New Build 2,500 Max

[Advanced]

Hey guys, I'm currently running a p4 2.4, 512mb ddr, 6600gt, onboard nic, onboard sound, old ibm mobo, 80gig hd. This baby is about 4 years old and I can barely run any of the games I want to play.

So I'm looking to upgrade, I'm intrested in a conroe build, the max I'm looking to spend is 2,500. I've built a system on newegg, if you guys could give me some adivce on it, I would apreciate it.

I'm mainly building this so I can play the new BF2142, WoW, possibly WarHammer.

Heres a link to my list on new egg:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=3810126

 

[alpine_sc]

This baby is about 4 years old and I can barely run any of the games I want to play.

When do you plan to make your next upgrade? It's not worth it to build such a high end system if you aren't going to upgrade for another 4 years. You'll get much more value by spending half as much while upgrading twice as frequently. For example, buying that 7950 GX2 and upgrading it 4 years later would give you much less performance over those 4 years than buying a 7600 GT now for 1/4 the price and upgrading it every year for a total price the same as the 7950 GX2. The same concept goes for all you components. Technology is going so fast that the $1000 component today is worse than the $100 component of tomorrow.

 

[Advanced]

Well thing is, I wasn't big into gaming so I basically used my IBM for chatting, music, myspace, etc. Thats why it wasn't upgraded for so long, I mean you don't need anything nice to do those things.

Then when BF2 was released a few friends started palying that so I intially couldn't play, so I had to throw in a 6600GT and a better power supply. Which leads me to now, I do play games, esp looking forward to BF2142. That being said I do not want to keep my computer the same for 4 years, I will be upgradeing as time comes.

So now, I'm looking to build a solid system in which I can run BF2142 close to max or at it, I usally play on an 18" at 1280x1064. And as time comes and I get into other games, I can upgrade my system as needed, I just wanted a solid base to start with.

Why would I drop 1-1,200 on a system that won't allow me to play BF how I want it, it would be like wasteing a thousand dollars. Then having to wait a year or so and buying another mid range computer (which at that time would run BF better than this system here... but thing is lets say a year from now I'm playing a new current game, then that mid-level pc won't suffice anymore). Thats why I'm looking to start off with a system like this to allow me to run BF maxed out, it'll run other games that come in the future very good. If need be I could purchase another 7950 down the road for say 200 bucks and run quad, or upgrade in other areas if needed.

 

[alpine_sc]

You could easily build a 1-1,200 system that'll run BF2 on high settings. So called "mid-ranged" gfx cards like the 7600 GT can play most games on high settings at that resolution. Yes, future games will be more gfx intensive, but the 7600 GT should do well until the DX10 cards come out.

Here are the changes I would make:

7600 GT

XMS2 5-5-5-12 the $189 one (I'm not sure why the other is so expensive)

Antec Smartpower 2 500 Watt (This one has a warranty and is plenty for a conroe and 7600 GT)

Gigabyte P965 DS3 (Good overclocker)

Maybe a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular recording, plenty of space, good performance)

 

[nikolokolus]

The thing with SLI (or crossfire that matter) is that it yields hardly any appreciable gain in performance on resolutions below 1600X1200. If you are going to shell out the kind of dough you're slapping down right now, and really want dual graphics you might want to consider getting a really big high res. monitor like these here
granted you might need to make some sacrifices in other areas to get everything in line with your budget, but these monitors are the reason there are dual (and quad) video setups.

 

[aj6065]

I would change the sound card to this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102190 first of all.

I completely agree with Alpine_sc's setup. If I had that much money though, I would probably still get a higher end card, like the 7900GT, but the 7600GT is good if you'll be upgrading as soon as DX10 comes out. I like the motherboard, too, because it goes along with what Nikolokolus said...SLI is basically useless to all but the most graphic hungry gamers!!!

 

[Advanced]

Well thanks for all the suggestions, I may tone it down, just because you guys made some valid points about dishing out the extra cash just for a few more frames.

Thing is I just wanted to be able to run BF2142 smoothly (it is going to use BF2's engine won't be that much more intensive), so with that mobo, e6600, and a 6900gt give me 60+fps on 1280x1024 with maybe 4xAAand 8xAF?

Also I was planning on getting 2 WD Raptors and setting up a Raid 0, since I was told Normal HD's and even a Raptor can bottleneck your system? So I figured Putitng 2 raptors in raid 0 would work out best.

 

[alpine_sc]

Thing is I just wanted to be able to run BF2142 smoothly (it is going to use BF2's engine won't be that much more intensive), so with that mobo, e6600, and a 6900gt give me 60+fps on 1280x1024 with maybe 4xAAand 8xAF?

Oh yeah, definitely:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7900gt_6.html

Two raptors in raid 0 will be very fast. I just thought you might want to consider Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 if you don't want to pay a lot for a little space.