Hello. So I've been saving up my money for awhile now and want to build-my-own computer. I'm fairly confident in my ability to put the pieces together but I am having a great deal of trouble picking them out. THE GOAL I wish to have a high-quality Crysis able computer that will be able to play new games at a high level for a few years. I wish it to be in the 1500 or below price-range but will go up to 2000 if need be. MY CURRENT PRE-BUILD Mid-Tower: Ultra m998 ULT40069 Mid-Tower ATX Case – 200$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2765147&Sku=ULT40069 Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI – 160$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2853608&Sku=A455-2322 Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor BX80562Q6600 – 350$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2905631&Sku=CP1-DUO-Q6600 Hard-drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB Hard Drive – 100$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3318029&Sku=TSD-400AS4 CD-DVD ROM Drive: Aopen 16X DVD-ROM 1648L Pro Chameleon w/SW Retail – 90$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2578230&CatId=88 RAM: Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) – 40$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3089875&CatId=2368 Power Supply: OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / – 130$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2235424&Sku=O261-2005 Power Protection: Tripplite Protect It! - 50$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=523934&Sku=T105-5034 P Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS SSC - 350$ http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3484817&Sku=E145-8822 THE PRIME QUESTIONS: 1: Have I forgotten anything that I need to have or should have? Not including the monitor or mouse/keyboard. 2: Any major incompatible pieces? Will it have enough power and will it stay cool enough? 3: Any pieces you suggest changing? Either for better deals or better quality or even just because my choosen piece may have things I don't need...? My only requirements on suggested pieces is that they be towards Intel Quad Core and nVidia SLI. Other than that, I am not attached to any brands or parts. I just scanned over the parts and picked ones that seemed to be good without being too exotic or expensive. I would love your suggestions. Thank you.
It looks like you did a pretty good job picking out parts. I have a few concerns which are easily fixable if you decide you want to is up to you to change it. First id use Newegg.com because they have better deals and prices and you can often a get a Motherboard and CPU combo deal or a Video card and mother board combo deal. Second I know you like Intel, But AMD is where its at. The AMD X2, Such as the AMD X2 6000+ is extremely fast and blows the Intel's out of the water. If not Intel's are still good, but the AMD's deliver better graphic performance and all. But thats up to you. Third Go with another stick of RAM. Go with 3 GIG's. Trust me you wont regret it. I have 4 and the computer runs super fast and IF you plan on running Crysis and all the new heavy duty games, your gonna need a lot of ram a great video card and a nice ass monitor. Fourth and Lastly Whatever money you have left over, get your self a DELL 30" WFP. You wont be disappointed i promise you.
As a fellow 3007 owner I can heartily back up rogeball's statement, but you may wish to consider the new 3008 model if you can afford it, it's even better. As for the PC build, the motherboard's a bit dire, I had one and didn't like it. I'm not an advocate of SLI, so I wouldn't really know what to suggest to replace it, other than perhaps an EVGA, BFG or XFX nf680 board. The graphics card's also a poor choice, the new G92 based 8800GTS is much faster than the old model. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3510472&CatId=1826
ok rogeball wtf? amd blows intel out of the water? what year are you living in take a look at some benchmarks http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=921&model2=1072&chart=438 That chart doesnt even show the penryns... i registered just for that Vornesoul, there is no point in going with an amd cpu right now. They are lagging far behind intel and it seems like this will continue at least for another generation. That link comparing cpus doesnt show intels new processors which are faster, cooler and the same price as the old generation. Consider a e8400 or e8200 if you can find them. Theres no need for quad core unless you need it for some special purpose. In my opinion that case is overkill. Its just too much to spend on a case. You can get great cases for much cheaper. consider the antec p182, the coolermaster ca5 (something like that). Go on newegg and look at popular cases, it should give you a good idea of whats a good value. Motherboard is ok but you could do better for less. Unless you have your heart set on going with sli in the future, consider a p35 based motherboard (gigabyte ds3l? around 100, great deal for a quality board) . The 650/680 dont support intels new processors anyway. That dvd drive doesnt burn dvds by the way... just reads them. You can get a write for just a little more. The cost is 24.99, you put 90 for some reason. Good choice on ram, You probobly wont need a 700w psu, get a quality one around 500w for less and you still will have watts to spare. The video card is old technology. Its based on the g90 chip. Consider the 8800gt or the 8800gts (or 3850/3860 if your into ati) all good choices. The 8800gt and 8800gts 512mb are based on the new g92 chip. Matt
Lol I didn't spot that, yeah, ignore that. AMD CPUs may be good for the absolute bargain basement build, but for anything serious they're too slow to consider.
Agreed. Do not, do NOT spend $350 on an 8800GTS 640MB. The 8800GT 512MB will outperform and can be had for $250. The 8800GTS 512MB (totally different chip than the GTS 640MB which is old) will perform even higher (a little bit) and can be had for $295 right now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...EMC-IGNEFL012808-_-VideoCards-_-E0-_-14130325 For best price/performance I'd just go with a 600MHz 8800GT 512MB. In fact, I did, a few weeks ago. And yeh, you're also over-spending on case and PSU. You don't need over 500W and you can find a quality one for less than $50 if you wait for a MIR deal on Newegg.
I would not go with the case or the quad core. Any reason for the quad? Most games are not writen to use all 4 cores. In fact most game now dont even use 2. It will change in time but most like not for years. My 2.66 Core 2 Duo E6750 works great and has taken all that I have thrown. Its also 150 dollars cheaper than that Quad. I would not go with the case because of this article. I got an Antec Nine Hundred for a build I did a month ago and it has lots of room to work with and has great air flow. I also got my psu from tiger. Well tigerdirect.com, not the canadian one. Its an Ultra X2 750w. Tiger Canada has it here and if google's currency exchange is correct its 80 USD, not that it matters to you seeing as it 79 canadian which is pretty cheap for a good modular psu. It also comes in a non uv version if uv is not your thing. I would also go for the 8800GT instead of the GTS. Unless you are trying to go 3-way sli or greater get those. The GT's only go 2-way. Its a pretty good card that can play crysis on max at lower resolutions on vista in DX10 and im sure when I go sli it will be able to do so at higher resolutions. Why not spend 5-10 more bucks for a dvd burner? I know tiger has them for that cheap. Even if you dont go SATA. Its a faster connection and the cables are smaller too so it will look neater and will allow for better air flow. Nothing makes a computer with a side window like crap faster than a bunch of cables in front of it. The ram is fine and the MOBO is too, although I went with a 680i lt. Its a good board with lots of connections and a little cheaper that what you are looking at. Dont count on getting those rebates though. Sometimes they just never go through. Hopefully this helps and can save you a few bucks.
lol, since these suggestions seem to be all over the place, I'll throw in my two cents. Build a PC just like mine, with higher end products because your budget is WELL beyond what I can afford. CPU: I'd get the E8400 cpu (actually that's what I have)... The price is very low considering that you can get it OC'd to 4+Ghz... MOBO: I'd get a Gigabyte X38-DQ6 motherboard... It's a pretty pricey mobo, but your budget can handle it, and it has PCI-E 2.0 x2... RAM: I think is ok... (didnt check the mobo specs though, it might need DDR3, not sure) GPU: how about the HD3870?? you can crossfire it in your new mobo, and it should run your games fantastically... Hell if you want to spend more money you can get the HD3870 x2 I won't make recommendations about the other parts you chose just because I don't know that much about them... All I'll say is Sam is a huge advocate of the Corsair VX series PSUs
The Corsair VX units are good, but if you're going the crossfire route, you'll want an HX or even a TX series to provide a bit more grunt.
