Okay I have a friend of my son whose 14 and his parents have said he can have a new PC for Xmas. He's asked me to help with the config for what he should buy. They have not much money but can stretch to around $1k and they don't need a mouse or monitor. He's a special needs kid who loves gaming.

This is what I had in mind as far as dollars and types but no exact models as I am out of date as to what's what. What would you recommend:

Intel motherboard (no idea on chipsets or good brands anymore) @ $200
Intel CPU @ $200 (What's an E7200?)
800mhz DDR2 4GB @ $100 (Maybe G-Skill? What's it like?)
Video Card @ $250 (probably a 9800GTX+)
HDD @ $100 (WS/Seagate 500GB Sata 2)
DVD @ $40 (ASUS Sata)
Case and powersupply @ 130 (They don't need a grand big case, rather a smaller one would be preferable, not sure Brand but I'll certainly listen to advice on this)

Now I am completely out of date with all the latest Intel hardware. So I need a couple of things clarified.

Are the Intel CPUs now all x64 or are some models still x32 and which models? I would prefer x64.

Of course I'm going to assemble it for him and I was thinking of getting the gear from MSY as they seem ultra cheap.

This is not for my son, he can wait.

Any help would be great.

Cheers
SFB

don't forget to get him some uber games to play on his new rig mate.its like getting a Christmas prezzy that needs batteries and not having any .

he'll need a 1TB HD for all the porn he is going to accumulate in the first 48 hours he has the thing.

I had a 'special need' when i was 14,







the need for porn.

your mother satisfied that need for you d0mino

get an ATI 4850/4870 instead of the nvidia.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_boxes

There ya go.

All the latest Intel CPUs (Core 2 and up) are x86-64 (ie. 64 bit capable) I think...

The E7200 is 2.5GHz, 3MB L2 Cache and 1066 FSB, nfi how it compares BFYB wise?

Don't bother with 4gig of ram unless you're planning on running 64bit. Also, get an ati4850/4870.

Case and powersupply @ 130 (They don't need a grand big case, rather a smaller one would be preferable, not sure Brand but I'll certainly listen to advice on this)

For goodness sake don't get a cheap PSU, or a cheap $20 motherboard for that matter either. You don't have to go big watts just get good quality is all.

I'd say avoid the ATi if it's a machine for a family friend.

you don't want to get those calls asking why 'xxx' doesn't work and having to instruct the user howto update driver or other random fixes


... unless you really want to. there's something to be said for helping your family/friends in today's financial climate. I'd still choose an VNidia though

last edited by koopz at 23:42:17 16/Dec/08

Don't bother with 4gig of ram unless you're planning on running 64bit.

why? how much of the memory you'll be able to use between say ~2.9gb and 4gb is entirely dependant on how many pci devices you have and how much memory is needed to address them

my work desktop, home desktop and laptop all have 4gb and are all running 32 bit versions of xp and vista. the two desktops, after addressing their hardware have 3.4gb and 3.5gb of ram they can use, my laptop is less with 3.2gb presumably due to all the doohickies it has

asif you would refrain from buying 4gb just because of that - specially when the list of things with crappy 64 bit drivers is lessening, ram is so cheap anyway, and by buying only say 3gb you are filling some of your ram slots with silly small dimms

14 ?

Better put the computer in the Loungeroom.

ram is so cheap anyway, and by buying only say 3gb you are filling some of your ram slots with silly small dimms

Yeah, especially when you can get a brand name 4GB matched kit for $70.

At that dirt cheap price it's not worth crying over the 500MB-1GB waste due to 32-bit OS. Much better than falling back to 2GB (and running out of memory) or inserting crash-prone multi-stick combos to get 3GB!

I'm happy only getting 2.93GB out of my 4GB kit.

last edited by parabol at 02:17:33 17/Dec/08

my laptop is less with 3.2gb presumably due to all the doohickies it has

Video card sharing system memory.

jebus, i was doing an upgrade and wanted same specs.

Thanks for the reply so far, much appreciated. A question: Why the ATI card over the nVidia card?

better value for money, ie more frames for your dollar.

For goodness sake don't get a cheap PSU, or a cheap $20 motherboard for that matter either. You don't have to go big watts just get good quality is all.

I was thinking of either a Coolermaster or Thermaltake case and PSU. The lower end models that aren't as expensive. He doesn't need a big case as he won't have heaps of gear to house.

In the motherboards I was thinking ASUS, are they still the better brand to get? If there are any other decent brands to check out please let me know. The only problem with MSY is they have a pretty small range of brands and models.

Edit: Wait, one more question. Is there different chipsets by different manufactuers for Intel Motherboard i.e. Intel, Via, nVidia etc? Which is the better chipset to base the motherboard on?



last edited by Some Fat Bastard at 15:08:55 17/Dec/08

I like intel chipsets on Asus motherboards, usually a pretty winning combo.

Yeah, I like ASUS mobos too atm. I have a Coolermaster case and it's great - no screws for HDDs, these friction jamming clip thingies which make it really easy to add/remove 2.5" devices. Great design.

Do him a favour and buy parts only and help him put it together himself. Also that way you have the added bonus of wrapping each part separately so the little bastard thinks he's getting 100 presents, but it's really only one. Kodak moment opportunity.

I like ASUS mobos too atm

good to know, im buying this weekend. had choosen an asus one. also, i prefer nvidia over ata for driver support. saying that, they dont do the "span" option on vista :@

Out of these ASUS motherboards which would you go for?

P5Q-Pro
P5QC
P5E3
P5E-X38

They're all around the $200 or so mark.

If I have the following will a good 430watt PSU be sufficient?

ASUS P5E-X38 motherboard
Intel E8400 cpu
4gb 1066mhz ram
ASUS nVidia GTX 260 896mb or ASUS ATI 4870 1GB
Western Digital SATA 750GB
ASUS Sata DVD Burner/Player

The cases th 430watt PSU comes in are either the thermaltake Soprano or the Antec Sonata 3.