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photon · 03-30-2007, 08:37 AM

If you can wait, I would since Intel and AMD are going to have a price drop in April (early April for AMD and late April for Intel), and most sources say it's going to be VERY significant.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...e-roundup.html

For $1000 - $1500 without a monitor, you can build a pretty impressive system.

And at this point I would highly recommend the Intel Core 2 Duo processors, as their overclocking potential is very impressive and they run quite cool compared to the AMDs, and after this coming price drop the current small price advantage of the AMDs will be gone.

For the power supply, like he said 400W is good, and make sure and get one that is over 80% effecient. This one is highly reviewed, is quiet, and is modular as well (you can remove the cables you don't need instead of stuffing them in a corner).
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9812&SID=

Sound card, depends on how much you game. If gaming isn't the most important thing, ones like this one are very good:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9425&SID=
Or any of the cards based on the C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788 chip. Otherwise a Creative Labs X-Fi for gaming, though I'm holding off at this time to see how it all shakes out since Vista basically changed everything with respect to games and sound cards and 3D sound. And Creative's driver support is horrible.

For TV Tuner, I've read good things about this:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9773&SID=

For video card, having owned both ATI and nvidia in the past year, I can say I prefer ATI at this point (better driver support), though nvidia's latest generation 8800 video cards are out while ATI's isn't out yet.
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9217&SID=
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9796&SID=
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9756&SID=

4GB of RAM for Windows Vista.

03-30-2007, 08:37 AM	#3
photon The new goggles also do nothing. Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Calgary Exp:	If you can wait, I would since Intel and AMD are going to have a price drop in April (early April for AMD and late April for Intel), and most sources say it's going to be VERY significant. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...e-roundup.html For $1000 - $1500 without a monitor, you can build a pretty impressive system. And at this point I would highly recommend the Intel Core 2 Duo processors, as their overclocking potential is very impressive and they run quite cool compared to the AMDs, and after this coming price drop the current small price advantage of the AMDs will be gone. For the power supply, like he said 400W is good, and make sure and get one that is over 80% effecient. This one is highly reviewed, is quiet, and is modular as well (you can remove the cables you don't need instead of stuffing them in a corner). http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9812&SID= Sound card, depends on how much you game. If gaming isn't the most important thing, ones like this one are very good: http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9425&SID= Or any of the cards based on the C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788 chip. Otherwise a Creative Labs X-Fi for gaming, though I'm holding off at this time to see how it all shakes out since Vista basically changed everything with respect to games and sound cards and 3D sound. And Creative's driver support is horrible. For TV Tuner, I've read good things about this: http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9773&SID= For video card, having owned both ATI and nvidia in the past year, I can say I prefer ATI at this point (better driver support), though nvidia's latest generation 8800 video cards are out while ATI's isn't out yet. http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9217&SID= http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9796&SID= http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9756&SID= 4GB of RAM for Windows Vista. __________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.