Ordering new gaming computer - Thoughts?

[NickP]

Hey guys, I plan on ordering this computer in the next couple days, and would really appreciate any input or suggestions on it. I am getting it from CyberPower PC, and I upgraded a few things, but the base model is Gamer Infinity XLC. Here's the specs:

Case: NZXT Zero Aluminum Full Tower 420W Case (I have been looking at desks lately, and if anyone knows the height of this case, please let me know because the guys at CyberPower are unsure.)

Power Supply: CoolerMaster Unit 600 Watts eXtreme Power - SLI Supports

CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6850 CPU @ 3.00GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Cooling Fan: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling System (Superior Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)

Motherboard: Quad-Core FSB1333) Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

Memory: 4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or other major brand)

Video Card: Two (SLI) Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB cards

Monitor: Viewsonic 19" G90FB CRT

Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

Optical Drive 1: 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
Optical Drive 2: 16x DVD-Rom

Sound Card: Creative Labs X-FI XtremeGamer 24-BIT PCI Sound Card

Speakers: Logitech X-540 70Watts 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers

Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse-II Gaming Keyboard

Mouse: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse (I'm used to the simple mouses)

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-Bit Edition


That's the majority of the specs, it comes to about $1800 without the monitor. Just hoping I can get some input of this and see what people think, or see if anyone has any suggestions for me as it's my first gaming computer. I am really into First Person Shooters if that helps, and most have told me to go with a CRT monitor because of that. As for the graphics cards, it was between SLI GT 512 MB's and a single 8800GTX 768MB, I'm leaning towards the SLI GT's after I looked at some benchmarks. Also, I came across a few posts where people said that Vista has trouble if you use SLI graphics cards, is this fixed now?

Thanks a lot in advance!

~Nick

 

[steelaw]

i was actually looking in to buying the same rig.im still deciding whether to build my own but im a liitle weary of that cause it will be my 1st build. i have about 6 years of computer knowldge ive never overclocked (dont know how) dont know anything about water cooling.now would it be cheaper to just build my own or buy a gaming rig.is this a good deal for 1800?

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Processor wise, change the E6850 to the Q6600, it will run better. Change the motherboard to the Asus P5N32-SLI, it has full PCI-E lanes, and the old GTS got crippled when it ran at half bandwidth, so for a GT full is more important. Monitor, drop it, or drop a GT, you won't need SLI for that monitor res, or if you want the dual GT's get a bigger monitor from newegg or wait for a sale at Best Buy like I did. NZXT, I've heard it was about 20-21" tall. I suggest getting a more powerful PSU as well, the Cooler master will be cutting it a bit close, it's a bit noisy too, I have the same one, but it drives out air like a hurricane(which is a good thing).
Editsteelaw, its a pretty good deal. You could get it for maybe $50 cheaper if you went newegg, but I'm unsure as the other components may drive up the price

 

[cowsled]

Hehe, I'm going to recommend a separate smaller, but faster harddrive to run the OS and games off. Faster load time. ^^

 

[starcraftfanatic]

cowsled has a point, drive speed really slows down as the drive fills up and it has to shift through alot of stuff.

 

[Shadow703793]

Everything looks good BUT MAKE SURE to upgrade the PSU the second you get it. If I were you I would also go with a 8800 GTX(OC'ed) instead of the 8800GTS SLI.

 

[aevm]

Get a 680i mobo, not a 650i mobo. That is, P5N32-E SLi or P5N32-E SLI Plus instead of P5N-E. This way the cards will run at x16 instead of x8.

I typed this in Google: "NZXT Zero Aluminum" dimensions
and the first hit I got said: DIMENSIONS (W x H x D), 210.5 X 532 X 520 mm.

Get 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB RAM, so you can upgrade to 8 GB later.

Get a more reliable PSU, like Corsair 620HX.

Change the 16x DVD-ROM to a Samsung SH-203B burner.

I wouldn't buy a CRT under any circumstances these days.Get a Samsung 226BW instead.

Mouses???

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Everything looks good BUT MAKE SURE to upgrade the PSU the second you get it. If I were you I would also go with a 8800 GTX(OC'ed) instead of the 8800GTS SLI.

It's 8800GT SLI, whcih would be more disputable. Like he said about PSU, if your handy with electronics you might want to get the stock PSU and swap it out with one that they don't offer, since their selection for PSU's is a bit small

 

[NickP]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, I'm probably going to order this thing tomorrow night so if anybody else has some suggestions it's greatly appreciated! I will definitely upgrade to the 680i instead of the 650i, and now the only problem I have is the monitor. Some of you said I shouldn't get the Viewsonic G90FB 19" CRT and should upgrade, and I really do like the widescreen Samsung 226BW that someone linked.

The Samsung 226BW got great reviews on Newegg, and it's only $270 after the rebate. But I'm not used to widescreen gaming. Also to be honest the possibility of dead pixels and having dark spots in the top and bottom, or left and right corners (when viewing the monitor dead-center) kind of scares me away from looking at them further. I did some Google research and a lot of people recommended CRT's for gaming. If I didn't get a CRT, and opted for the LCD route, would widescreen be suitable for first person shooters? Would the picture be noticably condensed?

I preordered Crysis last week, and I'm really trying to make sure my computer will be able to handle it on good settings, and I want to be able to enjoy it on a nice monitor. Any other recommendations for one that will be great for gaming? Thanks again in advance!

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Like I said before, and almost anyone else will vouch for this, Get the Q6600 instead of the E6850.

 

[NickP]

Thanks Star, meant to include that earlier as well. I plan on changing the E6850 to a Q6600 now. I just found an interview between Intel and the Crysis developers, and this was one of the questions:

"What kind of performance difference will we see in Crysis between Single/Dual/Quad/ core processors?

You will see a large performance increase on multi-core processors, especially regarding the worst case frame rates during intense action sequences allowing the player to experience a more stable frame rate through out the whole game. A quad core system should provide the best gaming platform for Crysis."

So finally I just need to figure out the monitor situation I stated two posts above this one.

 

[datmantran]

Definitley go with a 22" or larger Widescreen LCD monitor. You think you won't like it at first, but I just got a 22" Viewsonic widescreen (don't go with Viewsonic IMO... Samsung or BenQ are making great ones now) to upgrade from my 19" 4:3 ratio monitor and I LOVE the widescreen. It does take a little getting used to but works gread in any game... just played the Crysis demo for the first time on it last night and absolutely NO problems. If you SLI, you might even wanna go with a 24" LCD if it's in the budget.

Quick edit... CRTs have better blacks so the if you're playing a dark game (like a scary FPS or whatever) then the LCD won't look as good since it'll leak a lotta light through, especially if you also play in the dark. If you play in well lit rooms and don't care so much about having BLACK blacks, LCD's are great... and they also save a TON of desktop real-estate!

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Get a nice big 22" or 24" LCD, CRT's shouldn't be an option. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010190020+1301919996+1309821328&name=24%22
I'm not an expert on monitor quality, so I'll leave that up to other people

 

[ibleet]

Hmmm...I think the E6850 is a good choice. Not quite as future proof, but an excellent CPU. Not enough software is geared to take advantage of the quad core, so to get similar results with programs that don't have adequate threading, you would need to OC the quad, which in turn creates more heat, more cooling...get the E6850.

...but I definitely do not like the PSU. Get the Corsair HX620w or the TX750w. I like the 8800GT choice. I'm not a big fan of SLI cuz it really doesn't work the way it should, but its your money. Get a SATA DVD burner, and a 20+ LCD.

 

[ibleet]

Save some money and build it yourself.

 

[NickP]

I've been seaching forums the past couple of hours trying to decide between the E6850 3.00GHZ vs. Q6600 2.4GHZ. I am buying this computer almost entirely just for gaming. I know some of you recommended the 6600, but others recommended the E6850. On all the forums I've looked at it seems you have a lot of people saying go the 6850 route for games, and Q6600 if you do any 3D programs or rendering.

I have Crysis preordered like I said, and I know it will support the Q6600's quad cores, but will it really make a drastic difference in gameplay as opposed to the E6850? Will it affect the graphics at all? As of now the only quad-supported FPS games that I know of are Crysis and Alan Wake. What benefits would I see in gameplay using a Q6600 over an E6850 in first person games like BF2142 and Call of Duty 4 (among others)?

Again forgive me but I am definitely not an expert in the tech category, but really appreciate all the input. I figure I should find out as much as I can from you guys before I take the plunge

Nick

PS - I know nothing about overclocking, so at least for now I plan to keep whichever one I get at stock speeds.

 

[zodiacboyscorp]

For now in general the E6850 is better however the Q6600 is quad core future proof, when games take advantage off all cores it will trump the E6850. Games like Crysis are already showing that.

 

[datmantran]

PS - I know nothing about overclocking, so at least for now I plan to keep whichever one I get at stock speeds.

Get the Q6600. With a little bit more research, you could learn how to OC in the future when you feel more comfortable with it. I just bought a Q and can't believe how cool it runs. It's just begging me to OC it, but I'll do that when I feel I need more power. Getting a Q now will give you more room to grow in the future. The E6850 can't be OC'ed much more than it's stock setting. The Q can easily be OCed with the OEM fan it comes with.

 

[NickP]

Thanks a lot for all the help guys, I'll probably order this computer tonight. If anybody else has any suggestions for a monitor for gaming (I play FPS and WOW), that'd be great. I'm still unsure whether to go the CRT route as some have recommended (gaming-wise) on other forums, or go with an LCD such as that 22" Samsung Widescreen 226BW. The only thing is I've never played on a widescreen monitor before, and for some reason in my head I'm thinking that if I play first person shooters, the picture will look weird as compared to 4:3.

Also, if anyone else has suggestions regarding the Q6600 / E6850 decision, I'd really appreciate it. What differences would I notice if I went Q6600 over E6850 in gameplay? How about if I went E6850 over Q6600? I'm willing to upgrade this in about a year if that helps, just between now and that time I'm unsure of which to get. Would choosing one over the other make a difference in graphics? Framerates?

The more help I can get the better to make sure that what I order is going to be the best fit for me. Thanks!

 

[starcraftfanatic]

Widescreens willl only look a bit weird on older games with no widescreen support i.e. the picture is stretched. For games like Crysis, it just increases the viewable angle, i.e. 120 degrees of vision instead of 90. And on the desktop, they can let you keep a few more windows open at once and see them all. and i kind of suggest not building it yourself if you haven't a clue how to.

 

[godman]

wait until december for the new 8800GTS rev.2 or swap out the GTs in sli for a single GTX. Quad core mind be worth it too.

It would alow you to do more things at the same time, or if the software is heavily threadded for quads then it should help you do more in less time

good luck with your decision :mrgreen:

 

[Can Not]

HannsG is a really good monitor brand check them out.