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[elitehebrew]

Ok first off i'm still hanging out with the Radeon 9700 pro its not bad and has gotten me this far but i want to enhance my graphics quite a bit. I've heard about these new cards that are out but i have no idea which is the best so to say. I know i want one with pci express b/c supposedly its the fastest port now. Also in terms of that i need a new mobo/cpu which will cater to the video card and also has great quality. Last but not least i want some new ram i guess a gig will do but possibly more. Well thanks for any help you guys can help.

edit --

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145588&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=20-145-588

is that good ram? i tryed looking around and just wondering if that is one of the fastest

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=290240

and how is that for a sound card?

http://www.manticoreinc.com/tech/product_info.php?cPath=1_63_199&products_id=1046

Video card ^^^^^


http://www.smksuperstore.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?ID=13828

how is that for a mobo/processor combo?

 

[Crazymoogle]

1. Go for an AMD X2 system unless you're a real Intel fanboy. The X2 3800+ in particular is supposed to be a pretty great deal right now. Only Intel boards use DDR2 memory, so if you do go AMD you will need standard DDR memory.

2. Crucial is always good RAM. That particular set has those activity LEDs on it, which are really just bling. Make sure you either buy a set pair, or two of the same stick, because your motherboard will be dual-channel compatible, and to be honest if you want to run heavy duty apps (Photoshop, Battlefield 2), 2GB is better than 1. You'll survive on 1 stick though for the time being.

3. The motherboard (hell, most motherboards) have built-in onboard audio. If you just want decent sound out of the box, you don't need a sound card. In fact, I'd say the Audigy2 ZS is functionally useless unless you have some really important need for a discrete card, but if that IS the case, then you really should be buying the X-Fi series anyway.

4. That's the fastest video card on the market today (well, fastest chipset) and gloriously expensive as a result. I wouldn't trust Sapphire to give me change at the grocery store, but whatever. A fast, but more reasonably priced card right now would be something based on the 7800GT from Nvidia (not to be confused with the faster GTX) but it depends what price bracket you're looking at. I must admit ATi is at least a stronger choice on paper since you picked a motherboard with an ATi bridge chipset, though.

 

[Lukkas]

The price on that ram is a ripoff. So is the videocard.

I suggest going for this

7800 GT 256MB from EVGA with a free EVGA SLI PCI16x Mobo for 359 (both the card and mobo are awesome, I have them) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238

Ram timings dont really do much. Not even a 1 fps gain in any of your video games or 1% gain in any applications. You would wanna go with 2 gigs and ok timings rather than 1 gig and fast timings. For what you were willing to pay for 1 gig you can get 2 gigs of identical ram from Corsair - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145486

Sound card is good, I also have it. Good price too.

You dont wanna go with Intel for your CPU. AMDs cpus are much better and cheaper. Their Dual Cores destroy anything Intel has managed to put out. Since the Mobo with Videocard combo I linked already has 1 of the best mobos you can get for a processor try this

The 3800 Venice. Revised core, very high clock speed and cheap if you want single core. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103531

If youre willing to spend more on a CPU go with this, best bang for your buck. Dual Core, should last a solid 2 years for any game or application - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546

You should be set with these parts. Youll be getting better hardware at a cheaper price.

 

[elitehebrew]

What mobo comes with that video card? and is it good quality wise and option wise?

 

[Crazymoogle]

What mobo comes with that video card? and is it good quality wise and option wise?

This one.

Looks like a sweet deal, and it's SLI and X2 ready. Not really seeing anything missing from the spec sheet on first glance.

Buying an audigy is still basically just throwing your money away, though. The onboard on this is going to do a good job unless you desperately need EAX or something...

 

[Lukkas]

using onboard sound is garbage. if you plan to play games or even listen to music the difference in 5.1 sound is huge compared when using an actual sound card. using onboard sound also puts strain on your pc and youll actually get lower fps than if you got a sound card.