Gaming Rig

[Dragon]

Originally posted by Martlet
[

It looks like I won't be able to build on a bare bones system.  There is too much that needs to by changed.  I'll have to just start from scratch, unless I find a pre-built system. [/B]

This is almost identical to my comp, but I upgraded to 750 w PS cuz it was on sale.  Tiger direct $999.00.
CyberPower Infinity 7360.

# Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# MSI P6N SLI-FI nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
# 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
# 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
# Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express
# CoolerMaster Hyper TX2 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan
# 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
# 16X DVD-ROM

[Martlet]

Originally posted by Dragon
This is almost identical to my comp, but I upgraded to 750 w PS cuz it was on sale.  Tiger direct $999.00.
CyberPower Infinity 7360.

# Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit
# MSI P6N SLI-FI nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
# 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
# 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
# Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express
# CoolerMaster Hyper TX2 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan
# 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
# 16X DVD-ROM

How does it perform?  Do you play other games on it? Maybe I'll just dupe yours instead of trying to figure my own out.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Originally posted by Martlet
Someone needs to make a website that actually plays games, and says "this is what you need to buy.  Click here".

Check http://www.tomshardware.com and http://www.hardocp.com the latter uses only in-game testing with hardware.

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by Dragon

# MSI P6N SLI-FI nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
# 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

The 650i is a good chipset, just a little older.  Same chipset in my Asus P5N-E SLI board.  The new P35 chipsets from Intel will benchmark faster.  A limitation with the 650 SLI chipset is that it doesnt allow for 16x PCI-E in SLI mode, only a max of 8x.  However, these are minor details (for you) and really doesn't matter a whole lot.

I'd like to know the brand of that HDD in that computer.  I recommend Seagate mainly for their 5 year warranty.

[Dragon]

I used this as a basic list but I did use the Asus P5NE-SLI board after doing some investigation, dropped down to 300GB hard drive, 2GB Crucial mem, and had enough for the 22" Samsung 2 ms while staying under $1,200 limit the ACK set for me.  Frame rate is maxed by the size of monitor to 60 and I've never seen it drop below 58.  Changing down to 1280 x 768 can do steady 70-75, but bigger is better.  Do Solitaire and MahJong count as other games?  Run a few other games, but nothing too intense.  Vista home premium.  Just can't get profiler to work with X52, but not really needed.  You may want to look into newer chipset as stated, but I'm not sure if they fixed the issues with the 680 chipsets yet.

[Getback]

Power supply, get a much bigger one. I doubt that one would run the SLI.

You'd be better off with one very good video card. May I suggest ATI 3870 or 3850?

I use an AMD duo core and it seems to work pretty good. However, from what I have read and heard since. Intel is the way to go.

Also, you have to do an enormous amount of tweaking with the AMD. I really struggled. Spent weeks sorting it out.

[Martlet]

I'm not a tweaker.  I also don't know much.  Maybe I can find a shop around here or a website where someone says "here, buy this, it's what you need".

[Dragon]

You can't have a perfect AH computer, cuz you might as well do the Chevy, Ford, Mopar thing on every component down to the cooling fans.  Just get something and if is screws up and makes your life miserable, be sure to post your findings so others can help out or learn what not to do.

[Martlet]

After everyone's suggestions and a LOT of help from Lambo, this is my new list.  Could you tweak it for me?

NewEgg wish list

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by Martlet
After everyone's suggestions and a LOT of help from Lambo, this is my new list.  Could you tweak it for me?

NewEgg wish list

Everything looks good.  Only thing I would mention is that LCD you have has speakers.  Do you have your own set of older speakers you want to use?  Or perhaps you use headphones/headset?  If you do, I'd pick a LCD w/o speakers built into it.

Speakers built into monitors are like laptop speakers...they all suck.

[Martlet]

Originally posted by Fulmar
Everything looks good.  Only thing I would mention is that LCD you have has speakers.  Do you have your own set of older speakers you want to use?  Or perhaps you use headphones/headset?  If you do, I'd pick a LCD w/o speakers built into it.

Speakers built into monitors are like laptop speakers...they all suck.

I need new speakers (my puppy chewed my cords) but I intend to buy a surround sound, not use those.  That makes sense, though.  Even if I shut them off it opens the door to side noise.

[humble]

I'd take a look at Toads Mwave build. you might get more for less. Only thing I dont like is the power supply. Its outstanding for 2 yrs ago. It's a single 49@ 12V rail. Compare that to the OCZ (SLI) that "guarantees" you 72@'s however you need them over 4 rails and has an unconditional 3 yr warranty.

The true draw on the OZC will be limited by configuration but it'll easily exceed the 49@ total and is availablr across 4 12V rails vs 1. Buying any single 12V rail PS is a mistake at this point.

[Getback]

Looks really good to me. Don't know much about mainboards though. I like what fulmar had to say about the speakers on the display. However, I've heard Acer is a good flat panel monitor.

You may be able to get a little cheaper Ram too. I use Crucial  Ballistix and they seem to work fine. I only paid around 50 bucks after rebate for 2 gig.



I'm kinda waiting on what everyone else will say. I may  build an Intel machine.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Crikey 1.45 dollars for euro.. Your part prices start to look half free to me.

[jtdragon]

8800 cards have come down in price, it will blow away the 8400