Gave up the ghost

[Axecleaver]

My computer crashed hard yesterday about 10 seconds after I logged on for a little pvp action. I tried recovering and ended up reinstalled the O/S. Tons of disk errors and I'm still working through it. Might be time for a new box, this guy is a little over 3 years old.

Who's been keeping up with the new fangled computer stuff? I usually build my own boxes or buy from a local parts shop, which are plentiful in Fairfax. I know AMD just dropped their prices quite a bit, and AGP isn't what the cool kids use for video anymore. Anybody got suggestions for what I should look for? Want to spend about $1000.

[Rosslyn]

hmmm.... pci express video?  dual core proc, but that might not be super feasible in a $1k box depending on what else you want.  you could consider mirrored disk drives to protect against media failure, but it's probably more cost effective to either skip that altogether or go with a performance stripe (if you buy the RAID controller) and then just take an image of your machine at its virginal best once you've got all your crap installed.  

[Zutroy]

Because of the heat issues with modern processors, they can't really make them any faster than they are currently. Whatever you buy now probably won't be very upgradable since everything is moving over to dual-core. You could buy a dual-core system, but it's kind of pricey compared to what you'll be getting performance-wise.

If it was me, I'd just go with the old 1 processor system for now (especially since the prices are dropping so much). It'll be awhile before dual-core catches up anyway.

[zaius]

 Zut's sort of right, but kind of off course. The new Core 2 Duo architecture from Intel doesn't run as fast in clockspeed as the Pentium 4 line it replaces, but even at half the clockspeed, it is more efficient (lower voltages and heat) and outperforms the existing processors. The added benefit is AMD has slashed prices accross the line.
 There's also not a whole lot of benefit at the moment from dual core procs in games, but that will probably change quickly as more and more new machines are dual core. (I think Intel expects to ship 80% dual core procs the last quarter of this year). Some other applications and general desktop (non-gaming) performance already benefit from multiple cores.

 The $316 (list) Core 2 Duo E6600 beats the $600-ish AMD  FX-62 in most benchmarks.  All of the Core 2 Duo chips, down to the sub $200 E6300 (1.8Ghz) beat the previously $1000 Pentium "Extreme" 3.4 Ghz proc. Also, the low end Core 2 Duo chips look to be really nice overclockers, so if you're willing to up a few voltages (no fancy watercooling needed) and use a  decent heat pipe CPU cooler with a 120mm fam (Scythe Ninja or Tuniq Tower seem to be well recieved), you can get the performance of the higher priced parts at a discount. Without overclocking, the E6600 seems pretty nice, with double the cache of the E6400 and E6300.

The NVidia 7900GT cards are a good balance of performance and price, the next generation from NVidia and ATI(AMD) will be directx 10 compatible, but there's always something around the corner, and aside from Microsoft, I doubt anyone is going to release Vista-only/DX10 games for awhile. Things should be backwards compatible for quite awhile.
 Otherwise, the 7600GT is a great value at under $150, and would still outperform any current AGP card, holding you over until the next gen of GPUs. Something is always around the corner, I'd say go with a mid-range proc and graphics card and not worry about upgrading for awhile. The high end is always alot more expensive than the performance benefit, usually reserved for those more interested in shaking their epeen than getting a good deal.

$1000  builds

Some benchmarks and reviews:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/07/14/intel_core_2_duo_processors/11.html
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_core_2_duo_e6400_review/

[Axecleaver]

Thanks guys, exactly what I needed.

[Axecleaver]

Is it just the Intel dual core that are pricey right now? That article Zaius gave me linked to a dual core AMD 64 AM2 3800+ running at 2.0Ghz for $152. That seems very cheap. But I see what you mean about the clock rates, the dual core processors at 2.0 are selling for about the same as the single core 2.4Ghz processors.

[Nari]

Nevermind, I should never post when I've not had coffee...

(Edited by Nari at 6:37 am on Sep. 13, 2006)

[zaius]

I should never post at 6 in the morning, reading what I wrote makes my head hurt. (Word and phrase choice, not technical info).  

In response to Axe's question, both AMD and Intel have a wide range of dual core procs, both have at least one sub $200 chip (Core 2 Duo E6300 and X2 4200).

The AMD Athlon 64 processors are all single core, still good performers, and a really good deal after the recent price cuts. Of the three socket types they come in (754, 939 and AM2), if you go with the AM2 you'll be able to upgrade just the CPU later if you want.

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 is the dual-core version, the FX is the high end chip, the last few versions (FX-60 and FX-62) have been dual core, but the previous FX chips were single core.

All three lines come in AM2 socket versions, and there isn't much of a price premium on AM2 motherboards, so if you go AMD, I would stick with that for maximum upgradability, though it looks like some of the single core AMD chips are more availible in 939.

Good comparison of several processors and graphics cards, showing how much difference spending more on one or the other will make:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTAwMiwxNiwsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

Compare a wide range of processors on several benchmarks (including non-gaming benchmarks like audio and video conversion):
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

[Keff]

I've been watching  prices for systems at 2 sites thst include liquide cooling systems doul core and 2 vidio cards for under 1k check em out

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/Default.asp

http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

I like the second one better  but am planing on waiting as long as i can to buy 2 systems sence the OS's realy arnt up to speed yet and when Vista finaly hits the market it will be fuked with bugs for about a year