Building a system w/ FS in mind...

[Guest]

on a budget, too :). Soon I will be building a computer to replace the old Celeron 633Mhz., 11mb graphics accelerator HP computer I use now. I will have roughly $600 to build it. Since I am only 16, money is a hard thing to come by ;). If all you older-but-wiser folks in here think it would be more worthwile for me to save money for a bit longer, then it will be done :). I have been looking at parts in mailorder catalogs & at local vendors, but I would like you suggestions on a graphics card, AMD vs. Intel chip, HDD, CD-RW, and just about everything else, but with emphasis on the components neccesary to make FS run well. Also, what OS does everyone suggest? I was thinking about either WinXP or Win2000. Thanks everyone!

[Guest flightpro08]

(Copied this and modifed it a bit from another one of my posts.) :-)Kevin,Upgrading your computer really depends on three things.1.) What brands you want. (AMD, Intel, ATI, nVidia, etc.)2.) What you plan on using the system for. (Games, networking, buisness, etc.)3.) Finally, and most importantly... How much money you have to spend. If you're a gaming, willing to wait a couple of months, and have quite a bit of money to spend, I'd wait until this winter when AMD releases their new Hammer CPU and nVidia releases their new video card, the NV30. This is going to be a fantastic combo, but it will probably be pretty expensive (around $700-$800 just for the CPU and video card. )If you're a gamer and in the market for a new system right now, then you've got tons of options. You'll find that AMD is quite a bit cheaper then Intel (even after their recent prive cuts.) Both companies are fantastic and you can't really go wrong. I'd recommedn either the AMD Athlon 220+ or the Intel 2.4GHz with 533 FSB (Front Side Bus.) With either one of these, you can't go wrong. As for a video card...You're GeForce2 will work fine with virualyl any motherbaord, as 1.5V is 'standard.' If you want to get a new card (which I recommend) then you might want to get a GeForce 4 Ti4200. They can be found for around $120 if you shop around. As for Motherbaord...It's really a matter of personal preference. Motherboards do vary quite a bit, and depend on what type of CPU you decide on. I really don't have any advice on this. I'd say that you'll probably want to go with Abit, ASUS, or EPoX.As for RAM...PC2700 SDRAM is pretty good stuff. It's overclockable and is very fast. If there's one thing I regret about my system, its the RAM (MOBO only supports PC1800 or PC2100.)Overall, shopping for a computer can be pretty fun. Look around, find what you like, and find it at the best price. Make sure to get at least a 350W Power supply (I recommend 400W+) and a good case with some good cooling for both your case and CPU (especailly if you go with an Athlon, as they tend to run as tad hotter, though, AMD has fixed this quite a bit with their 2400+.) I hope this has been some help to you. If you have any further quiestions, please feel free to replay to this. Below are a couple of links for comptuer hardware retailers and information sites that I like.www.newegg.comwww.pricewatch.comAnd for tech info:www.amd.comwww.intel.comAnd for tech support:www.guru3d.comRyan-Flightpro08 :-coolVATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Controller 1 (C-1)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com]Taxiwaysigns.com Scenery Designer-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 40.41 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 11298