fenrisulfr

I am about to get myself a new gaming computer, too, so I'll tell you about my concerns and what helped me pick the parts. My budget is around 2000 euros, which is around 2500 USD. The computer specs are: 350W Power source (I might ask for a 400W instead) AMD64 Athlon X2 at 4200 (dual core processor) MSI motherboard for AMD64 x2 2Gb DDR2 Kingston RAM (2 x 1Gb dual channel) SATAII 160Gb Seagate Hard Drive GeForce 7900GTX (trying to see if I can get a GeForce7950 GX2, you should check it, it's beautiful, 1gb memory!). TFT 17" PHILIPS 170s6FS And a forced ventilation system I picked all those parts (except for the motherboard, I let the guy at the computer shop pick it for me, as he probably knows more than me about compatibility) after I read this awesome PC parts picking guide: http://ww1.shsc.info/?pid=9POHW18OB&bkt=12980 (I really hope the link is not out of place). It is very easy to read and understand, it explains to you the reasons why you should pick something over something else, or just tells you the difference between two components so you are more free to choose between them. The guide basically says this: -Compare performance / price, there are certain points in which the price of a processor is too high for the performance improvement it has (for example, ProcessorA vs ProcessorB, PA has a performance of 100% and costs 100 USD, while PB has a performance improvement of 10%, but a price rise of 80%, you'll do better buying PA). This goes for graphic cards too. -AMD is better for gaming, 3D rendering, video editing and that kind of stuff, while INTEL is better for A/V enconding and heavy multitasking. However, for dual-core processors, AMD is faster than INTEL in almost everything -When it comes to motherboards, you should pick it by socket type and "if you have $100 to spend on a motherboard, you should really only bother with nVidia nForce 4 and Intel 915/925/945/955 chipsets on the AMD and Intel sides respectively". -RAM: get DDR2 dual channel memory, which means: two sticks of the same amount (2x512 for example). You'll have to tell the person that'll install everything for you that you want them on dual channel, because maybe they won't do it. -Graphic cards: it's the same thing as with the processors, but I, personally, want to buy the 7950 gx2 because it has a double processor, which means you have SLI technology in one graphic card, and that's awesome. The price difference between the 7900 and the 7950 is around 100-150 euros (125-280 USD). But, in my opion, it'll be worth it. -Sound cards: if you're not going to mess around with sound editing, don't bother. I'm not going to buy a sound card. -Hard drive: cost, warranty, performance, and noise output are the things you might want to check when looking for a Hard drive, in the guide they suggest some models based on said criteria. -GET A GOOD POWER SUPPLY -CD/DVD drive? For reading DVD/CD, and burning CD, get something cheap. For DVD burning "get a NEC ND-3520A (or the ND-3550A, which is an updated version with dual-layer -R support)." I hope this helped.

This is an awesome guide, I'm saving it. After reading it I have a better idea of what kind of motherboard I should get.Thank you very much, brautigam!