Cheap gamer computer.

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dsr1205

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Joined
Dec 26, 2006
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OPTICAL DRIVE: Samsung DVD burner $27

CASE: $240 ATX tower OR $130 mini atx tower

HARD DRIVE: $100 640GB WD HDD

VIDEOCARD: $200 EVGA 9800gtx

RAM: G.skill DDR2 1000 $85

MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P5Q-E $160

CPU: $190 E8400
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail and bolt thru kit

OS: vista home premium oem $100

PSU: 0$ i own it XION 600W

1043 with mini case 1143 with tower case

i got a 24in westinghouse monitor. What do you think of the video card? i want something good that will last a 1-2 years. I wanna be able to play SC2 when it comes out, i also wouldn't mind some disgustingly high frame rates for counter strike. Is the motherboard good?
 
If you're considering using the CrossFire feature that the P5Q-E provides, then you may want to consider the HD4850 instead.

While I'm personally a fan of Lian-Li cases, I don't think that you have to spend so much for one. The PC-7B is a good mid-tower case that costs less than both of your options.
 
i dont want a ATI card this time around, i really want a nvidia. I' the lesser, non crossfire version of this MOBO doesn't have dual eithernet ports and thats something i want.
 
is it too expensive with not enough performance? i just want something reasonably priced with good performance
 
dsr1205 said:
What do you think of the video card? i want something good that will last a 1-2 years. I wanna be able to play SC2 when it comes out, i also wouldn't mind some disgustingly high frame rates for counter strike.
Click to expand...

dsr1205 said:
i dont want a ATI card this time around, i really want a nvidia.
Click to expand...

In many of the early previews of the HD4850 so far, the HD4850 beats the 9800GTX by quite a large margin. And it costs only $200:
VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-E Video Card - $200

So if you want the most bang for your buck, the HD4850 is the better choice. Also I concur with Tiraides about the case.

Also note that your PSU is a good 500W PSU. Meaning it can only provide about 500W of clean power before it starts screwing up your system. But your system won't draw more than 300W so you should be fine in the PSU department.
 
Looks like a good setup!

Was the P5Q-E really $140 when you posted? It looks like it is $159.99 shipped now :(.
 
If you really want NVIDIA, wait for the 9800GTX+, which should be around $220.
 
Benchmarks are showing that the 4800 series is good price/performance. Im wondering how much power 2 4850's in crossfire would use.
 
$1100 is a "cheap" build?

too much for an OCZ 1000W PSU according to Anandtech. Simply disgusting.
Click to expand...

They were drawing 421.5 watts at load for the 4870s, I honestly think it was an issue with the PSU or their handling of it, the Elitexstream series in general should handle 4850 CF with room to spare.
 
If you are going for a cheap build, why pay $240 for a case? I got a case for $30.
 
enginurd said:
If you really want NVIDIA, wait for the 9800GTX+, which should be around $220.
Click to expand...

9800gtx+'s in SLI is looking better than the 4850's in CF, i think i want two cards again lol. I understand its not cheap but i called it cheap because i wanted good performance not for allot of cash. I understand my case is expensive but i have a terrible 50 dollar aerocool case. i rather have something bigger and from LIan-LI. I heard a quad core is a waste if im not video rendering. so i heard e8400 > q6600 for gaming. I plan to OC maybe, i just want the option. Should i just but a 150 dollar 850w antec

Also if i go Nvidia and SLI $250 SLI board? it increases the cost of the PC by about $350

Im really just looking for the best performance possible on about $1500 or below.
 
Forget Nvidia video cards or motherboards. The HD4850 has been shown to be a better card than most of Nvidia's lineup (Kicking myself in the ass for not picking up the HD4850 for $150 from BB last week).

Also, at your resolution of 1920x1200, the E8400 will not perform better than the Q6600. At anything above 1280x1024, you're more GPU limited than CPU limited. So in other words, the Q6600 and E8400 will perform about the same at high resolutions. It's at lower resolutions where the E8400 will beat the Q6600.

Also, for 4850 CF, all you need is this PSU:
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $99
 
I highly recommend a q6600. More and more games are making use of multiple cores. If a game takes advantage of two cores, then if you get a quad-core CPU, you still have 2 extra cores to process executables that linger in the background. Running other applications in the background (or on a second monitor) such as Trillian, Firefox, Winamp, etc, is a lot more seamless when you have extra cores.

Games are currently GPU limited, not CPU limited. Don't think that a dual-core system will be better than a quad-core simply due to the moderate increase in clockspeed of a dual-core system (which can easily be correct by modest overclocking if you chose).

That said, I love my q6600. I run EM simulation software that takes advantage of all of the cores, and my system still has yet to stutter when multitasking while this software is running in the background eating upwards of 3 GB of memory.
 
New build having looked through feedback

OPTICAL DRIVE: Samsung DVD burner $27

CASE: $240 ATX tower I really like this case.

HARD DRIVE: $100 640GB WD HDD

VIDEOCARD: 9800gtx+ estimated price: $450

tv tuner: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 MCE 1183WB NSTC/ATSC/QAM/FM Tuner w/MCE Remote(White Box)PCI (i need a tv in college)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116010 $100

RAM: G.skill DDR2 1000 $85

MOTHERBOARD: EVGA 780i $250

CPU: q6600 200
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail and bolt thru kit

OS: vista home premium oem $100

PSU: corsair-cmpsu-750tx 100

$1696 no so cheap anymore but its a good pc right?

i got a 24in westinghouse monitor.
 
dsr1205 said:
VIDEOCARD: 9800gtx+ estimated price: $450
Click to expand...

I don't understand this one. You either have the card wrong, or the price wrong. The 9800 GTX+ is supposed to be $229 MSRP. But even then, why would you get that when you could have an HD 4870 (which beats a GTX 260) for $299, since you game on a 24" monitor?
 
AndonSage said:
I don't understand this one. You either have the card wrong, or the price wrong. The 9800 GTX+ is supposed to be $229 MSRP. But even then, why would you get that when you could have an HD 4870 (which beats a GTX 260) for $299, since you game on a 24" monitor?
Click to expand...

what benchmark are you looking at? and a gtx260 is gonna be rougly the same price as 2 9800gtx+'s ok so estimated 460
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/25/ati-radeon-hd-4850-and-4870-reviewed-all-that-and-a-bag-of-rv77/
 
AndonSage said:
I don't understand this one. You either have the card wrong, or the price wrong. The 9800 GTX+ is supposed to be $229 MSRP. But even then, why would you get that when you could have an HD 4870 (which beats a GTX 260) for $299, since you game on a 24" monitor?
Click to expand...

He had the card and price right, he just forgot to mention he wanted two of them. :rolleyes:

dsr1205 said:
... a gtx260 is gonna be rougly the same price as 2 9800gtx+'s ok so estimated 460
Click to expand...

Get the 750i SLI FTW unless you want Tri-SLI. Its the most stable nforce board for SLI, so you'll have less headaches.
 
I really don't understand the fixation with Nvidia and SLI, especially since you yourself said you want this to be a "cheap" build. Between your motherboard and video cards what you have is quite possibly the least effective way you can spend $700 on your system. Ditch the 9800GTX's for an HD 4870 and trade out the SLI board for a good P45 board. You'll shave $300 off the price and still have a system with 95% as much power.
 
You could also check on used Lian-li cases. I just picked up a 120-200$ retail case(with a couple drives) for 60$ on the FS/FT forum.
 
AndonSage said:
Yes they are. In the manual, it says: Two PCI Express x16 Graphics slot compliant with PCI Express 2.0
Click to expand...

Two PCI Express x16 Graphics slot compliant with PCI Express 2.0...

i found it too, it probably is there to tell us that PCI-e 2.0 cards will work in it. get it... compliant=compatable. Just them saying the 2.0 cards work with the board. aparently 2.0 isnt really used so it wont hurt me untill i want to upgrade and by that time ill need to buy a whole new machine with the new shit intel is coming out with.

funny thing, just found that they include " PCI Express 2.0" in the key features on the evga website. reguardless. the mobo is good price and what i need for sli, ill take it.
 
dsr1205 said:
Two PCI Express x16 Graphics slot compliant with PCI Express 2.0...

i found it too, it probably is there to tell us that PCI-e 2.0 cards will work in it. get it... compliant=compatable. Just them saying the 2.0 cards work with the board. ...
Click to expand...

Compliant != Compatible ;)

Its possible to be compliant but incompatible, and vice versa; therefore, they are not the same thing.

definitions as they relate to this topic...
Compatible: works well together
Compliant: implements requirements defined in a specification

A PCI-E1.1 slot is compatible with PCI-E2.0 cards but is not fully compliant with the PCI-E2.0 spec -- its missing the stuff that differentiates 2.0 from 1.1. :p
 
i decided im gonna buy it reguardless, its a good board and the 2.0 is not in use fully yet.
 
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