Building a new gaming rig

[aluc13]

As the thread title indicates I am building a new gaming rig. Mostly because I want to play Crysis, eq2 (With better resolution and graphics and no more 5 mins+ loading when zoning), The Witcher, Age of Conan, Crysis Warhead, Far Cry 2, STALKER, Mass Effect and other pc graphic games.

This is what I have so far mind you any of these can be replaced if I find that my rig is lacking. So everyone's opinion will be thought about

CPU-q6600 or E8400 (Not sure whether or not to go dual core or quad)
Mobo- (undecided, want one that allows SLI)
Ram- G.skill 4gb or OCZ SLI ram 2gb
vid card- 8800gts G92
OS-windows xp or windows vista (not sure about this one I'm leaning more towards xp just cause vista has so many problems still)
HDD-160GB western digital caviar (don't need a whole lot of space and I already have this hard drive)

Any suggestions? Oh and money is sort of an issue but if I see something worthwhile I'll spend more for it

 

[Why_Me]

What's your price range, and do you plan on overclocking?

 

[aluc13]

My price range is anywhere between $1k-2k. And I don't know how to overclock but I would if I could. If that helps any

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $84.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 $129.99 ($119.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141005 $259.99 ($239.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
XFX MB-N780-ISH9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 $189.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233001 $24.99 ($14.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $6.99
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325 $209.99
MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269 $98.99 ($68.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262 $59.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263 $23.99
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&Tpk=mx-2 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116204 $94.99
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

TOTAL
$1,191.88
$1,121.88 w/mail in rebates

Vista = DX10 and plenty of support. The bugs are gone, and it works fine.

The case has great airflow (supports 7x120mm fans) and plenty of room for a SLI set up. That Xigmatek cpu heatsink will work just fine for what you want. The HD was cheap, and it has 16mb cache. The vid card comes factory overclocked, and it's a good price. Also that PSU will push a SLI rig not to mention Corsair makes an excellent psu. That cpu will do an easy overclock to 3.6GHz just by moving up the FSB (8x400) without having to up the voltage.

Anyways that's what I came up with.

 

[jpdykes]

Good list,

- Try for a faster HDD Seagate 7200.11, maybe a Raptor as a boot disk if you are pushing up the budget.

- Definately wait for the new GPU's due out shortly. They will be an improvement over the current cards. Should also push prices down.

- Scrap SLI unless you are going to do it now. By the time you get round to it there will be a card that out performs 2x older cards for a reasonable price. Go with an intel chipset. X48 or P45? (not heard very much about P45 yet)

- Never seen anyone want a retention bracket.

- Unless you are solely gaming go for a quad core processor. You will see benefits generally, esspecially if you are prepared to overclock it.

Hope that helps
Jeremy

 

[aluc13]

Thanks for the advice guys. I do plan to overclock but I'm a total noob when it comes to doing that sort of thing. So I'd need help to overclock. Oh and the cpu and vid card were pretty much what I was looking at. The same for the RAM but I had 2 gigs instead of 4 only because I wasn't sure if I should get vista 64 or not.

 

[Why_Me]

Good list,

- Try for a faster HDD Seagate 7200.11, maybe a Raptor as a boot disk if you are pushing up the budget.

- Definately wait for the new GPU's due out shortly. They will be an improvement over the current cards. Should also push prices down.

- Scrap SLI unless you are going to do it now. By the time you get round to it there will be a card that out performs 2x older cards for a reasonable price. Go with an intel chipset. X48 or P45? (not heard very much about P45 yet)

- Never seen anyone want a retention bracket.

- Unless you are solely gaming go for a quad core processor. You will see benefits generally, esspecially if you are prepared to overclock it.

Hope that helps
Jeremy

I agree with the part about SLI. SLI doesn't gain that much in alot of games, it's spendy, the Nvdea boards are buggy at best, not to mention extra heat issues, etc... I'm not a fan of SLI.

On the other hand, if you have ever used a Xigmatek you would know that the "push pin system" on them sucks. The retention bracket is worth every penny. They are top of the line heatsinks, but again the push pin set up blows chunks. Also waiting for the new cards to come out when prices might drop on the 8800TGS maybe $20 at first is fine unless someone wants to build their rig now and start using it... instead of waiting for something that might be.

The quads vs the Wolfdale 45nm is a always a good debate. The 45nm uses less juice, produces less heat, and their cheap (most bang for your buck), and they overclock like no other cpu for the price (E7200 bargain of the year). It's not hard to say I'm a fan of the new 45nm dual cores.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130181 $99.99
MSI P45 Neo-F LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

There's a new P45 board and the price on it is very reasonable.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the advice guys. I do plan to overclock but I'm a total noob when it comes to doing that sort of thing. So I'd need help to overclock. Oh and the cpu and vid card were pretty much what I was looking at. The same for the RAM but I had 2 gigs instead of 4 only because I wasn't sure if I should get vista 64 or not.

Vista 32 SP1 (Service Pack 1) see's all 4 gigs of RAM, but it only uses 3.8 gigs. That was one of the major fixes with Vista 32 for SP1. So a guy only loses out on .2 gigs which is nothing when your using dual channel RAM. Before SP1 came out, the 4 gigs would have been a waste, but not now.

btw, doing a simple overclock with the E8400 to 3.6 is a breeze. It's the simplest OC you will ever do.

4 gigs > 2 gigs

 

[aluc13]

Alright I'll go with the 4 gigs. So you recommend the vista 32 sp1? Or the 64? Just was wondering about that. Oh and I like the dual core more than the quad. I've read the debates on the e8400 vs q6600 or any quad and it's quite interesting debate. I think I want to choose the e8400 but like I keep hearing that quads are more future proof even though dual cores haven't really been optimized for gaming.

As to SLI is it really not that much of a performance increase? If it's not then maybe I'll just go with one vid card but a good one. Again this system has to run crysis at very good resolution and fps. To me 30fps isn't bad at all even though most would want more. I really like the 8800gts you picked out was the exact same card I was thinking about. It's $210 right now and it's overclocked better than some of the other cards out there.

 

[Why_Me]

Alright I'll go with the 4 gigs. So you recommend the vista 32 sp1? Or the 64? Just was wondering about that. Oh and I like the dual core more than the quad. I've read the debates on the e8400 vs q6600 or any quad and it's quite interesting debate. I think I want to choose the e8400 but like I keep hearing that quads are more future proof even though dual cores haven't really been optimized for gaming.

As to SLI is it really not that much of a performance increase? If it's not then maybe I'll just go with one vid card but a good one. Again this system has to run crysis at very good resolution and fps. To me 30fps isn't bad at all even though most would want more. I really like the 8800gts you picked out was the exact same card I was thinking about. It's $210 right now and it's overclocked better than some of the other cards out there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $84.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103024 $7.99
COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-12AK-GP 120mm Case Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 $109.99 ($99.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130181 $99.99
MSI P45 Neo-F LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037 $189.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233001 $24.99 ($14.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $6.99
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325 $209.99
MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269 $98.99 ($68.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262 $59.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263 $23.99
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&Tpk=mx-2 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202 $94.99
Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

TOTAL
$1,019.87
$969.88 w/mail in rebates

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116204 $94.99
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

Ok that's would I would do if I were you. And here is the reasons why.

SLI in my opinion is a total waste of money atm. The boards are buggy, (nightmare is more like it), also more heat, more issues not to mention more money and the gain is minimal at best.

32 bit and 64 bit...the differences. 32 bit Vista now see's all 4 gigs of memory (uses 3.8), since SP1 download came out. 32 bit is nice for the fact finding drivers for it is not a problem unlike 64 bit wich doesn't have the same support. On the pro side of 64 bit you can add massive amount of memory for a build. Personally I don't do video editing, so 4 gigs is more than enough for me. It all depends on what you use your PC for. If it's mainly gaming, surfing the net, etc...than 4 gigs is more than enough.

That mobo is the P45 that just came out on the market very recently. It's a step up from the P35 (best chipset ever). The price on those P45 boards are going to go up, not down, they are an overclockers dream, and and in other few weeks you are going to see alot of reviews on those P45 boards now that they are finally out on the market.

On the PSU I might have went a bit overboard... 650 watts...LOL...but wtf, the price on those Corsairs finally dropped a few weeks ago, not to mention the $10 rebate. And hey, if you ever decide to load that case up with 6 HD's, dual opticals, and go with all 7x120mm fans...well your not going to lack for juice are ya ...lol.

I added that 120mm fan (giving you a total of 4x120mm case fans), so you can throw that on top to help with the airflow...not that you will really need it, but it will help drop the temps on that rig seeing how those vid cards heat up. Those Cooler Master fans aren't loud so that rig isn't going to sound like your sitting next to a jet engine.

 

[Why_Me]

*edit

 

[aluc13]

That looks like pretty nice setup. I don't use video editing at all. I will only be using it for gaming and surfing the net. The main reason for this new rig is to play Crysis What kind of resolution and fps and very high, high or medium? Btw thanks for your help why_me looks like a great setup and I'll trust your judgement on the SLI thing. On the motherboard that isn't the new motherboards that are supposed to be real cool is it? I don't remember if these are the ones from computex that got reviewed only recently if they are then good going and the mobo. Also, are bundles worth it? As in if I can find bundles of any of the parts you mentioned. I think I could find some. Anyway, going to look at the link for the motherboard.

 

[Why_Me]

That looks like pretty nice setup. I don't use video editing at all. I will only be using it for gaming and surfing the net. The main reason for this new rig is to play Crysis What kind of resolution and fps and very high, high or medium? Btw thanks for your help why_me looks like a great setup and I'll trust your judgement on the SLI thing. On the motherboard that isn't the new motherboards that are supposed to be real cool is it? I don't remember if these are the ones from computex that got reviewed only recently if they are then good going and the mobo. Also, are bundles worth it? As in if I can find bundles of any of the parts you mentioned. I think I could find some. Anyway, going to look at the link for the motherboard.

You rarley get what you want with those bundle deals.

Those are the new motherboards that you read about...the P45's. They are new to the market....like really new, and they are supposed to be big and bad for overclocking, etc... infact I'm getting one myself.

But...now that I have taken a closer look at those mobo's I really like two of those two Asus P45 boards ...one sales for $140, and the other one goes for $150. They look like they have a way better layout, cooling, etc... than that MSI board I posted up above.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280+107172615&name=Intel+P43%2fP45 <---take a look for yourself. You might see something that catches your eye, or you might stick with the MSI board.

 

[aluc13]

Yeah I read about the ASUS boards having a better layout. I'll check it out and see if it tickles my fancy lol.