Hey computer buffs. Ive got a question.

[Cptkernow]

I am currently in the process of a complete system upgrade.

The question is:

"Is there any point buying a 64 bit Athlon, seeing most applications are 32bit"

The purpose of my PC will be in order of importance:

Online Poker, Games (I want good FPS), Running poker software such as Pokertracker and Email word processing etc.

Thanks in advance.

Kernow.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any point buying a 64 bit Athlon, seeing most applications are 32bit

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably not at this time, you'd be on the "bleeding edge" of technology at this point. It wait and see how the market develops for 64 bit.

[Utah]

No need at this time.

If I had your needs, I would want a: midlevel processor, decent video card, 512 to 1g ram, mid level sound card, and a stable motherboard (very important)

If you download music or videos then you also want a large hard drive.

Good luck

[CCass]

For Online Poker, you should be focused on your internet connection, any new computer (32 bit or 64 bit) will have more than enough power to multi-table.

As for gaming (FPS), get the ATI Radeon 9800 pro.

Just my $.02 worth.

[Cptkernow]

Internet connection is sorted. Im also allready there on that 9800 pro, though am maybe tempted to spend a bit more and get the XT version.

OK round two question.

"whats with this whole monitor question?"
I want a dual monitor rig. I want flat screen but have heard that flat screen monitors arent that great for 3d games.

Whats the consensus on this issue?

Thanks again

Kernow

[paland]

There is flat screen and then there is flat panel. Flat screen is still a large monitor but a flat panel is the very skinny device.

Go down to the computer store and look at them. See which is best for you.

[BusterStacks]

Athlon 64 is a good chip, and if you have some money its not a bad investment. Despite current applications being 32-bit, it does score higher on 32bit code than a comparable P4. Radeon 9800 is a good card, pro or non-pro does not matter, but I find your desire for the XT puzzling. It's not significantly better, and you'd be hard pressed to find a game that will benefit from the extra RAM. For gaming, an LCD monitor is not as good as a CRT. Having said that, you can find one what is decent enough to run your games if you are trying. I absolutely recommend the Dell 2001fp if you can afford it, its 16ms response time and native 1600x1200 resolution will be good enough for both gaming and mutlti-tabling. (4 tables with no overlap!!)

[gavrilo]

Question here, I'm planning on buying a new monitor and I don't care about flat panel/size so I'm better off going with just a regular one??
And I want atleast 1600x1200 resolution if I want to play fourtables with no overlap??

[paland]

[ QUOTE ]
Question here, I'm planning on buying a new monitor and I don't care about flat panel/size so I'm better off going with just a regular one??
And I want atleast 1600x1200 resolution if I want to play fourtables with no overlap??

[/ QUOTE ]
Correct on the resolution. As for Monitors, 17' with a 1600 resolution sucks. Get at least a 19 and probably 21. Even 19' are cheap anymore.

[Manimal]

Flat panels, in my experience, can't handle anything that requires a decent refresh rate - whether it's a 3d game, a movie, etc. 20fps seems like a very generous estimate in the ones I've seen - which, admittedly, are among the lower level ones. But, I've heard similar things about the very best.

So, unless you need that space directly behind your monitor, I'd say go for a flat screen, not a flat panel.

Peace,
Matt

[Mano]

You can buy a large CRT monitor that will handle higher resolutions for a much lower price than you would pay for a flat panel. Make sure that the monitor handles the resolution you wish to use at a decent refresh rate (for LCD monitors not as much an issue).

[frizzfreeling]

Get yourself a used sony P1110 on ebay for around $150 from a reputable seller. It is the best 21" monitor out there for the money. I have a G520, which is a step up from the P1110 and has 2100x1700 res. Problem is, even with a 21" monitor, you cant see that small. The P1110 has 1600x1200 resolution and flat screen. If you buy it new, you're looking at $700.
As for the system in general, dont bother getting anything over 3GHZ pentium...you'll be wasting your money. The new prescott chips suck up twice the power and dont perform any better than the 3.0GHZ. For FPS, you are looking more for the best video card than cpu. The Radeon 9800 is excellent. If you are building it yourself, make sure to have a case with at least 500W of power available.