Well in 2 weeks this will be my first build. What would you change about it? What should I change about it. I know that several of you will say, don't get DDR3 it's overpriced, but I was trying to plan for the future. I figure in a couple years, i will wanna upgrade, and if I already have a DDR3 capable mobo, then i won't have to get another one, and that's more money I can spend on other parts. By the way the monitor, and video cards, I already have. I am considering getting the EVGA 750i mobo, and a top notch set of some fast DDR2 ram, if I change my mind about DDR3 790i mobo. Anyways Tell me what you think.
SILVERSTONE TJ09-BW Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811163073
-$10.00 Instant
$299.99
$289.99
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148309
$159.98
($79.99 each)
Gateway FHD2400 Black-Silver 24" 3ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ 4-port USB Hub and Height & Pivot Adjustments - Retail
Item #: N82E16824113012
waste of money on case: you can sped under $100 and get the same temps on your components. waste of money on HDDs. get 1 single 750GB drive for just few dollars more. there is bigger monitors for just a few dollars more. wasted money on video cards: superclock version is more expensive when you can just OC it yourself after buying regular. DDR3 is a waste of money, it provides really no performance gains.
My only comment is that getting 4GB of DDR3-1333 ram for the same price as your 2GB of 1600 ram will probably give you better performance overall. If you plan on upgrading soon, however, your plan might be better since you can just buy 2 more sticks of 1600 ram.
Also, everyone here likes to rag on about how DDR3 is such a huge waste of money etc. etc. etc. As long as you realize you are paying a big premium for the future-proofing of DDR3, it really isn't that big a deal. Also, who knows how much better DDR3 will be than DDR2 one or two years from now. So if you are planning on keeping this comp for a couple years at least, DDR3 might be smart. And the 790i boards are really fast, so that's good.
Get more than 2gb of ram. Vista uses 1+gb. Crysis will hog 2+gb after a few hours of gameplay. The performance difference made by faster ram is small to begin with. If your PC starts using page file from hdd, it'll more than offset the ddr3 and slow your computer down to the level of a $500 machine.
Get bigger and faster harddrives. Those you have are not on par with the rest of your nearly $3k system. 1TB drives cost around $220, and the 32mb cache 7200rpm ones perform on par with much smaller capacity 10,000rpm drives on benchmarks. It's always a good idea to get balanced components.
Your decision to spend nearly $300 for a mid tower case is questionable. But if you think it looks good, it's your call. As for performance, it's certainly less than many full tower cases for more money. Aluminum does nothing. You're not building an airplane.
LOL two years from now, everyone will know the benchmarks, and the benchmarks say: there is no performance gains worth 3x the price.
Placebo effect makes you happy. Happiness is worth money. But you're only happy if you believe you're getting more. So shut up, you're ruining his happiness.
LOL two years from now, everyone will know the benchmarks, and the benchmarks say: there is no performance gains worth 3x the price.
That's kind of a stupid comment because there are two very obvious things that can't really be argued about DDR2 vs. DDR3
#1) DDR2 provides MUCH better value for money. This simply isn't a question, and no one is arguing otherwise.
#2) In the long run, especially over the next two years DDR3 become faster than DDR2. Maybe not enough to offset the price difference, but that isn't the point.
So it comes down to a value judgement. If price is a serious concern, obviously DDR2 is the way to go. If, on the other hand, this guy is not very price-sensitive and just wants the computer that will be fastest over the next few years, DDR3 is clearly the way to go (particularly since it uses the 790i board which is faster than the 750 or 780). Again, this increase is speed is very probably not as big as the the price premium paid for it, but this increased cost means different things to different people.
First off, do I want a fast machine, well sure I do. Secondly, I not just trying to blow money, but my wife is in college, and over the next few years money is gonna be tight. So I figure, get a DDR3 board now, and in a couple years, just throw a new faster processor in it, and maybe some Ram, and I got myself a whole new machine. By the way, this is a gaming ONLY machine, I have another pc that I do everything else on. and to be honest, when I buy things I try to go as big and as bad as I can. If I go with a DDR2 mobo, and save some money, then in a few years, I may not have the cash to upgrade the way I am now. Keep the feedback coming. With the current setup you see, how fast do you think I will be able to OC the cpu? The reason for the 2 HDD is because I plan to run raid 0. As for the comments for the monitor, and video cards, I have had them for months. So I am stuck with them for now. Oh and by the way, I will be running XP SP2, and I am not really into Crysis. But I do play alot of COD4. And by the way, this case has excellant reviews, all over the web. See for yourself. And no I do not want an antec 900. And as for the Ram I chose, I am getting 4 x 1gb sticks.
First off, do I want a fast machine, well sure I do. Secondly, I not just trying to blow money, but my wife is in college, and over the next few years money is gonna be tight. So I figure, get a DDR3 board now, and in a couple years, just throw a new faster processor in it, and maybe some Ram, and I got myself a whole new machine. By the way, this is a gaming ONLY machine, I have another pc that I do everything else on. and to be honest, when I buy things I try to go as big and as bad as I can. If I go with a DDR2 mobo, and save some money, then in a few years, I may not have the cash to upgrade the way I am now. Keep the feedback coming. With the current setup you see, how fast do you think I will be able to OC the cpu? The reason for the 2 HDD is because I plan to run raid 0. As for the comments for the monitor, and video cards, I have had them for months. So I am stuck with them for now. Oh and by the way, I will be running XP SP2, and I am not really into Crysis. But I do play alot of COD4. And by the way, this case has excellant reviews, all over the web. See for yourself. And no I do not want an antec 900. And as for the Ram I chose, I am getting 4 x 1gb sticks.
Nehalem use a new socket, so no, you can't just "in a couple years, just throw a new faster processor in it, and maybe some Ram, and I got myself a whole new machine."
With a single 1TB drive, it won't look small in a couple of years. The same is not true for your two smaller drives, which are also significantly slower if single.
XP will also look old in a couple of years. Your wife won't want to use it. Imagine using the last version of windows before xp now. You get the idea.
My wife has her own 2 computers, and never touches mine. she has Vista, and it's really not that impressive. Besides in a couple more years, Windows 9 will be out, and I am sure Microsoft, will not make the same mistake with Windows 9 as they did with Vista. Not just trying to totally bash Vista, but it's just for me. Secondly, Why would I want to get Vista? Tests have shown it is slower than XP for gaming. Remember this is a gaming only machine, thats it. There are other machines in my home, that can do everything else. Dagger, thank you. My question was just answered about the Nehalem chip. I will want to get it in a couple of years, and it won't be compatible for the 790i mobo. So, that means that the 790i, and DDR3 ram are out. What are yalls thoughts, on an EVGA 750i, or 780i? I have dealt with EVGA's tech support and they were awesome, and that's why I am hell bent on going with one of their mobo's. Also, I have no use for a 1tb hdd in a gaming only machine. my other machine has 3 HDD, 750gb, and an external 500gb. I am set on space for now, besides, it's no biggie later on if I need to add more HDD's. So besides the HDD being too small for your liking, are they gonna be fast enough in Raid 0 or is that a waste of money too? I currently use 2 raptors in raid 0 and they are pretty damn fast. Share your thoughts please.
Message edited by bryan240g on 04-26-2008 at 02:15:35 AM
Raid0 gives little performance boost for gaming. Actually, harddisk
speed in general affects mostly load time, not in game fps. Your
computer loads program from harddisk to ram first, then runs it out of
ram.
780i is slightly better than 750i, and oc as well as p35, but obviously
cost more. You should wait and see how hd4xxx's perform against 9900,
then decide if you want a sli or crossfire motherboard. The thing is,
x38/48's fsb overclocking ceiling is so far above 750i/780i that
they're not in the same league, and they cost around the same. If
hd4000s perform on par or better than 9900, get the crossfire board
instead.
Yeah but I already the 2 EVGA 8800Gt's. I do however still have 31 days left to go through there step-up prgrogram, and with the money I just saved getting away from DDR3 and the 790i, I could get something faster, so I still need an Nvidia chipset. So are you recommending the 780i??? Do they have alot of problems that you are aware of? Or what if I went through the step-up program, got a 9800 gx2, that I wouldn't really have to pay too much more for, and got a 780i board, and then later on when the price comes down more, I could just add another card, and have quad sli??? I see your point on Raid 0 for gaming. How about I go with 1 larger hdd but with the same specs, like was mentioned earlier?? Remember I am a total noob at computers, but I really enjoy all this stuff, so bare with me I am learning.
Do you absolutely need to build now? The only reason I ask is, with the new platform being released and the DDR3 memory, just wait for the release. I believe the whole DDR2/DDR3 debate will still be with us, just the new platform will make better use of the new technology, if you will, and in turn the performance level may increase by then.
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Opinions are like asses,everybody has one.
When you say new platform, i assume you are reffering to the Nehalem? But when it comes out it will probably be very expensive, and besides, I have been waiting for a long time for this, and to be honest I just don't think i can wait any more. Especially 2 weeks before I start ordering.
Yeah but I already the 2 EVGA 8800Gt's. I do however still have 31 days left to go through there step-up prgrogram, and with the money I just saved getting away from DDR3 and the 790i, I could get something faster, so I still need an Nvidia chipset. So are you recommending the 780i??? Do they have alot of problems that you are aware of? Or what if I went through the step-up program, got a 9800 gx2, that I wouldn't really have to pay too much more for, and got a 780i board, and then later on when the price comes down more, I could just add another card, and have quad sli??? I see your point on Raid 0 for gaming. How about I go with 1 larger hdd but with the same specs, like was mentioned earlier?? Remember I am a total noob at computers, but I really enjoy all this stuff, so bare with me I am learning.
In that case, go for the 780i. I doubt 9900 will come out in time, and even if it does, there's no guarantee if it's good. There are several rumors regarding its performance going right now.
No I meant the 9800 GX2, the single card with 2 gpu's. Using 2 of those would be quad sli. Ok, I am going with the 780i then. Do you think that whenb the Solid state disks come down in price, they wll in anyway help with gaming, as far as speed I mean?
No I meant the 9800 GX2, the single card with 2 gpu's. Using 2 of those would be quad sli. Ok, I am going with the 780i then. Do you think that whenb the Solid state disks come down in price, they wll in anyway help with gaming, as far as speed I mean?
For in game fps, no, it's no help. Solid state is still reguarded as harddrive, so windows will still load necessary files into ram first. The exception is if you run out of ram and the system uses page files as ram. But it wouldn't be a good sign, as even solid state drives are still far slower than even very low end ram. You should notice a significant decrease in game loading time though.
Yes, 2x gx2 would definately be better, at a cost.
