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Building a new gaming computer. Need advice. Please.

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Building a new gaming computer. Need advice. Please.

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outziders   07-24-2008 at 03:34:20 AM

I have been waiting to build a PC for a few months. After months of reading Tom's System Builder Marathons and Graphics card reviews I have put together a system I plan to buy in the few weeks. There are however a few things I am against the wall about.

1) I choose the ATI 4850 because I like alot of the results of its benchmarks against the 9800gtx. However I also read a lot of reviews about the card being extremely hot. I was thinking about buying a after market cooler but a good one is about thirty dollars. I had my eye on the dual orb and I am still not sure if I should get it.

2) I have no experience over clocking and I am unsure if it is something I should pursue or just stay with the out of box performance.

3) RAID. Should I RAID 1 the two Western Digitals. I potentially choose RAID 0 because 1.5 Tera bytes is a lot to lose if one drive dies. I have seen charts about the higher probability of hard drive failure if you are combing the chance of either of two drives failing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

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outziders   07-24-2008 at 03:45:39 AM
- 0 +

I forgot to put the components:

  • GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
  • 2X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
  • SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
  • XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
  • NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
  • CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
  • 2X SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM
  • XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail
  • 2X mushkin 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model 991599 - Retail


The total cost of the components are 1290.87

Message quoted 1 times
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thepowerofdonuts   07-24-2008 at 03:58:01 AM
- 0 +

I would probably Raid 0 the drives. Just know you're taking a risk. Fortunately, I haven't ever had a drive fail. The Asus 4850 is cheaper after the mail in rebate, at $158. Samsung has a faster 22X sata burner with Lightscribe for $28, look for it. I'm assuming that ram is 5-5-5-15. If not, look for those timings. Other than that, everything looks good. Whether you choose to overclock or not, you'll be fine with these components.

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doomturkey   07-24-2008 at 04:15:38 AM
- 0 +

outziders wrote :

I forgot to put the components:

  • GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
  • 2X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
  • SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
  • XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
  • NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
  • CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
  • 2X SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM
  • XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail
  • 2X mushkin 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model 991599 - Retail


The total cost of the components are 1290.87


Looks good. Only thing I would change is the DDR2 1066, get rid of it for DDR2 800 (4-4-4, of course). Its cheaper, and basically performs the same as the 1066 in an intel system. You should be able to OC it to 1066mhz if you need to, anyways.

------------------------------ Q6600 @ 3.6ghz|ASUS P5Q pro|Powercolor HD4870|8gb OCZ reaper DDR2 800 @4-4-4-12 1:1|WD caviar 640gb + Samsung Spinpoint 500gb|Antec 900|PC P&C Silencer 610W|Xigmatek HDT S1283|X-fi platinum
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