Mission: Build a BUDGET gaming rig via OC'ing

[myromac87]

This thread was started in order to get people's opinions on a PC that I'm planning to build.

Five days ago, I was surfing the web and I came across a review of the Age of Conan game. I felt the urge to get back to the gaming world. This urge was further intensified by coming across BLIZZARD's press release for Diablo 3. To say that I was excited, is a huge understatement.

However, the excitement turned to frustration after comparing required system specs to the specs of my current computer. My computer does not have what it takes to run Diablo 3 or Age of Conan.

At first, I thought of upgrading. Then, after reading a couple articles and threads on the upgrades that I planned to purchase, an idea popped in my head: build a gaming PC that runs these new games WELL.

As I sorted through the infinite array of possible components to my gaming rig, I began to realize that $$ was going to be an issue.

Once again, i felt pretty "down".

Then, I came across a couple articles and threads on overclocking. I found out that OCing has the potential to make my dream of playing AoA and D3 come true by increasing the performance of the components that I can afford.

So I searched for components that are good for OC'ing and here's what I came up with:

Video Card: nVidia 9800 GTX+ (reasonable price, good OC'ing capabilities, and reliability) Check it out heads up against the Radeon 4850: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/731/16/

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 "Wolfdale"

After-Market CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775

Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Hard-Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S203B 20X SATA DVD Writer

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP

PSU: Corsair VX450W

TOTAL COST: ~$700

 

[th_username]

very good build but change your hard drive to 7200.11 32mb cache

 

[V3NOM]

lol a 9800GTX has a "reasonable" price? i reckon just get a nice 8800GT/9600GT with a good aftermarket cooler and OC it heaps... idk its up to you but personally 9800GTX ftl....

also is a 450W PSU good enough for that uber high powered GPU?

apart from that, the only recommendation i could make is a E8400 OC'd to 3.6 or 4.0 GHz easy.

Sorry to be kinda negative but thats just my take on the situation...

 

[dirtmountain]

At $175 after rebate the 9800GTX is a pretty good deal that runs neck and neck with the HD4850 at close to the same price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133225
450w Corsair would have plenty of power for that system.
About $12 more for a better cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

 

[pcgamer12]

Nvidia price cuts:

GTX 280 = $499
GTX 260 = $329
9800GTX = $199

Also look at ATI 4850 for $199
and ATI 4870 for $309

 

[myromac87]

lol a 9800GTX has a "reasonable" price? i reckon just get a nice 8800GT/9600GT with a good aftermarket cooler and OC it heaps... idk its up to you but personally 9800GTX ftl....

also is a 450W PSU good enough for that uber high powered GPU?

apart from that, the only recommendation i could make is a E8400 OC'd to 3.6 or 4.0 GHz easy.

Sorry to be kinda negative but thats just my take on the situation...

To be honest, I was planning to do what you mentioned with the MSI 8800 GT OC'd Edition 512 MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329)

However, upon further research, I found that the new Radeon 4850 would be a better option considering it's priceerformance ratio.

THEN, after researching the 4850, I found a review that pitted it against the up-coming 9800 GTX+ (see my initial post for the link) The 4850 did quite well, but, the overclocking capabilities of the GTX+ blew the 4850 away. (Even when the 4850 was fitted with a very good after-market cooler, core speed would not exceed 700 despite the dramatic drop in temperature.). GTX+ MSRP: $220

To make things more complicated, I found a 8800 GTS for only $129... With an after-market cooler and good case cooling, I may be able to squeeze GTX (not GTX+) performance from it.

I just don't know what to pick! I wish I can buy all three, test them out, see how far I can push them, then return the two that I don't want... LOLZ!

 

[eded333]

It cant exceed 700 mhz as ati ccc dosn't allow more overclocking, and riva tuner dosn't support it just now, it will in a month or so and then we will see how it overclocks.
If i were ypu I would take the 4850 allthough thats only my personal opinion.

 

[boop334]

yeah i would get the radeon 4850 myself but whatever

 

[Guest]

over clocking the 4850 past 700 mhz isn't only an option due to software limits... but also due to thermal limits... its one extremely hot card... so I wouldn't recommend the 4850 if you want to OC the crap out of your gpu

 

[zipz0p]

I think the 4850 is supposed to stay MUCH cooler with a decent after market cooler.

The 9800+ is supposed to cost about 10% more than the 4850, and I kind of doubt you'd get 10% more real-world performance out of it.

Also, consider a P45 board so you can get a higher FSB, which will help you out with the low multiplier on the E7200.

 

[myromac87]

I think the 4850 is supposed to stay MUCH cooler with a decent after market cooler.

The 9800+ is supposed to cost about 10% more than the 4850, and I kind of doubt you'd get 10% more real-world performance out of it.

Also, consider a P45 board so you can get a higher FSB, which will help you out with the low multiplier on the E7200.

If you factor in the extra OC that the GTX+ will allow compared to the 4850, you can definitely get a more than 10% increase in your 3dMark score (check out the review posted on my initial post). I'm not sure how that will translate into actual gaming performance as I'm new to all this.

That said, I think I'm going to get the 4850... 1) they're cheaper 2) I think that once the software/temperature limitations are solved, the 4850 could be the next generation of 8800's that nVidia failed to deliver with its 9 series...

In regards to your MOBO suggestion, will the benefit of having a higher FSB outweigh the more buggy and more expensive MOBO? If so, can you please recommend me one for the set-up I'm planning... There are quite a few and like I said, I'm new to all this...

In case I do decide to get a p45 board, doesn't that mean that I have to get faster ram considering the memory standard of p45 boards are higher?

Also, I'm a bit confused.... I was looking on newegg and I see that the FSB of the EP35 MOBO's and similar to the P45's... they both support 1600... The only difference is that the p45 don't have OC next to the 1600 rating... Does that mean that they can run at same speed then?

P45: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128344 (click on specifications)

P35: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086 (click on specifications)

 

[V3NOM]

well what they're saying is that the P35 can reach 1600 if your overclock it, but it does not allow it stock. the P45 on the other hand, GUARANTEES that it will run at 1600.

 

[zipz0p]

And you won't necessarily need faster RAM... please read the overclocking guides on the site for better info on FSB, CPU and DDR speeds, CPU multipliers and memory dividers and how they are connected and how overclocking affects them. This will provide you with much better insight to what these numbers mean and what it will mean in terms of the hardware you need.

I'd give you a brief runthrough, but I'm too tired :/