New System for Spore & Sims 3

[radioflyers]

Guys,
Here is what I put together, please let me know what you think or any advice. Also running Vista Home Premium 64-bit. Thanks.

$1325.00
(before all applicable rebates)



CASE: NEW!!! CoolerMaster Cosmos Silent Gaming Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply (Original Color)
CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8500 CPU @ 3.16GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit
MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650/9770 Support) Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, & 7.1Audio
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
VIDEO CARD 2: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
VIDEO CARD 3: NONE
LCD Monitor: NONE
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Data Hard Drive: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

 

[Nik_I]

looks like a good build, but for the games you plan on playing, this system is extreme overkill.

 

[WR2]

The power supply isnt up to the recommeded wattage for a CF 4850 system.
For example Sapphire recommends 550Watts for a 2x 4850 CF system. (look under system requirements)
http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=244

Your case choice seems to be more expensive that it needs to be.
Look for a X38 or X48 motherboard instead of the P45 and choose a less expensive case.

 

[bc4]

go with 2 gb memory chips, start with 2x2gb and then upgrade if needed

start with one 4850/4870 then add another if needed,

420 watt power supply seems really low to power to new cards.

 

[Nik_I]

oops, i missed the power supply. yeah, for that build, at least 550W is needed. but realistically, drop the second video card, get maybe a P43 board, E7200 processor, and 2GB PC6400 ram. also, stick to brand names for ram. spore is able to run on intel X3100 integrated graphics, so that shows how little power is needed to play this game. even a 4650 would probably be enough.

 

[radioflyers]

Thanks guys. I forgot to add that I upgraded to power supply to 650w.
I also want to ensure that the computer has some life on it and want to be able to use it for the next couple of years of gaming (most likely on similar types of games).
Thanks again for all the input and suggestions.

 

[Nik_I]

Thanks guys. I forgot to add that I upgraded to power supply to 650w.
I also want to ensure that the computer has some life on it and want to be able to use it for the next couple of years of gaming (most likely on similar types of games).
Thanks again for all the input and suggestions.

even for similar types of games you don't need much power. both of those games could be played on an old pentium 4 system with a geforce 6 or 7-series video card. unless you plan on getting into shooter games, you won't need that kind of power. i'm not even sure if spore is gonna support crossfire.

 

[WR2]

What size/resolution monitor do you use? A single HD 4850 is certainly enough for the games you mentioned now. You could always add a 2nd card later.
Same for the 2nd DVD burner.

 

[radioflyers]

I have not bought the monitor yet for the system. I was first trying to find a decent machine then looking into the monitor. Most likely will be going with something along a 20" screen, but not sure what the resolution is yet, something in the $200-$250 range most likely.
I appreciate your guys help on this.

 

[WR2]

20" wide screen would be 1680x1050 resolution and a single HD 4850 would be plenty of power for the games you listed, and many other games as well.
22" 1680x1050 monitors are very close in price. I'd suggest getting one HD 4850 now and use the money you save to get a nice 22" LCD widescreen monitor.

 

[jerreece]

Looks like a smoking setup. Should play anything you want to play pretty darn well. Be it Spore, Crysis, Sims 2, Sims 3, Age of Conan, whatever.

If money isn't a big deal, I'd build it just like you've got it (with that 650W Power Supply of course). As someone else noted, stick with Corsair or a solid brand of memory. Cheap memory is just that, cheap. Higher failure rates, and lesser performance.

I'm not familiar with what EA is suggesting for specs on the Sims 3 game (ie system requirements) but I wouldn't sell yourself to short. I've played Sims 2 (on an older machine) and it is more of a resource hog than folks think. Course, I always played at the highest settings my PC could handle.

Like I said though, if the money isn't a big deal for you, your build is a pretty sweet system. But two of the 4850's is more than you "need" for Spore and Sims 3 more than likely.

 

[radioflyers]

How about this downgraded one,

Gamer Infinity SLI GT (NO MONITOR)

# *BASE_PRICE: [+825]
# CAS: Hot !!! Apevia X-Telstar Junior 420W Case w/ Temp Display and Fan Control [-4] (S Type Blue Color with Side-Panel 250mm UV LED Fan)
# CASUPGRADE: NONE
# CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (3 x Fans [+6])
# CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
# CD2: NONE [-18]
# CABLE: None
# FLASHMEDIA: None
# FA_HDD: None
# FREEBIE_CU: FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase ($19.99 Value)
# FAN: Raidmax Maxcool Intel CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent at 20dBA & Overclock Proof) [-32]
# FLOPPY: NONE
# FREEBIE_OS: FREE! (Microsoft® Flight Simulator X Deluxe) Game
# HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
# HDD2: NONE
# IEEE_CARD: NONE
# KEYBOARD: NONE [-5]
# MOUSE: NONE [-5]
# MODEM: NONE
# MONITOR: NONE
# MONITOR2: NONE
# MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650/9770 Support) Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio [+25]
# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
# NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
# OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition [+19])
# PRINTER: None
# PRINTER_CABLE: None
# PRO_WIRING: None
# PS_VGA: None
# POWERSUPPLY: 680 Watts Power Supplies [+21] (Hush Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)
# RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
# SOFT: Free 60 Days Microsoft® Office® 2007 (Words, Excel, Access, Power Point, Outlook + More) - Windows Vista™ Required
# SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
# SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
# SPEAKERS: NONE [-5]
# TEMP: NONE (AS SHOWN)
# TVRC: None
# UPS: None
# USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
# USBHD: NONE
# VIDEOCAMERA: NONE
# VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card [+121] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
# VIDEO2: NONE [-51]
# VIDEO3: NONE
# WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card
# _PRICE: (+900)
# _view_: detail

 

[Nik_I]

the only thing i would add to that would be 4GB of ram instead of 2. it will make vista run so much smoother, and i'm especially gonna recommend this because you chose vista x64. other than that, it looks like a good build. definitely more power than you need, but hey, there's no such thing as a computer that's too fast

 

[JonathanDeane]

I like Spore Creature Creator but I wonder how the game itself will run ? but yeah Creature Creator I got on my kids computer for them to play with and it runs perfectly fine on a Athlon 64 3500+ with 2GB of RAM and a Radion X1600 Pro 512MB.