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[jtardiou]

uh why is it cheaper ...

and for the E4400, will i be able to oc with the stock heatsink or what not?

edit: ok its settled, getting the e6750, thank you sir

ok now ive got everything setup except the video card.

I've got these in Mind..

Radeon X1950PRO 512MB -- 189$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131055

Or would this be better? --
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161082

8800 GTS 640mb -- 340$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127280

Is this worth the money? Or is it overpriced because of novelty? Is the price proportional to its strength is what im asking

Radeon X1950XT 256MB -- 260$

 

[RumFore]

The days of a PC costing over $1000 to give you a nice gaming settup is over IMO. These days a nice gaming system can be had for as little as $600 and even less if you have left over parts. Whats holding many back from upgrading these days is fear more than cost. Some just refuse to learn how to build a PC and instead buy already built PC for the same cost they can build one with much better parts.

And one thing for first time builders should keep in mind is to get a good case, psu, hard drive and CD/DVD drive as these are parts than can easily be carried over in a new build. Also if your not a overclocker do not invest in expensive motherboards and ram.


A more than capable midrange system. I can vouch for the quality of many of these parts.

 

[bee]

personally i'd go with the e2180 cpu pretty sure they're all using the newer M0 core revision and all are pretty much guarenteed to hit 3ghz with stock volts not bad for a £50 chip.

 

[jtardiou]

what do you guys think? i am completely clueless about mobos and just picked a recommended one

what about widescreen monitors? is that good for gaming?

i dont think the final price considers the mail in rebate, i think its about 100$ MIR

Also this case, which is not on zzf. Click But I dont want to dish in 20$ for shipping when www.zipzoomfly.com provides free shipping. Does anyone know of a good case that is on ZZF.com? (they provide free shipping). I'm looking for a very standard solid case for cheap. I don't care for disco lights or what not. Looking for solid functional case for cheap.

Case search on ZZF:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ThirdCategoryList.jsp?SecondCategoryCode=1102

 

[larvi]

uh why is it cheaper ...

and for the E4400, will i be able to oc with the stock heatsink or what not?

edit: ok its settled, getting the e6750, thank you sir

ok now ive got everything setup except the video card.

I've got these in Mind..

Radeon X1950PRO 512MB -- 189$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131055

Or would this be better? --
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161082

8800 GTS 640mb -- 340$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127280

Is this worth the money? Or is it overpriced because of novelty? Is the price proportional to its strength is what im asking

Radeon X1950XT 256MB -- 260$

Here's another option for a X1950pro 512mb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131055
And use promo code EMC1004VGA01 for another $20 off. Final price $129.99 after $40MIR

 

[JavaMava]

I just looked at OP's post.

Man that is amazing what you guys have done. I'm going to buy a new PC when spore eventually releases. You think you'll update this thread or make another for that?

 

[Draft]

This topic is going to be pretty interesting in a month. It really looks like both ATI and Nvidia's refreshes are going to be monster mid-range cards. The 8800GT looks like it's gonna smack around the 320, and for about $250.

 

[jtardiou]

Here's another option for a X1950pro 512mb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131055
And use promo code EMC1004VGA01 for another $20 off. Final price $129.99 after $40MIR

That is so tempting, but I'm afraid i'll want an upgrade in like a year.. Although i'm not the kind of person that is compulsive about upgrading parts ;0 How long would the X1950pro 512mb last me? I dont really care to play awful games that look good at super high resolution -_-

 

[larvi]

It's hard to say how long it will last, but no matter what card you get there will be something out in a year that is better. And that 8800 will probably be close to the $100 price point in a year as well. Personally I like to stay a step or two behind the latest technology so I don't cry when prices drop as they are sure to do. But then again I also don't play the latest games on the highest resolutions so it makes sense for me. But by all means if you have the $$$ and aren't one that likes to be constantly upgrading your PC the 8800GTX is a much better card and will support future Direct X 10 games.

Also regarding your choice of motherboard, that's the same combo that I'm running, the Abit IP35-E with the E6750. I took advantage of a deal that my local Fry's had for around 240 after MIR for both processor and the mobo after MIR, pretty hard to beat that. The IP35 is the chipset that you want right now and Abit makes a good board, if you are serious about overclocking you may want to look at the IP35 instead of the IP35-E as it has the solid capacitors. But I'm running a very stable 3Ghz overclock on the IP35 and could easily go higher so the IP35-E is capable of overclocking as well.

 

[jtardiou]

Thanks

and you mean the GTS (instead of GTX)?

 

[IzumiK]

what do you guys think?

I got that GTS for $200 and I got better RAM for $120. You also have to consider your PSU now since you're getting a DX10 card, you need a good one that would be a safe bet around $100 for 600-750w PSU.

 

[jtardiou]

man that post almost looks like you're trolling..

Is e6750 not good enough?

How did you get a 8800 GTS for 200$?

What kind of RAM is better than corsair 2x1gb 1066 for 140$. There's also a hefty amount taken off through MIR from the price it shows :0

I had THIS in mind for PSU. 70$ after MIR

 

[JCBossman]

Go with the Antec NSK-6500 case plenty of room and features and it includes a 430w Active PFC Power supply, Amazon has it for $100 it's a SOLID case

PS Fuck that 800M "Out of Spec" ram just get yourself a couple of gigs of 677Mhz Kingston Valueram

 

[jtardiou]

This is the only thing I could find. NSK-6580

My friend told me that PSU's that come with cases are cheap and should be avoided as PSUs are an important part of the rig. Second opinions?

PS Fuck that 800M "Out of Spec" ram just get yourself a couple of gigs of 677Mhz Kingston Valueram

???

 

[JCBossman]

This is the only thing I could find. NSK-6580

My friend told me that PSU's that come with cases are cheap and should be avoided as PSUs are an important part of the rig. Second opinions?



???

MORE than enough
ALOT of 800mhz(Overclocker) Ram is out of spec, there is NO such thing as 800Mhz ram it's just "Handpicked" 677Mhz ram , and it can be a HUGE pain in the ass on alot of motherboards.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

If that 430w power supply is a no name brand I wouldn't get it. Plus if your looking at dx10 cards then I would get 500w or more. If you just barely make the wattage requirement and you have a crap brand psu then the power supply might not put out what it's supposed to voltage wise and cause issues. Personally you can find decent power supplies of over 430w for not that much.

 

[Lhadatt]

$100 for a PSU? Look again at the prices for good brands on Newegg. Just make sure the 12V rails can support 30A or so and you'll be OK.

I'd appreciate it if everyone looking for a $1000-range PC make another thread. This thread is for budget-minded consumers only. Anyone telling us what we already know (i.e. "this computer won't be worth crap in 3 months spend $2500 on a computer n00b") needs to realize this is trolling in this context and should be taken elsewhere. Post here only if you have legitimate things to contribute to the discussion.

jtardiou: Nice rig, but maybe too pricey for this thread? Why don't you form a high-end thread?

I'm planning on putting together an Intel version of this rig soon. Also, I anticipate updating this thread quarterly.

 

[jtardiou]

well im thinking about swapping the GTS 8800 for a X1950 pro

this is the hardest decision of my life

GTS 8800 -- 360$
vs
x1950 pro -- 120$


And I kind of disagree that my rig is too pricey for this thread
If I get the x1950 pro and remove the 20" LCD SAMSUNG from my cart, consider the rebates; u have a state of the art machine for relatively cheap imo.

 

[JCBossman]

Well that 1950X is one of the best DX9 cards its no 8800, but I would go with that and see whats out in a year or so

 

[bill0527]

Intel Core 2 Due e6420 2.13ghz - $166.00
Gigabyte GA-965p-DS3 motherboard - $99
Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 RAM - $116 minus $30 MIR = $86
EVGA Geforce 8600gts - $179 minus $20 MIR = $159
Antec Perfmance P180 cold rolled steel case - $129 minus $40 MIR = $89
XCLIO Goodpower 500w ATX Power Supply - $50
Samsung 18X DVD Burner SATA - $39
Seagate Barracuda 250gb Sata 3.0gb/s hard drive - $70
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit OEM - $111

Total: $869
Grand total with tax and shipping came to a little under $1000


Its been really good so far. The 8600gts got trashed by Tom's Hardware and the like, but its been a very good card and I totally disagree with their assessments based on my own experience playing Supreme Commander, Company of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and Bioshock on it. Hell in Bioshock I can play with DX 10 turned on, all effects maxed and get good 25-30fps in 1440 x 900 Widescreen. I turn it down to 1280 x 720 widescreen (720p basically), and I can get a rock solid 35-40fps. I can play max settings on most games with good framerates as long as I don't get too crazy with the resolutions like 1680 x 1050 is pretty much out of the question. It remains to be seen how well it'll do in the future, but it passed the Bioshock test with flying colors.

 

[Lhadatt]

well im thinking about swapping the GTS 8800 for a X1950 pro

this is the hardest decision of my life

GTS 8800 -- 360$
vs
x1950 pro -- 120$


And I kind of disagree that my rig is too pricey for this thread
If I get the x1950 pro and remove the 20" LCD SAMSUNG from my cart, consider the rebates; u have a state of the art machine for relatively cheap imo.

You must have an easy life. My view has always been that no video card is worth over $200. Period.

I still game on my Radeon 9600XT, which was around $175 at purchase at least 3 years ago. I suggest the X1950 Pro. The price vs performance ratio is not large enough to justify the $360. You don't need 640 MB of RAM anyway. Here's what Tom's VGA Charts say: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=778&model2=725&chart=318

 

[jtardiou]

Yeah I've decided on the X1950 PRO. Now I just need a case. I'm looking for a full size case that is solid and cheap. anyone know a place where they give free shipping on cases? cuz most sites charge 15-20$ for shipping of a case -__-

 

[Lhadatt]

That's asking a lot... cases are hard to ship on the cheap. Buy it locally?

 

[Esperado]

Yeah I've decided on the X1950 PRO. Now I just need a case. I'm looking for a full size case that is solid and cheap. anyone know a place where they give free shipping on cases? cuz most sites charge 15-20$ for shipping of a case -__-

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KMT3CO/?tag=neogaf0e-2049.99

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KIP9L2/?tag=neogaf0e-2058.02

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EGM3Q4/?tag=neogaf0e-2037.99

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C1DZN6/?tag=neogaf0e-2058.99

 

[jtardiou]

Here's another option for a X1950pro 512mb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131055
And use promo code EMC1004VGA01 for another $20 off. Final price $129.99 after $40MIR

Hey I just tried your code and it doesn't work

NM, you have to subscribed to newsletter. I added them, hopefully I will be allowed to use promo soon.

 

[SRG01]

Its been really good so far. The 8600gts got trashed by Tom's Hardware and the like, but its been a very good card and I totally disagree with their assessments based on my own experience playing Supreme Commander, Company of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and Bioshock on it. Hell in Bioshock I can play with DX 10 turned on, all effects maxed and get good 25-30fps in 1440 x 900 Widescreen. I turn it down to 1280 x 720 widescreen (720p basically), and I can get a rock solid 35-40fps. I can play max settings on most games with good framerates as long as I don't get too crazy with the resolutions like 1680 x 1050 is pretty much out of the question. It remains to be seen how well it'll do in the future, but it passed the Bioshock test with flying colors.

The 8600 isn't a bad card in itself. The only problem is that the x1950 is better than it performance-wise for games that are out right now. However, if you're looking for dx10 stuff, then the 8600 is the way to go.

 

[jtardiou]

Ok my new PC

This picture doesn't consider the Mail-In-Rebates

-40$ CORSAIR RAM
-20$ MOBO
-20$ PSU
-20$ Monitor

Then you add the X1950 PRO for 130$

TOTAL = 1050$~ including 20" SAMSUNG LCD

remove the monitor, and you have about 800$ for tower

Do I need anything else? Like case fans or what not?

 

[jtardiou]

bumpy

 

[OatmealMu]

A little FYI on the Powercolor X1950 Pro: I just finished putting together my computer, and the card is delightfully quiet. The fan is mounted on some sort of soft rubber, which seems to absorb a lot of vibration. Just a heads up for anyone that wants a quiet mid-range videocard without having to plop a new heatsink/fan on it.

 

[Pakman]

Ok my new PC

This picture doesn't consider the Mail-In-Rebates

-40$ CORSAIR RAM
-20$ MOBO
-20$ PSU
-20$ Monitor

Then you add the X1950 PRO for 130$

TOTAL = 1050$~ including 20" SAMSUNG LCD

remove the monitor, and you have about 800$ for tower

Do I need anything else? Like case fans or what not?

I'm presuming you researched your case? Since that's the 3D Aurora right? The first case that Gigabyte's introduced to the market? It looks like those cases come with 3 fans (which is enough). Personally I'm a fan of Lian Li cases beause of their reputation - but if the gigabyte case got good reviews go with it.

Are you going to overclock your rig? Supposedly the stock intel ones can handle mild overclocking but I'd personally buy an aftermarket one if you do overclock.

And isn't the 22inch Samsung 226BW only like $25-$35 more after the rebate on zipzoomfly? I know, the 22inch monitor doesn't any better resolution than the 20inch but I'm still a sucker for larger monitors.

Also I'm not sure if Soyo's are any good but Office Max has a 24inch Soyo (1920x1200) for $299 with free shipping.

Spoiler

courtesy of SD

Do some research on that Soyo LCD if you plan on getting it, since I have no idea how their quality is.

 

[Pachael]

Thanks to Lhadatt and everybody who responded. I remember posting in another thread (Intel price cuts) that I really wanted a Quad core. Now after reconsidering the options I've decided to go el-cheapo now with a good line DX9 box and splurge for the DX10 one two years down the track. That's when I expect games to be DX10 exclusive and Vista starts to shine as a gaming platform.

So I got these over the past weekend, reusing many of my older components (SATA hard drive, DVD burner, case, monitor, speakers):

Dual Core E2160 @ OC to 3.0Ghz A$100
2GB DDR2-667 RAM @ A$89
Powercolor X1950 Pro 256M @ A$190
Gigabyte P35-DS3 @ A$150

Which comes out to A$529 and it runs games really well at 1280x720 (It does seem like a waste of a 22" screen, I agree, but at this resolution I go crazy on the AA and AF so it's not that bad - DiRT looks great)

Oh, and it's awfully quiet when there's no load as the multiplier scales back to 6x333 (2.0Ghz)

EDIT: On second thought I don't want to be 'splurging' all the time - two years down there should be a good A$500 combo like this one which is really value-for-money

 

[Lhadatt]

Awesome, glad we could help. I haven't built my box yet, and I'm not sure I will - money is an issue at the moment. I can upgrade my AGP card to a X1950 Pro though, which I think I'll do. I may up my Athlon XP to the highest available or look into overclocking my 2500+. That should put some more life into this rig.

 

[evlcookie]

Anandtech updated their midrange pc build guide. under $1500 , that includes everything though. Alot of info is there as well. GAF PC does look good though, if only i had money! :lol

http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3125

 

[Eric P]

and my hdd just died yesterday.

so I'm going to go ahead and start buying the parts to replace my 4 year old machine.

this thread will be a great service then

thanks!

 

[jtardiou]

BTW I just put together my rig. blazing fast

runs UT3 constant 60fps
TF2 looks absolutely gorgeous xD
woot

 

[Dave Long]

Thanks to Lhadatt and everybody who responded. I remember posting in another thread (Intel price cuts) that I really wanted a Quad core. Now after reconsidering the options I've decided to go el-cheapo now with a good line DX9 box and splurge for the DX10 one two years down the track. That's when I expect games to be DX10 exclusive and Vista starts to shine as a gaming platform.

So I got these over the past weekend, reusing many of my older components (SATA hard drive, DVD burner, case, monitor, speakers):

Dual Core E2160 @ OC to 3.0Ghz A$100
2GB DDR2-667 RAM @ A$89
Powercolor X1950 Pro 256M @ A$190
Gigabyte P35-DS3 @ A$150

Which comes out to A$529 and it runs games really well at 1280x720 (It does seem like a waste of a 22" screen, I agree, but at this resolution I go crazy on the AA and AF so it's not that bad - DiRT looks great)

Oh, and it's awfully quiet when there's no load as the multiplier scales back to 6x333 (2.0Ghz)

EDIT: On second thought I don't want to be 'splurging' all the time - two years down there should be a good A$500 combo like this one which is really value-for-money

You're doing it the right way. There's no need to invest thousands in upgrades every year or two. I'm still playing everything with good looks and good framerates on my A64 3500+ w/2GB RAM and GeForce 6800GT. I spent a little over $1000 on that IIRC, about two years ago. It's finally time to upgrade the video card, but I'll be able to extend the life of the rest of the box a lot longer with an 8800GTS in there.

Once the rush to Dual/Quad/Zillions of Cores is over, I'll upgrade the mainboard, RAM and processor again. That's not likely to be necessary for at least another year or two.

 

[Inflammable Slinky]

Hate to do the mega-bump, but I'm in the same boat as the OP. Except, I've got a relatively new, but super duper low budget desktop around already (I think my family got it for $250). I'm thinking of just upgrading the motherboard, memory, CPU and GPU all budget like.

I'd really be happy if I could spend 300-500 and play some of the current games out at mediumish (outside of Crysis, of course)

Here's a link to what I think I have http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...9174&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Anything a first time major upgrader should look out for? Do I need to upgrade other things as well?

 

[Teknopathetic]

If that's all you want to spend (300-500), you could go with a e2180 for about 90$ (prices are coming off the top of my head), spend 50$ on 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM, 90$ on a P35 based mobo, and have about 250$ left to pick up either an ATi HD3870 for 230$ or if you can find a sweet deal get an 8800GT for 250$. That rig should actually run most current games on high-ish settings, especially if you care to overclock.

The one thing that worries me about that computer you linked (if it's actually the one you have), would possibly be the power supply, possibly. You could go for an ATi HD3850 or 8800GT 256mb and use the 5-60$ or so you saved to go towards an earthwatts 430w power supply, to stay as close to 500$ as possible.

 

[Inflammable Slinky]

Not to expose my computer illiterate nature, but what the hell does overclock exactly mean and entail?

 

[cryptic]

Is there anyway I could build one of these and transport it later on for college without damaging the system in any way?

Sine I've always heard that the worst thing for a PC is to move it long distances(100 miles lol).

 

[bounchfx]

alright, my computer is 6-7 years old now and it's time to upgrade.. it's hard doing 3d when I can barely push a million polys.

this computer cost 2200~, was top of the line at the time, and I don't want to spend 500$ on the highest end vid card again - what a mistake (although it did great while it lasted.. died couple months ago)

I have 900$ so far, hopefully saving up another 100-200$ then getting it around feb (or hopefully sooner, I'm anxious.. gotta get a job too!)

basically wondering if anyone that knows a good amount about this wants to put a computer together, with minimum: 2-4 gigs of ram (leaning on 4 I think), quad core (is it worth it yet?) and something around gtx8800 or better (not sure what will be out in feb, or how much cheaper itll be then).

I'm going to recycle one of my hard drives (unless its possible to recycle both, including the one with the OS.. I'd rather keep that one clean but ugh OS's cost so much), and I'm planning to get a dual monitor setup possibly, but mainly a widescreen first ~19-20in and using my old one as a second monitor.

if anyone is up for it, thanks a lot, it's about time I get a new comp and I'm itching to play stuff like Crysis and Company of Heroes without any major slowdown

 

[Teknopathetic]

"Not to expose my computer illiterate nature, but what the hell does overclock exactly mean and entail?"


Overclocking is the process of pushing a processor (or component in general) past its intended specifications. Altering certain settings to make (in this case) your CPU faster. You probably shouldn't consider this if you're not entirely comfortable with dinking around in your bios, etc. and have (or attain) knowledge of the process and how to do it as safely as possible.



"Is there anyway I could build one of these and transport it later on for college without damaging the system in any way?"


Put it in a box and put that box in a car?

 

[Quagm1r3]

I just recently made a list of parts from Newegg on Microsoft Word. I might end up changing the mobo, however, since I don't know much about cpu compatability or extra features I might need. Queue Copy/Paste:

CPU Parts
Total-$829

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
($47.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
$169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012

EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
($139.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130286

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030


Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
($79.99 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail
Special savings on LightScribe media combo, ends 12/31
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156


Again, I don't know much about computers. Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"Again, I don't know much about computers. Any input would be much appreciated."


Looks good, but I'm not sure why you went with the IP35 Pro instead of the IP35-V or the Gigabyte P35-DS3-...something, either way, they're only around 90~$ and I can't see any reason why you'd need the features of the Pro over the cheaper ones (unless you do?).

That'd shave off 80 bucks or so right there without any (or ridiculously miniscule, at best) performance loss. Also, that case doesn't come with a power supply which you'll definitely need .


Oh also, for like 20$ more you can pick up the e6750 over the e6550. While not a massive upgrade, there's certainly no harm in getting the better part for such a small amount more.

 

[Quagm1r3]

"Again, I don't know much about computers. Any input would be much appreciated."


Looks good, but I'm not sure why you went with the IP35 Pro instead of the IP35-V or the Gigabyte P35-DS3-...something, either way, they're only around 90~$ and I can't see any reason why you'd need the features of the Pro over the cheaper ones (unless you do?).

I actually just went on new egg and picked a motherboard with the same socket number as the processor I chose. Beyond that I didn't and still don't really know what makes a mobo good or bad.

Also, I need to connect this cpu to an LCD HDTV. I remember a friend telling me that I had to get a specific kind of Video card to do this (or mobo, can't remember.) Is this true?

And has anyone ever connected their cpu to an LCD Widescreen HDTV 30 inches or bigger? How do games look? I ask because I fear that the same resolution on a screen 10 inches bigger may look too spread out and untextured with some games.

 

[NovemberMike]

I actually just went on new egg and picked a motherboard with the same socket number as the processor I chose. Beyond that I didn't and still don't really know what makes a mobo good or bad.

The important thing about mobos is getting the right features. Once you know the type of ram it supports, how many sata/ide connectors there are, whether it has onboard sound/video or not, and a few other things depending on what you want, you should be good. This is of course barring any extenuating circumstances.

Also, I need to connect this cpu to an LCD HDTV. I remember a friend telling me that I had to get a specific kind of Video card to do this (or mobo, can't remember.) Is this true?

And has anyone ever connected their cpu to an LCD Widescreen HDTV 30 inches or bigger? How do games look? I ask because I fear that the same resolution on a screen 10 inches bigger may look too spread out and untextured with some games.

For the picture, all you need is an HDMI -> DVI adapter, which should come with the card. If you are talking about sound through the TV as well, then that will depend on the TV (routing the sound through a surround system shouldn't be a problem though).

 

[Battersea Power Station]

Will you guys be willing to do this thread again in a few years when I need to buy a PC?

 

[JaY P.]

I actually just went on new egg and picked a motherboard with the same socket number as the processor I chose. Beyond that I didn't and still don't really know what makes a mobo good or bad.

Also, I need to connect this cpu to an LCD HDTV. I remember a friend telling me that I had to get a specific kind of Video card to do this (or mobo, can't remember.) Is this true?

And has anyone ever connected their cpu to an LCD Widescreen HDTV 30 inches or bigger? How do games look? I ask because I fear that the same resolution on a screen 10 inches bigger may look too spread out and untextured with some games.

Depends, if you're going Intel you should stick with mobos built around Intel chipsets. From reading reviews, it seems that Intel makes the best chipsets for their processors. As for AMD processors, Nvidia makes the best chipsets. Also, stay away from boards made by ECS, I've had the worst experiences with these boards. If you're looking for good stable boards look no further than DFI, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI. Even better, surf the web and read reviews on the mobos you are interested in.

As for connecting your rig to a HDTV, I don't think you have to worry much because most modern cards come with a DVI out. All you will need is a DVI to HDMI cable and off you go. Just be sure to set your vid card resolution to 1080p for best results.

 

[Inflammable Slinky]

2 more things


How do I find out what my current desktop's PSU is rated at? Nothing on the product I noticed.

Is the 512MB 8800GT really worth the extra $30-$50 over the ATi HD or just the 256MB 8800GT? I see the massive thread on GAF about it, but is it worth it for my rig?

 

[Teknopathetic]

"How do I find out what my current desktop's PSU is rated at? Nothing on the product I noticed."

Possibly take it out of the case and inspect the labels and stuff on it.



"Is the 512MB 8800GT really worth the extra $30-$50 over the ATi HD or just the 256MB 8800GT? I see the massive thread on GAF about it, but is it worth it for my rig?"


Depends on the resolution you'll be running at. The 512mb 8800GT outperforms the 3870, not massively, but noticeably, however both cards are still very capable. If you're planning on running at something like 1280x720 or 1280x1024 or whatever, going with the 256mb 8800GT may not be a bad idea to get some good performance and saving some coin.