Questions

[Eternal-Souljah]

K, got a few questions, stuff people can reconmend etc.

Computer tower/case, what is a really good case budget wise and is effective and easy to install parts etc.

RAM, what is the best type of RAM, as in PC3200, XP4000 etc, how good is XP4000 compared to PC3200?, I was looking at Mushkin memory, also which is better, gives better performance, fps, benchmark etc 4x512MB or 2x1GB.

Power supplies, heard good reviews about the Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0 oppinion, reconmendations on others.

Reconmend a DVD/RW and a DVD drive.

What is a good mouse? and a mouse mat? for gaming, looked at the Razer brand, seems overpriced but again don't know.

What is a good keyboard (was looking at the Saitek gamers keyboard)

Is WD Raptor HD's 10,000 RPM worth it? compared to the bigger 7,200RPM HD's?

Processor, is the x2 4200+ really good, oppinions on that or other types would be good.

Is the Asus A8N-SLi nForce4 MOBO a top dog for gaming? again oppinions and other reconmendations.

Graphics cards, is the 7800GT/GTX worth it performance wise, right now I have a 6600, is the GT/GTX going to be a revolutionary experience to me? reason I said 7800GT/X because I have a 6600 and have been happy with it, never had experience with the higher ATI cards.

K, this is just for my knowlodge and understanding for future use, so oppinions or reconmendations etc would be good thanks.

[LoD]

Re: Questions

Im going to skip the case question because its too subjective.. but if you spend less than $50 you cant buy much of a case. $100+ to get something that is functional and asthetically pleasing, I hate the flashing neon light cases personally.

Ram depends on your motherboard/cpu. If you go intel you need DDR2, preferably DDR2-667 or DDR2-800 ina few months once its officially adopted, AMD use PC3200 right now and thats all you need, Pc3200 value ram. Once they move to a new socket in june it will be DDR2-800.

Seasonic is a good brand, but a 600watt PSU is overkill unless you heavily OC, have SLi graphics and 3 or 4 hard drives etc.... You will want a 400+ watt with good 12v rails. Wattage is kinda decepive, its all about the amps on the 12v rails.

Any NEC, Lite-on drive etc... is fine, dont spend more than $45 for a top of the line DVD/RW.

Logitech Mx510 and Mx518 are good value for their price, i personally like having two buttons on the thumb to navigate webpages back and forth.

I personally like the $9 cheapo Logitech keyboard.. most of this "gamer" stuff is crap IMO, stay away from the high priced gamer Xtreeme crap thats out there. But a keyboard is subjective for each persons taste, so to each his own.

Raptors are only good as icing on the cake. Complete waste of money unless you need to top off a $2000+ computer and want to make it one step faster.

X2 processors are great the 3800+ is cheaper however

Asus makes nice motherboards, but there is VERY little difference "performance wise" between brands. It all comes down to asthetics, warranty/support, retail box package and extra like overclockability, custom bios support from the community, and reliability. For the most part any NF4 board will perform like any other board +/- 2% or less etc...

7800GTX and GT are obsolete, 7900 are here in two weeks, also the x1900XT is currently best value for the money if your looking for high end cards. Single cards are always better than crossfire or SLi unless you buy both cards at the same time and you buy highend cards. Buying 1 card to upgrade to two later is a joke.

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Questions

1. My favorite case of all time is the Thermaltake Tsunami. It's kinda expensive, but looks great, and the entire case uses thumscrews, even the hd mounts.

2. For ram, I really like the g.skill 2gb value kit.

3.My favorite psu's are the antec truepower II's, and either the ocz powerstream or modstream.

4.I use the Lite-on SHW-160P6S, great drive, cheap and will burn pretty much everything out there.

5.For mice, I like the logitech m5xx series, and I use the mx1000. Mousepads, the Icemats look pretty good.

6.Keyboards, most people seem to like the saitek's so just go with one of those.

7.Don't go with a raptor, get a 7200rpm drive with a 16mb cache, the perfromance should be close enough.

8.For procs, the 4200 is good, though I'd go with the x2 3800+ or opty 165 or 170 and oc the hell outta em.

9.For mobos, go with either the asus a8n-sli deluxe, dfi, or the new r580 ati asus board that just came up.

10. For graphics cards, the best out right now are the ati x1900xt, but the new 7900gtx might change that. I'd wait to see what it looks like before I buy.


I hope this helps at all.
Edit: Damn you twismit, beat me too it. :p

[QuikSilv3r47]

Re: Questions

You both pretty much hit the spot. :)

[Jinx_of_War]

Re: Questions

The best solution is lots of water, a lot of coffe, and getting out and doung something. Oh wait. Thats a hangover.

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Questions

For the keyboards, ideazon (makers of the zboard) is coming out with a brand new board called MERC.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/693/693558p1.html

It looks interesting, but I think I'll stay with the keyboard I have.