Building a new gaming machine

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[BB] Rick James

[H]ard Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
2,810
What up, what up.

It's been A LONG time since i last posted. I've been super busy with work, life the whole nine yards. I'm looking at building a new gaming PC, since i currently don't have one.

I am COMPLETELY out of the loop on what is "in" and what I should maybe look at going with. I don't even know what chipset is currently top dog. Any help, suggestions and etc would be AWESOME. Right now I have a 17" monitor I plan on using, but down the road will be upgrading it to something wide screen.

Any help would be great appreciated. Thanks all, it feels good to be back.
 
[BB] Rick James;1033029142 said:
What up, what up.

It's been A LONG time since i last posted. I've been super busy with work, life the whole nine yards. I'm looking at building a new gaming PC, since i currently don't have one.

I am COMPLETELY out of the loop on what is "in" and what I should maybe look at going with. I don't even know what chipset is currently top dog. Any help, suggestions and etc would be AWESOME. Right now I have a 17" monitor I plan on using, but down the road will be upgrading it to something wide screen.

Any help would be great appreciated. Thanks all, it feels good to be back.
Click to expand...

Okay first of all what in the name of God is your budget?

Second, are you going to be using it for more than gaming? IE: Photoshop, etc.

I see you have been here for 4.4 years, but read this sticky first.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1217870
 
processor: intel dual core or quad core
VGA: top end - nvidia GTX280 or ATI 4870x2
mid range - nvidia GTX260 or ATI 4870
mobo: choose a camp, nvidia or ATI, and then get either an SLI or Crossfire mobo. research good boards.

get rid of the 17" monitor as soon as possible and get a 22" or larger widescreen. you're good to go.
 
If I'm going to do it, might as well do it up right. The video card I'd like top of the line, but the processor really doesn't have to be.... Back when i was into gaming, having the highest processor didn't really make or break the rig.

Or has that changed some in todays games?
 
[BB] Rick James;1033029202 said:
If I'm going to do it, might as well do it up right. The video card I'd like top of the line, but the processor really doesn't have to be.... Back when i was into gaming, having the highest processor didn't really make or break the rig.

Or has that changed some in todays games?
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still the same. get a 4870x2 and a q6600.
 
For strictly gaming only an E8X00 will do the trick mighty fine. If you're considering OC and only want the best, the E8600 has a slightly higher multiplier, otherwise the E8400 is at a very nice price point right now.
 
I'd say so, unless you have the patience to wait for deals (even though deals on high-end is rare).
 
A 17" monitor is almost a waste of that processing power. Dial your PC build budget back down and upgrade the display. E8600, some dual video card solution, 4 gigs of RAM, good power and cooling. Nothing complicated about it.
 
If you want the best of the best, get a QX9770, two 4870X2s in CrossfireX, a good X48-based motherboard (like the ASUS Rampage II Formula), 4-8GB of good PC2-1066 RAM (good brands: Corsair, OCZ, G.Skill), two WD Velociraptors in RAID0, a Corsair HX1000, and the case of your choice. Those are pretty much the best components you can get at the moment.
 
Zero82z said:
If you want the best of the best, get a QX9770, two 4870X2s in CrossfireX...
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You know, the appeal of X58 with Nehalem is pretty lucrative also. Faced with a similar decision, I kind of decided to go with a P45 and a dual-core chip (nothing except what, SupCom is going to use cores 3+4) as a stop-gap solution. The prospect of having either SLI or Xfire is nice, so it might make sense to get mid-range components now (with a good video card) and then do the real hot-rod upgrade after the new i7 stuff comes out and settles down around what, the end of Q1/09?
 
wildfire99 said:
You know, the appeal of X58 with Nehalem is pretty lucrative also. Faced with a similar decision, I kind of decided to go with a P45 and a dual-core chip (nothing except what, SupCom is going to use cores 3+4) as a stop-gap solution. The prospect of having either SLI or Xfire is nice, so it might make sense to get mid-range components now (with a good video card) and then do the real hot-rod upgrade after the new i7 stuff comes out and settles down around what, the end of Q1/09?
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Very true. I was just going by the best there is now, but it would be prudent to buy a cheap mobo/CPU/RAM combo now and wait for Nehalem in a few months.
 
So since we are so close to the Nehalem coming out you guys and gals think I should hold off just a bit longer?
 
Zero82z said:
If you want the best of the best, get a QX9770, two 4870X2s in CrossfireX, a good X48-based motherboard (like the ASUS Rampage II Formula), 4-8GB of good PC2-1066 RAM (good brands: Corsair, OCZ, G.Skill), two WD Velociraptors in RAID0, a Corsair HX1000, and the case of your choice. Those are pretty much the best components you can get at the moment.
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Just a curious thought =)
What PSU would you recommend with that set up?
 
UtopiA said:
The 4870 is "mid-range"?
Damn where have I been...
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The 4850 is mid-range. The 4870 is still a high-end card, however the GTX280 and 4870X2 are ultra-high-end cards. In other words, the 4850 is fast enough, the 4870 is really fast, and the 280 and X2 are ridiculously fast ;).
 
UtopiA said:
The 4870 is "mid-range"?
Damn where have I been...
Click to expand...

Zero82z said:
The 4850 is mid-range. The 4870 is still a high-end card, however the GTX280 and 4870X2 are ultra-high-end cards. In other words, the 4850 is fast enough, the 4870 is really fast, and the 280 and X2 are ridiculously fast ;).
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this is all semantics. i called the 4870 mid-range because there's a class above it. if it makes you feel better you can call the 280 and X2 cards "Super-Duper High End" and the 4870 and 260 cards "High End".
 
Porter_ said:
this is all semantics. i called the 4870 mid-range because there's a class above it. if it makes you feel better you can call the 280 and X2 cards "Super-Duper High End" and the 4870 and 260 cards "High End".
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Perhaps we should let Crytek name the classes?
 
If you buy the most expensive system you can make, just don't complain about how much PC gaming costs after something even better comes out in a few months.
 
i recommend stuff that vibrates, you know just to make sure it can please you in more ways than 4
 
All this for a 17"?

Go to the display forums and check out the monitors that will do a 4870x2 proud.
You'll want at least a 24".
 
Porter_ said:
this is all semantics. i called the 4870 mid-range because there's a class above it. if it makes you feel better you can call the 280 and X2 cards "Super-Duper High End" and the 4870 and 260 cards "High End".
Click to expand...

I'd agree with the mid-range classification just because the 4870 and 260 are in the mid $200s price range. Maybe "upper mid-range," but again, it's all semantics. Think about when the 8800GT came out. It was only a few percent slower than then-king 8800GTX, which would speak against it being mid-range, but then... the price pushed it into the mid-range. It doesn't matter in the least, but it's convenient to pigeon hole because of ease of discussion.

But yeah, at least pick up a 22" monitor or something. 24" is a much better choice, but 17"... that's just a waste, and this is one of the few times when it's your user experience that's going to be impacted, rather than any sort of e-penis value.
 
Shawnasee said:
All this for a 17"?

Go to the display forums and check out the monitors that will do a 4870x2 proud.
You'll want at least a 24".
Click to expand...
Agreed. If he really has "no budget" he absolutely needs to get a new monitor. It would be downright stupid to build a $2000 gaming PC and run it on a 17" monitor.
 
Don't wait for Nahelem. It's not supposed to be a leap in performance for gaming anyway. Like others have said, an OC'd e8400 and a 4870x2 is pretty much the high end bang for the buck system right now.

For monitors, look into 24"+. 1920x1200 is a pretty standard high end gaming resolution right now. You can get these resolutions at 26" and 28" too if you're willing to put up with the larger dot pitch. Don't go 30" unless you wantto be messing with multi-card configurations for the life of that monitor.
 
If he is happy with a 17" then he should be elated with a 24" and it won't break his non-existent budget. :D
 
Alright. I'm getting closer to pulling down. What mobo should I be looking at?

I'm looking at going with the following:

Proc. e8400
Video Card. 4870

So now, what about the mobo and what about the ram? I'd like to go with that new Thermaltake "all open" case, looks pretty sweet. Anyone know when that comes out?
 
Honestly, if you're looking to stick with the 17", then the 4850 or the 260 will allow you to run pretty much everything max and then some. It will also leave you $100 to spend on two new games. And if you grab an x48 Mobo, it will allow you to cleanly upgrade into an Crossfire setup (with the 4850) if games ever get to the point of requiring more graphics.
 
I suggest the ASUS P5Q Pro for your motherboard. I have one and it's running great.
 
Alai said:
Honestly, if you're looking to stick with the 17", then the 4850 or the 260 will allow you to run pretty much everything max and then some. It will also leave you $100 to spend on two new games. And if you grab an x48 Mobo, it will allow you to cleanly upgrade into an Crossfire setup (with the 4850) if games ever get to the point of requiring more graphics.
Click to expand...

No, I'm going to be upgrading monitors. What I meant to say in my original post, I have two 17" monitors I was going to run side by side, which yes is retarded. I'm going to pick up a 24" this weekend. Actually, I might go to Sams club and pick up a 32 - 42" in Plasma to mount above my office desk on my wall, hook a KVM up and run all my computers off that. I have some network monitoring programs we run and it would be sweet to view everything on a TV.

Are plasmas good for gaming?
 
Post in the Display Forums. They have really knowledgeable people who will help alot with monitors. They talked me through my purchase of the BenQ FP241VW. And its awesome.
 
UtopiA said:
The 4870 is "mid-range"?
Damn where have I been...
Click to expand...

As far as I'm concerned it is, I only payed $225 for mine.....that's been a mid-range price ever since I've been into computers. When you consider there are $500 cards, and thats not considering multicard setups.
 
It sounds like the BFGTech GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE is the way to go right now. Sounds like it beats out the 4870 in most bench tests.
 
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