OT - Building a new computer for NWN

der_kluge

Adventurer
Ok, it's that time again, for me - time to build me a new system. Every time I build a new computer, I have to go back through and exhaustively investigate the latest stuff that's out there. The best video card, the best hard drive, motherboard, CPU, etc, etc.

To expedite my research, I want some opinions. I want to build a system for about $700-800. I'm going to transfer components from my current system to the new system.
So, I have the mouse, monitor, sound card, and DVD rom.

I basically need the base system - motherboard, CPU, RAM (256m minimum) 7200 RPM hard drive (a quiet hard drive is a bonus), and video card.

Mostly, I'm curious as to which video cards are good. I wouldn't mind having one with two output jacks, since I've got two monitors, and frankly, having two monitors hooked up to my computer seems mega-cool to me.

Oh, did I mention that I'm doing this because of NWN? Is anyone else upgrading for this game? Have you found any good deals? I found some systems at Accubyte.com, which seems to have really good prices. I've been using pricewatch.com, but I'm not that familiar with the hardware that's out there to really know what to look for.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

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Nvidia is always a good choice in my opinion. You'll also need a pretty large HD since you'll need about 2 GB worth of space. Also I'd recommend an Athalon Processor, probably close to 1.5 Ghtz.
 

I know you don't need all the components, but I bought a Dell a few months back that has worked great. For around $1500 I got a P4 1.8Ghz, 80gig hard drive, 256mb RDRAM, a Nvidia video card, CD-RW and DVD-ROM, etc. I just ran the numbers on their website (slow Friday at work :)) for a barebones 8200 system with a P4 2.0Ghz processor, 256mb RDRAM, 40gb hard drive, and Nvidia GeForce4 video card, and it came to $1048. Now, I know you can build a computer cheaper going to Fry's or some other components warehouse store, but I thought I'd give you those numbers for comparison. I think you could easily build a P4 2.0Ghz system that suits your needs for $800. Plus if you get the P4, fast RDRAM, and a GeForce4, you wouldn't need to upgrade again for at least a little while (Moore's law still applies).

I admit my decision to upgrade was in part due to NWN as well :D. Good luck!
 

This is what I put together here:
http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/custom/thunderbird.htm


ATX medium tower case 350 watt (as shown)
AMD athlon xp-1800+ [1.53ghz quantispeed] 266 fsb cpu
gigabyte 7vrxp kt333 mb w/lan, audio, raid udma 133, usb 2.0
256 mb pc333 pc2700 ddr memory
40gb 7200 rpm ata 100 hard drive
nvidia geforce-4 mx440 64mb ddr w/tv out


That was $654. Seemed like a pretty good deal.


edit: nvidia isn't an easy word to spell...
 
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Avoid the GeForce 4 mx. There is no meaningful improvement over the GeForce 2 cards. However, if you can afford it, spring for a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 or 4400. Otherwise, just make sure the video card as at least 64 MB of DDR ram.

For a processor, grab a Athlon 1800+ with 512 MB of PC2100 ram. That should keep you happy for quite a while and still be in your budget.
 

Michael Sorensen said:
Avoid the GeForce 4 mx. There is no meaningful improvement over the GeForce 2 cards. However, if you can afford it, spring for a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 or 4400. Otherwise, just make sure the video card as at least 64 MB of DDR ram.

For a processor, grab a Athlon 1800+ with 512 MB of PC2100 ram. That should keep you happy for quite a while and still be in your budget.

Michael is spot-on, here. The Geforce 4 MX series are really just jumped-up Geforce 2s, with none of the new technology on them. The Geforce 4 Ti series (ti for Titanium) are the top of the line, but somewhat expensive. For a card on a budget, but best bang for your buck, I'd recommend a Geforce 3 Ti200, which can be had for under a hundred bucks. Once you've seen the water effects in Morrowind with one of these babies, you never go back.
 

Here is what I would buy...

I suggest you check out some reviews on the GeForce 4 Ti 4200. From what I've read, the Ti 4200 is a pretty decent mix of performance/price. As the other posters said, avoid the severely crippled Geforce 4 MX (it really doesn't even deserve the GF4 name).

As for CPU/Mobo...I would go with a Via KT333 board and an AMD XP 2000+. The 2000+ isn't the fastest AMD proc, but it's priced right. Do some research on KT333 boards...I usually wait until the A revision of a Via board, but if you need to buy now there are alot of KT333 boards out there.

Check out www.crucial.com for all of your memory needs. Crucial has never let me down.

As for harddrives...the Maxtor D740X (nice price, ATA133 if you care) and the Western Digital 1200JB (more expensive but a whopping 8mb buffer!) are two popular choices. Not sure which of these two is quieter though.
 

die_kluge said:
This is what I put together here:
http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/custom/thunderbird.htm


ATX medium tower case 350 watt (as shown)
AMD athlon xp-1800+ [1.53ghz quantispeed] 266 fsb cpu
gigabyte 7vrxp kt333 mb w/lan, audio, raid udma 133, usb 2.0
256 mb pc333 pc2700 ddr memory
40gb 7200 rpm ata 100 hard drive
nvidia geforce-4 mx440 64mb ddr w/tv out


That was $654. Seemed like a pretty good deal.


edit: nvidia isn't an easy word to spell...

onboard Audio AC97 Audio SUCKS! Go withthe 5.1 and you will notice the sound difference. You Don't need RAID trust me and the GF4 sucks balls. Get a Radeon 8500 for the money and performance instead of the MX.


I went with this steup for you:
CASE:Black $39
CPU: AMD 1800 119
MB:MSI KT3 Ultra (yes it has raid but it also has 5.1 audio and USB 2.0 and LAN overkill but it works) 135
MEMORY: 512mb DDR 333 (mb supports it why not get it?) 140
HD: 60gb 94
ATI Radeon LE 128mb DDR w/tv out 159
Floppy: 1 $10


Total of 696. Good deal if you ask me. I would get a setup like this although i would skip the floppy drive and go with a different mobo sans the raid and sound but they don't have any, but I own a MSI mobo myself and I love it!
 

WizarDru said:


Michael is spot-on, here. The Geforce 4 MX series are really just jumped-up Geforce 2s, with none of the new technology on them. The Geforce 4 Ti series (ti for Titanium) are the top of the line, but somewhat expensive.

Not exactly. The GF4MXs have better memory controllers than the GF2 series (and the GF3 series), which, combined with higher clock speeds, makes them very nice cards for games that aren't seriously pushing the envelope in terms of using nifty graphics features. They're certainly a major step up from the GF2 MXs they replace as NVidia's budget (sub-$100) cards, and make Radeon 7500s look silly.

Basicly, if you're going NVidia...

less than $100, ignore the peanut gallery and get a 4MX.
$100-$150, GF3 Ti200.
$150-$200, GF4 Ti4200. (What I'm getting, possibly next month; would've been this month, but I got an Xbox instead)
$200-$250, GF4 Ti4400.
more than $250, GF4 Ti4600.

I haven't seen a true Radeon 8500 (retail, not OEM, and not an LE) for less than $150. So on the ATI side...

less than $100, Radeon 7500
$100-$150, Radeon 8500 LE
more than $150, Radeon 8500
 


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