HELP ME SPEND $2200 ON A GAMING SYSTEM

[JOEBINKS]

My mother board died and I'm looking to build a new computer. I haven't looked at new hardware in 5 years. I play DOD and want to play battlefield2. I don't want to be short on power to play these games or any new ones that may come out in the near future.
The budget $2200
Some of the hardware I have in mind from reading these forums and some benchmarking.
Around a 600 watt power supply
XFX PVT70FUNF7 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card
RAM 2 gig
SATA WD 250 gig 16 mb buffer HD
2 dvd drives
Motherboard ??
cpu?? amd 3800? pentium 3.4?
cooling I'm not opposed to air cooling but would like it quite
Fell free to adjust any of my choices!!!

 

[luminaris]

I would definately get the Opty 165 man. Its awesome.

I use DFI boards. If your into overclocking, grab yourself a DFI. If not, there's quite a number of good boards out there. ASUS, Epox, Abit ... I'll grab a few here for you that I think would work good in your favor ..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131524

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123236

As far as RAM goes, here's what I would consider ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145486

Good luck with it

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Duplicate post, plz remove.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

My motherboard died and I'm looking to build a new computer. I haven't looked at new hardware in 5 years. I play DOD and want to play battlefield2. I don't want to be short on power to play these games or any new ones that may come out in the near future.
The budget $2200
Some of the hardware I have in mind from reading these forums and some benchmarking.
Around a 600 watt power supply
XFX PVT70FUNF7 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card
RAM 2 gig
SATA WD 250 gig 16 mb buffer HD
2 dvd drives
Motherboard ??
cpu?? amd 3800? pentium 3.4?
cooling I'm not opposed to air cooling but would like it quite
Fell free to adjust any of my choices!!!

OK, lets start with which country currency that $2,200 dollars is in you mentioned?, as these are international forums. Once people know that they can narrow it down more.

The 7900 GT / GTX are quieter than the 7800 GTX/GTX512 cards were btw, I'll agree they are a good option. Failing that the Radeon X1800 GTO or GeForce 7600 GT (depending on costs) will run BF2 fine.

If your monitor is at least 5 years old, does it run the resolutions and refresh rates (85 Hz or up ideally) that you want it to run ?, and does a TFT/LCD need to be included in the overall price ?

 

[Dybowski]

if you want top of the line wit till am2.
im sure you could fit a am2 setup with a 7900gt and 2 gigs
if not goe witha 3800+ for a newbie should handle everything you throw at it without bottlenecking youre 7900.

 

[mdd1963]

"Also, now that the 7900 cards are out, look for a 7900GT, it's cheaper and BETTER than the 7800GTX. Also consider the X1900.
"
Agreed, the 7800GTX's are now overpriced, and *should* fall to $275 or so if the world were logical, given a faster 7900GT avail for $299....

 

[Fox_granit]

I too would go with an Opty 165 or 170, Abit or Gigabyte on the motherboard, something with Nvidia4 SLI chipset, you can find a good one for around 100$. Again 2 gigs for the ram, zipzoomfly.com has some corsair xms for 199$ right now. If your want to blow your money on a high end HD, go with a raptor 150gig; it has 16mb buffer and flies. If not, then a sataII 250gig w/16mb buffer from WD is also avaliable for a little over 100$. Make sure you have an SLI approved power supply. As for the Cooling for the chip, you can always get something from zalman, i use one now, and it keeps mine cool and quite.

The video card is back to the 7900gt or the 7800gtx. I would go with the 7900gt. Without a case, monitor, keyboard, or mouse, I've pegged that out at about 1200$ for the 250gig/ opteron 170 system from zipzoom.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Yeah because going from minimum frame rate of 49fps to 60fps is also not a huge jump is it ?

eg: 2.2 GHz is to 1.8 GHz as 49fps is to 60fps.

Except when comparing video cards if one performs 22% better then all of a sudden it is a huge jump ?

Seriously now....

Try playing Half-Life 2 Lost Coast (example of future game performance) on a 1.8 GHz processor, even with Crossfire Radeon X1900 XT it feels sluggish.

Swap that processor for a 2.2 GHz and suddenly if feels a whole lot smoother.

But what would I know, I've only actually tried doing this and seen it with my own eyes.

Plus, Opterons run cooler and use less power.

Where do people read this shit ?... really I want to ****ing know.

It can not be the ACTUAL REVISION DOC can it, because here is a link to a document to whom AMD are the author:
Revision Guide for AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron Processors
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/25759.pdf Size: 362.2KB

Now... looking at my two Opteron 270's, neither of them support Cool'n'Quiet, so when at less than 100% load (which is quite often) they only limit power usage to 1/4 as they only support PowerNow!

Lets compare that too an Athlon 64 3700+
- Wow, it actually supports Cool'n'Quiet and can reduce power usage to under 1/12 when not at 100% load
- It also uses less power than some of the Opterons.

Lets have a look at that now shall we ?
- http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/
- http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/opteron/

Now please tell me who told you all that dribble, or was it just made up to push the Opteron (Socket 939 varient) because people think the name just sounds cooler, therefore it is automatically better ?

When the nForce 4 + Opteron 165 combo is 10 years old will people still push it because they are not grasping the IT industry ?... sometimes I wonder.

The Athlon 64 also supports Cool'n'Quiet without doubt, so the fan will spin down when the system is not being hammered. (You don't want Opteron fans spinning at full speed when running Word, Excel, and some browser windows with e-mail open, it gets annoying.... almost as annoying as people spreading mis-information to gain others trust.

Looking at:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9033,00.html
- Notice there is only a 'software hack' for the Cool'n'Quiet driver for Linux (which requires other linux software to change clock speeds) and no Cool'n'Quiet driver for Windows.

Now look at:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html
- Note that there is actually a Cool'n'Quiet driver for the Athlon 64's for Windows, and it is not a software hack.

 

[SKAnk9915]

two of the most important things that are often overlooked are the powersupply and case. get ones that will last. i recommend a Lian-li case, and a pc power and cooling powersupply. they will last you forever. the 510 PC power and cooling PSU will do well over 600 watts even tho it says 510 and is rated for SLI.

right after christmas i put together the following system all on newegg and spent about $1800:

Case: Lian-Li V2000B <- very large, very solid, brilliant design
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 510
CPU: Athlon64 X2 4400+
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-E
Graphics Card: EVGA 7800GT
Memory: 2048 Corsair XMS DDR 500
Hard Drive: WD Raptor 73.6
Cooling: Zalman CNPS9500

keep in mind that prices have dropped quite a bit since then. imagine what you can do with the same amount of money or more now.

i do alot of gaming (fear, COD2, Quake 4) and this sucker runs smooth. granted, a new 7900gt would be better for crankin the settings all the way up, but all the rest of my hardware is SOLID.

right now, outside of motherboard and choice of X2 processors, i would get the 7900gt and definately a western digital raptor. load times are almost cut in half with it.

keep in mind direct x10 cards are only a few months away, and youll need it to make vista look sweet.

as far as quiet, your powersupply and probably video card will make a decent amount of noise most likely, but zalman offers video card and cpu coolers that are fantastic and quiet. the cooler i have on my cpu can keep my temps low without the fan even on. its a beast.

 

[unclehumjaba]

Yeah, i have no idea why you guys are pushing opteron. Opteron is for servers. Sorry, but no matter how much you think you do, your desktop does not count as a server. For $2200, I'd say get:

DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136151

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model Twinx2048-3200c2pt - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145575

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4400CDBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546

eVGA 512-P2-N570-AX Geforce 7900GTX 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130279

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum Sound Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102190

Lian Li PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112040

PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V 510W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817703001

Grand total: $2193.98 + s/h and tax

That fucker will handle anything you can throw at it and then some >=)

 

[JOEBINKS]

Thanks to everyone for their advice!
The $2200 was us funds.

 

[madtatanka]

Here is what you can buy 4 that money. My opinion:

CPU AMD Athlon™ 64 3700+ Socket 939 1024K bus 2000 0.09u 1.4V 89W 64bit (2200 MHz) BOX
MB Asus A8R-MVP, RD480 CrossFire, S-939, ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16 / 1xPCI-x / 3xPCI / Dual DDR400, U-DMA 133, S-ATA II, Raid 5, SB 6ch.&1394&Lan 1000 on board.
DIMM 1Gb DDRAM PC-3500 (400MHz - 2x200MHz) GeIL One CL1.5 (1.5-2-2-5-1) Radiator TCCD chip Termometru ( Kit 2 x 512MB )
DIMM 1Gb DDRAM PC-3500 (400MHz - 2x200MHz) GeIL One CL1.5 (1.5-2-2-5-1) Radiator TCCD chip Termometru ( Kit 2 x 512MB )
HDD WDIGITAL 250 GB 7200rpm 8Mb Serial-ATA II 300 8,9ms WD2500JS
DVD±RW ASUS DRW-1608P2SB 8X16X8X16X - 40X32X40X Ultra-ATA RETAIL Dual Layer BLACK
DVD±RW ASUS DRW-1608P2SB 8X16X8X16X - 40X32X40X Ultra-ATA RETAIL Dual Layer BLACK
VC Connect3D Radeon X1800 XT 512Mb GDDR3 PCI Express (256bit) TV-OUT Dual DVI Dual Display VIVO 625/1500(750x2) Fan
CASE THERMALTAKE Tsunami Dream Black VA3000BWA 495(H)x210(W)x478(D), w/o power supply, 3 Fans, Window, Aluminiu
POWER SUPPLY ATX 680W P IV TUV Thermaltake W0049RE Silent Purepower PFC Activ Two Ways Control, Dual Fan, Dual SATA Connector, PCI Express Connector, Intelligent Cable Management

 

[mdd1963]

"Yeah, i have no idea why you guys are pushing opteron. Opteron is for servers."

So you would not pay $10 more for a socket 939 Opteron (over an equally clocked X2) that ran a few degrees cooler, came with an excellent heatsink/fan, and was known to overclock to 2.6-2.7G with startling regularity?

Opteron does not necessarily equate to server, and certianly not the socket 939 variants..

 

[Dybowski]

opteronjust use a different manufacturing process and has lower clock speeds for simlir prices. this all eqauls stability, so if youre willing to pay for a more stable chip and overclock it for better performance by all means go for it. if you want it to be silent athalon or opteron get a zamlam cooler.