Can't decide.

[Yangster]

Hello. I'm thinking about building my own computer for a while now and I really want to start buying some parts of it now. I recently bought L4D during the $24 sale a week ago and I can't play it, literally. I see white, black, and brown patches on my screen with my crappy HP system so that really made me consider building a new comp.

I really don't have that much money so I'm trying to build a comp that's relatively cheap and one that won't have to be upgraded in a while. I mainly play games on Steam so I prob won't play any games like Crisis and such.

I was looking over a few guides and the first thing I can't decide on is the graphics card. I want a GeForce GTX 260. I've read in reviews that it's really good and it beat the Radeon equivalent in many games. And it should last for quite a while right? So I looked on Newegg for it and that's where I got stuck.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433

I think the only diff is the number of stream processors/cores? (I don't really know what that means >< One has 192 and the other has 216. But there's a pretty big price difference. The 192 core is $189.99, has free shipping, and I can get $15 off with the promo code (which expires on Mon so I need an answer fast!). The 216 core is $204.99 without free shipping but comes with CoD WaW. Shipping is around $7.50 I think. So I can get the 192 core for around $173.60 with tax and the 216 core for $231.15. That's almost a $58 difference. So what I'm asking is whether or not those few extra stream processors/cores are worth it; will it make a huge difference or is the difference to small to matter for the prince difference? Which card has the best bang-for-buck value?

The second thing is the case. The guide I read recommended the Antec P182, but it's $144 on NE right now. That's pretty expensive. And I remember reading a few reviews here on the Cooler Master HAF and the Storm Sniper. The HAF is $149.99 with free shipping with the Maysavings promo code and the Sniper is $159.99 without shipping on NE. I googled the Sniper and found another site that had it for $149.99 with free shipping but it's out of stock right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&Tpk=haf
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010311&prodlist=froogle

If the other site gets some more Snipers, the price would be the same. So which is better? :] I think they both look nice. I like the fan controller on the Sniper, but like the review said, it uses 2pin connectors so it'll be hard getting fans to add to it right? So which case would you guys recommend and which case do you think will be better in the long run if I end up upgrading the comp.

Since I'm lacking funds right now, I decided to buy my comp a few parts at a time. I already bought 4gbs of Gskill ram. I'm also planning to buy this power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

If I buy these parts, all I'm missing is the mobo, the processor, the hd, and the coolers right? Hopefully I'll be able to afford them all eventually. :/ But right now what I need most is a new graphics card, but that needs a new power supply, and I don't know if my case can fit it and if it can cool it since there's only an exhaust fan, so I want to get the case too.

I'd really appreciate the input and help. Thanks. Sorry for the long post, but this will be my first build (or part of it) and I'm on a low budget so I don't want to regret my choices.

 

[Rob Williams]

Oh boy. If L4D runs that poorly on your current PC, then chances are you're really due for an upgrade, so kudos for wanting to make the jump. The number of cores (stream processors) refers to the literal number of cores, so the more there are, the faster the card (only with the same model... other models might have a lot of cores, but lack in frequency and core clock). In this case, the 216 card costs $15 more after a mail-in rebate, and I consider that to be worth it. Plus, it comes with a free game (and a good one, at that), so it's a no-brainer.

I'm really not sure where you see such a stark price difference between the two cards, though. With and without mail-in rebates, the price difference is $15 from what I can see.

As an owner of the P182, I can honestly recommend the others you mentioned. If it means anything, I literally have a Sniper en route to replace my P182, because even though it's a mid-tower still, it offers a LOT more airflow space, and more room in general for a larger GPU. It's separated inside better, so even your hard drives will have an easier time breathing, when compared to the P182.

When comparing the HAF to the Sniper to the Scout, it all depends on what you like... mainly aesthetics. Bill reviewed each one of those chassis' though, so you should really read those:

http://techgage.com/article/cooler_master_haf_932_full-tower/
http://techgage.com/article/cooler_master_storm_sniper_mid-tower/
http://techgage.com/article/cooler_master_storm_scout_mid-tower/

Geez, I didn't realize Cooler Master dominated the chassis market quite this badly, hah.

Regarding the PSU, that's a great choice, and yes, after that, you'll have the mobo, CPU and hard drive to worry about, along with an optical disc drive and the CPU cooler. For the CPU, I recommend something like the Q8200, and an ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard around the $100 - $125 point (I don't have experience with any current offerings to make an out-right recommendation). The HDD is easy... pick up at least a 500GB, or a 1TB for around $100. For the CPU cooler, you might want to go with something in the $40 area, or take a look at Bill's most recent roundup to see other options that might be a little more affordable (Arctic Cooling seems to do well there):

http://techgage.com/article/cpu-cooler-roundup---22-models-tackle-our-qx6850/

 

[Yangster]

Thanks for the quick answer. For the price difference, I didn't count in the mail-in-rebate since a lot of times they take forever, get lost, or don't get approved right? So I didn't want to rely on something that wasn't guaranteed.

But if you had to guess in terms of FPS, how much difference would the cores make? Around10-20 more fps? Or like 1-5 on average?

And I did a little searching around on that zoomfly site. I've never heard of it before, but when I googled the Sniper case, it had high seller ratings. I searched for the 260 and got this:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010140&prodlist=celebros
and here's the NE one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

I think they're the same, but the model #'s are different. The Zoomfly sells the 896-P3-1260-TR and NE has the 896-P3-1260-AR. The numbers are the same, but one ends in TR and the other in AR. Since T comes after A, does it mean that it's a later/better version? If so, then the ZF one would be newer and cheaper? And it says that it runs OpenGL 3.0 compared to the NE one that runs 2.0.

I've read all of the reviews when they came out, and they both got 9's right? That's why it's hard for me to decide. >< The thing about the review scores is that you rate them at the time they came out compared to the cases at that time right? But you don't compare cases head-to-head like you do video cards since it's more about preference I'm assuming, so it's harder to tell the difference. I'm not really interested in the Scout because I don't really intend to take my PC out to a LAN so I'd prefer more cooling and such. So my decision is mainly between the Sniper and the HAF.

I was using a guide I found at TR. I'm not sure if you guys want me to post the link or not since I'm not clear on the rules of advertising here. But they recommended a AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P mobo. On their alternatives page they added the AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition. I'm considering the AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition since it's a quadcore and runs at 3.0 ghz. It's only $50 more right now so that's worth it right? 1 extra core and 200 hz faster.

They also recommended a Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB for $75. From what I read it sounds like a good choice. I don't think that I need a 1tb hard drive since my current hd is a 150-200 gb hd and I have a 500gb external hd.

If I went with a AMD processor, the would the cooler work on it as well?

 

[Kougar]

Yangster, you are really overcomplicating this!

Try this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

It is the better Core 216 model, good manufacturer + warranty. Free shipping $200 - $30MIR = $170. Comes with both FarCry 2 and COD5 games.

The PSU you listed is a good one, might as well nab that while they still have it on sale. Any cooler you look at will mention if it supports AMD's socket AM2 or Intel's LGA775... many will support both.

 

[Rob Williams]

Kougar, nice find! That's an amazing deal to include two games (even if one is terrible).

As Kougar said though, there's no need to overcomplicate this. The revision differences from EVGA don't usually mean much, but for the most part, usually whatever letter is higher, is newer. It doesn't mean there's a single difference though. As for posting links to other tech sites, it's fine by me... we're not at war with anyone ;-)

I agree with TR though, and the AMD CPU would make for a great choice, especially if you don't have a specific need for a Quad-Core processor, from either Intel or AMD.

 

[Kougar]

Ah, thanks Rob, I forgot to mention the model # difference. Honestly it can mean anything from 10Mhz faster core speeds to a change in the included bundle, box, or picture they use on the box. Any change no matter how infinitesimal will make a new SKU... my advice is to ignore them unless you are wanting to guarantee you are price checking identically configured GPUs across sites. These numbers change almost on a weekly basis, so it's not likely.