Can anyone help me pick new parts?

External Since: Jun 02, 2005 Posts: 3

Hey guys,

My computer is about 2.5 years old, and I'm looking to do an upgrade.
When I bought the computer, I made sure I got a case that would allow
me to expand exactly what I need when I needed to. Currently I have an
MSI KT4-Ultra with 512MB PC2700 RAM and an Athlon XP 2000+. I have an
MSI GeForce4 Ti4200. All my other components are fine. My soundcard is
actually overkill, but I like it.

I'm looking for a new motherboard and processor, new RAM, and a new
graphics card.

I am looking for a mainboard with:
Socket 939, PCI-Express 16x, Dual Channel RAM (PC3200), lots of USB
ports and if possible, built in Firewire. My hard drives are Parallel
ATA, so if the board has SATA and PATA, that would be ideal.

I figured I would get an Athlon 64 3700+, but if that is unnecessary,
then please, I would love to save money.
Is there any advantage to Kingston Hyper-X RAM, or am I just as fine
with regular Kingston or Corsair memory? Is there any advantage over
generic?

For graphics, I'm looking for a card that I won't have to upgrade
for a few years, but not super top of the line. Not SLI. I'm
basically looking to play Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, HL2, Doom 3, and
Need For Speed Underground 2. Any distinct advantage between Radeon and
Geforce?

If anyone can help me out with any of these parts, that would be
ridiculously helpful, and I thank you in advance. I have a penchant for
MSI, but my brother has all ASUS components and they work great, so
really I'm willing to go for anything. I feel so out of it with
technology, since I haven't shopped for anything other than DVD
burners since 2002. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at
josh.dawidowicz.RemoveThis@gmail.com.

Thanks SO much guys.
-Josh

External Since: Jan 20, 2005 Posts: 136

Graphics card wise i would go for a 6600GT,

Motherboard wise, i'm not too clued up on 939 boards, but the Asus's SLI
board is a good choice so i'm told. Either way if you can afford one, get a
SLI board so that if you ever decide to get a sli setup your half way
there.Most boards based on 939 sockets come with all the bells and whistles,
so its your choice on make and chipset pretty much

CPU wise, save some cash and get 3400+(i think thats the next one down), the
200 mhz difference won't kill you, after all you can always oc it back to
that if you really want to.

As i always say Ram is Ram, don't get any cheap stuff, but don't buy any
super duper stuff either. Some "cheap" OCZ or corsair memory should do you
fine, unless your gonna try some extreme overclocking. I personally like OCZ
premier line, good timings, and its not much more expensive than the value
stuff.

Lastly if you can afford it get an ATI x800 XL or a 6800GT, plus, you might
want to hold off for a couple of weeks till more information about ATI's
crossfire platform comes out.

Hope that was helpful
<josh.dawidowicz.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1117731199.343835.217630@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hey guys,
>
> My computer is about 2.5 years old, and I'm looking to do an upgrade.
> When I bought the computer, I made sure I got a case that would allow
> me to expand exactly what I need when I needed to. Currently I have an
> MSI KT4-Ultra with 512MB PC2700 RAM and an Athlon XP 2000+. I have an
> MSI GeForce4 Ti4200. All my other components are fine. My soundcard is
> actually overkill, but I like it.
>
> I'm looking for a new motherboard and processor, new RAM, and a new
> graphics card.
>
> I am looking for a mainboard with:
> Socket 939, PCI-Express 16x, Dual Channel RAM (PC3200), lots of USB
> ports and if possible, built in Firewire. My hard drives are Parallel
> ATA, so if the board has SATA and PATA, that would be ideal.
>
> I figured I would get an Athlon 64 3700+, but if that is unnecessary,
> then please, I would love to save money.
> Is there any advantage to Kingston Hyper-X RAM, or am I just as fine
> with regular Kingston or Corsair memory? Is there any advantage over
> generic?
>
> For graphics, I'm looking for a card that I won't have to upgrade
> for a few years, but not super top of the line. Not SLI. I'm
> basically looking to play Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, HL2, Doom 3, and
> Need For Speed Underground 2. Any distinct advantage between Radeon and
> Geforce?
>
> If anyone can help me out with any of these parts, that would be
> ridiculously helpful, and I thank you in advance. I have a penchant for
> MSI, but my brother has all ASUS components and they work great, so
> really I'm willing to go for anything. I feel so out of it with
> technology, since I haven't shopped for anything other than DVD
> burners since 2002. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at
> josh.dawidowicz.RemoveThis@gmail.com.
>
> Thanks SO much guys.
> -Josh
>