Gaming PC -

[Belili]

I've tried to catch up on the new parts that came out in the past 4 years - I read a few of the guides here - and came up with a list.

I need a gaming PC for Warhammer (mmorpg) and similar games with similar graphics.

I know the sound sucks, I can't have a sub in my apartment and I don't mind just stereo as long as it doesn't lag.

I don't know how to do RAID, overclocking, or watercooling. But as to RAID - would that speed things up for gaming or is sled just as good?

Anyway - here's the build.

Foxconn X38A LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813186134

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130339

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-2GBNQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231150

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148262

Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824009094

Logitech Extreme 3.5mm Supra-aural PC Gaming Headset
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16826106931

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827151154

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102002

Logitech R-10 4 Watts 2.0 Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16836121127

Subtotal: $1,187.90

I own a case already - APEVIA X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144026

I added a 120w fan.

Any thoughts?
Is everything compatible?
Should I switch parts?

 

[stoner133]

A RAID-0 array will read the data needed to load the game a bit quicker then a single hard drive. But in game play itself its not going to make any difference at all.

 

[mihirkula]

1) Switch the mobo for either the Abit IP35 Pro or Asus P5K-E X38...i have had a bad experience with Foxconn and the mentioned mobos are more popular

2) Do NOT..repeat NOT get the 9800GTX.... its a VERY underwhelming card... wait a couple of weeks for the Radeon 4870..else get the 8800GTS which is almost as fast as 9800GTX

3) Since you mentioned gaming, get the E8400 CPU instead of the Q6600 since the former performs faster for games and almost all other apps atm

4) 2GB of DDR3 RAM isn't quite worth that $100 price.... you won't be very happy with it....get 4GB of Corsair/ Crucial Ballastix DDR2 for $80 instead

5) Get the Seagate 500GB 7200.11 hard drive instead... its faster than the 7200.10 and its cheaper ($85)

6) I see you're getting a 7.1 sound card with 2.0 speakers... you could avoid that cos that mobo supports excellent onboard 5.1 channel audio

7) That case has a 420W PSU...it isn't enough to power that build... you need a 550W PSU to be on the safer side.... especially if you Crossfire in the future... Corsair 550VX is an excellent PSU ($70).

 

[dirtmountain]

^ ^ ^ ^
Mihirkula nailed it

 

[Belili]

I have plenty of time - I'll wait for the Radeon 4870 then.

RAM - is there a big enough difference between speeds of DDR2? Like 800, 1000, etc. Thanks for the advice though - I'll switch to 4GB DDR2.

Hard drive switched

Sound card removed

Motherboard-CPU - that's a duo-core right? The CPU guide says Quad-cores perform better with graphics rendering. The only games I'll be playing (think WoW) have high-end graphics.

 

[Belili]

Hmm - rather than buying a new power supply, I'll just pick up a new case so I can do something with my old computer.

Maybe this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119142

550w power supply.

I can't find a guide that tells the difference between DDR2-800 and DDR2-1xxx. Am I blind or does one not exist or is the difference irrelevant? My money's on me being blind.

And I forgot to ask this - but are you sure that duo-core would be faster than the quad-core on graphic-intense games? The guide says it handles games just as well but graphics worse.

 

[kad]

Hmm - rather than buying a new power supply, I'll just pick up a new case so I can do something with my old computer.

Maybe this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119142

550w power supply.

I can't find a guide that tells the difference between DDR2-800 and DDR2-1xxx. Am I blind or does one not exist or is the difference irrelevant? My money's on me being blind.

And I forgot to ask this - but are you sure that duo-core would be faster than the quad-core on graphic-intense games? The guide says it handles games just as well but graphics worse.

1- You do not need raid
2- NOOOOOOOOOOOO DDR3
3- In real life you'll not notice the difference btween 800 and 1066,but if price difference is small why not get 1066
4- For gaming E8400 is better than Q6600
5- You need PSU 550W min. and if you'll SLI or Cross Fire you need 750W fot the existing GPU's. May be for future GPU's you'll need 1000W

 

[geofelt]

Combo motherboards are not a good deal. DDR3 is also not a goood deal today.
You can get a nice P35 or X38 mobo that has a mature bios for not very much from Asus or Gigabyte. They will have very good onboard sound. You can always add a sound card later.

Right now, DDR2 memory is king. It is MUCH less expensive than DDR3.
The C2D processors are not very sensitive to memory speeds.
Real world application tests(vs. synthetic benchmarks) show
no difference in performance between DDR2 and DDR3 memory. In fact,
there is less than 2% difference between the slowest and the fastest modules.
If you are trying for record overclocks, then all bets are off, and faster is better.
In my opinion, it is unwise to build a system around DDR3 today.
You are better served by starting with 4gb of DDR2-800 memory. Eliminating
just a few hard page faults is worth it.

Pick a 4gb kit in a 2x2gb configuration. It is usually cheaper than a 4x1gb kit, and you preserve the option to go to 8gb.

There is nothing wrong with a 9800GTX except.. There are supposed to be some high end launches for vga cards in the june/july time frame. If you buy now, get an EVGA unit to preserve your option to "step-up" within 90 days.

At the level of the Q6600,E8400 or Q9450, the vga card is much more important for gaming than the cpu.
At that level, overclocking is good for bragging, but it will not net you as much increase
in FPS as a better vga card will. Today, very few games can make use of more than two cores.
Flight simulator X is an exception. It is not a trivial matter to code multi threaded programs,
and game vendors will not sell too many games that require quads to run.
I don't see this changing in the next couple of years, and then nehalem will be upon us. Look at the cpu charts on this web site to compare how well various cpu's do in different games.

Net: E8400/E8500 for the increased clock speed.

For the higher end vga cards, you will need a PSU that can deliver a solid 26a on the 12v rails. More possibly for the newer cards or sli.
Look for corsair, seasonic, or PC P&C. I like the PC P&C silencer 610 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005 and the Antec three hundred case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

[Belili]

Okay so I switched to...

GIGABYTE GA-X38-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128066R

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115037

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231166

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148288

And probably one of zee new video cards in June/Jury.

Does that look better?

As to the case geo - that adds up to about $200 for the case/power supply alone. Is there a more inexpensive option that won't reduce performance/reliability/longevity? What exactly makes a case do what you say it should do (i.e., what do I look for)?

I see this, "+3.3@24A,+5V@30A,+12V@49A (Large Single Rail),-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@3.0A" But how do I make sense of that?

But in any event, doesn't that all just reduce noise? Does it really effect performance?

 

[mihirkula]

In reply to your query regarding the dual core being faster... games and apps are not quite optimised for quads yet. So go for the E8400...its the most popular gaming CPU out there.

Nice choice of mobo, RAM, HD, CPU.

Regarding the case/PSU.... the case has to be big enough with good fans....and the PSU needs to be high quality...which gives a lot of amps on the +12V rail...and is quite quiet. You can get a nice and simple Coolermaster Centurion case for $60 and the Corsair 550VX for $70....total of $130 and you've got enough firepower.

 

[geofelt]

The first requirement for a case is that it be able to hold all you want to put in it. Most mid and full atx cases will. If you get a fast vga card like the 9800GTX, it might be 10.5" long and have trouble fitting in some mid size atx cases. It is worth checking that carefully.

A case design should provide for good cooling airflow. At a minimum, a 120mm intake fan in front, and a 120mm exhaust fan in back. If you have more fans, they can be run slower to get good airflow, thus keeping things quiet. If you have few fans, you can get faster ones, but it will be noisy. Some good cooling cases will have two front intakes, and an added exhaust in the rear top. The Antec three hundred at $69.95 is in that category. Do check shipping costs, because cases are heavy. Shop around.

I also like intake air filters. I dislike front doors and "bling". I like a quiet case that has sound deadening on the panels. Your preferences may differ. In truth, almost any case will do, pick what appeals to you. A good case will not be obsolete and be useful for several generations of PC's.

Without knowing the vga card/s, you can't properly size the PSU. The PC P&C silencer 610 at $84.95 after rebate will handle the most power hungry single vga card, a or two modest cards in sli(which I don't recommend).

The Corsair 450VX at $59.99 after rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 would be good enough for all but the most power hungry single vga cards. The PSU is not the place to go with lesser quality. Scrimp on the case if you must.

The only case with included psu that I would trust is Antec. Lok at the Sonata III with a 500W psu for $99.95. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

 

[Belili]

Okay I've changed a few things based upon other advice.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129021

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131232

(2) EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130318

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W ATX12V Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817371001

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115037

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231122

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148288

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827151153

And a Student copy of Vista x64

I was thinking SLI over the new Nvidia cards so I can use a better monitor without fps issues.

Does this look good enough to buy for $1150?

 

[mihirkula]

^.. i thought you were waiting for the new cards

 

[Belili]

Yea but then I read SLI would help with higher settings on larger monitors. Is that not so?

 

[mihirkula]

Theres a good chance that one 4870 would beat 8800GT SLI.... and still cost you only $300

You ought to wait for the benchmarks from computex...they'd be out anytime this week for sure.

 

[Belili]

But I must have instant gratification!!!

*cries* Ooookay. I'll just play mafia for a week to keep myself busy. ^^

 

[mihirkula]

hahahahaha dnt worry your wait would be worth it....its just a matter of a couple of days max till the benchies at computex are out