New Hardware needed - advice

[efcmandan]

Hi all

so, I currently run BF2 on this:

AMD Athlon XP 2200 (1.8ghz?)
768mb RAM
Geforce 5700 - 256mb RAM
Booting off an old 40gb IDE Hard disk, 250gb + 160gb SATA's too

Whilst BF2 runs reasonably well, it's in a relatively low res and I wouldn't mind speeding things up and making them look nicer :)

So, I'd like to replace the above with:

New mobo
New CPU
New RAM
New GFX Card
I think I have a 300W PSU so might need a new one with the new hardware? I'd like to keep my case though if poss, but not that fussed.

So, a couple of questions:

1 - Is it still the case that AMD CPU's are as quick as Intel, and cost less?
2 - Can anyone recommend a decent mobo/cpu/ram/gfx combo that will let me run BF2 in decent detail levels at good speeds? Budget about £500.
3 - Anyone recommend a good UK online supplier? I'd probably head for www.scan.co.uk first as I've used them for years.

Any other advice is most welcome!

Thanks

How about this?

ASUS® M2N-E SLI: DUAL DDR2, S-ATA II, 2 x PCI-Ex, 2 x PCI
AMD ATHLON™ 64 X2 4200+ (2.2GHz) 2 x 512K L2 Cache (Socket AM2)
2048 MB CORSAIR DDR2 667MHz
256MB GEFORCE 7600GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT
500W (Peak) Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
36GB WD RAPTOR SATA 16MB CACHE (10000rpm)

£486 Delivered

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

AMD is no longer faster or cheaper, its Intel's Core 2 Duo chips that you should be looking out for.

I'll have a look and suggest some stuff for £500

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86ghz) Socket 775 Fsb1066 2mb Cache Retail Boxed Processor (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112704)

Mobo: Asus P5B-E Socket LGA775 Intel P956 Chipset Pci-ex16 8 Channel Audio eSATA Firewire ATX Motherboard (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=121138)

Memory: Kingston 2GB KIT (2X1GB) DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5300 CL5 Non Ecc 1.8V (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=91124)

Graphics: Connect3D X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 dual DVI VIVO 256bit PCI-E (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=118618)

PSU: Hiper 580W Type-M Black PSU - SLI Certified with APFC (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=109552)

HD: Seagate ST3500641AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=97633)

All in all, including free 5 day posting, sots: £515.12

This setup is soooooo much better than the one you referred to. PM me if you need help!

and please remember: Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD chips use different architectures. Therefore there is no point in comparing them in terms of Ghz. E.g. the AMD you chose is 2.2ghz whilst the Intel one is 1.86ghz. However, because of the way Intel made their chip, it will be soooo much faster. (Plus, if you want to; with an aftermarket cooler such as the Arctic Freezer Pro or thermaltake Big Typhoon, it is possible to overclock your E6300 to something like 3ghz which will greatly increase performance. However, there is some risk to this (Not a lot), but if your not sure what your doing, i wouldn't try. Read up on it first!)

[efcmandan]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

Alex,

thanks for the reply.

All that kit looks great, and the price is good too. I don't need that size disk as I already have 250gb and 160gb SATA drives, so that'll make it even cheaper. I've gone for another 160gb SATA-II drive to replace the 160gb that I already have, as it's a bit faulty.

I'm not too worried about overclocking, so I can happily run everything at stock speeds.

Just priced up on Ebuyer for £485 next day delivery!

I take it I'll need heat transfer paste gubbins to stick the heatsink to the CPU? Does the CPU come with a heatsink and fan?

Thanks for the advice.

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

The CPU comes with a bog standard heatsink fan with some ****ty thermal pads already applied. All you need to do is attach the heatsink fan to the motherboard on top of the processor. If you want to upgrade your heatsink, for the sake of extra cooling, then you should get some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.
But, at clock speeds, the standard Intel HSF should be fine.

Oh, and by the way, the graphics card is an absolute beast at that price! It beats the 7600gt by miles! Wish i had one...

Remember, buy the parts before they go out of stock!

[efcmandan]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

The CPU comes with a bog standard heatsink fan with some ****ty thermal pads already applied. All you need to do is attach the heatsink fan to the motherboard on top of the processor. If you want to upgrade your heatsink, for the sake of extra cooling, then you should get some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.
But, at clock speeds, the standard Intel HSF should be fine.

Oh, and by the way, the graphics card is an absolute beast at that price! It beats the 7600gt by miles! Wish i had one...

Remember, buy the parts before they go out of stock!

Great advice, thanks! I'm just about to buy on Ebuyer. I'll post back when I get the kit and hopefully get it built this weekend!

Thanks again.

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

Might wanna look @ the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or E6600 if you can afford it. But the E6300 is still a great processor!

[efcmandan]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

Might wanna look @ the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or E6600 if you can afford it. But the E6300 is still a great processor!

Yeah, I was tempted by the 6600, I still am. It's about £50 more.

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

Double the cache and a lot faster. I have one OCed to 3.4ghz. But at stock its still grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

[cloakster]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

I would wait until April 22/23 when Intel will cut their C2D prices by 30-35%. Also around that time the E6420 will be coming out which is basically a E6400 with 4mb of L2 Cache (as opposed to the 2mb the E6400 has).

[efcmandan]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

I would wait until April 22/23 when Intel will cut their C2D prices by 30-35%. Also around that time the E6420 will be coming out which is basically a E6400 with 4mb of L2 Cache (as opposed to the 2mb the E6400 has).

Hmmm, thanks for the tip. Something to bear in mind if I can be patient enough to wait that long! Ten whole days!

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

You from America or England Efcmandan?

[[Expletive Deleted]]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

For the vid card, I recommend getting an 8800GTS. I got the 640MB version, and it spanks my friend's 1900GT. It costs a bit more, even for the 320MB version, but I think it's worth it if you're getting a whole new system anyway.

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

I think saying "costs a bit more" is a bit of an understatement.

It's like saying, since your building a new system, instead of getting an E6300 get the Q6700 quad core processor. It only costs a bit more, but it beats anything else in the market...

Seriously though, the 8800 is £200+ more expensive than the X1900gt. The x1900gt is a brilliant bargain at this price and has been given a lot of awards based on performance and price in Custom PC magazone.

[efcmandan]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

You from America or England Efcmandan?

Engerland! Cheshire :)

[=98=]

Re: New Hardware needed - advice

Then you will not benefit from the Core 2 Duo price drops. The new series of C2dD's are not coming out for a while yet.