Hi guys, i'm currently serving my mandatory time in the Finnish Defence Force and after i get out in 2 months i'm looking to build a new computer. I'm no stranger to the world of computers but during my 7 month time i've been here in the army i've fallen behind on all the new hardware etc. So i was wondering if i could ask you guys for advice on what would be a good setup for a high-end gaming computer. First of i'd like to know if there are some new stuff coming out in the near future which would be worth waiting for (GF 9 series?) or some new price drops? What i have currently is pretty stoneaged by now, i'm still sitting on a P4 2.4GHz, 2GB DDR400 and an ATi Radeon 9800 Pro OC'd. It has served me quite well ever since i got it in 2003 First off, the budget is 1500 euros (i could flex it by 100e) and for that i'm going to need: Case Powersupply Motherboard CPU RAM Graphics Card 1 Optical drive (prefferably a simple write capable dvd drive, prefferably SATA ) 1 HDD ( what i'll cannibalize form my old machine are 2 250GB SATA drives) Cooling (just some fans, no need for watercooling, too expensive) What i will not be needing is monitors or keyboards/mice etc And what about soundcards? I have an old Creative Audigy 2 ZS which i love but i'm hearing the new soundmodel in vista will have turned it obsolete, are new integrated ones as good? can i use my old card? or would i need something new (x-fi)? Case: I've been looking at the [url="http://www.antec.com/ec/productDetails.php?ProdID=09180]Antec Performance One P180 Black - ATX"[/url] what do you guys think? will it be good for what i need? will modern graphics cards fit? etc. Powersupply: Not sure at all here, tell me your suggestions. Motherboard: The one thing i know for sure is that i want an Intel CPU, not sure yet if i should go core 2 duo or core 2 quad, you guys tell me that. The other problem i'm having deciding is DDR2 or DDR3? DDR2 is dirt cheap while DDR3 is expensive, what would be the better option and why? And as for chipset, perhaps the intel x38? something i won't need is crossfire/sli support but if it's there it won't bother me, i'd like one or two free PCI slots though. Won't have need for IDE support, but i'll probably want plenty of SATA ports, and eSATA could be a nice extra, WiFi would be a nice addition but not important. CPU: Now here's the question, a fast dual core? or a slightly slower quad core for the same price? should i wait for new models or price drops? What about cooling? 2,66GHz and up is probably what i'm going for. RAM: DDR2 or DDR3, motherboard will decide that, other than that i won't need any good OC memory or something like that, High stock speed though. Graphics Card: Nvidia, thats one thing i'm sure about, 8800 series looks like the only current option but what about GF 9 series, when will it arrive? worth the wait? Other than that i've been looking at the new G92's the 8800GT 512MB and the BFG 8800GTS OC. What do you guys think? Well thats all i can think of ATM but if there are any questions don't be afraid to ask, hope you guys can help me on this and thanks in advance
ATM you'd be better off with a dual core for gaming (assuming against similar performance quad core) since not all games fully support quad core although that might change in future.
It seems like Crysis takes advantage of quad core. Bioshock, however runs on only one. (based on my CPU graphs while gaming)
You should wait a bit at the moment because of the new releases in graphics and cpu. First off the 9 series is defo worth waiting. Also the new 45nm quads are coming out as well. I think it is all coming out around march so wait till then.
DDR2, Dual core, 8800GT 512MB. For $100 you can get about 4GB of DDR2-800, about $200 on the dual core, and the GT is $250. I'm not sure how the prices are in Finland though.
why not get p182, almost the same price for ......... well, the 2 instead of 0. i can assure you that even 8800GTX fits in that case. power supply: Corsair Hx620w for modular.
isn't there a feb. 20th price drop for intel??? Q6600 8800GT/GTX 4 Gb of DDR2 ram Corsair Hx620w P182 500Gb HDD with a 32Gb raptor mobo????
this, but: 32gb raptor = waste of money. 500gb drive will have about the same performance. 8800gt/gts. gtx seems to be about double the price of the gt for ~5-10% performance increase. not worth it. motherboard: get the p35. dirt cheap but still really good.
I agree with Fredrics. If you won't be buying for a couple months, much on the market will change - new releases and price reductions on current gear. Not a bad idea to become familiar with the current market as you are. That being said, the Antec P180 is a solid case. The Corsair or Silverstone PSUs from 500w and up are good, just depending on whether you would prefer modular cabling or not. As far as motherboards, the Intel P35 series has some excellent models. From what I've seen, most of the x38s aren't too impressive. As everyone has stated, DDR2 is dirt cheap right now in comparison to DDR3. The manufacturing and refinement of DDR3 has a ways to go and as of right now, there isn't really an advantage to running it, especially factoring in the cost. Keep watch and see what is released when you're ready to buy. The current nVidia 8800GT series is getting a great reception (G92). Again, keep an eye on the market for new releases and related price drops on the 8800 series. I'm not at all familiar with AMD's offerings at the moment, so won't make comment. If you're looking for top of the line and release of the next nVidia series (9800) is after your purchase date, you might consider keeping your options open with an eVGA brand card and using their Step-Up program. I'll echo the above advice regarding the WD Raptor. It used to be prime, but the newer generation of 7200 rpm SATA2 drives nearly keep pace with it and cost much less. Good luck and have fun shopping!
Graphics: Asus GeForce 9800GX2 1024MB (PCI-E/DDR3/HDMI/2xDVI) 559.00 € Mobo: IN9 32X-MAX WIFI nForce 680i SLI, DDR2, SATAII, GLAN (Core 2 Duo) 185.00 € CPU: CORE 2 DUO E8500 3.16GHZ 1333MHz 6M S775 246.00€ RAM: 2x TWIN2X2048-6400 DDR2 (2 x 1GB) 98.00 € Case: Antec P182B 132.00 € HDD: Hitachi 500 GB, Deskstar 7K500, 3.5", SATA II/300, 8MB, 7200RPM 175.00 € Optical: LG DVD+-RW DL LS, GSA-H20NS10RB, 20x8x12x 30.00 € Power: Antec 500W, NeoHE 500, ATX2.0 96.40 € Thats what i'm looking at atm, the price is good for me, some parts are of the cheaper alternative, gotta cut corners somewhere, what would you change in that setup?
that 500w won't be enough to support the graphics card. you'd need somthing like Corsair Tx750w, or Hx620w at LEAST. i personally dislike the glued-together-cards so i suggest you have a look at 8800GTS G92 512MB.
I'd definately change the RAM to 2x 2gb instead of 4x1, if only to be able to upgrade easier. oh, and for the love of god get a better and more powerful PSU. MSI hasn't certified a single unit under 750w for their GX2, and you are running it with a 500w? I'm seeing disaster coming up... Get a proper 700w (at least) PSU, and make it a good brand. You will have to replace this one within the year if you stick to it, and you won't like the performance or stability either... Otherwise a good setup, sorry if i sound a bit negative The GX2 isn't likely going to be as popular as the 9800pro or the 8800GTX's are today, but it's still the best GPU out there atm. Bang-for-buck wise you will overpay, so make sure you really want this. What kind of monitor(s) are you running? it's very relevant when choosing the GPU.
yeah i just noticed the power requirements of the card and replaced it with a 850W psu, I'm running two (bit older) 21" Sony Trinitron CRT displays, max supported res is 2048x1586 although in all practicality anything above ~1700x1300 pixels won't be noticable due to physical limitations, still i love them dearly, absolutely great image quality etc and the fact that they are antique makes me love them even more Yeah i know i'll probably spend a little much on the card, was also thinking of doing 2x 8800GTS (G92) but i'm not sure about the whole SLi thing, and yeah i should probably go with 2x2GB sticks instead.
