I'm buying a new computer and it would be cheaper (and fun) to build it. I've read a lot but I don't have much more time to invest on research. It would be nice if I could revisit this thread and get 1-on-1 help. ----- Ok, I would like this rig to last atleast a couple of years. And if possible, to be fairly future proof with upgrading. I would like to run the newer Crysis games, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and all the other great games coming out. I also have a 23" Samsung hdtv, so I think I should be ok in the monitor department. It's 1080i, so that's good enough, right? Though I hope my gpu can support 1080p. What do you think I should buy? I would like to stick with newegg, but if you find a worthy deal elsewhere, that's also welcome. So please, let's work together and get this thing finished. thanks!
LOL. Whoops! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115057 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150366 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 Comes to about $750 or so, plus lots of rebates.
hey thanks! Though my knowledge is lacking, I see some good name brand choices. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you a few things. The graphics card seems surprisingly cheap (to run crysis 2 and such). What other card would you suggest if I were to take a tiny step up in $$$? Also, should I buy one of those SLI (?) compatible cards? I like the idea of buying one newer card in the future, and being able to distribute the load with any existing GPU. Or did I completely misunderstand? Thanks for the quick reply! And sorry about mentioning Crysis... this forum probably gets a lot of "what do I need to run Crysis" threads.
The HD4770 is brand new out, and is a phenomenal performer for the price, as it is based on a new 40nm architecture. It competes with the HD4850 which was until recently priced at $150. The next product up is the HD4870 (but uses twice as much power) which costs $155-$165 and adds 30% performance or so. The 1GB version is next at $180 which adds more performance at high resolutions, but has little benefit at 1680x1050 and below. Above that is the HD4890 (a further 20% increase in power consumption, but around 15% extra performance above the 1GB HD4870) which costs $250, and is ATI's flagship single GPU. The rivals to these products are the GTS250, GTX260 216 core and GTX275 respectively, but in most cases are not as good value or power efficient. All Radeon cards from the basic HD4670 ($60) upwards are CROSSFIRE compatible which is ATI's verson of SLI. However, for Crossfire to work, the second GPU needs to be the same series as the first (i.e any HD4800 with any other HD4800, but not an HD4800 with an HD4700, as far as I'm aware). On top of this, you also need a motherboard with two PCI express slots and a bigger PSU. Realistically by the time people get round to buying their second card, there's a single card that does just as good a job for the same sort of price, so I usually tell people to stick with one card unless they go crossfire from the outset (until the 4770 came along, pointless unless you want more performance than the fastest single card can offer. Now, the 4770 allows performance that beats the best of the singles for a lower price, and lower consumption, so it's worth considering for many)
I ran this setup by another forum. Someone suggested I bump up the power to 650w. Is this a good idea?
No, it's completely unnecessary. I ran twice this much hardware off that very PSU with no issues, and still had room to spare.
Should I go with a dual core as opposed to the quad? I'm hearing that the E8500 would be faster for gaming, and the quad would be best for multitasking programs and video editing. thanks
If you're after top end games, partly now, but certainly in the future, the Quad WILL be a better choice. Dual cores aren't better for gaming per se, they just aren't any worse for most titles. With some modern games, however, that's beginning to change.
