New system

[Taohn]

Thanks for the advice!

Of the video cards you named, I expect the 1950 pro would give you the most pleasure, but I second Yunus's question -- can you wait for DX10 cards? Some are here already, and more will come soon. They're supposed to be monsters, even on DX9 titles.

I could wait (maybe a MB with integrated graphics would be okay until then? see below)

I find the power supply to be a real problem in terms of noise; most of them have 80mm fans which kick up to an annoying whine when temperatures rise. I agree that something in the 500-750 watt should be fine for a while. Just look and see if you can find one with a 120mm fan -- big fans turning slowly are the lemur's answer to loud PCs. The Thermaltake Toughpower line is worth looking at; I have one and it's silent thanks to the big 140mm fan.

Both models I listed have 120mm fans; is it much quieter with 140? You've kind of sold me on the idea. I found some good deals here Especially the 750 watt at $164 after rebate, considering the other places I looked were offereing it for ~$230 (no rebate).

You shouldn't sweat the RAM -- Core2Duo CPUs are a lot less latency-dependent than we're used to with the AMD64s, so getting 2 gigs of RAM at the right speed should do. No need to pay for fancy-boy city RAM.

So I should pounce on the $199 RAM? It's $60 dollars off right now ($30 mail in ends in a couple days).

Samsung makes a killer LCD, very good choice there, but you should also look at what Dell's got available. I know two gamers who bought Dell widescreens and they're very, very happy.

I had a look at the 20 inch dell for $329. Very tempting...lower response time, higher contrast ration, height adjustment, same warranty and dead pixel policy.

On Beirut's suggestion I also looked at this Viewsonic, but while it's the cheapest of the lot, it says "8ms gray-to-gray (avg.); 16ms white-black-white." The Dell and Samsung didn't have their response times broken down like this. What exactly does that mean?

I did not hear much positive stuff about Asus PB5 models, Gigabyte has DS3 models that are highly regarded around.

I loked at some Gigabyte offerings, but the one's in my price range have ICH8 chipset, as opposed to ICH8R (which the Asus boards do have). Does this make a difference? The GA-965G-DS3 also has integrated Graphics, which could tide me over until more Dx10 cards become available. Is that an okay solution? I also read that there's going to be a second wave of 965 boards coming out soon. Should I wait for that?

Thanks again for your help. (Beirut, I'm afraid Ginsberg and Wong's is long gone)

[Beirut]

On Beirut's suggestion I also looked at this Viewsonic, but while it's the cheapest of the lot, it says "8ms gray-to-gray (avg.); 16ms white-black-white." The Dell and Samsung didn't have their response times broken down like this. What exactly does that mean?

There doesn't seem to be an industry standard for what ms really means. Some say white to black to white, some other are just white to black. Or something else. So you have to read between the lines.

My Viewsonic (19", 1280x1024 native res) says it has a 2ms refresh rate. All I know is I've never seen any ghosting or tearing in any game. As I mentioned, I play with a lot of flightsims and there's a lot of fast action going on, but the screen is crisp and clear. Games like FEAR and the Totalwar series look great. I'm very happy with it.

Thanks again for your help. (Beirut, I'm afraid Ginsberg and Wong's is long gone)

Too bad. Good food. One of the very few restaurants that served food spicy enough to blow me out of my chair.

[Lemur]

Both models I listed have 120mm fans; is it much quieter with 140? You've kind of sold me on the idea. I found some good deals here Especially the 750 watt at $164 after rebate, considering the other places I looked were offereing it for ~$230 (no rebate).

If you can get the Thermaltake at a low price, it's not a bad way to go. I don't expect that there's a big difference between a 120mm fan and a 140mm fan, but Thermaltake is a respectable manufacturer.

So I should pounce on the $199 RAM? It's $60 dollars off right now ($30 mail in ends in a couple days).

Assuming you're not going to lose your savings by paying different shipping fees when you order piecemeal, yes, you should grab discounted RAM by all means. (Lemur found out the hard way that ordering six parts from six different stores kills any savings you might have racked up, since each one charges a healthy fee for shipping. Stupid lemur! Stupid lemur!

I loked at some Gigabyte offerings, but the one's in my price range have ICH8 chipset, as opposed to ICH8R (which the Asus boards do have). Does this make a difference? The GA-965G-DS3 also has integrated Graphics, which could tide me over until more Dx10 cards become available. Is that an okay solution? I also read that there's going to be a second wave of 965 boards coming out soon. Should I wait for that?

There's always going to be a second wave, and a third wave, and a fourth, etc. The question is always can you get good-quality stuff at an acceptable price? I'm not as up on the 965 motherboards as I could be, so I'll leave it to othe Orgahs to argue which make is better. I opted for a 975 board, but that was just me being weird.

When in doubt, the NewEgg reviews can be a decent metric. You can bet your plum sauce that a buggy board will have a lot of users screaming in the reviews.

I don't know about integrated graphics -- it might not be worth your time. I would recommend either going with a nice low-cost DX9 card and planning on a 2007 upgrade, or biting the bullet and getting an 8800, or waiting a month to see if the prices go down. It's possible that none of these alternatives are acceptable to you, however.

[Taohn]

Assuming you're not going to lose your savings by paying different shipping fees when you order piecemeal, yes, you should grab discounted RAM by all means. (Lemur found out the hard way that ordering six parts from six different stores kills any savings you might have racked up, since each one charges a healthy fee for shipping. Stupid lemur! Stupid lemur!

Well, the retailer I'm going to get my stuff from has outlets in town, so no shipping charges and I can go badger them if something goes wrong.

I did a lot of reading today on motherboards. Discouraging...they all seem to have something wrong with them, e.g. bad onboard sound, dead on arrival, died after limited use, picky about RAM, bad layout, and on and on and on...
Even boards like 680i seem to have these problems.

Looks like I have to do some more research, so I guess I will wait a bit.

[Lemur]

I did a lot of reading today on motherboards. Discouraging...they all seem to have something wrong with them, e.g. bad onboard sound, dead on arrival, died after limited use, picky about RAM, bad layout, and on and on and on...

Well, I'm using this board, and it seems to be fine. Admittedly, people ding it for not having enough regular PCI slots, but I only need one for my sound card. And if in some future world I go insane and need to have two graphics cards, I can do so (although that's a pretty unlikely scenario, since I'm a bigger fan of getting one good card).

[Taohn]

Looks like a good board, but I can't find it for retail up here (if only Newegg shipped to Canada). It seems there are always a few bad motherboards in every batch, but if you don't wind up with one of those, they're usually pretty solid. So I'll just keep reading the reviews.

On another note, deciding to wait a bit has made me wonder whether a laptop might be better. I may be working overseas for an extended period of time starting in summer 08, so I need something to take with me. Shipping the desktop and monitor over would be expensive and somewhat risky, I think. On the other hand, I can't get over the price/performance of a desktop. What laptop models I have looked at are somewhat lacking, especially in graphics. If I did buy one, I would wait until just before leaving, since it looks like new processors on a smaller process and mobile Dx10 solutions will be available. I really have no use for a laptop until then. But if I bought a semi-expensive rig now, I would get good use out of it for a while, but then it would sit there unused for a year. Overriding all that, I do need a new computer of some kind within the next month. I'm thinking I should just but the rig anyway. Any suggestions? (in my weaker moments I've already contemplated disassembling the rig, putting the case in checked baggage, and taking the parts in the carry on Only problem is how to convince them I'm not crazy...)

[Lemur]

Overriding all that, I do need a new computer of some kind within the next month. I'm thinking I should just but the rig anyway. Any suggestions? (in my weaker moments I've already contemplated disassembling the rig, putting the case in checked baggage, and taking the parts in the carry on Only problem is how to convince them I'm not crazy...)

If you need a new rig now, there's your answer. Not sure on the details about your overseas work plans, but surely FedEx could manage to get a PC to your destination without damage or theft? Besides which, you can always insure the thing, so that if it gets destroyed or stolen, you can build a new one.

I don't think laptops are a good idea for gamers right now. The kind of video power needed to drive most of those screens' native resolution is hella expensive.

Another thought, a sort of in-between alternative, would be to buy a small form factor PC which you could stuff into your luggage, such as the ones sold by Monarch and Shuttle.

[Taohn]

Another thought, a sort of in-between alternative, would be to buy a small form factor PC which you could stuff into your luggage, such as the ones sold by Monarch and Shuttle.

Those look interesting. Can you upgrade them by yourself? Or do you have to pitch them after 2-3 years like a laptop. They pack a lot of stuff in there, so I'm guessing they run hotter than a tower. I was going to buy the p180 in hopes that it would last a couple system builds. Do you think it'll be good for it?

Oh, and about the PSU, is anything more than 600watts really necessary? I don't think I'll be using SLI or Crossfire. Would you reuse a power supply in a new system?

Thanks for everything thus far!