Building a new gaming rig

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Comments

  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    So I still haven't ordered a system yet. I had things like my laptop's ac adapter failing on me and the whole moving back to school and my last day of work. Now that I'm done with all that, I was looking at my build again. A friend looked at that and made quite a few changes which came to this ( <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=4002489" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=4002489</a> ).
    He said the case might not be big enough for the card or for future cards so he suggested a full sized case. He's also really into SLI and thought that I should future proof it a little by getting the parts now to support SLI in the future in case I wanted to get a second of the 8800GTS when the price comes down. This lead to him picking out a different motherboard and a different power supply. He also suggested on dropping one of the drives so I would just have one to start with and consider the second one as a future upgrade.
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    edited August 2007
    Do not, I repeat do not go SLI. Its a waste of money unless you the 2nd one cheap and have a huge monitor and game at anything higher than 1080. It will not future proof a system. Something new will be out before the price drops to make it worth it.

    Go with this mobo instead. MSI warranty blows.

    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188015" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188015</a> (lifetime warranty is good) or you could get this one
    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188019" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188019</a>
    You could go with the high end 680i models if you can afford it. They offer better quad core overclocking and some other minor tweaks. The ones I listed will be fine if you arent to worried about quad core overclocking.

    WTF is with the PSU...its got 2 eggs. lol. Go with these alternatives.

    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341001" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341001</a> (I own this one,it rocks)
    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139001</a> (Corsair is a great brand, good warranty)

    Spend the extra and go quad(if you can afford it that is)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

    Thats a slick case you got picked out. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    <!--quoteo(post=1644824:date=Aug 20 2007, 09:09 PM:name=Warrior)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warrior @ Aug 20 2007, 09:09 PM) [snapback]1644824[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    WTF is with the PSU...its got 2 eggs. lol. Go with these alternatives.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Yeah, I didn't catch that. I was throwing the parts my friend suggested into that wish list. I should read more carefully.

    <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6459266" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6459266</a>

    Swapping out the PSU and Mobo I get a configuration like that. I do like the idea of having modular cables for the PSU.
  • schkorpioschkorpio I can mspaint Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16635Members
    edited August 2007
    i personally think sli is a bit of a dud, in terms of future proofing atleast. it seems more of a thing that would do to save money - by buying two less powerful cards which together would outprice/out perform one single powerful card. or either that you have too much money so you want to get two cards so you get a huge amount of fps, or you are running more than monitor or really high res.

    The reason i think its a dud as far future proofing goes is that mainly by the time you really need a 2nd gfx card you can usually get a brand new model with more features and petter specs for roughly the same price.
    Also it can be hard to find an equivalent card to the one you already have - unless you go 2nd hand.

    There was that whole thing about gpu's doing physics with the 2nd or 3rd or 4th card -but i'd be more inclined to get a quad core cpu than 4 graphics cards - especially now that they are almost the same price as a dual core cpu.
    I think if you work it out, it would be much cheaper with quadcore and 1 video card - as 2-4 gfx will chew up a lot of electricity - so that means, more expensive bills, more expensive power supply, probably more expensive motherboard because sli mobo's are generally double the price of a standard one, and go up the more pci-e 16x slots they have. Then of course there is the cost of each video card - which is usually the most expensive component already.

    All that aside, say if sli does take off 6-12 months down the track, and becomes an essential part of a gaming rig - why not fork out the cash at that time when its time to use it, rather than now not knowing if you will or not. Sure you would need to get a new psu and motherboard chances are it will be better, and probably cheaper due to an increase in demand - also what if the standards change, you'd need to get another mobo anyways, as well as tech gets better it might use less energy, meaning a less powersupply (the one you would use for quad cpu / 1 gpu) would be plenty.

    But of course its hard to say without a crystal ball. I'm not saying don't get sli - its certainly good if you have the cash, and you want the very best performance at this point in time to about 6 months from now - until a new range of video cards are released. But i always viewed it as a more of an enthusiast thing rather performance for money.

    I haven't read the entire theard so forgive me if I make some assumptions -
    If i was to change anything on your it would be
    <u>The Zalman cooler </u>- great cooler, ive got one myself, but no point unless you want very quiet cooling, cool blue glow or you are going to over clock. the stock is fine otherwise.
    I'd pick a one pci-e slot <u>motherboard</u> (reasons above)
    <u>CPU </u>- probably go a quad core - Q6600, its only about 4% slower @ 2.4ghz - yet it once more games like crysis come out that make use of quad core then you will be very happy. but i guess what i said about sli goes pretty much for quad core too, you don't know if it will take off or not ,but you don't have the power and mobo to worry about, so its less of a risk than sli, even if it doesn't take off like it should,then it will be of good use.
    won;t need as big of a power supply - probably 550 watt should be plenty if you don't go sli
    <u>HDD </u>- i'd get a 320GB or 400Gb as the price per gig is a better ratio. and the 320 is only a tiny bit more than the 250
    <u>Video card</u> - excellent choice - but you might be able to get a different brand with an overcloacked version for about the same price.

    Also if you want to save more cash, you could go with a cheaper brand optical drive - they are hardly used these days so not much to worry about reliability wise, cheaper ram - again unless you are overclocking i wouldn't be going top notch ram - 667mhz would be fine, there is very little between 800 and 667 - as well as brand name - just get a well known one but don't need anything super special - like kingston/kingmax.

    Not that you wouldnt be happy with your listed system <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" /> but you have to keep tweaking the parts until you are ready to buy, as prices seem to change almost daily so you get the best bang for your buck <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1644828:date=Aug 20 2007, 06:26 PM:name=KungFuDiscoMonkey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KungFuDiscoMonkey @ Aug 20 2007, 06:26 PM) [snapback]1644828[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    Yeah, I didn't catch that. I was throwing the parts my friend suggested into that wish list. I should read more carefully.

    <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6459266" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6459266</a>

    Swapping out the PSU and Mobo I get a configuration like that. I do like the idea of having modular cables for the PSU.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    looks good.

    <!--quoteo(post=1644830:date=Aug 20 2007, 06:30 PM:name=schkorpio)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(schkorpio @ Aug 20 2007, 06:30 PM) [snapback]1644830[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

    <u>Video card</u> - excellent choice - but you might be able to get a different brand with an overcloacked version for about the same price.

    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Why get pre overclocked video card when you can do it yourself. EVGA warranty doesn't get voided if you overclock.
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    edited August 2007
    Looks like I could save around $60 if I went with this board.
    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188017" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188017</a>
    EVGA 122-CK-NF66-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

    I also could probably go to a 320gb HD by only spending a little more.
    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014+103530105+1035313428&name=320GB" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....&name=320GB</a>
  • schkorpioschkorpio I can mspaint Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16635Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1644835:date=Aug 21 2007, 12:26 PM:name=Warrior)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warrior @ Aug 21 2007, 12:26 PM) [snapback]1644835[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    looks good.
    Why get pre overclocked video card when you can do it yourself. EVGA warranty doesn't get voided if you overclock.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    well i didn't know that <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" /> still id rather pay $5-10 more and have it all ready <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6460826" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6460826</a>

    This is what I am considering for the final build. Going to sleep on it and review it a bit more in the morning.
  • schkorpioschkorpio I can mspaint Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16635Members
    edited August 2007
    looks like a very solid system indeed sir!


    EDIT

    although - probably being late in your part of the world - it seems you've selected an IDE hard drive - make sure you change it over to a SATA one with 16mb cache <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1644856:date=Aug 20 2007, 09:07 PM:name=KungFuDiscoMonkey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KungFuDiscoMonkey @ Aug 20 2007, 09:07 PM) [snapback]1644856[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6460826" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6460826</a>

    This is what I am considering for the final build. Going to sleep on it and review it a bit more in the morning.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    If you are going to go with a cheaper mobo, you should put that money to a Q6600. And like schkorpio said, make sure you get the SATA drive.

    <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136074</a>
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    <!--quoteo(post=1644864:date=Aug 21 2007, 12:53 AM:name=schkorpio)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(schkorpio @ Aug 21 2007, 12:53 AM) [snapback]1644864[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    looks like a very solid system indeed sir!
    EDIT

    although - probably being late in your part of the world - it seems you've selected an IDE hard drive - make sure you change it over to a SATA one with 16mb cache <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This is why I've been trying to get lots of people to look over my build. To keep me from making silly mistakes like this.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    edited August 2007
    Yeah, take your time putting it together before you order it, it's well worth it!
    Also, I thought I should post this here, an awesome guide: <a href="http://techbums.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12&st=0&sk=t&sd=a" target="_blank">Custom PC Designing - TechBums Edition</a>
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    I'd stay away from quad core for now, since the performance payoff is basically nothing except in a few specific programs. Once games start to use multiple cores, you can switch over, but right now dual core's faster.
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    Yeah at this point I think I'll stick with duel core and over clock it some.
  • schkorpioschkorpio I can mspaint Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16635Members
    pretty much all unreal 3 engine games are multi core - that means <b>bioshock, gears of war, advanced warfighter 2 </b>etc
    all of the valve stuff will be very soon, when <b>episode 2 </b>comes out - thats including the mapping and dev tools - everything will compile with as many cores as you have.
    <b>crysis </b>of course will support multi core.
    <b>Quake 4
    Oblivion
    Supreme Commander
    World of Warcraft Burning Crusade</b>
    pretty much anything good in the games department in the next 6 months will support multi cores <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />

    of course 2 cores are probably plenty anyways. I'm not trying to convince anyone to get quad if they don't want to - but just pointing out its worth while thinking about going quad before the 2008 <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    I am currently installing XP on my new system ^_^
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    What did you end up getting?
  • KungFuDiscoMonkeyKungFuDiscoMonkey Creator of ns_altair 日本福岡県 Join Date: 2003-03-15 Member: 14555Members, NS1 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos
    <a href="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6460826" target="_blank">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6460826</a>

    The last link I posted. I like it ^_^. It seems to be running quite well.
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    Looks pretty good. Hows that monitor? Any noticeable ghosting? Hows the backlight bleed?
  • Nil_IQNil_IQ Join Date: 2003-04-15 Member: 15520Members
    Kind of a thread hijack, but I didn't want to start another hardware thread with two already on the first page.

    As part of my next upgrade, i'm considering getting <a href="http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4DWF&CategorySelectedId=11147&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11147,404930000&InMerch=1" target="_blank">this quad core processor.</a> The only question is... will it be worth it?

    In theory, it should act as a blisteringly fast processor, but isn't it down to the specific application as to whether multiple cores are supported or not? What i'm trying to say is, am I better off getting a fast single-core processor, or are there enough games out there with multi-core support to make it worth it?
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    For performance today, get a Core 2 Duo. For performance tomorrow, a Quad. For performance yesterday, get a single core.
  • locallyunscenelocallyunscene Feeder of Trolls Join Date: 2002-12-25 Member: 11528Members, Constellation
    I just bought that processor and finished putting my computer together on Tuesday. Seems okay so far but I don't really have any of the UT engine games to test it.
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1647969:date=Sep 7 2007, 10:43 AM:name=locallyunscene)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(locallyunscene @ Sep 7 2007, 10:43 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1647969"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I just bought that processor and finished putting my computer together on Tuesday. Seems okay so far but I don't really have any of the UT engine games to test it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Bioshock! Bioshock! Bioshock!
  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1647955:date=Sep 7 2007, 05:34 AM:name=Nil_IQ)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nil_IQ @ Sep 7 2007, 05:34 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1647955"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Kind of a thread hijack, but I didn't want to start another hardware thread with two already on the first page.

    As part of my next upgrade, i'm considering getting <a href="http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4DWF&CategorySelectedId=11147&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11147,404930000&InMerch=1" target="_blank">this quad core processor.</a> The only question is... will it be worth it?

    In theory, it should act as a blisteringly fast processor, but isn't it down to the specific application as to whether multiple cores are supported or not? What i'm trying to say is, am I better off getting a fast single-core processor, or are there enough games out there with multi-core support to make it worth it?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    There is no such thing as a fast single core cpu. The Q6600 is a great deal. Id get one myself if I didnt already have a e6600.
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