Planned System Build for WAR and Other Coming Games.

Hitman84

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This is the Plan for my first new System in over 3 years. Primary concern is for WAR, but being a heavy gamer any other games that come out along the way. Planning on pulling the trigger in about a month, hopefully GPU prices will plummet and I can get a 9800GTX for close to the same price as the GTS G92's.

NZXT Zero Black/Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

XFX GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB Factory OCed Alpha Dog Edition - Video Card

CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W - Power Supply (Purchasing this Bundled with the E8400 drops the Price by $20, making it $20 More then the 520HX(Before Rebate). If Combo deal goes away before I pull the trigger will probably switch to the 520.)

The Mobo has been my hardest decision to make.
Right now the Rampage Formula is in my cart but I'd prefer to go with the Maximus Formula, problem is Newegg is out of stock.

Vista Home Premium 64-Bit

I've already obliterated my planned budget so...it basically comes down to how much I can save up by the time Uncle Sam's "stimulus Check" Arrives.

I'd planned on sticking with the DVD Rom and Burner in my system but the fact they are not SATA is making me rethink that.

Same can be said for my Seagate HDDs. One and the larger is a SATA/300, the smaller, OS Drive is regular sata, contemplating changing that.

I'm sittin pretty at almost $1300 with shipping...hope the new GPUs can drop that price or keep it the same for a higher gen GPU
 

groo

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Feb 3, 2008
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get a quad. dual cores are for most of todays games, not tomarrows.

why not not IDE optical drives. you mobo will have the socket for 'em. what else are you going to use it for?

you can add HDDs later on if you want. reuse at least one of them just to transfere files. don't worry about the SATA1.5/3.0 thing. the mechanical limitation of the HDD keep it from using all the 1.5 anyway.

I'd skip the mega super dog edition. OC it yourself. maybe get a brand that doesn't bin thier cards as much as XFX, that way you have a chance that a cheapy will OC well. XFX has 5 differnt OC versions so its less likely that they sell it stock if it could go 150 mhz OC.

my understanding is that the GTX and GTS are virtualy identical.

does the "PGeforce" mean it wont show "R" rated graphics?

if your screen isn't high resolution, I'd skip paying extra for an SLI/Crossfire board.
 

Hitman84

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Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

MMO due out near the end of the year.
 

OS43

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Don't get a non-asus p35 for the e8400, unless you have a spare socket 775 chip laying around. The vast majority of p35 motherboards will not work at all with a 45nm chip, unless you flash the bios first.

X38 and X48 boards will work fine.

If you do in fact get a quad, it will solve the p35 motherboard problem. The 45nm dual cores (like the e8400) are far more OCable than say, the Q6600, and the 9-series quads cost a ton.

Also, it is not likely that games will use more than 2 CPU cores within the next couple years.

The other option is waiting a week or two and getting a midrange p45 mobo for $120 - $150. If you really want a super high end board, the Maximus II Formula will be out soon, it's the ROG p45 board.

Also in a few weeks, you will be able to get an HD 4850 for the price of an 8800gts g92. I strongly suggest waiting till they are released and benchmarked.
 

Hitman84

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well I'm running a p4 775 so thats not necessarily a problem.

and won't be finalizing and making a purchase till the first or second week of july. waiting on stimulus crap from government.

On a side note changed my planned case to the Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evo
 

Hitman84

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Guess in the end I chose an interesting time to finally upgrade my PC.
With P45's starting to hit(that maximus II formula if nothing else is gorgeous board) and the new GPU's hitting this month.
if nothing else should drop prices on exisiting hardware.