What should I buy for a gaming rig?

[rockstone1]

My budget is no more that 800 dollars (I would prefer a $500 machine, but I don't see that happening). I want to get a CPU and at least a 8600. I want a good CPU, but the problem is, I don't know much about the newer CPUs anyway. (I have been using Pentium's all my life). What should I get for a rig that's aiming to play Crysis on very high (with at least a 20 fps)

 

[aadamszc]

Honestly, there is no way you will be able to play Crysis on very high with and $800 machine. I though I would be blunt.

It would help us if you could tell us what you already have. The way things are looking you are going to want at least a Core2Duo CPU. I don't even know if a 8600 will cut it.

-Adam

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

not gonna happen srry.... Try a xbox 360 or PS3

 

[rockstone1]

Ignoring ^, My abysmal currently used pc is: P4 2.8ghz, 1.5 gb ram and a 256 mb 6800 to bear.

 

[bcboy]

not gonna happen srry.... Try a xbox 360 or PS3

dude, there's blunt, then there's just plain rude...

Heh you got just about the same as my old computer.

Here's something I did to save money. I cannibalized my old system, DVD-Burner, HDDs, and fans for my new system. If you're not selling/using your old system (or selling as parts) then use the case and PSU as well. Save yourself about $100 by just keeping case, fans, and DVD.

All I really bought for my new system was the case and PSU (I am hoping to sell my old system), CPU, mobo, and RAM, but I had a GeForce card that I could switch over to my new computer as well. In total, for a higher end C2D E6550, a really nice Asus P5N32-SLI Plus mobo, and fairly good Kingston DDR2-800 RAM, I paid about $750. This setup (except the GeForce, I'm really gonna need a new one) is sure to keep me happy for a couple of years.

 

[rockstone1]

Anyway, thanks. I was planning on keeping the box (maybe changing the little sticker that says Pentium 4), hard drive, sound card (if possible) fans, dvd drives and floppy. In total, only the Moby, Ram and Geforce. How much does a Moby cost?

 

[bcboy]

mine was about $220, but apparently the AMD boards are a little less. So are the AMD chips, for that matter. I chose to shell out a bit more for the performance gain of Intel.

You might need to upgrade your power supply anyway, depending on it's wattage. These new setups, they can take a bit of juice.

 

[monst0r]

you can get a gigabyte p35-ds3l for around 110$usd im pretty sure..thats a great mobo for OCing and stability, i have the ds3r, has a few more ports and whatnot.

for 800$, i would go with an E4300 core 2, use as much $ possible on the graphics card, and 2gb budget ram (~60$ 2x1gb..)

320gb hdd is ~80ish$ i think..

with the cpu, youre going to need to overclock it to around ill say 2.5-3ghz for crysis on "Very" high..try and get an 8800gt when they come out, it should do the job well at low res..good luck

 

[bcboy]

Yeah, I picked my stuff from a performance standpoint, rather than a cost view. I've never played Crysis, but I intend to try quite a few new-generation games, once I get a new vid card.

 

[edenruro]

Mobo: gigabyte p35-ds3l: 94.99$
CPU: C2D e6500: 129:99$ (overclock it around 2.8- 3.0 ghz)
CPU cooler:Arctic freezer 7: 19.99$
Videoa card: 8800GT: 249.99$ (until novemeber)
power supplie: CORSAIR 520w (if needed) 129$ with 10$ MIR=110$
RAMatriot extreme ddr2 800: 87.99$ with 40$ MIR= 47$

Total: 712$ with 50$ MIR

that should pretty much do it

http://secure.newegg.com/Newversion/Shopping/ShoppingCart.asp?Submit=view

Wait until novemeber for the 8800gt it cost 250 and out perform the 8800gts that costs 350

hope it helps

 

[bcboy]

Before you decide not to get an Asus board, google 'AI NOS', the auto-overclock feature that comes on some Asus boards. And my board comes with two (that's right two) onboard ethernet cards, 2 PCI-Ex16 and 1 PCI-Ex8 (think SLI or Crossfire and the new PhysX card), C2D/C2Q/C2X ready, 7 onboard fan connectors, and onboard 8-channel 24bit audio.
can u say 'my precious'? [:coldmast]
All of that mumbo-jumbo means one thing: super-upgradeability. The mobo will probably be the last part I get rid of in this new rig, provided I don't burn it out in my foolish desire for insane clock speeds [:zorg:2]

Also, I paid a bit extra because I bought my board locally, rather than off the Net. Who wants to wait for delivery? Besides, the prices I've seen quoted in this thread may not include tax, shipping, or whatever. I paid 213.98 for my board, including everything. 240.75 for the chip, 160.50 for the RAM. I ordered the case off ebay cuz the local guy didn't have what I wanted, another 106-something. Total: 721.63 CDN. You get, what, maybe 75 off for ordering off the Net? I'll throw in another 10% for the ability to bring it home right away. You'll need more for your video card, but believe me, this is a great setup. With an 8600 you should get in under the 900 mark (which is somewhat over budget, I know), and with the SLI ability, save up another 150 for a match to your 8600, and Crysis or any other game should look damn decent.

And never lose sight of the overclocking ability of this setup. You can easily get 125-140% or so without messing with any voltages, any frequencies, any advanced settings at all. Asus's BIOS software can do it all for you. Install AiBooster, tell it what % boost you want, restart Windows, instant boost. However, I recommend you carefully research the process of overclocking before you attempt ANY overclock.

There's always the possibility your setup won't like a certain frequency, or voltage, or whatever, and it will hang. That's also taken care of. You can save a copy of your BIOS when it's not overclocked and just restore it if your computer hangs. And when you find the perfect setup, you can save that in the other save slot.

Yeah, it costs a little more. Is it worth it? Oh. Hell. Yes.

 

[bcboy]

320gb hdd is ~80ish$ i think..

The hell you get that price? Let me know, I'll buy one for sure. Locally, a 320GB is $150. The prices I've seen on the net were all over $100, before shipping/tax.

 

[rockstone1]

Thanks guys.

Now... How the heck does a kid in 8th grade get the money needed for this?

Yha, But remember, this kid in eighth grade can do visual basic.

Also it may be worth mentioning that I'll probably upgrade my video card this Christmas and then go for everything else.

PS: When I talked to my dad (a computer programmer who knows a lot about computers!) he felt old talking about this CPU. His knowledge is somewhat outdated!

 

[bcboy]

Thanks guys.

Now... How the heck does a kid in 8th grade get the money needed for this?

Heh, get a paper route, just like I did, way back in the day. Or an after-school job.

PS: When I talked to my dad (a computer programmer who knows a lot about computers!) he felt old talking about this CPU. His knowledge is somewhat outdated!

LOL! 'When I was your age, son, all we had were 2MHz 8-bit processors. What do you expect me to know about 2GHz+ dual-core 64-bit proccesors?' Well, I don't feel so old now! I, too, have been a computer tech since the first modular (ie ATX-style) computer came to the home. The PC has come a heckuva long ways in 20 years.

 

[rockstone1]

Wow, and Thanks

I'm getting a video card with the money I get for Christmas. (a $250 video card wont be a problem, and hopefully will let me play Crysis on Medium- Low)

I'll look for a job, or I could beg that rich kid to give me $1,000 dollars.