Help Build My System

[mervaka]

dell.

[o_|404|innoc-tpf-]

I wish I could help Tennovan with a personal use experience recommendation but I will be one of the last people to use LCD because of the limitations. I will say that the Samsungs that I use building out 911 dispatch stations are well loved by both the dispatchers and the administration as well. Keep in mind that their use is fairly well static with virtually none of the use that a gaming machine would see...however, the Samsungs frequently review well.

Here's something worth considering. If you can find the brand and model you want at Costco you should get it there due to their return policy that no one can beat....no one.

[o_someoldguy]

From Sharky Extreme:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/...707_3657561__5

With the 204B, Samsung offers a performance gaming 20" model with a native resolution of 1600x1200, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 800:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and both analog and DVI inputs (although Samsung does not include a DVI cable). The ultra-low 5ms response time virtually guarantees that there will be no ghosting in games or video, and its incredible $345 price tag is a nice bonus. This LCD is also available in either silver or black, lending it even greater flexibility.


That fits the bill for gamers who want a standard size LCD, but more buyers are looking to a widescreen display. There are quite a few options in this area, but at this price range, a 22" LCD is where you get the most bang for the buck. These offer a standard resolution of 1680x1050, and while providing more horizontal space than a 4:3 monitor, offer a display environment equivalent to a 20" standard LCD. In this range, the 22" ViewSonic VG2230wm (pictured below) is in a class all its own, and with a $320 price tag, offers an incredible value. It features a 22" WSXGA+ screen with a 5 ms response time, a brightness of 280 nit, and a contrast ratio of 700:1. In addition, the ViewSonic VG2230wm offers both VGA and DVI inputs, and is height adjustable, with tilt and swivel features.

[o_mooga]

My college's gaming lab has the dell LCDs and they look damn good to me.
I personally love my CRT but when it comes to dark colors LCDs are STRICTLY better. If I need to photoshop darks I often do that on my laptop and do the more heavy duty stuff on my desktop (with the CRT).

[o_tennovan]

Originally Posted by SomeOldGuy

From Sharky Extreme:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/...707_3657561__5

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I almost bought this one but there isn't HDCP support... isn't that a big deal?

[o_someoldguy]

Originally Posted by Tennovan

I almost bought this one but there isn't HDCP support... isn't that a big deal?

It depends... are you planning on watching HD movies in HD on the monitor? (Remember that your vid card also needs to support HDCP in order to view Blu-ray or HD-DVD content on an HDCP monitor.) If you are not going to do that, then it's not as important.

Otherwise, you are "limited" in your choices and should do some reviews of HDCP compliant monitor reviews. Some of the Dells, and a number of other monitors have it, but many (especially the "less expensive" ones), do not. I'm not really 100% sure how many you are going to find in your price range that have HDCP support.

Here is a start (albeit from early last year):
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...p_lcd_roundup/

Someone else should chime in on their experiences if any and/or other review sites.


-------------------------

For those who want to know what HDCP is:

HDCP stands for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection and is an Intel-initiated program that was developed with Silicon Image. This content protection system is mandatory for high-definition playback of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

Vista will "require" (at athis point) HDCP compliant hardware to play DRM laden high-def content in hi-def.

[o_tennovan]

I'm not exactly planning on it but I don't want to rule that possibility out either. My particular video card does support HDCP (8800 GTS) but it seems like there just isn't a monitor out there that covers all the bases I want. < 8ms response time, HDCP support, 8-bit panel (16.7 million colors... i dont want that dithering stuff). I'm willing to spend upwards of $400 but I'd rather not.

EDIT: A lot of the 19" lcd's carry HDCP support but almost all of them are 6-bit. Newegg has 50% of them listed as 16.7 million colors when the manufacturer site has them listed as 16.2 with dithering. Oh well, thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

[o_tennovan]

Double post... sue me haha.

Anyways, I think I've found the winner. The Samsung 226BW: 22" Widescreen, 2ms reponse time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 300 nits, 16.7 million colors, and supports HDCP w00t. Pretty nice for the $379 price tag which I'm sure will be a bit lower once Newegg stocks it.

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Moni...2MEWSFVXAA.asp
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ....do?oid=170984

Any thoughts?

[o_skull]

The monitor? Go for it. You won't find many better than this one.

[Tennovan]

Hello... AGAIN.

So I'm putting together a second system and now I'm a bit confused as to which direction I should go... AMD or Intel? I love the C2D's but the X2 5200+ looks like a major competitor in the price range at $169. If I'm not mistaken, it can match an E6400 (more or less) and costs ~$60 less. Going this route opens up room for upgrades but I wanted opinions. Budget is $700 and all I need is a HDD, graphics card, cpu, mobo, and memory. This is the AMD system I just put together:

$79 - (HDD) 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
$199 - (Graphics) Geforce 8600GTS
$109 - (Memory) GSkill 2GB DDR2 800 -- yeah I went cheap
$169 - (CPU) X2 5200+
$175 - (Mobo) Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe

Total with shipping: $742.27

Should I even bother with the 8600GTS or settle for DX9 and better performance? Do I even need SLI? I could technically go cheaper on the mobo and get an X1950Pro for $30 less. And beyond that, does anyone have experience with Intel (E6400) vs AMD (5200+)? I checked em out on Tom's Hardware but they don't even have the 5200+ on their cpu charts.

[Zencheetah]

Don't skimp out on the video card. Get an 8800 for DX 10 and the new shader models. You don't have to spend 500 dollars on it, just buy a GTS 320mb 8800. That costs around 280-350 and is fucking amazing. It also allows SLI support, and the sort.

[Tennovan]

But this means skimping in other areas to stay within the budget. I guess the alternative is to pick a motherboard without SLI capabilities and run completely on the 8800GTS alone. My guess is you'd save 80 bucks on the mobo which will put you in 8800 range.

[Zencheetah]

Alright,

Tigerdirect has a motherboard/cpu combo. With this combo, you'll get an N-force 680 sli motherboard and a core 2 duo of your choice. This will cost around 310 dollars, which is an awesome deal for how good the motherboard and cpu are.

Secondly, newegg has 8800 GTS cards for 280 right now. If you already have a case, thats 40 bucks saved. If not, well..

Next you'll need a 500W + power supply if you don't plan on getting two GTS cards, if you do; get a 600+. These cost around 30-60 dollars.

So you have the motherboard/cpu, graphics card, power supply, case..

Next get some kingston dual channel ddr2 ram. I ordered the 2 gbs for 140 dollars. If you want to save money and just get a gig, you can find value ddr2 ram for 70 or so. Make sure it's dual channel.

Total price is: 740 dollars at the higher range.

Results: Bad ass computer that can handle anything you throw at it.

As a bonus, that motherboard allows for good upgrades, gives you SLI support and can hold 16 gb of ram.

[Tennovan]

Originally Posted by Zencheetah

Tigerdirect has a motherboard/cpu combo. With this combo, you'll get an N-force 680 sli motherboard and a core 2 duo of your choice. This will cost around 310 dollars, which is an awesome deal for how good the motherboard and cpu are.

Do you have a link? I checked and the cheapest 680i board w/ cpu was $409.

EDIT: Well the cheapest I could get the two is $360 so far... that's a 680i LT (EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1) and the E6300. If I drop the HDD and just use an older one for now, I managed to put the cpu, mobo, graphics (8800 GTS), and memory (2GB) together at $750. Back to price crunching unless someone has suggestions (PLEASE)

[SomeOldGuy]

Here is an article comparing various CPU's (Intel vs AMD):

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2014646,00.asp

Not all are there, but you can get some ideas of gaming performance as well as doing other 'puter things.

Not an Intel or AMD fanboy, yet for the most part, I've read that the Core 2 Duo's generally outperform their AMD counterparts, as well as the Intel's having better (read:lower) power usage.

You may want to hold off for a short while, as I've read rumo(u)rs that ATI is supposed to have their DX10 cards "ready" next week. Nothing like some competition in that regard. Do NOT get the 8600, though... the reviews are not favorable as to speed even compared to older DX9 cards.

As for mobos, you may want to take a glance at the buyer's guides on http://www.sharkyextreme.com/. The "value" one hasn't been updated since Dec, but I'd expect them to come out with a new one shortly. At least it gives you brands to check out... pricing of course is whatever it is now.

Oh, and given that you are going for on the relatively inexpensive side and while SLI mobo's are perhaps a thought at expanding in the future, I'd definitely consider not going the SLI route and stick with the highest performing vid card/cpu you can. As an option, if you stick with the 8800 GTS, you could think about an E6400 or even an E6600 (the best price/performance if you can squeeze a few more $$$ out) with the money you save going non-SLI.

As always, YMMV.

[mervaka]

here's my advice: dont take advice from SoG

i managed to sell that motherboard the other day by the way, for a fairly venerable £72. okay i lost half of what i paid for, but better sell it sooner rather than later.

[Tennovan]

Which one? The ab9 pro?

I'm thinking I might go with a Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 this build. I've had my eye on that thing for a while but had no reason to buy it.

[mervaka]

nah, the AB9 pro is still going. i had some bastard fucking teething problems with it though, because the firmware was just pants to begin with. i'm running it at 1.4 (3 flashes later)

the board i was referring to was the asus P5N32. it was the SLI deluxe *first* edition, meaning it didn't support conroes.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=220084537731

no hard feelings to SoG, just a light hearted joke as i'm sure he can tell
however, i'm never, EVER shopping at overcockers again. they refused the return of a perfectly healthy motherboard that was just incorrectly purchased, and had been opened *oh noes*

[SomeOldGuy]

I just knew I shouldn't have answered... some people just never let go.

... and I'll be damned if I ever recommend a specific mobo on these forums ever again.

[mervaka]

heh,

well had i got the second edition of that very same motherboard, i'd have had a definite winner. was a shame, because it was a brilliant motherboard despite the incompatibility.