Squilliam on 31 May 2008
| lenardo1 said: difference between a quality 50 and 100 dollar mobo for most users is minimal at best the 100 dollar one will have more features that a power user will tend to use. my current rig is using a 45 dollar mobo- typically i used an asus mobo that was ~100 but i wanted to see if i could get reliable use with less money. IF you have a good case with a power supply that has all the latest connectors a "brand new" computer can and will cost under 300 dollars. as for ram unless you are using a 64bit linux/xp64/vista64 anything over 3.5 gig of ram is pretty much useless- you can install it fine, but usually with a latest gpu you can use just under 3.5gig..if you have sli even less..2 512meg 8800gts's in sli= 3gig max system memory you can use. WHY? because 32bit os's can use 4gig max... and your gpu/bios ram is included in that total. a QUALITY build that will run crysis at max will run you no more than 600 dollars-if you choose wisely and recycle older parts that are still good and do not need replacing. as for ram, just pick the least expensive name brand with a lifetime warranty,. its about 65-80bucks for 4gig or under 40 for 2gig. the Difference between the basic ram and the high end overclocked expensive stuff has been tested to mean a difference of less than 4%.. |
One question, since a lower cost motherboard tends to have cheaper components and simpler heat sinks, am I correct in saying that a cheaper motherboard has less tolerance for being dicked around on? I.E Overclocking or case temperatures that are too high. I spose hence the reason for the quality case/PSU because with them the temperatures are lower. Maybe its best to say spend on a solid case/psu to lay the foundation so you don't have to compensate with an expensive motherboard.
My computer im building cost me $300 and thats with a copy of Vista and a new case, motherboard and CPU, simply because I got cheap deals and I reused old parts.
Tease.
