MMO and Video/Photo editing build. Plz comment:)

[bentgate]

OK I went back to the drawing board with some of the specs - namely the case, the ram, and the PSU. Here is what I came up with. Any comments would be helpful. The two questions I have is - which case is better? And how much better performance would I see using the WD drive as the main drive and the seagate as data storage. This machine will be used to play EQ2 and other mmo's as well as video and photo editing.

Here are the specs.

Case:
Wave Master http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068 $49.99
Antec http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129017 $129.99

CPU: $224.00
Intel 6400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004


GX Card:
8800GTS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143074 $429.00

PSU:
OCZ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002 $149.00

RAM:
Gskill http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231108 $194.00

MoBo:
MSI 975X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130051 $168.99

HD:
Seagate Barracude 320 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140 $94.99
WD Raptor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136011 $229.99

 

[mgrosh]

I looked at that exact same MoBo on my new box.. I finally convinced myself to go with the eVGA 860i board now that they got a good bios out for future upgrades (Dual Video cards) etc...

I was wondering why you stayed with the MSI 975X.. is it cost ~$80 difference..

just FYI i think MSI 975X the wont let you use two 8800gts cards (somone correct me if im wrong) at the very least you will only get 8 channels per card.

 

[bentgate]

I thought the other mobo was a little overkill for me. I am not going to do any overclocking and I doubt I will ever be adding another GX card. Plus, Tom's gives that mobo the best price performance rating of all of them.

It seems like the eVGA has a lot of stuff that I will not be using. So I decided on the MSI.

My real question is is the Raptor overkill for my needs. EQ2 does alot of hard drive reading even with 2gb of ram. The game itself is almost 20gbs by now (with all expansions loaded). Do i need a 10,000 RPM drive or can a seagate do just fine?

 

[AMDThunder]

IMO, the Seagate with the perp. recording will be fine.

Honestly, I think your whole system is overkill for MMOs. Unless you're doing a ton of intensive video/photo editing.

Used to run EQ2 and WoW on my old AMD 2200+ with a 9500Pro without a problem. Of course you'll be all set for the next generation of games. I just don't see the MMO world making too many big leaps with the current games like EQ, EQ2 and WoW still being so popular. But, I guess you never know what's around the corner.

Not trying to knock your system.

 

[bentgate]

It might be overkill but I have the budget and I dont want it to go out of date in 6 months. I think I am going to drop the raptor as you said the seagate will be fine. I also abhor slow machines I have no patience for bottlenecks

Since you say it is overkill, I am assuming I will be able to run EQ2 on the best settings without a problem. As this is the intent of the machine.

For the sake of discussion, what if I dropped to the 6400 and used a different gx card. What card would you go with?

 

[mgrosh]

Since you are only running MMO

drop the 8800GTS and get a Radeon x1950xt (probably the best card avaliable for its value) $249.99

the E6400 conroe is perfect for your system

and drop the raptor and get a 7200.10 320GB Seagate for $95

I dbout you will ever see the difference and thats a huge savings that can go to future upgrades.

you will NEED to keep the 2GB or RAM.. that is a must.

 

[bentgate]

OK i have modified it slightly given the advice you gave me Downgrading the cGX Card to the Radeon and dropping the raptor gave me money to get a 500GB hd instead.

Case:
Wave Master http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068

CPU:
Intel 6400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

GX Card:
x1950xt http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102067

PSU:
OCZ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002


RAM:
Gskill 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231108

MoBo:
MSI 975X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130051

HD:
Seagate Barracude 500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148108