New Computer

[Rotku]

http://www.pcwizard.zeamarket.co.nz/

else

www.ascent.co.nz

[HEEGZ]

[edit]
see my updated post below

[fluffmonster]

He doesn't need a quad, plain and simple. There is no sense spending anything extra on one..."just in case" isn't a good enough reason to get one. An Athlon dual will be more than good enough for nwn2...my 939 is more than good enough for nwn2.

Not a big deal to go with an e5200 Intel build I suppose, but they don't offer a better deal at US prices unless you overclock. I'd say just go with whichever (Intel or AMD) is cheaper, either will be more than adequate.

I wouldn't get a sound card either. You can always get one later if you decide the onboard sound isn't doing the job.

[Joos]

$162.00 CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+ (2.8GHz) 2x1MB Cache *Dual Core* 2000Mhz Socket AM2 CPU + Fan Retail Boxed
$157.00 Socket AM2 Motherboard: Asus M3N78-AM Socket AM2 Motherboard
$117.00 DDR2 RAM Memory Chip: Corsair XMS2 Dual Channel kit 2x 1GB PC6400 DDR2 (800Mhz) Memory CL5-5-5-18 (TWIN2X2048-6400)
$352.00 PCI-Express16x Video Card: Asus ATI Radeon HD4850 EAH4850/HTDI/512M 512MB PCI-Express Video Card *DVI *D-Sub *HDTV-Out
$65.00 IDE Device: Asus DRW-20B1LT 20x Dual Layer Multi-Format Lightscribe (Black) SATA DVD-Writer
$161.00 Serial ATA Device: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3640323AS - Hard drive - 640 GB - internal - 3.5" - SATA-300 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 32 MB
$279.00 Case: Antec Sonata III 500 (Black) Mid-Tower Case *Front Audio, USB & eSATA 500W PSU
$65.00 Assembly
Order Total $1,358.00

[zicada]

I'd say this all sounds fairly sound.

Intel has the best price/performance at the moment, so go with that.
With memory, there isn't that much of a hit to go up to 1066 ram. 800 would make very little sense for a desktop computer.
In terms of graphics, get a 4850 instead, they're very cheap now, and you can just get another one even cheaper to double performance later.

So, basically, if money is an issue, get a P45 chipset and a dualcore intel like fluff says, 4 gigs ddr2 1066 is very cheap, and a 4850. This way you can get a 22" wide, or even 24", both of whom are very cheap these days and makes it all that much more enjoyable to use your computer. Remember to not skimp too much on the powersupply, if you do you'll only find you have to swap it out later on, especially if you're getting another 4850 at some point.

[HEEGZ]

I've revised my suggestion a bit to shave off a few hundred. There is room to upgrade the RAM from 2GB to 4GB and the videocard could be upgraded as well. Either way, this machine would run NWN2 just fine.

AA08400
$175.00 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 2.5Ghz 2MB Cache 800Mhz Socket T (LGA775) CPU + Fan Retail Boxed
AA00161
$116.00 Socket T Motherboard: Intel D945GCNL Socket T (LGA775) Motherboard
AGW00601
$94.00 DDR2 RAM Memory Chip: Corsair Dominator XMS2 Dual Channel kit 2x 1GB PC8500 DDR2 (1066Mhz) Memory CL5-5-5-15 (TWIN2X2048-8500C5D)
AA08758
$155.00 PCI-Express16x Video Card: Asus nVidia GeForce 9500GT EN9500GT OC/DI/512M 512MB PCI-Express Video Card *DVI *D-Sub *HDTV-Out
DW00014
$58.00 IDE Device: LiteOn LH-20A1H Dual Layer Dual Format 20x LightScribe (Black/Silver/Beige) Internal IDE DVD-Writer (3 colour bezels included)
HD00106
$131.00 Serial ATA Device: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (ST3500320AS) - Hard Disk Drive - 500GB - Serial ATA300 - 7200RPM - buffer: 32MB
AA08263
$279.00 Case: Antec Sonata III 500 (Black) Mid-Tower Case *Front Audio, USB & eSATA 500W PSU
$65.00 Assembly

Order Total $1,073.00

These are the upgrades I'd recommend if you wanted a faster videocard and 4GB of RAM.

AA10940
$166.00 DDR2 RAM Memory Chip: Patriot Extreme Performance Viper Series Dual Channel Kit 2x 2GB PC8500 DDR2 (1066Mhz) Memory CL5-5-5-15 (PVS24G8500ELKR2)
AA06119
$258.00 PCI-Express16x Video Card: Asus nVidia GeForce 9600GT EN9600GT/HTDI/1GB 1GB PCI-Express Video Card *Dual DVI *HDTV-Out

Order Total $1,248.00

[fluffmonster]

I'd have to disagree with that vid card, HHEGZ. A full gig of vid ram won't contribute anything to the system, but will take up memory address space in 32-bit XP. Also, we don't know what nvidia stuff out there has the manufacturing problems that killed a bunch of notebooks, but the 9600gt is the right generation to have 'em. The 9600gt is capable, so I suppose if that saves some dollars its worth considering (if you can find a 512MB version), but I'd be inclined to go with the radeon 4830 (which is a bit better) or maybe even the 4850 to allow room for his next monitor to be 20 or 22" ws. Toss the 9500gt right out.

[HEEGZ]

I'd have to disagree with that vid card, HHEGZ. A full gig of vid ram won't contribute anything to the system, but will take up memory address space in 32-bit XP. Also, we don't know what nvidia stuff out there has the manufacturing problems that killed a bunch of notebooks, but the 9600gt is the right generation to have 'em. The 9600gt is capable, so I suppose if that saves some dollars its worth considering (if you can find a 512MB version), but I'd be inclined to go with the radeon 4830 (which is a bit better) or maybe even the 4850 to allow room for his next monitor to be 20 or 22" ws. Toss the 9500gt right out.

Hmm, well I don't know much about what you are referring to but there is a 512MB version of the 9600GT:

AA06319
$281.00 PCI-Express16x Video Card: Asus nVidia GeForce 9600GT EN9600GT TOP/HTDI/512M 512MB PCI-Express Video Card *Dual DVI *HDTV-Out

[Joos]

Guys, if you have a look at the NZ pc sites that he listed, modern hardware is quite simply out of the budget. 800Mhz memory makes sense for an athlon build since that processor architecture never was particularly bandwidth restricted anyway, more sensitive to latency.

Moreover, going core2 instead of athlon basicly doubles the price for the CPU and adds 50% on the motherboard for not so much performance gains in game.

GPU is most important, and the 4850 is a good investment.

[fluffmonster]

Guys, if you have a look at the NZ pc sites that he listed, modern hardware is quite simply out of the budget. 800Mhz memory makes sense for an athlon build since that processor architecture never was particularly bandwidth restricted anyway, more sensitive to latency.

Moreover, going core2 instead of athlon basicly doubles the price for the CPU and adds 50% on the motherboard for not so much performance gains in game.

GPU is most important, and the 4850 is a good investment.

That I can agree with. As to the vid card, yeah, whatever the budget can handle after the rest of the stuff is accounted for.

[Rotku]

Okay, brilliant. Thanks a lot for the advice guys!

[Rotku]

Okay, heard back from the computer place the other day, and they tell me my current NWN2 one is well and dead and not worth repairing. So, one further question:

Taking HEEGZ's build there, but changing the video card (first quote box below) comes to $1,128.
Buying a pre-set box (details in second quote box below), I can get what's in that box for an exrta $70.

The second option seems a fair bit better, for just $70, correct?

AA08400
$162.00 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 2.5Ghz 2MB Cache 800Mhz Socket T (LGA775) CPU + Fan Retail Boxed
AA00161
$116.00 Socket T Motherboard: Intel D945GCNL Socket T (LGA775) Motherboard
AGW00601
$94.00 DDR2 RAM Memory Chip: Corsair Dominator XMS2 Dual Channel kit 2x 1GB PC8500 DDR2 (1066Mhz) Memory CL5-5-5-15 (TWIN2X2048-8500C5D)
AA11521
$258.00 PCI-Express16x Video Card: Asus ATI Radeon HD4830 EAH4830/HTDP/512MD3 512MB PCI-Express Video Card *Dual DVI *HDTV-Out
DW00014
$58.00 IDE Device: LiteOn LH-20A1H Dual Layer Dual Format 20x LightScribe (Black/Silver/Beige) Internal IDE DVD-Writer (3 colour bezels included)
HD00072
$96.00 Serial ATA Device: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (ST3250310AS) - Hard Disk Drive - 250GB - Serial ATA300 - 7200RPM - buffer: 8MB
AA08263
$279.00 Case: Antec Sonata III 500 (Black) Mid-Tower Case *Front Audio, USB & eSATA 500W PSU
$65.00 Assembly
Order Total $1,128.00

CPU AMD Phenom 8450 Triple Core AM2 2.1GHz
Motherboard Asus M3N78 ExGate AM2+ Geforce 8200 Hybrid
Memory 4GB DDR2 800
Hard Disk 320GB SATA2 HardDrive
Optical Disk Dual Layer DVD Writer
Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD4870 512MB PCIE
Sound Card / LAN Multi Channel Audio & LAN
Case Thermaltake V9 Case with Silent 500W PSU

[Rotku]

Alternatively, there are even cheaper pre-made things out there, such as this, which comes in at $1,000

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66Ghz Dual Core
Motherboard ASUS P5KPL Series G31 LGA775 Motherboard
Memory 4GB DDR800
Hard Disk 320GB SATA2
Optical Disk Dual Layer DVD Writer
Graphics Card GeForce 9800GT 512MB PCIE

[HEEGZ]

Alternatively, there are even cheaper pre-made things out there, such as this, which comes in at $1,000

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66Ghz Dual Core
Motherboard ASUS P5KPL Series G31 LGA775 Motherboard
Memory 4GB DDR800
Hard Disk 320GB SATA2
Optical Disk Dual Layer DVD Writer
Graphics Card GeForce 9800GT 512MB PCIE

Of the three listed, I'd buy this one.

[Rotku]

Oh! Also, can these things all run with XP?