Ha! I don't figure to get the best of everything under that price, but
close to top of the line could be the slowest CPU of those with the best
architechture.
Understood -- my preference for CPU's is the point where the price
starts jumping too fast for the performance boost. Example with the
AM2 series (all of these are priced as the retail version - heat sink
and fan with longer warranty).
Sempron 64 3000 -- Single core, 256K L2 Cache -- $65
Sempron 64 3200 -- Single core, 256K L2 Cache -- $75
Sempron 64 3400 -- Single core, 256K L2 Cache -- $76
Athlon 64 3500 -- Single core, 512K L2 Cache -- $85
Athlon 64 3800 -- Single core, 512K L2 Cache -- $95
Athlon 64 X2 3800 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $109
Athlon 64 X2 4000 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $140
Athlon 64 X2 4200 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $155
Athlon 64 X2 4400 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $165
Athlon 64 X2 4600 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $189
Athlon 64 X2 5000 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $215
Athlon 64 X2 5200 - Dual core, 1Mx2 L2 Cache -- $229
Athlon 64 X2 5400 - Dual core, 512Kx2 L2 Cache -- $269
Athlon 64 X2 5600 - Dual core, 1Mx2 L2 Cache -- $325
So for me, the 'sweet spot' starts with the X2 3800 and extends to the
X2 4600 -- depending on budget. Then again, sometimes the local Fry's
runs a super deal on some of my preferred processors with a decent
motherboard which amounts to getting the motherboard for free.
Like is 256MB video RAM really enough for a Vista system, or enough to get
by for a start with a plan to upgrade it later, or is it better to get a
512MB card and try to cut some expense on another part?
I think 256M would be fine -- that's an onboard 256M, what you don't
want is a card that supports 256M but only has 64M or 128M on the card.
The thing with nVidia is Vista driver support, ATI appears to currently
be ahead of nVidia for this -- which is particularly apparent to
gamers. That being said, I've faith that nVidia will take care of this
reasonably soon.
I'd guess your nVidia start point would be a GeForce 7100GS with 256M
on board. Figure under $60. If you insist on 512M on board, you jump
up to the 7300GT and price doubles -- more memory, faster GPU. For a
bit more you could jump to the 7600GS.
As you walk up the GPU price, power, memory ladder, take care to handle
power supply and cooling issues as these faster GPU's demand it. One
thing that bugs me about most of the mid-range (and up) video cards, is
they really need active cooling (heat sink and fan) -- that's ok, but
way too often they have cheap fans -- either too noisy or they fail and
just like a CPU fan, a GPU fan is NOT something you want to have fail
on you.
But is it tasteful? I don't really want a crazy style alien thing..
The issue I have looked for in past cases is the reset button. When there
is a problem I sometimes have to use it a lot and find it annoying when they
make it so you need a pin to push it. Some cases don't even have one..
That's another thing I like about that case, it doesn't have crazy
lights, logo's or the like, just a 'we mean business' case design.
That is another issue I've been wondering about, exactly how much power each
level of PS consumes, and exactly how much power each component needs. No
doubt high end video cards eat a lot. I don't know about the MB/CPU and
other components..
Well one trick here -- don't get 'no name' power supplies -- they often
rate 'peak power' not sustained power. I will gladly take a
Thermaltake or Antec 430W power supply over a 550W 'ebay special'. But
if you are powering up on the video card, (and that's the real power
draw), and/or are thinking of a 4 drive RAID array, then make sure to
'go big' with the power supply. I generally build up business systems,
so rarely have I gone past 500 Watts for a power supply.
Now I just need to figure out how much to spend on one and what exactly they
do. It seems there are different kinds. I need one that can at least
provide power to the PC for about 5 minutes after the power goes out so I
can safely shut it down..
Yeah, that's the trick -- I'm sort of 'old school' on that -- mostly
APC SmartUPS -- 1000 or 1400 -- plenty of power and good storage. The
newer slim style USB only UPS's provide less run time (there is just so
much energy you can store per cubic inch). Still should be OK for a
home unit though. I use a couple of Ebay suppliers to get refurb'd APC
1000 and 1400's (new batteries).
