New Rig

[Lazerblade]

So I was thinking of buying a new rig, but I'm not looking to spend a ton of cash. Something in the $800-1000 range would be great, but I understand that in some cases a bit more may be required. I'd simply like to be able to play any game out there, even if a lower setting than optimal is required to get decent (30-40) FPS. Right now I only really play GRAW, SWAT4, Carbon, and a few others. GRAW is probably the most hardware-demanding game I play currently, but I may be picking up more games this summer.

So does anyone have any suggestions? I'm not looking for name brands, as long as the product delivers. PSU and cooling have never been an issue with me (right now I'm running a Dell 200W PSU with an x700 vidcard, dual opticals, dual hard drives, and up to 4 USB devices simultaneously without glitches, everything else is either onboard or standard fare). I'll probably get a new vidcard, actual soundcard (unless the onboard is really good), and simply swap my bigger drive across, leaving my smaller drive in my current system. I'm hoping for a single DVDRW drive, possibly a DVDROM drive as a secondary, 2GB RAM, 512MB video, about 500GB space, and everything else will be standard. I already have an extra optical mouse. I may need 2 keyboards as my current one is acting up but I can get those for $9 each (don't need the fancy ones as I replace them about once a year or every other anyway). Speakers and mic are important but I can get a cheap mic easily enough and I'd prefer to buy speakers locally in case I blow one.

Post a run-down of options please. Again, doesn't have to be smoking fast top-of-the-line, just something to get me through another year or so.

Thanks,
Lazer

[MindlessOath]

get a video card with sm3.0 capabilities. if you have any hope of upgrading to vista, buy a new video card in a few months from either ati or nvidia, but dont buy any current offerings - IF you want to goto vista.
suggest pci-express grfx - if you have the capability to, if not suggest a new logicboard upgrade with pci-express.
keep in mind these new video cards to be released - IF you get the higher end ones - they require a special grfx connector for them - so this may require a new powersupply - nothing you have to worry about im sure they made an adapter for your old power supply tho.

other than that, you can get amd or intels core2duo - both are good, but i do belive intel has a leg up until amd releases in mid year... you can wait to see what amd has or buy intel now.

SATA ii standard is a great hdd to get. i went with a raptor hard drive from western digital, its hot and its loud but performs those games WAYYYY BETTER than anything else.  anyways, i suggest for people who dont want the noise and heat to buy a parrallel platter hdd - i forget if this is the name im looking for here - but it puts the data on the platters so it can put more data on each. in the same ammount of room.

get some good memory, none of that value mem crap, and get at least 2gb's of memory - it can be had for around 200$ which is pritty cheap (for ddr anyways).  if you get DDR2 then it will likly be more expensive, but get something with good timings - depends on the motherboard you get tho.


i will be looking for some parts up for a client - if you want lateron when i come up with them, i will post what im getting.  his application will be differnt than yours but it will do your stuff too.

as for your PSU - with newer technology you are looking to be using more wattage per device - meaning your DVD+-RW 500gb hdd and video card will likly take up alot more than you thought before, not to mention the new logicboards that support newer cpu;s which hog alot of wattage too.  alot of people seem to do great with about 350watts without any issues with a nice setup with a high range vid card - next gen vid cards are going to be really hogging of wattage, i belive the new ati video card will be around 200watts (the high end card) or so (give or take, but i know its very high - i dont have the exact figure).
https://secure2.pcpowercooling.com/cgi-bin/pcpcorderform.cgi <-- some affordable too!

PSU's are made differntly! your old dell 200w psu might be great but i been through alot of psu's and they are not all made equaly.  i hate to admit it, but i run ALOT of power through my system and since i have my own place now i see the bill i have to pay when i run my computer - its insane, i cant belive i went through so many power supplys but now i can see why - i stick with PC power and cooling because i havent had it fail yet! see the reviews and tell me what ya think - alittle pricy and mabe its not your thing - mabe you dont need the power it provides, and mabe if your system isnt as taxing you wont have to worry about the quality as much.  but the new hardware out there is more demanding especially when adding SLI and various of new technologys from cpu manfuactures and vid cards.

good luck with it.

[Lazerblade]

MO, something I didn't quite explain. The Dell PSU I am currently running in my PC has 2 opticals, 2 hdd's, and a powered vidcard, as well as the 4 USB devices, a TV tuner card, etc... Also, when I got the system it had a 350w PSU in it. That one blew. I replaced it with a 650w PSU. That one blew as well. I have (or had) a back-up 425w PSU in case my 200w PSU blew, but so far it's held up. So when you talk about power supplies, everyone has different experiences but I think that a lot of times the power requirements for hardware are exaggerated to make them seem or sound more powerful. Let's face it, a 4.0L engine with 180hp sounds much more impressive than a 2.0L engine with 170hp, even though it just takes more gas.

[Aramis]

MO, something I didn't quite explain. The Dell PSU I am currently running in my PC has 2 opticals, 2 hdd's, and a powered vidcard, as well as the 4 USB devices, a TV tuner card, etc... Also, when I got the system it had a 350w PSU in it. That one blew. I replaced it with a 650w PSU. That one blew as well. I have (or had) a back-up 425w PSU in case my 200w PSU blew, but so far it's held up. So when you talk about power supplies, everyone has different experiences but I think that a lot of times the power requirements for hardware are exaggerated to make them seem or sound more powerful. Let's face it, a 4.0L engine with 180hp sounds much more impressive than a 2.0L engine with 170hp, even though it just takes more gas.

Actually, you may be doing damage to your system or shortening the life. If you've had 2 PSU's blow, you may want to check your house wiring. But with a 200w PSU and all of that stuff, there's potential to basically hurt the lifespan of your stuff. Decent to quality PSU's aren't expensive, so it's not like a big savings there.

As far as suggestions, here's mine:

E6300 Intel Core 2 Duo - low end C2D while still getting into the current king of the hill. I believe they're about $130.
Mobo of your choice- I'm a little out of touch on mid-range ones currently.
2 gig DDR2 ram. I prefer Corsair, but there's a lot of good brands. The C2D can take lower speed ram. Just make sure you get 1gig matched sticks and run it in dual channel.
Audigy soundcard- they're cheap and help offload the mobo and you still get good sound.
ATI x1950 GPU- it's definitely not top-end, but it provides some nice price to performance ratio. There's NVidia flavors as well such as the 7900gs.
500w PSU- it's a little overkill for that setup, but allows for expandibility. You can even go further (and I'd recommend it) if you want to get a DX10 card in a year or so when the games come out.

That gives you a nice solid base with lots of upgrade options without spending too much cash.

[Lazerblade]

Actually, you may be doing damage to your system or shortening the life. If you've had 2 PSU's blow, you may want to check your house wiring. But with a 200w PSU and all of that stuff, there's potential to basically hurt the lifespan of your stuff. Decent to quality PSU's aren't expensive, so it's not like a big savings there.

Funny you should say that. I've had the system for about 3-4 years. I've upgraded several components including a CDRW to a DVDRW, the vidcard from a GF5200 to an ATI x700, added the second hdd- a 250GB EIDE, and the tuner card. The only component of those that I was forced to upgrade was the video, which began showing anomolies. That could have been due to any number of potential causes, including dust or heat, or the simple fact that it was a cheap Walmart card. I don't know why the larger power supplies blew but I'm no longer living in the home where that occurred anyway. I've since moved several times and just never got around to swapping the power supply out. I'm guessing the Dell PSU was severely underrated. Either way, I've had great luck with it.

[Ronin]

You can't be too careful with power for your home electronics.  You can end up with current loops and floating ground situations that will burn out your equipment and cause all manner of weird behavior.

Get a wall outlet tester and check that your outlets are phased properly AND have proper grounds.  Don't plug anything into an outlet that isn't both grounded and phased properly.  Especially if that equipment connects to another piece of equipment is out of phase or not grounded.  Floating/hanging grounds can easily cause shock conditions.  And out of phase outlets can cause current loops as can two outlets with different voltages.  Current loops are _very_ bad for electronics because they can induce high potential amperage AC current into electronic circuits.  This tends to let the smoke out of electronic equipment  (i.e. cause premature and possibly catastrophic failure).  While the fireworks can be entertaining, they usually aren't worth the expense.

For example, if the outlet you plug your computer into has 115 volts AC but the outlet you plug your printer into has 120 volts AC, you have a 5 volt current loop potential.  Depending on the design of the equipment and how well the PSU is isolated (some aren't isolated at all) you can have 5 volts running from your printer to your PC.  This is, in technical terms, bad.  That five volt potential can cause all sorts of problems and most will just leave you trying to figure out what's wrong.

[MindlessOath]

i went from a few good name psu's and all of these i had grfx problems - upgrade to a new REAL power supply and it works like a dream, in fact so good i upgraded the grfx and works great.  all i was saying is with new hardware especially high end grfx you will need more than 200w.  for what you got now may run just fine, i dont dissagree with you, but do some upgrading and your going to need more than that, cause you can hurt your components rather than your psu.

also run a surge protector that can handle what your running or your system components are dust.