First Time Gaming/Multipurpose Rig - Please Lend Advice

leSLIe

leSLIe

Fully [H]
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
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get a Quad Core, ditch that PSU and get a Corsair one
 
Hey Guys -
This is my first build. I've got a $2.5k budget for this baby. I want to make a high end build with some OC capability. I've already had some advice and researched this a bit ... so I think I'm close. Any advice or suggestions to improve this rig with faster/cheaper/more reliable components are requested!

Mobo:
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131284
$289.99

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...-19-115-054-_-Homepage
$274.99

PSU:
Antec TPQ-850 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371009
$209.99

Case:
LIAN LI PC-7BYCF Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811112184
$109.99

HD1:
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...36260&Tpk=VelociRaptor
$294.99

HD2:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136284
$179.99

Ram:
I want something fast, and that I can double up on in a few months.
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231166
$109.99

GPU:
EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported (can get another later if I want to and SLI)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130365
$439.99 (in cart)

Drive:
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827106265
$29.99
Or... do you all think this Samsung is better?
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151173

Speakers:
Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16836121120
$302.99

OS:
This is where I need some advice. 32 or 64? I'm not sure where to go on this part. Right now I have the below in my shopping cart but I can change it. Is it worth it for Ultimate?
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16832116488
$99.99

What type of heat sink fan should I get? I know I'll need one for when I try to OC my CPU. I really appreciate all of your help! I also have $200 in gift cards to J&R so I can get something on there for cheap out-of-pocket cost. The items listed above are the only ones I need. I'm going to upgrade my monitor in a few months/year and I already have G15.
 
Ditch the Rampage Formula; it's overpriced and you can find a board with similar features for much less. Consider a P45-based board like the Asus P5Q Pro instead.

You'll reach the same overclocking limits with the E8400 as you would with the E8600. (You'll also gain an immediate discount for purchasing the E8400 and P5Q Pro together.) As for the CPU cooler, get either the OCZ Vendetta 2 and the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (with retention bracket).

Which monitor do you have/are you using? If it's less than 24 inches (or has a resolution of less than 1920x1200), downgrade your video card to something along the lines of an HD4850 or an HD4870 (preferred for a 22-24 inch monitor). If you do game on a 24 inch monitor, you may want to consider the HD4870x2 instead of the GTX 280.

Get the G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 1000 kit. It will allow you to reach the same overclocking thresholds as the DDR2 1066 kit, since the DDR2 1066 kit is only 33MHz faster (DDR2 RAM is listed at twice its actual speeds).

Swap out the 300GB VelociRaptor for the WD6400AAKS. It's the fastest non-VelociRaptor/non-SCSI HDD currently available and will be a noticable improvement from your old/current HDD. As for storage, three of the WD6400AAKS drives would give you more storage for less money than the VelociRaptor/1TB Caviar combination.

For the operating system, a 64-bit OEM copy of Vista Home Premium is really all that you need. For the optical drive, Samsung drives are much quieter than Lite-On (though they're both about the same performance-wise).

Get the Corsair TX750 instead of the Antec TPQ-850. Both power supplies would be overkill for your current setup, but the Corsiar PSU is much cheaper (though you don't get modular cables).

To help us out a bit, please answer a few questions:

- Which monitor/resolution are you currently using?
- Which monitor are you considering buying? When exactly are you planning to buy this monitor?
- Which games/programs are you going to use?
- How far are you planning on overclocking the processor?
- How long do you want this build to last?
 
Please answer Tiraides' questions or we cannot help you better.

Oh and his suggestions are spot on.
 
Tiraides is spot on. I'd also suggesting replacing the WD 1TB Caviar drive for the equivalent 7200.11 Seagate drive, which comes with a 5 year warranty is can be had for $30-$40 cheaper.
 
Wow lots of good advice. Newegg has a good combo on that suggested P5Q mobo and e8400. For the Hard Drive, I thought 10k drives were significantly faster than the 7.2k ones? I guess they aren't worth the extra cost at this point? I certainly want a 32mb cache right? It looks like the WD's are more reliable than the Seagates, is this the case?

You have changed my thinking here... I think I'm going to save a bit of $$ on the hardware and get a new monitor. So that I can fully utilize these beastly GPU's. Any suggestions? I'll have to read up on these. Likely a 24" Wide Screen.
 
Don't get me wrong, the 10K RPM hard drives are certainly faster than the 7200RPM drives. However, I don't think that the VelociRaptor is worth the extra money. Additionally, platter speed (aka RPM) and density (how many GB per platter) play larger factors in the hard drive's performance than the amount of available cache.

Western Digital is regarded here for its overall performance (and for being the only company offering 10K RPM SATA drives); Seagate/Maxtor is lauded for its "reliability" (Seagate offers five-year warranties, though Maxtor-branded drives have three-year warranties); and Samsung is known for having drives that run comparatively quieter than other brands. There are other HDD manufacturers, with Hitachi being the most recognizable in the consumer markets, but those three are the ones that are highly recommended here.

And please answer my questions. I don't like getting blown off when I'm offering help here.
 
When we're talking about plain-old 7200 drives of the same size and with similar features (hence, 1TB / 32MB cache,) I doubt you'll notice too much of a difference between Seagate and WD. My policy is to go with whatever is cheaper at the time of purchase -- although after just experiencing one of my WD Caviar SE 16 500 Gig drives fail, Seagate's longer warranty looms larger in my mind.
 
I'm going to play all of the high end games. I have never OC'ed and will be dabbling in this once I feel comfortable. I want the build to last as long as possible (3 years and I'll be happy) so I won't OC much. I'm going to get a new monitor now.
 
Hey guys, thanks for all your input thus far. I've revised my build and saved it as a shared newegg wish list titled both, 'LongWayRound New Comp' or 'New Gamer Build'. Problem is, I can't search for those 2 lists I just saved... typing all this on a laptop b/c my old desktop is fried right now...
 
LongWayRound said:
Hey guys, thanks for all your input thus far. I've revised my build and saved it as a shared newegg wish list titled both, 'LongWayRound New Comp' or 'New Gamer Build'. Problem is, I can't search for those 2 lists I just saved... typing all this on a laptop b/c my old desktop is fried right now...
Click to expand...

The wishlists are tied to your newegg account. So just go to the Wishlists section of your newegg dashboard
 
tiraides said:
Which monitor are you considering buying? When exactly are you planning to buy this monitor?
Click to expand...

LongWayRound said:
You have changed my thinking here... I think I'm going to save a bit of $$ on the hardware and get a new monitor. So that I can fully utilize these beastly GPU's. Any suggestions? I'll have to read up on these. Likely a 24" Wide Screen.
Click to expand...

LongWayRound said:
I'm going to get a new monitor now.
Click to expand...

Define now: How soon are you going to get the new monitor? Are you (now) planning to buy it around the same time as the rest of your build?

Please answer those questions, along with my other one...

tiraides said:
Which monitor/resolution are you currently using?
Click to expand...

... so we can give you some recommendations as to which video card you should get and when.
 
LIAN LI PC-7BYCF Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112184

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116015

Antec TPQ-850 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

OCZ Vista Upgrade 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227195

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

This all totals $1,694 in my newegg.com cart with all discounts and a code for the CPU. Are all these parts compatable? Is the PSU to large? I though with the 2bg vid card it'd be nice. I'll probably by another 4gb of ram in about 6 months, same speed. I plan to 'dabble' in overclocking. I don't want to burn the cards up, just get a bit more performance out of them. That's why I picked that 'average' fan.
 
I also will have $200 in gift cards to J&R and $400 coming from my parents for my bday :) What parts do you think would be the cheapest on J&R? That site is expensive from what I've compared.
 
- Which monitor/resolution are you currently using?
I'm not, my desktop died. I just bought a 24" LG Wide Screen high def. monitor this afternoon. I'll be running it at full resolution.
- Which monitor are you considering buying? When exactly are you planning to buy this monitor?
I bought it 4 hours ago, it's sitting my desk waiting for it's video card lover :)
- Which games/programs are you going to use?
Crysis on the highest settings, all the best games, every game at the highest resolutions possible that this cpu and gpu will produce.
- How far are you planning on overclocking the processor?
Not too hard, not too much. I still want it to last. I'm putting a fan on it but do I really need that huge metal one you recommended earlier? I'm not sure that will all fit in the case?
- How long do you want this build to last?
Several years, 3 and I'd be happy before upgrading.
 
I like modular cabling, willing to pay for it. Should I bump up my ram then? The gskill 1000 is worth the little extra?
 
From the looks of the site, J&R is nothing more than a "high-end" Circuit City/Best Buy clone. I suggest getting the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, speakers) and any additional software (read: games) you want with the gift card. (For the case, power supply, and the internal components, NewEgg beats J&R every inch along a country mile.)

But again:

- Get the E8400 and P5Q Pro bundle at NewEgg. The E8400 can overclock just as easily as the E8500/E8600.
- For overclocking, the AC Freezer 7 Pro won't cut it. Get either the OCZ Vendetta 2 or the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (with retention bracket).
- If you're overclocking, get the DDR2 1000 kit. Chances are that, if this rig is to be used more for gaming than anything else, you won't need the second 4GB RAM kit.
- Two WD6400AAKS hard drives are faster and have more space than one 1TB Caviar HDD for around the same price. Consider those instead.
- VisionTek has a limited lifetime warranty; Sapphire has questionable reliability.
- The Antec 850W power supply is expensive overkill. The Corsair TX750 is a comparative bargain (though still overkill).

If you like modular cabling, consider the Corsair HX620. But keep in mind that the TX750 costs less but has more power (not that you really need the power; the point is that it costs less than the HX620).
 
Man... I sooo agree with this it's ridiculous actually. At first when I seen the 1TB drive for $170 I was like: "man..might as well get 2 x WD 6400AAKS already for the same amount" Sure enough tiraides specified this as well.


tiraides said:
From the looks of the site, J&R is nothing more than a "high-end" Circuit City/Best Buy clone. I suggest getting the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, speakers) and any additional software (read: games) you want with the gift card. (For the case, power supply, and the internal components, NewEgg beats J&R every inch along a country mile.)

But again:

- Get the E8400 and P5Q Pro bundle at NewEgg. The E8400 can overclock just as easily as the E8500/E8600.
- For overclocking, the AC Freezer 7 Pro won't cut it. Get either the OCZ Vendetta 2 or the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (with retention bracket).
- If you're overclocking, get the DDR2 1000 kit. Chances are that, if this rig is to be used more for gaming than anything else, you won't need the second 4GB RAM kit.
- Two WD6400AAKS hard drives are faster and have more space than one 1TB Caviar HDD for around the same price. Consider those instead.
- VisionTek has a limited lifetime warranty; Sapphire has questionable reliability.
- The Antec 850W power supply is expensive overkill. The Corsair TX750 is a comparative bargain (though still overkill).

If you like modular cabling, consider the Corsair HX620. But keep in mind that the TX750 costs less but has more power (not that you really need the power; the point is that it costs less than the HX620).
Click to expand...
 
tiraides good point on J&R for games/software/speaks, I have G15 mouse/keyboard (I need to learn some cool macros for that lcd screen though).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
This PSU?

... those heatsinks look intense, is either of them easier for a novice to work with? price is no option for this component.

I don't want to raid my HD's, doesn't that shorten their lives? I want the hard drives to last awhile for sure.
 
You want a high-powered, modular power supply that won't break the bank? Get the Silverstone ST70F.

For a similar-sized case for less, consider the Cooler Master RC-690 from either Amazon or Buy.com. (You should also pick up a couple of Yate Loon or Scythe Slipstream fans as well.)

Lian-Li cases in general are good... and have enough room for most people's needs. I haven't used a PCI-E TV tuner before, so I can't give a verdict on it. Hauppauge, however, is known for making quality tuner cards, so that's a plus.
 
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LongWayRound said:
... those heatsinks look intense, is either of them easier for a novice to work with? price is no option for this component.
Click to expand...

The CPU coolers that I recommended come with their own thermal compound, which is good enough for your needs (omit the Arctic Silver), and have a set of instructions on how to mount them. (There are also online guides available, if you're afraid that the pictures in the manual are going to be too small.)

LongWayRound said:
I don't want to raid my HD's, doesn't that shorten their lives? I want the hard drives to last awhile for sure.
Click to expand...

I made no mention of putting them in RAID... and no, RAID won't shorten the lifespan of the hard drives.
 
The Corsair TX750 that tiraides specified is solid already with 60A on the +12v. That Antec 850Watt has 64A total on the +12V. Only 4Amps more but cost alot more to than the Corsair TX750. As far as raiding the 2 x WD 6400AAKS. I wouldn't bother. I would just set that up as a secondary drive for extra storage.
 
Oh yes, Asus HD4870X2 with the chick on it. Hehe. Naw but the Visiontek HD4870X2 has a lifetime warranty on it so, this would be a better choice. Best Buy online has it $10 cheaper than NewEgg. On the harddrives, I would do that. O/S on one and files on the other drive. Scary to have 1 big 1TB drive go down. If you lose 1 x 640gig drive you still have the other 640gig.
 
Nah, I wouldnt bother. It has adequate cooling already and with that big 250mm fan blowing on the side that outta povide very good cooling on the mobo/gpu. A 120mm in the front blowing in, 250mm blowing on the side and a 120mm exhaust fan in the back. Good already.
 
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