I have a buddy looking to build a new rig. In fact, he's probably going to have me do everything for him, from buying to building to OCing. I'm waiting to hear back from him as far as the games he intends to play, but based on prior experience, my guess is he really only plays America's Army. He doesn't do anything really intensive beyond gaming. Originally he was talking about a budget of $1000.00 (US), but I'm thinking "man...if all you play is America's Army, we can build you a good rig for like $600.
The only concern that I have for him is that the US Army is currently developing America's Army 3.0 using on the Unreal 3 engine. They haven't announced a release date, but we will probably want to have him mission capable when that is released. Also, I am probably going to try and OC the hell out of the computer, so obviously the RAM and motherboard are key. He's got a 22" monitor that he will stick with. So, this was my initial thought for him.
Most of these parts come with mail-in rebate offers that would bring the total down to $606.99, but I don't ever bank on getting those, so I did not factor those into the prices above, which by the way are all from Newegg.
So here are my questions:
1) To cut back on some of the costs, is their room to get a power supply under 500 watts?
2) Do we run the risk of bottlenecking anywhere? I do plan to OC the hell out of the proc.
3) As far as OCing is concerned...how about that RAM and motherboard? Seem like a good fit?
4) I have a S1283 CPU Cooler and that thing as big as a b*st*rd....anyone tried it out in the Centurion 5? I'd like to know if it fits okay.
5) Perhaps getting the EVGA 8800GS Superclocked over the 8800GT? That would save another $45.00. I wonder how the 8800GS performs with the Unreal 3 engine currently.
5) Any other comments? Changes? Flames?
Message edited by stabgotham on 05-12-2008 at 12:40:17 AM
I read in a number of reviews that the Corsair VX450W is actually a 570 watt PSU and is capable of running SLI (obviously lower end 8800 cards such as the GS). I'm thinking, since he won't be going SLI, that the Corsair VX450W may be the way to go. It's a tad cheaper, its high quality, and it should have enough power to run this. Just something I was thinking about as I did some more research.
I read some more reviews of the EVGA 8800GS Superclocked and apparently it slaps the 9600GT in the mouth and then stands there and looks at it. If thats the case, then I'm inclined to save him an extra $50.00 and go with that.
I'm so pumped up for this potential machine that I'm thinking of buying two. One for him and one for me!
Message edited by stabgotham on 05-11-2008 at 07:28:28 AM
Well...yes and no. I'm here to listen to any comments from others. You have made a couple and believe me, they are under consideration. I'd love to hear more before I recommend a build to him. I appreciate your responses very much.
I have a e2180 and she has been good to me. I replaced her with a e7200 now and it is quite a difference. e2180 was runnin 3.0 and my e7200 is runnin 4.0. I'd save some on the PSU and try to get the e7200 instead. It is 45nm tech and OCs better and runs cooler.
667 ram is good for e2180 and 800 is perfect for the e7200 but 1066 will run you a 500FSB on a good mobo. The extra bandwidth would really shine.
I still got the e2180 if your interested in buying it. At a discount of course! Say $50.00
I would stick with the 8800GT for the 22" monitor (1680x1050?)
If it was me I'd spend the extra money and get an E7200, E8200, or E8400 but thats just me and i suppose it's not really needed
You could probably get by (just a guess) with the 450W Corsair PSU, but I would stick with the 550 especially since its not that much more. Have you used a wattage calculator to see what it says?
Dunno abt the cooler u chose but check out the Coolermaster Hyper 212. ITs fairly cheap and very good.
THanks for the concern. The cooler is rated as the best by Frostytech and I also own one personally. The quality, cooling and noise are top notch! That's why I'm going with it on this build as well.
I would stick with the 8800GT for the 22" monitor (1680x1050?)
If it was me I'd spend the extra money and get an E7200, E8200, or E8400 but thats just me and i suppose it's not really needed
You could probably get by (just a guess) with the 450W Corsair PSU, but I would stick with the 550 especially since its not that much more. Have you used a wattage calculator to see what it says?
I was originally incorrect. He actually has a 19" monitor. He did confirm that currently he only plays America's Army (which onboard graphics can power - - lol!), but he does want to be prepared for AA 3.0. Many of the reviews of the 8800GS Superclocked from EVGA are coming back stellar. The goal is to build a very powerful sub $700 system. I think the 8800GT, unfortunately doesn't fit the need. It's a little too beefy for his needs and the price just too steep.
I had concidered going with the E7200, but the E2180 is incredibly cheap and one of the best OCing processors out currently. I know that the L2 cache and higher overclock potential of the E7200 is appealing, but it also comes with an additional $70.00 premium. This guy doesn't encode/decode movies, he just plays games, reads e-mail and surfs the web. I believe the E2180 will be more than capable of handling all of his tasks and provides a fast dual-core option.
I probably will stick with the VX550W, just to be on the safe side. He may replace the videocard and/or processor down the road, so the additional room would be helpful (hopefully).
Message edited by stabgotham on 05-11-2008 at 08:04:00 PM
Though you don't need more than 450W for than setup. Newer GPUs generally consume LESS power than the previous gen GPUs so no worries regarding power for future GPUs.
I updated my first post with what I believe will be the final parts and prices. I think he is going to be very happy with this machine once I'm done building it and OCing that processor.
14591 3DMark06 6210/6104/4507 Vista 64bit
andrewying@hotmail.com