help building my gaming rig

M

milkymilk

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
99
while hardforums were down I went to sysopt.com to answer my questions...

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=163552

i'll ask the same question in here

I want to build a new computer this summer but I have a budget on it. Probably $1100 +/-100 more or less. I want it to handle doom3 smoothly. I guess if any computer that can handle d3 smoothly can handle just about any game right now.. i ono heh but yea.. I'm thinking about this setup... i have a few things to consider.. i need some suggestions on what to get...

Processor
-------------
- AMD Athlon 64 3200 (how much will it go down in 2 months?)

Ram
---------
-Corsair PC400 512mb ram (that's what I'm aiming for, but I'm not sure which brand is good anymore give me suggestions please)

Motherboard
--------------------
- MSI K8N Neo

Hard Drive
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- Seagate Barracuda ST3200822A 200GB Hard Drive

CD Drives
--------------
- Plextor PX708A DVD±RW Writer
( 8x/4x/12x DVD+RW, 4x/2x/12x DVD-RW, 40x/24x/40x CDRW)
- I need a second drive but i don't know what to get

Video Card
---------------
- ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

Floppy Drive
-----------------
-Sony?

Sound Card
-----------------
- Creative Labs AUDIGY2 ZS PCI SOUNDCARD (probably the one with just the soundcard)

Speakers
---------------
- Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers

Keyboard/Mouse
-----------------------
- Logitech Cordless MX Duo Cordless Elite Keyboard w/MX700 Opt (wireless keyboard/optical mouse)

Monitor
------------
Samsung SyncMaster 955DF
(19", 1600x1200, .20mm)

Case
-----------
- Still have no idea... aiming towards the antec lanboy but I want to experiment with modding the case... what kind of cases do you modders use? can you mod a pre-modded case?

Cooling
------------
Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU Cooler For AMD Opteron and Athlon 64, Model "A1744" (someone in sysopt forums suggested this, any second opinions?)

PSU
----------
Antec or Enermax? how many watts if i wanna o/c?

I kind of want to be able to OC my computer this time but I'm not sure what to buy for cooling under this budget


I'm still saving up to get it so I will probably buy it around august

thanks guys :)
 
I have to go soon, but just wanted to add something real quick.

I would suggest getting two 512mb sticks of ram, or at least plan on upgrading when doom3 comes out or whatever. If you are overclocking Corsair XMS or Kingston Hyper X are good brands.

and the PSU I would get at least a 400 watt one, but you have to pay attention to the Amps and not just watts. Look for one with high amps on the 12v rail. I'm not positive, but on a quality PSU, around 18A should be sufficient.
 
With that amount of money, the A64 would be good. Go dual channel for the RAM. For the vid card, i would suggest the 9600XT, as the are the best bang for your buck and could handle Doom3. If you do want the 9800XT, wait until the X800 comes out. The prices will drop fast. For the PSU, it doesn't really matter whether you choose Enermax or Antec. Just make sure its over 400 watts.
 
Def. want to look at getting a 36gb raptor drive. Trust me I have one and it is worth the money. Also make sure that you have everything on a good motherboard. Cause if u don't all your going to have is instablties.

Caliche
 
If you want to mod, I'd suggest a Lian Li mid-tower case. I personally hate the Antec cases and I've given given away both I've ever bought. They aren't so great compared to my normal Lian Li or Coolermaster cases.
 
Caliche said:
Def. want to look at getting a 36gb raptor drive. Trust me I have one and it is worth the money.
Click to expand...

Well, not really. I had one, and couldn't really tell a difference, even in benchmarking. It certainly wasn't worth giving up all that extra space. Now, if your going with the Raptor, get 2....then you will see them shine.
 
I am going to reinforce the 1GB of RAM idea, you are going to NEED that for Doom III, or any other future game for that matter. You will be able to get away with the 512, but it won't be smooth.

For the PSU, anything from 350-500W will work fine, as long as it is a quality product. A 420W would be a good bet.
 
get 1 gb of ram (at least pc3200)
get an antec true380 or better still the 430
drop the plextor drive and get a liteon 851s (the one i have) it was 89 bucks shipped and has the same burning specs
the case is all up to you... its depends on what you like.. you can still mod a pre-mod, just requires less work.
raptors are sweet...

if you hurry your ass up, you can get over to compusa by saturday, and get a 250gb maxtor for 130 + tax out the door, no rebates.
 
i will get 1gig of ram but i needa figure out what i have left after i buy all the important components first... i run on 1 gig of ram right now.. kinda slow cuz i have a generic + a corsair in :(

NEC: i have a budget :(

what exactly are raptors? 250 gig at compusa? you serious?
 
If you don't have much money left but still want a quality case, then i recommend the lian Li PC-7. It's similar to the PC 6 series and the price isn't that high
 
If you only have 1100 to put into it, I'd say maximize the essentials, and leave the rest for later

- I'd get a smaller system drive, either an 80gb hitach or samsung serial ATA for $75-$80, or maybe even a raptor 37gb for just over $100. (better to have a large hard drive as a second drive altogether every time in my opinion).

- Skip the high priced plextor and go with the NEC 2510a. $92 for the drive, plus many people working on firmwares says there really is no other choice here.

- I'd skip the audigy for now. Add it later on down the line. It's not "essential".

- Take all the money you saved from the above changes, and put it towards an X800 and 1gb of PC3700 or 4000 RAM.
 
Update:

Hmm... I think my budget of 1100 bucks has been bumped up a bit

thinking about going dangerden watercooling, what kinda RAM should I get? I'm planning to OC the AMD 64 3200.. I'd go corsair but i dunno which kind
 
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