Yup, another random newcomer asking the same question again, but you guys seem to enjoy it anyway
Anyway, down to "business", I'm planning on building a mid ranged gaming rig, and most hardware was chosen based on 2 factors. I forget the first, but the second one would be availability of major components at LOL, Frys Electronics, and I mean just a plain regular Frys, not an actual LOL FRYS, whatever that may be. I was planning on sticking with the socket LGA 775 and using a q9400, for want of a quad core that seems to be on par with an e8400 for running games, but, you know, with 4 cores. For this build, I was thinking around 1,200 clams to be the limit of my spending, that including a monitor (22inch, 1680x1050) hovering around 160-200 cannolis and a copy of Vista Home premium 64 bit at 100.
And just to make things harder for myself, after a little messing around with popping things in and out of my newegg cart, not much more bread would get me an i7 920 rig, though it looks like it's 300+ for an x58 mobo or bust, but that is not a big problem. Some... info to keep in mind, I am going to be using this primarily to game, for very unreasonable amounts of time, listen to Stan Rogers, for possibly just as long, and wank, for, yes, just as an unreasonable amount of time as the gaming amount, and to top it off, quite possibly, all the above at once, for possibly silly amounts of time, enough jibba jabba, I'll just get on with the list, gentlemen...
CPU - Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66ghz - Can be found at Frys
Mother Board - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P - Frys has em
RAM - OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
HDD - Open, as long as it's WD
Video Card - HD 4890 1gb OR HD 4850 x2 1gb
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W - Frys has em, and
Cooling - STOCK!!1, naa, maybe a ZALMAN CNPS9700 110mm? Thoughts?
So how does that smell... or taste... or both, as for more on my part choices, I know I'll only need 500 watt PSU at most, but, on top of the usual reasons for overshooting, the the 750tx I hears is pretty darned stable for the price, specs, amperage and such are good, and again, Frys LOL! The system memory I'll just grab off newegg, since it'll be cheaper, NOT patriot, and I get OCZ, which is a brand that has just simply worked for me in the past. So there. As for the Vid Cards, Frys has HD 4890s from Diamond, apparently ATi themselves, and like, from XFX for about THIRTY cheeseburgers more, that is NOT the OC version.
Something I took notice too at Frys, 1 out of like 4 of the Diamond cards are NOT returned and re shelved, so... that is just peachy to see there. FE do NOT carry the 4850 x2, but does anyone have a clear verdict on the 4890 vs 4850 x2? If not, I'll just be going with the 4890. And another ting, Frys has Diamond and ATi cards that are designated "XOC", and are listed with a 1050 MHz for ATis and 925 MHz for Diamonds. ATi's as you can see has the higher stock clock, comes with a copy of HAWX LOL, and is on sale for 250 bananas, I'd say buy that one if I were me.
And there ya have it, random passerby guy's "build", so, what do the denizens of Tom's Hardware think? Would that be a sensible gaggle of parts to stick together and prove sufficient for around 2+ years, or should I just suck it up and spend the extra 400 ducats and go with an i7 920 setup? The performance difference between the q9400 ans the i7 920 are LOL at best, but going with the cheaper i7 would be to just to have the 1366 socket, of course future proofing get?
Anyway, down to "business", I'm planning on building a mid ranged gaming rig, and most hardware was chosen based on 2 factors. I forget the first, but the second one would be availability of major components at LOL, Frys Electronics, and I mean just a plain regular Frys, not an actual LOL FRYS, whatever that may be. I was planning on sticking with the socket LGA 775 and using a q9400, for want of a quad core that seems to be on par with an e8400 for running games, but, you know, with 4 cores. For this build, I was thinking around 1,200 clams to be the limit of my spending, that including a monitor (22inch, 1680x1050) hovering around 160-200 cannolis and a copy of Vista Home premium 64 bit at 100.
And just to make things harder for myself, after a little messing around with popping things in and out of my newegg cart, not much more bread would get me an i7 920 rig, though it looks like it's 300+ for an x58 mobo or bust, but that is not a big problem. Some... info to keep in mind, I am going to be using this primarily to game, for very unreasonable amounts of time, listen to Stan Rogers, for possibly just as long, and wank, for, yes, just as an unreasonable amount of time as the gaming amount, and to top it off, quite possibly, all the above at once, for possibly silly amounts of time, enough jibba jabba, I'll just get on with the list, gentlemen...
CPU - Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66ghz - Can be found at Frys
Mother Board - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P - Frys has em
RAM - OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
HDD - Open, as long as it's WD
Video Card - HD 4890 1gb OR HD 4850 x2 1gb
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W - Frys has em, and
Cooling - STOCK!!1, naa, maybe a ZALMAN CNPS9700 110mm? Thoughts?
So how does that smell... or taste... or both, as for more on my part choices, I know I'll only need 500 watt PSU at most, but, on top of the usual reasons for overshooting, the the 750tx I hears is pretty darned stable for the price, specs, amperage and such are good, and again, Frys LOL! The system memory I'll just grab off newegg, since it'll be cheaper, NOT patriot, and I get OCZ, which is a brand that has just simply worked for me in the past. So there. As for the Vid Cards, Frys has HD 4890s from Diamond, apparently ATi themselves, and like, from XFX for about THIRTY cheeseburgers more, that is NOT the OC version.
Something I took notice too at Frys, 1 out of like 4 of the Diamond cards are NOT returned and re shelved, so... that is just peachy to see there. FE do NOT carry the 4850 x2, but does anyone have a clear verdict on the 4890 vs 4850 x2? If not, I'll just be going with the 4890. And another ting, Frys has Diamond and ATi cards that are designated "XOC", and are listed with a 1050 MHz for ATis and 925 MHz for Diamonds. ATi's as you can see has the higher stock clock, comes with a copy of HAWX LOL, and is on sale for 250 bananas, I'd say buy that one if I were me.
And there ya have it, random passerby guy's "build", so, what do the denizens of Tom's Hardware think? Would that be a sensible gaggle of parts to stick together and prove sufficient for around 2+ years, or should I just suck it up and spend the extra 400 ducats and go with an i7 920 setup? The performance difference between the q9400 ans the i7 920 are LOL at best, but going with the cheaper i7 would be to just to have the 1366 socket, of course future proofing get?