Building a computer and...

[SASSoldier]

Im building myself a new computer, primaraly for downloading torrents, and such, media and some gaming. I am wondering what reccommendations you guys have of what parts to use. Right now im thinking of this: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ ATI Radeon 9600, gig of ram, and my old 40 gig hdd for my music and vids and an 80 for general stuff. The games i would like to be able to play are: Battlefield 2, Half Life 2, and Counter Strike Source. Are these good choices for hardware or should i go in a different direction? PS, im trying to keep the price lowish 300 or less would be dandy but if i need to chip in a bit more for a nice comp thats fine.

 

[DJ Stephen]

You would never get a computer to suit those needs for 300. Im sorry.

 

[jac006]

Yeah, $300 can just about buy you a good graphics card to play those games, or a cpu. Or a hd. But not a whole pc... oh, no... never...

 

[SASSoldier]

Hmm yeah i just checked the prices on Newegg...well i dont mind paying more if i can get those requirements, i get my parts cost as well because i help out a computer shop so that lessens the blow. I dont really want anything too extravagent, even if the games run on the lowest settings, im getting an xbox 360 for graphics and such, its just those particular games id like to be able to play, but if id need way too good of a video card to play HL2 and CS:S i dont mind, its mainly BF2 that id like to be playing.

 

[DJ Stephen]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102326#DetailSpecs

That is a half good graphics card, it should play bf2. This one will of course its about $400 dolars:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122201

There are two to consider but you would need a compatible mobo with them both.

 

[SASSoldier]

Cool thx monkey, ima go for the cheaper one because i believe thats what i was looking at before. Is the CPU i mentioned good, the Athlon 64 3000 or should i downgrade to the 2800? Also i can save a bit of cash by salvaging my RAM and harddrive. As for a mother board the guy i work with said when i get the parts, he'll order me the mobo i need for them.

 

[jac006]

The 3000+ is a great cpu because you can overclock well.

 

[SASSoldier]

Thx for all the replies guys, as you can see im new I had one more question tho, what exactly is overclocking and what does it do, the guys at the shop i help out it always talk about it, basicly all i know is you can do something to your CPU to make it way faster, thats about it...Will i need to modify anything on my computer to oc it or do i just need good ventilation and such? Sorry for all the questions lol im still learning about pcs...

 

[jac006]

Well, you don't anything at all. Just go into BIOS, change your clock settings, and your ram settings, adjust your fsb, and that's about it. Make sure you have good ventaliation, as your cpu will get hot. yes, it the cpu goes faster.

 

[SASSoldier]

Cool, well that settles it, im going to order: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Saphire Radeon 9600XT and an 80GB HDD. Yay . As for the motherboard ill just pick one out from the shop when i build it, plus i may be able to salvage my 768mbs of RAM and just slap a 512 in there.