Purchasing a new CPU any suggestions.

[kayen85]

Hey,

I am in the market for a new CPU and was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions, I haven't bought a new computer in 7 years.

Currently I am running a dell pent 4 2.00 gz w/ 768 ram. Which allows me to play emu fine maxing with about 2 chara's at once, and I can run a server also but lack of free ram I think really makes it tough for others to get in.

Anyways, if I was looking to purchase a new computer that could handle a server and regular day to day computer use, what would you recommend. I don't really play any new high graphical demand games that require anything crazy, actually eq is about the most intense thing I use. Budget is about 600-800$ but can prob go a little higher if worth it.

Thanks.

[Aonelyn]

With 600$-800$ you can easily double your performance.

Gas prices might be going up, but computer prices are relatively cheap now.


Make sure you get a pci-express graphic card. I recommend geforce because ati has ALOT of compatibility issues.

Get ddr2 ram, at least 1.5gigs.


And get at least a 3.0ghz processor.


http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=224

check that out.

[trevius]

I recently upgraded my main gaming PC on a budget and it seems to do well. It can easily handle a full group (6 or more) EQ windows at once.

The most important thing for loading multiple EQ accounts at once is RAM and lots of it. The more RAM you have, the more it can handle. I would recommend getting 2GBs of RAM at least, but 3GB would be better. Any more than that won't be used very well by most operating systems unless you are running a 64bit OS.

I am using an AMD 6400+ Dual Core CPU on my PC, which is probably the best bang for the buck. Or, at least it was a few months ago when I did the upgrade. Of course, you will need a motherboard that can support that processor, but most of the new AMD motherboards can.

For video, you don't need anything amazing to be able to handle EQ. I run a Gforce 7900GS 256MB card and it works fine for me and isn't expensive. Though, I am sure you could find a better video card than that for a nice price, since I bought that one a while back.

I am sure it wouldn't hurt to have a decent SATA HD. And, for optimal EQEMU performance for server and client both, you would be best to use a wired LAN connection instead of wireless. But, wireless should do fine if that is all you have available.

The sound card doesn't really matter much, because if you are running more than 1 or 2 EQ windows at a time, you will most likely have to disable sound in-game completely or you will risk a crash caused by the sound card trying to handle too many streams at once.

Last, you will want a nice power supply that can handle all of this new equipment. I recommend Antec or Thermaltake since they are both well known quality power supplies.

If you just want a pre-made PC, you can probably make one with whatever stats you like from Dell. Or, you can just get one from your local PC store.

[kayen85]

I checked the website out you recommended, was very helpful.
I plugged what I thought might be a good setup. Came out to more then I wanted to spend but not sure exactly where to skim if I want it to be decent.
Total with rebate is 1,100$

Trev - I selected the Thermaltake power supply, it was about +170$ more then standard is that worth it for this system?

I wasn't sure what motherboard to pick, no real experience with that to make a good choice. I listed on the bottom the options they gave, what do you think is the best bang for the buck.


Case ( Standard ATX Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply [no side window] Black/Silver 2-Tone )
Case Lighting ( None )
Power Supply ( 750 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( AMD Athlon

[kayen85]

Case ( Standard ATX Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply [no side window] Black/Silver 2-Tone )
Case Lighting ( None )
Power Supply ( 750 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( AMD Athlon

[kayen85]

Keeps cutting it off... not sure why

[trevius]

You can get a great power supply for about 100$ You can even get good ones for about 60ish or maybe some really good deals on them with some rebates. If you want a really nice one, most of the 200$ Antecs are awesome.

IMO, 2 things worth investing some money on if you plan to build you own PCs are a really good case (200$ish) and a really nice power supply (100$+). Mainly because if you get good ones, they are something that will last you for many many years and are the only 2 things that you very rarely have to upgrade. But, this is mainly if you are a PC buff and really want high quality. You can always get a junk case for 35$ that will do just fine, but IMO since it will last you for years, the high quality is worth the extra cash.

I highly recommend that before you buy anything, you check www.newegg.com and look for quality products there. They don't always have to be the most expensive to be good. Just look for the items with the highest rating average and that have a high number of rates on them. If you see something with a 5 egg rating and 1000 people have rated it, you can bet that it is a really good buy. Read a few reviews too on each one you look at and they will tell you many good pros and cons.

Oh, and that thing you kept pasting shows a case that includes a power supply and then another power supply as well. You don't need 2 power supplies and so you could probably get a better deal on a case without a power supply included. Also, in most cases a really good 500W PS should do the trick. More isn't always better, but it probably doesn't hurt as long as it is from a good name brand.

[AndMetal]

Here's my recommendation (minus case/power supply & CD/DVD drive) for a decent gaming machine with plenty of room for expandability:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8765906


MSI Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130172)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103214) w/ Thermaltake 100mm CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106062)
2x 2GB Kingston PC6400 RAM for Dual Channel memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134582)
ASUS GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Supported Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121251)
2x HITACHI Deskstar 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145215) for RAID0 or RAID1


All of that for the low, low price of $510.44 + shipping. The best part is that you can go SLI down the line for another $100, the mobo supports AM2+ so you can upgrade to a quad core down the line, and you can still shove another 4GB (for a total of 8GB) of RAM on the mobo. Just find a DVD drive, a case/power supply, and that should get you where you want to be.

On a side note, if you're looking for specs on video cards, I recommend these pages on Wikipedia:
Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units)
Comparison of ATI graphics processing units (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_graphics_processing_units)

Hope this helps :-D

[trevius]

The amount of speed boost you will get from running raid drives probably isn't quite as much as you would get from buying a better processor. IMO, a 4200+ is a little low end if you are wanting to get a more updated PC. That is barely faster than my last PC (that my server is running on atm). Keeping the raid is definitely nice if you can afford it though and a 6400+ AMD isn't really that much more expensive and you get 50% more speed over a 4200+. Normally, when I am CPU shopping, I look at the prices and you can almost see a perfect scale of speed vs price. At a certain point, you will see that the amount of speed increase you are getting per dollar will drop quickly. Normally that is in the <200$ range. After that point, they start to be minor upgrades for a considerably higher price. So, just look for the best bang for your buck.

I normally use http://www.sharkyextreme.com/ to find the latest price ranges for CPUs and it is a quick way to decide which is the best for you.

[sesmar]

Here is what I would suggest:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0 Ghz Dual Core CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773)
Gigabyte Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128081) Supports up to 16 GB DDR2 1066 Ram if you ever switch over to a 64 bit OS.
4GB OCZ Platinum Dual Channel Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298)
Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136230)
ASUS GeForce 9600 GSO 384 MB GDDR3 Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121251) Supports DX10 and OpenGL 2.0, 96 Stream Processors, 1800Mhz Memory Clock and 600Mhz Core Clock
And the above processor comes with a heat sink and fan but if you are looking for something maybe a little bit better or quieter you might try this one ARTIC Cooling Heatsink and Fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186019) Copper core with copper heat pipes. .4 sone noise level and 3000+ RPMS

Total: $510.94

This is just a suggestion. I know the motherboard does not support SLI; however, you said that you are not worried about insane graphics so I do not think it is something that you would need to worry about. Also, for the HD I only put one 500GB drive, if you wanted to do a RAID 0 or RAID 1 system you can easily add a second drive for another $70 still keeping your total under $600 before shipping and without case/power supply. As for a power supply, whatever brand you go with I would suggest a 500W power supply. Antec and Thermaltake are good and well known brands but you are also going to pay for that reputation. I would suggest taking a look on http://newegg.com and see what they have to offer as far as 500W power supplies go. Look for ones with a 5 egg rating and a lot of reviews this way you know that you are getting a decent power supply.

[SourCelery]

I had to reply to this thread because I just bought a new computer. Here's the stats on mine:

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 at the stock 2.4Ghz
4GB of PC6400 (800Mhz) DDR2 memory
500GB hard drive
GeForce 8800GT 512
Windows XP (F Vista!)

All that and I paid $829 plus $39 for shipping/handling
It's a NIB Dell that I got on Ebay from someone that bought in bulk (she was selling 12 in the auction I got mine).

You said you were looking to spend 6-800 and this is just slightly higher than that and it's a HUGE improvement from what you currently use.

[erik_llewellyn]

I recently built a system for a co-worker that plays live-EQ and 3 boxes. All parts were bought off www.newegg.com and came out to $635 after shipping.

Asus P5Q Intel P45 chipset mobo
Intel Core2 Duo E7200 (45nm wolfdale) 2.53 GHz
2x 2GB OCZ Platinium DDR2-1066 Ram
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB made by EVGA
Western Digital 750GB HDD
generic SOHO case w/ 600W PS and 4 fans

[kayen85]

Thanks guys appreciate the suggestions. Going to give it some more looking at this weekend when I get the time. Looks like I am going to have to pay a little more then expected but few hundred more dollars really in the long run is worth.

Any of those systems would work fine, my costs unfortunately would be significantly higher then whats quoted because those don't include an operating system or a monitor which adds about 300+ dollars. Plus I have no experience building my own computer and investing in 600+ dollars in parts and never having done it before is not the wisest move. So that jacks up the cost too. Again not a big deal.

Speaking of operating system btw, I was leaning toward XP, anyone think its worth it for vista?

[trevius]

Well, as much as I am normally against buying something that is out-dated by an upgraded version, I think you are still better off getting XP (Pro preferably) at this point. It is probably the best Windows OS right now.

Also, I wanted to mention that building a PC from parts these days is nothing compared to what it used to be back when I started doing it about 18 years ago lol. Back then, it was really complex to get everything working right and almost certain that it wouldn't all work right the first time.

Now, anyone that can use a screwdriver can build a PC. Unless you are unlucky and there is some odd issues that pops up, you could probably do it yourself. And, if all else fails, then you could bring it to a place to have it put together.

If you are planning to have someone put it together anyway, you might be best off getting a Dell, because you will get a better package rate and you don't get as much extra costs for the OS and such because it is a package.

[kayen85]

Yeah, I agree I am sure I could put it together myself if needed. I'll see if there are any local computer shops in the area I could work with if I needed it. Just a big investment I don't want to mess it up.

I was looking at Dell's but they force you to get Vista as the OS (not sure if there is a way around that), and I really want to stick with XP. Reality is almost all name brands are going vista from what I looked at, so in the end might not even have a choice if I buy one pre-made

[kayen85]

I decided to go through Dell, just makes my life easier.

I think I narrowed it down to what I want. Take a look see if this is a viable system.

Dell Inspiron 530 Pirce 879$ includes Monitor(-200ish=679$ for comp)
Intel

[kayen85]

I decided to go through Dell, just makes my life easier.

I think I narrowed it down to what I want. Take a look see if this is a viable system.

Dell Inspiron 530 Pirce 879$ includes Monitor(-200ish=679$ for comp)
Intel

[kayen85]

Again cutting me off...

I decided to go through Dell, just makes my life easier.

I think I narrowed it down to what I want. Take a look see if this is a viable system.

Dell Inspiron 530 Pirce 879$ includes Monitor(-200ish=679$ for comp)
Intel Core2 Duo Processor E8300 (6MB L2 Cache,2.83GHz,1333FSB)
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO 128MB (only offer ATI...)

I know the video card isn't insane but like I said the most graphical intense thing I do is play eq, should that be sufficient? These are the other 2 options
ATI Radeon HD3650 256MB [add $40 or $1/month1]
Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB [add $90 or $3/month1]

Question: I have done a little homework on this but still not sure
which is better, faster duo, or slower quad. I am not sure I use
anything that would really make any use of the quad.
Intel Core2 Duo Processor E8300 (6MB L2 Cache,2.83GHz,1333FSB) [Included in Price]

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB) [add $50 or $1/month1]
Dell Recommends

What do you guys think?

[GeorgeS]

The Intel Core2 Duo Processor E8300 is a better proc IMO. I have quads and a T9300, and for video encoding the quad is better, but for EQ, the faster dual core proc is my choice. I'm running a T9300 and a Gforce 8800 GTS on my laptop and cannot believe the speed.

Regarding the graphics, the better card is always better then a slightly faster CPU, unless the CPU bottlenecks the GPU. In your case, I would go for the ATI Radeon HD3650 256MB .

GeorgeS

[kayen85]

What about if I will also be using the comp to run a server? Is there any natural advantage to having the 2.4 quad over a 3.0 duo?

[trevius]

I am not positive, but I would guess that the server would run best on less cores. It may only use one at a time, so having the fastest speed per CPU would probably be better than having more CPUs with a higher total speed if you know what I mean.

So, a AMD 6400+ X2 that runs 2 cores at 3200 would probably be better than a Quad Core 8000+ that ran each core at 2000 (just made the second CPU stats up).

I run my server on a single core 3700+ atm and it handles well. But, unless you are expecting to have hundreds of players on your server, any new CPU should work just fine. The most important part is RAM and with 4GBs, you should have nothing to worry about :)