Need to build Intel system on a budget. Can you help me?

[Crackles McFarly]

I need an Intel [of if you can talk me into the benefits of another
AMD system?] system and have a $1,000 - $1,200 budget.

I already have or do not need the following items that I do not need
or want to buy again or replace.
1.Hard drive
2.Monitor
I'm sure about recycling the Case but it is 400W and for my current
AMD 939 system it seems to deliver good power and has plenty of rails
"outgoing power wires?"

I'm only a light gamer, perhaps playing 3-4 times a week.

I'm mainly interested in FAST computational abilities and LOW LOW CPU
HEAT! My room is seriously hot already!

I'd like to stick with XP Home for as long as possible unless someone
could tell me a good reason why to go with XP Pro 64/Vista.

If something I said made no sense please ask me and I will do my best
to re-state the issue/question.

I have built exactly 6 computers in my life, 1 Intel and 5 AMD.

I'm just looking for something that would make me yell out WOW when I
booted it to Windows.

This is my Current P.O.S. system..don't laugh too hard ;-)

O.S. WinXP Home SP2
CASE APEX TU150 Steel ATX Mid Tower ATX 12V 400W 20+4 pin Intel/AMD
Link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811154013
Motherboard Asus A8S-X [939 Chipset SiS 756, Hammer]
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice S939 Step DH-E6
VideoCard - NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS(256 MB) NV41GS
RAM - 1GB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM) Corsair VS1GB400C3
Hard Drive SeagateBarracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 16MB Cache
SATA2
Hard Drive http://preview.tinyurl.com/nxuvq ]
DVD - SAMSUNG 18X Burner 12X DVDRAM LightScribe IDE SH-S182M/BEBE
DVD Link http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qbkt2


Please help if you can
I truly appreciate any time you could offer me.
Thanks

 

[Paul]

I need an Intel [of if you can talk me into the benefits of another
AMD system?] system and have a $1,000 - $1,200 budget.

I already have or do not need the following items that I do not need
or want to buy again or replace.
1.Hard drive
2.Monitor
I'm sure about recycling the Case but it is 400W and for my current
AMD 939 system it seems to deliver good power and has plenty of rails
"outgoing power wires?"

I'm only a light gamer, perhaps playing 3-4 times a week.

I'm mainly interested in FAST computational abilities and LOW LOW CPU
HEAT! My room is seriously hot already!

I'd like to stick with XP Home for as long as possible unless someone
could tell me a good reason why to go with XP Pro 64/Vista.

If something I said made no sense please ask me and I will do my best
to re-state the issue/question.

I have built exactly 6 computers in my life, 1 Intel and 5 AMD.

I'm just looking for something that would make me yell out WOW when I
booted it to Windows.

This is my Current P.O.S. system..don't laugh too hard ;-)

O.S. WinXP Home SP2
CASE APEX TU150 Steel ATX Mid Tower ATX 12V 400W 20+4 pin Intel/AMD
Link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811154013
Motherboard Asus A8S-X [939 Chipset SiS 756, Hammer]
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice S939 Step DH-E6
VideoCard - NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS(256 MB) NV41GS
RAM - 1GB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM) Corsair VS1GB400C3
Hard Drive SeagateBarracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 16MB Cache
SATA2
Hard Drive http://preview.tinyurl.com/nxuvq ]
DVD - SAMSUNG 18X Burner 12X DVDRAM LightScribe IDE SH-S182M/BEBE
DVD Link http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qbkt2


Please help if you can
I truly appreciate any time you could offer me.
Thanks

Example of the current generation. Uses DDR2 memory, for best memory
pricing. Stick a couple 1GB DDR2-800 memories in it.

ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180

A couple minuses. No full PS/2 stack. Only PS/2 keyboard. Also, the
IDE connector is in the right of this photo, at the very bottom of
the motherboard. Which means you'd likely be using a "lower" bay for
your hard drive. You can now get SATA optical devices, so that might be
an option if you wanted to put your booting/installing CD/DVD in the
top bay of the case.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-131-180-03.jpg

The forum here can give some more feedback.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=P5K&SLanguage=en-us

For a processor, you could get an E6700, or an E6750 will be coming soon.
There is a price change on July 22, 2007, and you might want to do some
more research on that. This link is to the current E6700. In terms
of equivalent clock rate for integer processing, a single 2.66GHz core
is equivalent to an older processor at 4GHz+.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115002

Video cards are a whole other issue. I find there is too much spread
now, between top of the line and entry level. Which means, when future
games come out, an entry level card is going to leave you begging for
mercy. On the other hand, a high end card would be bad for heat and
power consumption. If you go entry level on video, you can probably
easily reuse your power supply.

Your existing supply is 12V @ 20A. The Intel Core2 desktop processors tend
to be 65W, which is 6 amps from 12V (assumes 90% Vcore efficiency).
Allow say 3 amps for sundries. That leaves 11A for a video card. An 8800GTX
would be 11A almost exactly, which would be too much for the power supply.
But a midrange or lower video card should be OK (with the caveat that you
may regret the money wasted on the card later). Some video cards are as
low as 3 amps of the 11 amps you have to spare.

This is the current generation of DX10 stuff - http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/

HD 2900 XT R600 PCI-Express 512MB GDDR3 740Mhz 825Mhz 512 Bits 16 x2 / 320 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
HD 2600 XT RV630 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 800Mhz 1100Mhz 128 Bits 4 x2 / 120 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
HD 2400 XT RV610 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 700Mhz 800Mhz 64 Bits 4 x2 / 40 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS

8800 GTS 320 MB G80 PCI-Express 320MB GDDR3 513Mhz 800Mhz 320 Bits 20 / 96 / 96 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 GTS 640 MB G80 PCI-Express 640MB GDDR3 500Mhz 800Mhz 320 Bits 20 / 96 / 96 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 GTX G80 PCI-Express 768MB GDDR3 575Mhz 900Mhz 384 Bits 24 / 128 / 128 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 Ultra G80 PCI-Express 768MB GDDR3 612Mhz 1080Mhz 384 Bits 24 / 128 / 128 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8600 GTS G84 PCI-Express 256/512MB GDDR3 675Mhz 1000Mhz 128 Bits 8 / 32 / 32 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
8600 GT G84 PCI-Express 256/512MB GDDR3 540Mhz 700Mhz 128 Bits 8 / 32 / 32 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
8500 GT G86 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 450Mhz 400Mhz 128 Bits 4 / 16 / 16 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS

Paul

 

[Crackles McFarly]

I need an Intel [of if you can talk me into the benefits of another
AMD system?] system and have a $1,000 - $1,200 budget.

I already have or do not need the following items that I do not need
or want to buy again or replace.
1.Hard drive
2.Monitor
I'm sure about recycling the Case but it is 400W and for my current
AMD 939 system it seems to deliver good power and has plenty of rails
"outgoing power wires?"

I'm only a light gamer, perhaps playing 3-4 times a week.

I'm mainly interested in FAST computational abilities and LOW LOW CPU
HEAT! My room is seriously hot already!

I'd like to stick with XP Home for as long as possible unless someone
could tell me a good reason why to go with XP Pro 64/Vista.

If something I said made no sense please ask me and I will do my best
to re-state the issue/question.

I have built exactly 6 computers in my life, 1 Intel and 5 AMD.

I'm just looking for something that would make me yell out WOW when I
booted it to Windows.

This is my Current P.O.S. system..don't laugh too hard ;-)

O.S. WinXP Home SP2
CASE APEX TU150 Steel ATX Mid Tower ATX 12V 400W 20+4 pin Intel/AMD
Link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811154013
Motherboard Asus A8S-X [939 Chipset SiS 756, Hammer]
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice S939 Step DH-E6
VideoCard - NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS(256 MB) NV41GS
RAM - 1GB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM) Corsair VS1GB400C3
Hard Drive SeagateBarracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 16MB Cache
SATA2
Hard Drive http://preview.tinyurl.com/nxuvq ]
DVD - SAMSUNG 18X Burner 12X DVDRAM LightScribe IDE SH-S182M/BEBE
DVD Link http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qbkt2


Please help if you can
I truly appreciate any time you could offer me.
Thanks

Example of the current generation. Uses DDR2 memory, for best memory
pricing. Stick a couple 1GB DDR2-800 memories in it.

ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180

A couple minuses. No full PS/2 stack. Only PS/2 keyboard. Also, the
IDE connector is in the right of this photo, at the very bottom of
the motherboard. Which means you'd likely be using a "lower" bay for
your hard drive. You can now get SATA optical devices, so that might be
an option if you wanted to put your booting/installing CD/DVD in the
top bay of the case.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-131-180-03.jpg

The forum here can give some more feedback.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=P5K&SLanguage=en-us

For a processor, you could get an E6700, or an E6750 will be coming soon.
There is a price change on July 22, 2007, and you might want to do some
more research on that. This link is to the current E6700. In terms
of equivalent clock rate for integer processing, a single 2.66GHz core
is equivalent to an older processor at 4GHz+.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115002

Video cards are a whole other issue. I find there is too much spread
now, between top of the line and entry level. Which means, when future
games come out, an entry level card is going to leave you begging for
mercy. On the other hand, a high end card would be bad for heat and
power consumption. If you go entry level on video, you can probably
easily reuse your power supply.

Your existing supply is 12V @ 20A. The Intel Core2 desktop processors tend
to be 65W, which is 6 amps from 12V (assumes 90% Vcore efficiency).
Allow say 3 amps for sundries. That leaves 11A for a video card. An 8800GTX
would be 11A almost exactly, which would be too much for the power supply.
But a midrange or lower video card should be OK (with the caveat that you
may regret the money wasted on the card later). Some video cards are as
low as 3 amps of the 11 amps you have to spare.

This is the current generation of DX10 stuff - http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/

HD 2900 XT R600 PCI-Express 512MB GDDR3 740Mhz 825Mhz 512 Bits 16 x2 / 320 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
HD 2600 XT RV630 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 800Mhz 1100Mhz 128 Bits 4 x2 / 120 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
HD 2400 XT RV610 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 700Mhz 800Mhz 64 Bits 4 x2 / 40 / DX10.0, PS4.0, VS

8800 GTS 320 MB G80 PCI-Express 320MB GDDR3 513Mhz 800Mhz 320 Bits 20 / 96 / 96 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 GTS 640 MB G80 PCI-Express 640MB GDDR3 500Mhz 800Mhz 320 Bits 20 / 96 / 96 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 GTX G80 PCI-Express 768MB GDDR3 575Mhz 900Mhz 384 Bits 24 / 128 / 128 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8800 Ultra G80 PCI-Express 768MB GDDR3 612Mhz 1080Mhz 384 Bits 24 / 128 / 128 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS4.0
8600 GTS G84 PCI-Express 256/512MB GDDR3 675Mhz 1000Mhz 128 Bits 8 / 32 / 32 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
8600 GT G84 PCI-Express 256/512MB GDDR3 540Mhz 700Mhz 128 Bits 8 / 32 / 32 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS
8500 GT G86 PCI-Express 256MB GDDR3 450Mhz 400Mhz 128 Bits 4 / 16 / 16 DX10.0, PS4.0, VS

Paul

THANK YOU for such a detailed reply!
I will keep this as a reference..

;-)

 

[Chris Hill]

I need an Intel [of if you can talk me into the benefits of another
AMD system?] system and have a $1,000 - $1,200 budget.

I already have or do not need the following items that I do not need
or want to buy again or replace.
1.Hard drive
2.Monitor
I'm sure about recycling the Case but it is 400W and for my current
AMD 939 system it seems to deliver good power and has plenty of rails
"outgoing power wires?"

I'm only a light gamer, perhaps playing 3-4 times a week.

I'm mainly interested in FAST computational abilities and LOW LOW CPU
HEAT! My room is seriously hot already!

I'd like to stick with XP Home for as long as possible unless someone
could tell me a good reason why to go with XP Pro 64/Vista.

Look into one of Intel's boards with their latest chips. You should
be able to drop in a board, ram and a decent video card for under
$500. I'd probably splurge on a psu as well, though, no sense frying
the new stuff with an older psu that may not be good enough. You
might want to wait until after the 22nd when the price drops are
supposed to hit.

 

[frodo]

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/

look at April's Budget and Midrange Guide. BTW, it's due for an update
soon, Anand does it quarterly most of the time.

And personally, an AMD X2 system can be had for a lot less money, they
are selling at bargin basement prices these days. Yeah, it's not
Core2Duo, but it's a bargin...

 

[frodo]

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/

look at April's Budget and Midrange Guide. BTW, it's due for an update
soon, Anand does it quarterly most of the time.

And personally, an AMD X2 system can be had for a lot less money, they
are selling at bargin basement prices these days. Yeah, it's not
Core2Duo, but it's a bargin...

following up...

next week, 22JULY07, Intel will lower prices again - so AMD's bargin edge
dwindles once more. Looks like the under-$200 E6750 is the new bargin
chip. But the Intel motherboards still cost more.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3038&p=1