Need a Gamer Build please!

[Raxus]

Hey Folks,

Built my last system 4 years ago and it's time for an upgrade. The rig will be for heavy gaming use. I especially want very good graphics. Figuring on getting either a 20" or 24" LCD monitor, depending on your advice. Also what you all advise me on SLI or not. Have a budget of up to $2000, but really don't want to blow all of that. That's a budget WITHOUT the monitor in it. Momma wants to buy me that! Also really wanna stay away from water cooled at this time, since I am a newbie builder.

Can't think of anything else at this time to ask, so please fire away and thank you for all your sage advice!


Rax

 

[boonality]

X38 mobo Like ASUS P5E or something
9800GX2 video card
Q9450
8GB of DDR2 1066

and fill in the mandatory hard drive, OS, dvd drive, and stuff and you'll have a pretty nice computer that will eat games up.

 

[Raxus]

X38 mobo Like ASUS P5E or something
9800GX2 video card
Q9450
8GB of DDR2 1066

and fill in the mandatory hard drive, OS, dvd drive, and stuff and you'll have a pretty nice computer that will eat games up.

isn't 8 GB overkill or no?

 

[uguv]

Do you plan on overclocking?

Do you plan on running XP or Vista?

8GB ram is probably overkill at this time, especially for gaming, but I'd go for a 2x2gb kit to allow for expansion to 8gb in the future. I'd definitely stick with DDR2 right now. 1066 is also overkill unless you plan on overclocking that processor well over a 400mhz FSB.

I generally avoid SLI motherboards because I like Intel's chipsets better, but to drive a 24" monitor with high graphics you might want to check out a 780i board.

I'm not a huge fan of the 9800GTX2 card and I'm not sure how well it would stack up to say 2x8800GTS(512) in SLI.

For gaming right now you'd probably be better off with the E8400/Xeon E3110 and overclocking it. I think a few years down the road more games will probably utilize multiple cores in which case a quad like the Q9450 would be better. If it were up to me I'd probably lean towards the quad if I wanted something that would have a decent shot at handling games for the next couple of years.

 

[Raxus]

Do you plan on overclocking?

Do you plan on running XP or Vista?

8GB ram is probably overkill at this time, especially for gaming, but I'd go for a 2x2gb kit to allow for expansion to 8gb in the future. I'd definitely stick with DDR2 right now. 1066 is also overkill unless you plan on overclocking that processor well over a 400mhz FSB.

I generally avoid SLI motherboards because I like Intel's chipsets better, but to drive a 24" monitor with high graphics you might want to check out a 780i board.

I'm not a huge fan of the 9800GTX2 card and I'm not sure how well it would stack up to say 2x8800GTS(512) in SLI.

For gaming right now you'd probably be better off with the E8400/Xeon E3110 and overclocking it. I think a few years down the road more games will probably utilize multiple cores in which case a quad like the Q9450 would be better. If it were up to me I'd probably lean towards the quad if I wanted something that would have a decent shot at handling games for the next couple of years.

Not a huge fan of overclocking, mainly cause I don't really know how to do it and don't want to burn stuff up lol.

Since Vista has been out for a bit now, I might go that route unless I get alot of folks telling me to steer clear of it.

Like I said in original post, not sure wether to go SLI or not and want you all's advice in that area.

 

[Shadow703793]

My recommendations:

8800GTX/9800GTX

PP&C 610/Corsair 620HX or better

P35-DS3R/P35-P5K/X38-DQ6/X38-DS4/Striker II Formula

4GB+ DDR2 800 (**Make sure it is DDR2 800, don't go for any thing above DDR2 800, they seems to have problems with some boards)

Q9300/E8400/Q6600

Any case,etc you like.

Should add up to about $1000-$1600 depending on the combinations of the items.

 

[Can Not]

GeForce 9800GTX
4GB DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
Q9300 (Intel Quad core)

those sound good.

 

[Raxus]

Guys should I be looking at SLI on these mobos or just stick with 1 graphics card?

 

[cisco]

Q6600-$250.00
4GB OCZ Reaper 1066-$99.00 after rebate
Asus X38 P5E3 Deluxe-$329.00
EVGA 9800GTX-$299.00
PC Power & Cooling PSU 750w Quad-$149.00

 

[cisco]

If you go SLI then you'll want to look at either a Nvidia 680i,780i,790i motherboard. If your going to take the plunge on the ridiculously overpriced DDR3 ram then I would go for the 790i, it's one of the fastest boards on the market. I have an EVGA 122 CK NF68 A1 680i and it's best board I've owned.

 

[Raxus]

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard

PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model EU80580PJ0606M

Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Cooling Heatsink

Crucial Ballistix 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

Klipsch Promedia GMX A-2.1 78 watts 2.1 Speaker

Logitech G11 Silver & Black USB Standard Gaming Keyboard

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

******************************************************************
How does this work for a system to work high end graphics on a game?

 

[ImajorI]

It looks very nice. You'll like the pro media, I do mine. I saw the Abit IP 35 Pro on sale for $99. Consider Vista Ultimate 64 and 8 Gigs of DDR2-800 Ram if your hoping for 4+ years from this one, as well.

 

[spencercpu1983]

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233002
Intel® Core 2 Quad Processor Q9450 OEM $349.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0286543
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail $36.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $118.99 X 2 =$237.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
EVGA 01G-P3-N895-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 KO 1GB -Retail $604.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130343
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102002
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $131.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148294
ASUS 20X DVD Burner DRW-2014L1T SATA -Retail $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156
SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC - Retail $179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151031
Kensington 64370 Black 107 Normal Keys USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail $14.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823155013
Logitech RX1000 931710-0403 Black/Silver 4 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Mouse - OEM $20.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104014
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $5.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

SUBTOTAL: $1848.86 with no Operating System or speakers

 

[Raxus]

Looks like I am going with the Dell 2408WFP 24" for my monitor.

 

[kilorth]

High System Total 1 631,73 $

Processor Intel Q9450 DirectCanada 351,52 $

Memory Patriot Extreme Performance 2X2gb DirectCanada 96,60 $ MIR 20$

Motherboard Asus Maximus Formula DirectCanada 264,60 $

Hard Drive Disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB DirectCanada 88,99 $

DVD Writer Samsung SH-S203B DirectCanada 25,88 $

Case Lian-Li Armorsuit PC-P60 DirectCanada 232,20 $

Power Supply OCZ GameXStream 700W DirectCanada 115,84 $

Graphic Card EVGA E-Geforce 9800GTX 512mb DirectCanada 299,99 $

CPU Cooler Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 DirectCanada 48,42 $

Case Optional Fan Scythe Ultra Kaze DirectCanada 7,02 $

total is with shipping and taxes, but it's in canada, so you might get better price elsewhere in US

If not OC'ing, you might as well go for lower ( 600W gamexstream or corsair 620hx , the PCP&C 610 is too pricy for same tier as the other 2... at least i find )

might as well change the fan for the TRUE, if ya don't want noise, go for scythe s-flex or something like that

This might be overkill, but its around 400$ under your budget for something really good, otherwise ill keep the cash and go for a computer around 1000-1100 and update in 2 years instead of paying 2000$ and still updating in 2 and half or 3 year ( yeah, it's a lot cheaper that way and you have better overall performance )

 

[vegie]

samsung 226bw very nice for the price.... i got one great quality screen

 

[crompers]

personally i wouldnt bother with the X2 gfx cards, but thats just me. you aren't guaranteed your favourite games will be able to fully utilise the card due to driver releases/compatibilty issues (mate of mine got stung that way on the 7950GX2)

generally speaking in terms of manufacturers i prefer:

gigabyte mobo
BFG graphics (lifetime warranty)
hiper psu
seagate hdd's

in terms of cases i have the gigabyte 3d aurora and it is quiet, cool, sturdy and looks great