thing is I cant see myself spending $1000 on a CPU but $600on a vid card seems reasonable.

Thanks for the input everyone.

How about a nice water cooling kit?

[m32001]

Has anyone ever used one of these;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835106040
It is getting pretty good reviews on newegg from current users.

Im also looking atthis monitor:
http://www.bytesector.com/data/bs-article.asp?id=515
Which is also getting good reviews.

[Usacomp2k3]

It is getting pretty good reviews on newegg from current users.

Please don't ever let that be the basis for any decision, ever.

[m32001]

I find it funny when people say "dont let something be the basis for decision" and offer nothing else to posisbly aid in the decision.

IM looking for other reviews or people who have used water cooling.

[Starfalcon]

The problems with using reviews on newegg is that they delete all bad reviews of products...so there will be nothing but good reviews for all their products. So even if 20 people say it is junk and 1 person says it is good, you will only see the one saying it is good...the others will be gone. Not a good way to make a purchase decision...

[m32001]

Ive seen bad reviews on new egg.


Do you guys have any water cooling systems to recommend?

[LicketySplit]

Give these guys a look...just depends on how deep your pocket book is

http://dangerden.com/

[m32001]

I was actually just looking at those systems.
Not too expensive compared with the Koolance Exos 2 that I was looking at. That thing seems to be one of the best units around. But it gets close to $500 with allt he necessary accessories.