Hey guys I'm building a new pc and trying to stay under 1k since at the present time that's all I can really afford to spend. I've come up with 2 systems of comparable price and was wondering which would give me the most bang for my buck.

Intel System @ $909
Core2Duo E4300 @ 1.8 Ghz
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 (rev1.3) MB
2 Gig Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB

AMD System @ $887
Athlon 64 X2 4800 Brisbane @ 2.5Ghz
Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 GeForce 6100 MB
2 Gig Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB

Thanks a lot,
Chris

i think i would go for the X2 4800+

if overclocking, the intel system is the way to go. That is a good overclocking board too, and all you'd really need is a better hsf, which you can get and still stay under budget.

I'd go for the intel package also. But you should really OC it. The upgrade path for the intel is really good also with the 1333fsb and quad compatability. It gives you a chance to watch for a nice deal on a quad in the future.

Will a 500W PSU work in these systems or should I bump it up to 600W?

Neither one is very good... I would suggest this:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6320
Gigabyte DS4-P35
Crucial Ballistic 2GB PC2-6400
EVGA 8800GTS
Corsair 620W PSU

The E6320 has a 4MB cache which will help substantially in games and benchmarks.

The Gigabyte DS4-P35 has both DDR2/3 support as well as 1333MHz FSB and Penryn support. The P35 chipset is also much faster than any nForce chip. That and it overclocks like a monster. Almost as good as a LANParty... 8)

With the Ballistix RAM you will be garunteed to get D9 chips which are far superior to the Promos in Corsair. They are also around the same price. They overclock far better than the Promos.

The Corsair 620W is a very nice PSU that will handle GTS SLi.

P35. At least you will be able to upgrade the processor later.

The 680i LT chips support the 45nm Penryn and 1333MHz FSB but not DDR3.

I think substantially is an overstatement; sure the 4MB helps, but it really depends on the situation, and games don't usually benefit that much.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Some of you are spending money I dont have but it's making me go back over things so I appreciate it none-the-less.

I'm a college kid so I have to get by on about 3 months of income a year which is the reason for such a tight budget. Luckily I only have a year left of that lifestyle but unfortunately for now it pretty strongly dictates just what I can and can't buy. 1k is my max limit but obviously the lower the better without sacrificing too much.

I kept my old computer for 5 years before it finally died but I think I'll probably only keep the major components of this computer for 2-3 years max since by then I should "hopefully" have a more steady income and higher purchasing power. Again thanks for the tips, I'm having a great time figuring all this out - it's been an extremely educational experience.

Chris

ye, if you aint overclocking go with the AMD one. also, be wary of upgrade paths. in truth for gaming at least you will only ever need to upgrade the GPU in most cases, not the CPU.

also, a decent brand 500W PSU will be fine.

Alright I've decided to go with the AMD setup simply because of the fact that, due to my limited funds, I cant afford to OC and screw any of my hardware up. Being that I have no OC'ing experience, for me it's better to be safe then sorry.

Later in life when I can afford to experiment with OC'ing I probably will. Again thanks for all your help. This process has been extremely fun!

Chris

For stock, the amd system would win, but I'd say go with an amd 690 board instead if you want integrated, the integrated on that board is actually better than many older cards that people still have **laughs at friend's mx4600** and you can save a few pennies for more ram down the road. But for overclocking, I'd say intel. If you can wait, the 45nm wolfdales are coming out for as low as $100, and those should be consistantly hitting 4ghz on air, so that's where it's going to be at for ocers, and k10 for stock users

The Wolfdales are coming for $100?! Now THAT, is uber 1337.

$110-$180 is where they'll be priced at, so I'm actually considering to get a top of the line wolfdale myself and just use my homemade phase to take it 5 or even 6ghz if the effects of high k will be what I predict

I just gained a lot of respect for you. Home made phase change is XS material and wicked 1337. I am really, really, psyched for the 45nm procs and at that price! Do you know what the frequecnies will be?

I've been spending quite a bit of time at xs lately, and I'm not quite done, but I'm working on it, I expect to be done by the time my birthday comes in July or so when finals are over and I have more time


Clockspeeds for the 45nm cpus should be fairly high, I don't know about the low end, but I presume they'll go up to 3.6ghz because intel knows they still have plenty of clock headroom beyond it 45nm c2ds