new gaming rig 2500$

[gramzon]

well im making a new comp to replace my 4 year old AGP system and this is what ive come up with

Thermaltake W0116R, power supply Toughpower 750W

Thermaltake VE2000BWS big tower Armor LCS

INTEL Core 2 Duo E8500 BOX, (2×3.16GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB), Socket 775, Wolfdale, 45nm

DDR2 4GB (2x2GB kit) PC8000 (1000MHz) OCZ, Platinum XTC, Dual Channel kit

HDD Seagate ST3320620AS, 320 GB 16MB, S-ATA300, NCQ3, 7200

MB Gigabyte X48-DS5, s775, iX48, DDR II, SATA II, FW, GLAN

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse USB (refresh) /910-000094

Logitech G15 Gaming keyboard USB / 920-000367

Logitech Z-4, retail, 2.1 set 40W RMS,black / 970175-0914

Monitor LG LCD L207WH, 1680 x 1050 widescreen, 5000:1, 2ms, DVI

NETGEAR Gigabit PCI 32bit Ethernet Adapter /GA311GE

DVD+RW/-RW/RAM LG GSA-H55L, Dual Layer, Lightscribe, 20x, black, retail

The graphics card will either be HD4850 or HD4870 i have yet to see the prices and charts.
Any advice/comment?

 

[gramzon]

for the purpose of this post lets say that the card will be

Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512GB GDDR3 PCIE

 

[WR2]

What do you plan to do with the other $600? (or $500 with the 4870)

It's a pretty good looking list. Do you have a specific place in mind where you'll do your shopping?

 

[gramzon]

well where i'm from this does cost 2500$
anyway is there anything here that i can switch for something with roughly same preformance but lower price? and is this dvd player any good i just picked a random one.
also if any1 has experience with the thermaltake LCS

 

[WR2]

The LG DVD burner is a fine choice.
The X48-DS5 motherboard has dual 1GB ethernet ports (you can combine them into a single 2GB port) which should make the PCI network card redundant.
VE2000BWS Armor LCS review http://techgage.com/article/thermaltake_armor_lcs_ve2000bws/1

It's hard to make recommendations not knowing what's available to you and what the comparative prices are like. That's pretty much why I asked if you had a website in mind that you were using to shop and prices parts.

 

[Preclude]

IMO G5 is a complete waste of money. Get a G9. The G9 is one of the best mice you can get for gaming, and if you're going to get a Logitech G is better be a 9.

As far as your Hard Drive goes much more goes into that decision that most people take the time to analyze. I was ask op what do you plan to do with your computer? If you plan to game (which i'm pretty sure you do) it would be a very good idea to mabye get 2 of that drive and put it in Raid 0, or perhaps get that for your OS and programs and something else for storage like a WD 640 Dual platter. In the case that you my be doing somthing very hard drive intensive like playing mmos i might even suggest a raptor.

 

[mehrdad99]

Get a quad core 2.66 GHz than your duo... it will beat it by a long shot...

 

[Preclude]

Get a quad core 2.66 GHz than your duo... it will beat it by a long shot...

It really depends on what he is doing. Games right now really prefer the dual core with the higher clock speed over the Quad core because they can only use 2 cores. If he wants to Multitask like a crazy man then he may want a quad core but for right now an overclocked Quad core and an overclocked dual core at the same speeds are going to perform very close to each other.

 

[mehrdad99]

It really depends on what he is doing. Games right now really prefer the dual core with the higher clock speed over the Quad core because they can only use 2 cores. If he wants to Multitask like a crazy man then he may want a quad core but for right now an overclocked Quad core and an overclocked dual core at the same speeds are going to perform very close to each other.

Yes but quad core is more future proof and its better...

 

[huron]

Explain how the 2.66 quad will beat the E8500 by a long shot.

From everything I have seen, the E8400/E8500 are great for present and near future - especially in games.

If he were doing a lot of video editing/encoding, the quad could be a better choice.

In my opinion, the dual core that you have is great, and can be overclocked like a beast.

Everything you have looks great.

 

[Preclude]

Explain how the 2.66 quad will beat the E8500 by a long shot.

From everything I have seen, the E8400/E8500 are great for present and near future - especially in games.

If he were doing a lot of video editing/encoding, the quad could be a better choice.

In my opinion, the dual core that you have is great, and can be overclocked like a beast.

Everything you have looks great.

Thumbs up for being completely correct. Most gamers won't use their quad core to it's fullest potential. Mehrdad99 saying that "It's better" without any sort of logic to prove that is just silly. The Dual core will be nice. If you don't already have a quad core then just wait for Nehalem to come out.

 

[Guest]

how does that cost 2500... I don't see that costing more than 1500

EDIT: didn't see the monitor... still shouldn't even be close to 2500

 

[gramzon]

Thermaltake W0116R, power supply Toughpower 750W - 199,78$

Thermaltake VE2000BWS big tower Armor LCS - 404,09$

INTEL Core 2 Duo E8500 BOX, (2×3.16GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB), Socket 775, Wolfdale, 45nm - 399,41$

DDR2 4GB (2x2GB kit) PC8000 (1000MHz) OCZ, Platinum XTC, Dual Channel kit - 161,76$

HDD Seagate ST3320620AS, 320 GB 16MB, S-ATA300, NCQ3, 7200 - 91,78$

MB Gigabyte X48-DS5, s775, iX48, DDR II, SATA II, FW, GLAN - 348,70$

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse USB (refresh) /910-000094 - 117,02$

Logitech G15 Gaming keyboard USB / 920-000367 - 140,10$

Logitech Z-4, retail, 2.1 set 40W RMS,black / 970175-0914 - 148,24$

Monitor LG LCD L207WH, 1680 x 1050 widescreen, 5000:1, 2ms, DVI - 438,49$

DVD+RW/-RW/RAM LG GSA-H55L, Dual Layer, Lightscribe, 20x, black, retail - 44,62$

$199,78
$404,09
$399,41
$161,76
$91,78
$348,70
$117,02
$140,10
$148,24
$438,49
$44,62
--------------
$2.493,98

without the gfx...
yea i know i live in a third world country....
anyway i really dont want the g9 as i find it annoyingly small. as for the hd how safe is it to put them in raid?

 

[effel]

There really isn't much of a point in getting the e8500 over the e8400. Paying the extra premium for a .5 multiplier increase, does that seem logical? If you're prepared to pay that much for a case, have you seen the offerings from Lian Li? They make extremely high quality cases; not saying that Thermaltake doesn't, just wondering if you considered other high quality options.

Have you looked at the new P45 based motherboards, like the P5Q from Asus? They are much cheaper than the X48s and for all practical purposes, what advantages is the X48 going to have for you over the P45?

The last gripe I have is the 750W powersupply. There is no way your system with a high overclock and a 4850/70 are going to use that much. A high efficiency 550w or 610w will be great. Look at PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Antec or Corsair.

Do a bit more research on the things I pointed out, and tell us what you've come up with.

 

[gramzon]

[FR] Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 3GHz 1333MHz 6MB LGA775 CPU, Retail - $182.47
Thermaltake Toughpower W0116RU 750W Modularized w/14cm Fan Power Supply (Black) - $167.00
Thermaltake Armor+ VH600LBWS No PS w/ Window & Liquid Cooling System Full Tower Case (Black) - $323.55
2x Seagate ST3320620AS 320GB SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive - $117.86
Asus P5Q Deluxe Core 2 Extreme/ Intel P45/ FSB 1600/ DDR2-1200/ CrossFireX/ A&2GbE/ ATX Motherboard - $195.28
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse - $48.83
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - $81.15
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro 7.1 24-bit PCI Sound Card, Retail - $130.64
Logitech Z-2300 200W Stereo Speaker - $103.37
Samsung 2053BW 20 inch WideScreen 1000:1 2ms DVI LCD Monitor (Black) - $269.00
Plextor PX-800A 18X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Internal Drive (Black), Bulk - $59.94
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4850 512MB 2DVI/TV-out PCI-Express Video Card, Lite Retail - $197.30
DDR2 4GB (2x2GB kit) PC8000 (1000MHz) OCZ, Platinum XTC, Dual Channel kit - $161,76

Estimated Total: $2,038.15
(before Tax & Shipping)

i found this at www.ewiz.com anyone has any experience with this store? and how does this configuration do against the previous one?

 

[gramzon]

lol forget about it the shipping alone would cost 2000$ ??!

 

[gramzon]

OCZ power supply GameXStream 600W, SLI-ready $161,29
Thermaltake VE2000BWS big tower Armor LCS $404,09
INTEL Core 2 Duo E8400 BOX, (2×3.0GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB), Socket 775, Wolfdale $309,64
DDR2 4GB (2x2GB kit) PC8000 (1000MHz) OCZ, Platinum XTC, Dual Channel kit $161,76
HDD Seagate ST3250620AS/ST3250410AS, 250 GB 16MB, S-ATA300, NCQ3, 7200 $77,04
HDD Seagate ST3250620AS/ST3250410AS, 250 GB 16MB, S-ATA300, NCQ3, 7200 $77,04
MB Gigabyte X48-DS5, s775, iX48, DDR II, SATA II, FW, GLAN $348,70
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse USB (refresh) /910-000094 $117,02
Logitech G15 Gaming keyboard USB / 920-000367 $140,10
Logitech Z-4, retail, 2.1 set 40W RMS,black / 970175-0914 $148,24
Monitor LG LCD L207WH, 1680 x 1050 widescreen, 5000:1, 2ms, DVI $438,49
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3, PCIE, TVout, DVI $300,86
DVD+RW/-RW/RAM LG GSA-H55L, Dual Layer, Lightscribe, 20x, black, retail $44,62

$2.728,88

does sli ready on the psu mean it wont work with crossfire?

 

[gramzon]

Creative Labs X-Fi Extreme Gamer
ANTEC NINE HUNDRED-EU, MIDI
ANTEC TP-TRIO 650W (2xPCI-E, EPS12V for 1 or 2 CPU)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 , 3GHz, socket 775, 6Mb cache, FSB 1333, box, 45nm
DDR2 4Gb (2x2Gb) PC8500 Corsair, 1066MHz, TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF, 5-5-5-15, Dominator E.P.P. Technology, ventilators
HDD WD 36.7 GB, WD360ADFD, SERIAL ATA, 16MB cache, 10000rpm RAPTOR
HDD Seagate 320GB, Serial ATA II, 7200 rpm, Barracuda 7200.11, ST3320613AS, 16MB cache, NCQ
Logitech Z-4, 2 satelites (8.5W RMS) + Subwoofer (23W RMS)
ASUS P5Q PRO, 775, Intel P45, ICH10R, BUS 1600 MHz, DDR2
Logitech G15, USB
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse USB
LG LCD L207WT, 1680 x 1050 widescreen, 5000:1, 2ms, DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3, PCIE, TVout, DVI
DVD+RW/-RW/RAM LG GSA-H55L, Dual Layer, Lightscribe, 20x, black, retail

this is it this is what i am getting. anyway what do i need to put the two disks in raid?

 

[gramzon]

can someone explain to me what the whole 32 bit 64 bit thing is? if i get 64 bit windows can i still play games and do everything? and how do i know if i can install 64 bit windows on my comp?

 

[WR2]

does sli ready on the psu mean it wont work with crossfire? No - it will work fine with Crossfire. And either the Antec or OCZ PSU is sized nicely for 2x CF 4850.
i get 64 bit windows can i still play games and do everything Yes - your hardware won't care if its 32 or 64bit version. 32bit software has a max Memory Address Space of 4GB. And because some of the hardware needs to address some part of that 4GB Memory Address Space the actual amount of RAM address space available for computing tasks will be around 3.2~3.5GB even if you physically have 4GB of RAM installed. 64bit software has a far larger Memory Address Space even if Vista only supports a max of 128MB (16MB for Vista Home Premium). Since nearly all software you will run are still 32bit programs there is a very slight performance hit to run 32bit software on a 64bit operating system. At 4GM of RAM it doesnt make any difference what you choose. If you think possibly you'll add more RAM in the future you want 64bit Vista.
what do i need to put the two disks in raid?There are two ways. You can use your motherboard hardware RAID options to set it up. That way Windows "sees" just one hard disk. The 2nd way is to use Windows Vista to set up the RAID array. With the two HDDs you've selected I don't recommend you use a RAID setup.

It's a good looking list. About the only thing missing (and its optional) is a decent aftermarket CPU cooler - as in heat sink & FAN. Here are some good options http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[gramzon]

someone said to get a raptor and a seagate and put them in raid 0 for preformance?

 

[shadowthor]

If you plan to do raid, I would get two of the same drives, just incase you run into any issues.

 

[WR2]

Maybe they said "get a Raptor OR 2 seagate and put them in raid 0 for performance" ? For RAID 0 I think you want identical disks.

Read this RAID Beginners Guide @ PCStats: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=830&page=1
The performance boost for 2HDD is RAID 0 isnt that much - especially compared to a fast HDD like the WD Caviar SE16 640GB WD6400AAKS.
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3269&p=2

 

[WR2]

Here is a better review from TechReport that shows more hard disks in benchmark testing
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14380/3