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New gaming rig ~$1000 suggestions?

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wakingbadger   09-15-2008 at 06:07:04 AM

Opinions on a new gaming rig?

I've been a Mac guy mostly for a while, but I need to build a Windows system to use for gaming and general use. I've built PCs for Windows and UN*X systems, but that has been a few years, so I'm trying to come up to speed on all the latest gear...

Games:

TF2, C&C Generals, UT2004/UT3, Spore, Starcraft 2 (future-capable?), maybe a bit of WoW or Cysis as well...

Ideally, I would like to be able to run most of the above (acknowledging this is tougher with Crysis) at a good framerate/high settings at 1920x1200 for lan party and solo play. Starting with one videocard, but possible upgrades include 2nd 4870, Blu-ray drive, more HDs...

Antec 300 case
Corsair 750W PSU (says it is certified, but I don't see it on ATI's list)
Asus P5Q Pro (looks like this only supports Crossfire as two x8 slots - how bad is the perf hit?)
Intel Q6600
OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB

Still need to add a DVD Burner (suggestions?)...

Anything else I'm missing?
Thoughts on component changes?
Trying to stick to $1000 (already have monitor, Windows Vista, keyboard, mouse)

Thanks,
Waking Badger

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Physicz   09-15-2008 at 06:30:14 AM
- 0 +

i would probably change out a p45 chipset to an x48 seeing as the p45 will bottle neck 2 4870's in crysis at that resolution.

if its general use for processing get a nice core2 duo E8400,

or a low end core2 quad 8200.

just because of lower power and smaller farication process yeilding in less heat.

also you need a cpu cooler.
all i can recommend off the top of my head would be...

Xigmatek S1824 Rifle cooler (or is it 1284?)
Sunbeam Core-contact freezer
Zerotherm Nirvana 120 ultra.

those would do those cpu's justice in cooling.

for now thats all i can be of help.

hope it works it, and happy fragging :)
jesus im forgetting my parts.

Reply to Physicz
wakingbadger   09-15-2008 at 06:36:48 AM
- 0 +

I had thought the 6600 would future proof the system a tad as more apps/games will likely take advantage of the extra 2 cores in the future, which is why I went with it over the 8400/8500.

I didn't plan on doing any overclocking so I thought I would stick to the retail versions heatsink/fan. Not a good idea?

I did look at the x48 boards, but none were getting good reviews until you get up to ~$300 so I thought I would avoid them at this point as that would push the cost up a bit...

It's amazing how much things have changed since I last build P2/Celeron systems :)

Thanks for all the help. It's nice to get some feedback on these choices...


Message edited by wakingbadger on 09-15-2008 at 06:37:44 AM
Reply to wakingbadger
thogrom   09-15-2008 at 07:04:06 AM
- 0 +

p45 is fine

by the time you need more horse power

a new generation of better cards will be out...

it looks pretty good

for a dvd burner just get the cheapest combo drive on newegg... they all have worked for me

Reply to thogrom
megamanx00   09-15-2008 at 07:17:00 AM
- 0 +

Right now you want to play games on high in 1900x1200. Most games only take advantage of two cores and if you look at the benchmarks here you'll see alot of cases where an E8400 will wipe the floor with the 6600. It's going to be a while before the programming tools develop that really take advantage of 4 cores. Also the new wolfdale cores seem to overclock really well. You will loose a few fps if you want to crossfire your 4870 latter if you go with a P45 board rather than one that has two full bandwidth 16x PCI-E 2.0 slots. Still considering your budget that's not too bad. You should also consider that in the mean time your goint to only be using one slot so paying alot of extra money for another full bandwidth 16x slot will go unrewarded until you get that second 4870. If you can spend a little more though then go with a good x38 board instead of an x48 board primarily for budget concerns.

As for the burner, get a lite-on, and get the retail package. The retail package is only a little more and comes with useful things like cables and a copy of Nero. The power supply is fine, and may even hold up if you want to go 3 way crossfire with a 4870 and a 4870X2.


Message edited by megamanx00 on 09-15-2008 at 07:17:26 AM
------------------------------ Playing X-Men Origins: Wolverine Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @3.24 Brisbane | GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 | 4GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 | Plextor 760A| 2x 3850 512M CF| WD 1TB Black| Fortron Blue Storm II 500W | APEVIA X-Dreamer Black | Win XP Pro & Vista Buisness 32bit
 Reply to megamanx00
mazda6_stealth   09-15-2008 at 07:23:04 AM
- 0 +

Wow, looking at your list you have chosen almost 100% same setup as I am looking at right now! I'm going with Corsair memory with the heat sinks, and probably a 4850... Otherwise, 100% same parts. I've been told to get cpu cooler...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835207004
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151171

Don't know where you are getting your case and psu from, but buy.com has the 300 for $50 shipped and the psu for $92 shipped after rebates. Brings shipping down on new egg to only $25 for me :)


Reply to mazda6_stealth
mazda6_stealth   09-15-2008 at 01:54:43 PM
- 0 +

@ megaman
What board would you suggest then because I'm looking at almost the same setup - and one that wouldn't cost too much more. If figure by the time I go to upgrade in 2 yrs, nothing I have will be able to be used in a new gig, so why spend the extra now? The only possibility is that I would crossfire 4850's. So what board will still do me well and not break $200?

So do you think for the next year or so, an e8500 would better suit for games and computing? Because honestly, if that is the case, e8500 would be better. If in a year Quad proccessing was in full force, you'd probably be able to pick up a Q6600 (or even better) for $100 - if it was really needed.

One other question - anyone of thoughts on RAID'in raptors? How much and what does it benefit?

Reply to mazda6_stealth
zenmaster   09-15-2008 at 02:35:56 PM
- 0 +

You will not find a board that handles 4870s great in CF until you start getting much more expensive Mobos. The 4850s in certain setups can start to be throttled on the P45s.

Most likely by the time you need a 2nd card, you could sell what you have and buy and X2 or the next card that was released. The money saved on the mobo would help make up the cost difference.

Forget Raptors. They are not not really faster than current generation 7200RPM HDDs due to the advances in Data Density.

That is unless you are talking about Velocity Raptors, but those are very pricey.

------------------------------ If its good in theory but not in practice,
its not good theory.
 Reply to zenmaster
evongugg   09-15-2008 at 03:00:03 PM
- 0 +

For the burner:

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151173

------------------------------ Google is your friend and Bob's your uncle
 Reply to evongugg
wakingbadger   09-16-2008 at 04:48:33 AM
- 0 +

Thanks to everyone for the help.

I've already followed mazda6_stealth's suggestion and order the case and psu from Buy.com as it saved me quite a few bucks.

The samsung burner looks good too as I like the brand...

I'm going to stick with the P5Q Pro motherboard. I can always upgrade later and I think it will suit me for the price...

I'm leaning towards the E8500 based on all that has been said around game performance. I'd rather pick up a quad for the long term, but I don't know how long until it really can benefit me for gaming and the E8500 will kick in now.

I'm looking at this cooler:

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket

Is there any advantage to going with higher end ram at this point or is general DDR2 800 good enough? Just to note, I'm changing my tune on overclocking the CPU at least, so I'll like try to hit 4GHz if that affects that ram decision

Thanks again all...you've been great!

Reply to wakingbadger
mazda6_stealth   09-16-2008 at 05:50:54 AM
- 0 +

Do you know about the Vista memory limit? Vista (non 64bit) will only recognize 3.3ghz, so you lose a little. I'm wrestling with if I should really pay $100 for an OS to get the full 4gb. Right now I'm not going to :)

Reply to mazda6_stealth
wakingbadger   09-16-2008 at 05:57:09 AM
- 0 +

Looks like a good call on the RAM. I'll switch to the Corsair memory.

As far as Vista and the 32-bit limitations, yes, I know, but I'm not worried. I have Vista Ultimate which comes with both 32 and 64-bit versions so I could honestly dual boot if needed, but I'm going with 64 first and seeing how it goes... If I lose some ram in the process due to 32-bit it's okay as I know it's happening :)

Reply to wakingbadger
mazda6_stealth   09-16-2008 at 06:07:04 AM
- 0 +

As far as everything else goes, like I said before, this is what I'm probably going to be getting (90% same as you) unless my other deal comes through which would save me $300 off newegg. I should know tomorrow.
If I don't get that deal, I think I would go with the e8500 because it will be better for now, and if in 6-12 months quad is king, then I could pick up the Q9550 for under $200 easily... That's my thoughts anyway. But then, think about this. If you get the e8400, you get a $35 combo savings with the P5Q Pro, and from what I hear, the difference between the two isn't much of anything. I'll have to cross that road when I come to it!

Reply to mazda6_stealth
wakingbadger   09-16-2008 at 06:42:47 AM
- 0 +

I had totally missed the deal on the P5Q Pro and the E8400. Switched to that and order placed...

Now, if I can just get it all here by this weekend I can focus on getting ready for the lan party I'm hoping to go to in ~2 weeks :)

Thanks for all the help!

Reply to wakingbadger
mazda6_stealth   09-16-2008 at 06:45:45 AM
- 0 +

Glad I could help! What was final cost with shipping?

Reply to mazda6_stealth
wakingbadger   09-16-2008 at 07:00:49 AM
- 0 +

Newegg - $833.53
Buy.com - $178.48

or $1012.01

Wife knew I couldn't keep it under $1000 and she was right :)

Reply to wakingbadger
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