Building a new PC need help!

**Grishomm** · October 08, 2006, 06:45 PM

Ok so i decided to build a new pc christmas so i can play mtw 2 witouth a problem. I dont understand very much about pc building tough. My budged is at 1500 maybe 2000$. All i know is that i have to wait for a dx10 card (i have my eyes on the nvidia 8xxx card) and that my cpu must be a amd (not that i hate intel just that the stores around here only have high end amd cpus).

Now if someone can tell me good components like a case with good cooling and power suopply , a good amd cpu and a good mobo that would support the cpu. Oh and also i think i need 2gb ram but i dont know what brand to pick. If someone would help me i would realy appriciate it.

Btw theese forums are great, the mods for mtw and rome are also great everything here is great. Its like a Total War heaven :tooth: .

Edite: Sorry for my english its not my native language im working on improving it tough.

**BeastG33** · October 09, 2006, 02:57 AM

Welcome to TWC, and don't worry, your English is very good, much better than I can speak a second language.

I can help you out with an AMD CPU, as I am looking for one myself, though a bit lower end than what I am going to recommend to you.

I believe this AMD's best right now, but obviously a little pricey.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103861

On the other hand, Newegg does have some great deals on sensible AMD's for their "Fall Festival Savings."

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Manchester 2.4GHz for $235.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103545

And the slightly lesser,
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz for a mere $183.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103747

They also have good deals on memory,
Patriot - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220144
Corsair - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

Much better than standard, throw away memory. I have 2048 MB of Corsair XMS Pro (w/ LED activity lights!) and it screams.

Hope I've helped.

**Grishomm** · October 09, 2006, 05:58 AM

Thanks for the help i have my eyes on the Atlon64 4200+ x2 since im trying to save as much cash as i can. Im thinking of going all out only on the dx10 card when it comes out. Again thanks for the help, that site has some realy nice prices il look through some other stuff too

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**AlfonsoVIII** · October 09, 2006, 10:14 AM

Well, wait for the demo to come out and then pm me. I seem to have a good rig and we have the same processor, so I can give you an idea if the processor is good enough and if the amount of RAM is what you need. I would be careful about DX10 cards as we do not know if M2TW will even play on it considering the differences between DX9 and DX10. I need to research what DX10 will do on a DX9 card and test M2TW in November when Dx10 comes out so we can see the technical differences. Right now DX10 cards only good for Vista and nothing else.

EDIT: I have done some reading and DX10 cards may not be out till next year and since prices on processors will go down by then, wait until the DX10 cards come out and you will be able to buy a better rig. And since you want a DX10 card, you will have to wait for Vista to come out to even use the card. So you may have to wait until March to build your DX10 Vista system since DX10 cannot work on XP.

**Grishomm** · October 10, 2006, 04:08 PM

From what i have read the dx10 card will work on windows xp too only it will be in dx9 mode and wont have the dx10 effects. When i get vista it will work with the dx10 effects too. Btw the demo came out is your rig doing fine with it? And on what settings can you play?

**AlfonsoVIII** · October 12, 2006, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Grishomm

From what i have read the dx10 card will work on windows xp too only it will be in dx9 mode and wont have the dx10 effects. When i get vista it will work with the dx10 effects too. Btw the demo came out is your rig doing fine with it? And on what settings can you play?

On max settings, with 1024x768x32 with all options checked, I am getting 18 on Pavia and 22 on Agincourt with all 2500 units visible and it goes higher when I am zoomed in. I do not see any lag and the game is very playable, it is actually running better fps wise that my RTW is. I am still testing my rig like my ES article, but what I can you so far in my testing, 1.5 Ghz is a line on max settings where anything less, it becomes unplayable due to lag, so I can reccomending 2.2 or higher for people to run on max settings. Also the canon shakes are just awesome.

**nuclearaddict** · October 10, 2006, 04:26 PM

what processor do you plan on getting? i hope not the fx-60 or fx-62 as they have already been outdone by $300 core 2 duos.

the case i used to build my latest rig (screw the first dx10 cards and quad core processors, i don't plan on getting any until late 2007 when they're actually good) is this bad boy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133154
there's a hell of a lot of space, lots of fans and it's really pretty to look at, too.

don't worry about cooling unless you want to overclock, which i doubt you do if you're going with AMD processors considering intel is 100x easier to overclock.

this is a nice power supply that i used http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817163109
there are like, two reviews reporting it dead on arrival, but that's just a chance you have to take. mine works perfectly fine and i absolutely love it.

for RAM there's only one real brand to go with, Corsair, they are the best. i used these for my rig: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145015

good luck with the rig!

**Grishomm** · October 11, 2006, 04:46 PM

Well i did some more reading on dx10 cards and i think your right chances are that the first batch of cards may have some bugs. Besides the only dx10 game im interested in is crysis but i dont think i should waste so much cash for just this game. So i think il do like you and wait until the end of 2007 when there are better cards and more good games for dx10. Btw thanks for the ram tip i was totaly lost on what ram i should get.

Edit: Gah for the ram best i could find is 2x1GB DDR II 667 KINGSTON is that good enough? The reason i cant buy the corsair ram is the same reason i cant buy an intel cpu the stores around here dont have them

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**Incinerate_IV** · October 11, 2006, 09:27 PM

First of all, this thread should go to The Basement.

Second of all, there is a sticky that answers almost everything you need to know.
PC Hardware Guide (Click!)

Good luck with your new PC!