high end gaming system

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r3m3dy

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I have revised the system a lot but I know there are probably some problems and better choices I could make which is why I am asking for your advice. I appreciate any advice even if it is a small detail.

Monitor--Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor-$959
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-4221&cs=19&c=us&l=en
~~~Anyone have a coupon for this?

Motherboard--DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR ATX AMD Motherboard-$200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813136151

CPU--AMD Athlon 64 FX57 San Diego 1GHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - OEM -$1031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103559
~~~Is the XP90c the best heatsink to get with this cpu?

Video Card(2)--XFX PVT70FUNF7 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card with 450MHz Core and 1250MHz Memory-$1000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150100

Case-- Thermaltake Armor VA8000SWA Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window-$175
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133155

Floppy Disk--SONY Black Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black – OEM--$11
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16821103116

Memory(2x1gb)-- OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Platinum System Memory-$270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227210

PSU--PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V 510W Power Supply 90 - 264V UL/ ULC/ TUV/ CE -$220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817703001

HD--Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer and Serial ATA Cable Bundle -$188
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101222-316604

HD-- Maxtor Maxline III 7L250S0 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer-$127
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100718-6
~~~Is this the type of Maxtor HD that I should get? I could settle for 200 gb also.

Media--PLEXTOR Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 4X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner-$93
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...357&ATT=CD+DVD+Burners+RW+Dr&CMP=OTC-d3alt1me

Cooling--Thermalright XP-90C Copper Heatsink-$45
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2836&cat=169&page=1
~~~Which fan should I choose from? How often do you have to clean the surface with this ceramic stuff?

Mouse—MX518-$40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16826104178

Keyboard--Saitek Black Wired Eclipse Keyboard-$47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16823175103

Mouse Pad--Banshee Pad-$40
http://www.bansheepad.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16133&category_id=248

Headphones--Sennheiser HD555 Stereo Headphones-$150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826106392

Mircrophone--Logitech 980240-0403 Black 3.5mm Connector Desktop Microphone-$9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836111602

OS--Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 - OEM-$147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102153



Some questions I have is whether or not I will need to buy a NIC card(not sure if it will come with another part) and which non wireless router I should get. I would like one that transfers data the fastest without losing any of it. Another question I have is whether I am missing something. I put down everything I plan on buying so if you see something that I will need please let me know. Thank you.
 
I have one question. What is the point?

Who cares if you have 70fps or 150fps. You wont even notice the difference. Personally i'd cut your budget back.
 
Skimmed it quickly, and what you have listed there looks good.

*stares

That's going to be one sweet system. ;)

EDIT: Didn't see that you already had the optical drives. Stupid me... never mind. :)

One more thing: AMD just lowered prices for most of their processors. You could probably go sub-$1000 on the X2 4800+ if you look around.
 
Yeah looks good. If you have the money to spend and wan't SLI go for it. Parts will run well with that mobo too. The OCZ will run extremely well the the DFI.
 
With a system that high end why skimp on the PSU? PowerStreams are okay, but for $50 more you can get a much better PSU.

Get a PCP&C 510 SLI.
 
Those headphones are subpar with that setup. May i reccomend some Sennheiser HD 590's? You will notice a difference.
 
Don't worry so much about watts. Check out the amps on each rail. That 510 is putting out more amps on the 12v rail (the one that's gonna run your video card(s)) than the 600 at its max output (which actually occurs at 520W, not 600W).
 
You could certainly afford to cut your budget down significantly. $4500 is way too much to spend on a system all at the same time.

Most of the stuff in that system will have become outdated by the next generation in a matter of six months, so it's better to leave money for upgrades, which will make it easer when the current parts come down in price, than it is to shell out all of that cash.

First of all, you don't need a 600W PSU. 500W should be just fine. As a matter of fact, the wattage doesn't matter as much as the rail voltage does.

I'd go with an Athlon 64 3500 or 3700 for now. Upgrade to the 4800 once it comes down in price.

One 7800GTX will perform more than well enough right now. ATI's newest line of cards should help to drive down prices, so if you want to go SLI in the future, a second card will be cheaper, but for now you don't need it.

That should cut about $1200 off the cost.
 
EricNS said:
Those headphones are subpar with that setup. May i reccomend some Sennheiser HD 590's? You will notice a difference.
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Do you know of any headphones that come with a mic that would be good?
 
why not get monitor directly from Dell? they always have coupons that make it cheaper.
 
You should get the monitor directly from Dell. There is a very good chance you might get one with dead pixels or another issue that would cause you to need a replacement. You wont beat Dell's customer service.

Dont waste $1,000 on an X2 4800+ when you can get an X2 4200+ or 4400+ for about half that much. There is no benefit to the 4800+. Its only 200Mhz faster then the 4400+. All X2's will overclock to relatively the same speed which is in the 2.5-2.6Ghz range usually.

You should also spend the extra amount and get XP Pro. XP Home sucks and i'm not even sure if it supports dual core CPU's or not.
 
Cannot anyone give me a link to the windows xp pro because i am not sure which form of xp pro to get?(there is xp pro, xp pro with sp2, xp pro X64, etc)
 
r3m3dy said:
Cannot anyone give me a link to the windows xp pro because i am not sure which form of xp pro to get?(there is xp pro, xp pro with sp2, xp pro X64, etc)
Click to expand...

Get XP Pro w/ SP2 or you'll have to install Service Pack 2 after you finish your Windows install or you'll have to Slipstream it on to a new XP Pro CD you create. You dont want X64 because that is the 64-bit version and driver support is still pretty scarce. There isn't really any benefit to going 64-bit yet ither.
 
Lord Nassirbannipal said:
You could certainly afford to cut your budget down significantly. $4500 is way too much to spend on a system all at the same time.

Most of the stuff in that system will have become outdated by the next generation in a matter of six months, so it's better to leave money for upgrades, which will make it easer when the current parts come down in price, than it is to shell out all of that cash.

First of all, you don't need a 600W PSU. 500W should be just fine. As a matter of fact, the wattage doesn't matter as much as the rail voltage does.

I'd go with an Athlon 64 3500 or 3700 for now. Upgrade to the 4800 once it comes down in price.

One 7800GTX will perform more than well enough right now. ATI's newest line of cards should help to drive down prices, so if you want to go SLI in the future, a second card will be cheaper, but for now you don't need it.

That should cut about $1200 off the cost.
Click to expand...

Guess he doesnt care about 5k. :confused:
 
why would i waste my time and write all of this up and do the research. amd cut the prices on their x2's so i believe i can find a good deal somewhere on a 4800+.
 
r3m3dy said:
HD--Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer and Serial ATA Cable Bundle -$188
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produ...e=101222-316604

HD-- Maxtor Maxline III 7L250S0 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer-$127
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produ...ctCode=100718-6

both of these hard drives are bare drives. will i need to buy something else to get them to work?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the plug on the HD Buyer's Guide Papa. To answer Remedy's question, you will need an SATA data cable, and for the Maxtor drive, an SATA power cable. Most enthusiast motherboards ship with an SATA data cable for each port, and least one or two Molex to SATA power adapters. WD's SATA drives take regular Molex power connectors or the new SATA power (do NOT use bothat the same time). Maxtor's SATA units require the SATA power connector. Many newer PSUs have these connectors built in, or you can grab an adapter that came with your mobo or that is commercially available.

XP Home supports dual core CPUs, and has a multi processor kernel and HAL. Its license is limited to one CPU socket, regardless of how many cores or logical CPUs from Hyperthreading that one socket has.

Also, it was suggested earlier that reducing the budget to go from 150 fps to 70 fps would be a good idea. If you are getting the 2405FPW with a resolution of 1920x1200, then you'll keep both of those 7800GTX's busy.

As for the Power Supply, make sure you grab an SLI certified unit. The Seasonic S12 600W and PCP&C 510 SLI come to mind. My 2 cents.
 
DougLite said:
Also, it was suggested earlier that reducing the budget to go from 150 fps to 70 fps would be a good idea. If you are getting the 2405FPW with a resolution of 1920x1200, then you'll keep both of those 7800GTX's busy.
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I kind of exaggerated a little. I didnt mean those #'s literally, i was trying to make a point that you wouldnt notice a difference between the two. I see the point of one 7800gtx. But two? I'd get one now then throw another one in later 6 months to a year from now when it's cheaper.

Plus spending 1k on a cpu is ridiculous. Like others have said the other dual cores that are around 500$ are just as good.
 
He could also save $60 or so by going with Crucial 1024MB PC3200 Value sticks instead of the OCZ PC3200 Platinum. They will actually overclock better and are pretty cheap.
 
i would change the optical drive to a BenQ 1640

I would change the heatsink to an XP-90C b/c it truly does perform better than the aluminum version.

I agree with the CPU comment. Go for the X2 3800 and overclock it if you really want dual core. The video games however will prefer a single core so shoot for an AMD 3200+ Venice or 3700+ San Diego, then overclock the crap out of it. With the dro in price you could even go for the gold by investing in a water cooling system if you really want to get high overclocks.

I agree with switching out the memory for some crucial value memory or corsair.

Everything else looks great...this bad boy will scream once you get it up and running.
 
i was thinking about getting an fx but then i was told that even for gaming a dual core would be better because it would be a better long term investment. also why do you suggest the benQ over the NEC? When compared the NEC looks faster. last question i have is which fan i should get with the xp90c(nexus 92mm silent, zalman zm f2, panaflo l1bx 3pin, panaflo 92mm m1a 3pin, or panaflo 92mm h1b 3pin) Thanks for your advice.
 
r3m3dy said:
i was thinking about getting an fx but then i was told that even for gaming a dual core would be better because it would be a better long term investment. also why do you suggest the benQ over the NEC? When compared the NEC looks faster.
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The FX 57 is far more powerful than any X2 even the 4800+
But when it comes to multitasking the X2 wins hands down.

You need to figure out what you plan to do with your system.
If you do a lot of media work and like to be able to encode a dvd, watch something on WMP and run a virus scan all at the same time, X2 is your baby.

If you like to game a lot and even host games from your PC, the FX 57 will rule your world.
 
well i am REALLY into gaming and i usually don't do anything while i'm in game except play the game. allthough when i am out of game i have a ton of different programs running. i hear that they are going to incorporate dual processors into future games. if i know that the fx will still be more powerful than an x2 in the future when the technology catches up with dual processors then i will definitely go with the fx. question i am asking is what will be the better long term investment for a gamer.
 
Majin said:
The FX 57 is far more powerful than any X2 even the 4800+
But when it comes to multitasking the X2 wins hands down.

You need to figure out what you plan to do with your system.
If you do a lot of media work and like to be able to encode a dvd, watch something on WMP and run a virus scan all at the same time, X2 is your baby.

If you like to game a lot and even host games from your PC, the FX 57 will rule your world.
Click to expand...

Yes the fx 57 is faster but think hes going for a 24 inch dell. At the native resultion 1920x1200 cpu speed is not as important as the vid cards. we are talking 1-2 frames a second at that res. Same thing goes for a 4400+ or 4800+, will you notice any real word difference?? I dont think so. Plus it would be a shame not to overclock a rig with very overclockable parts. The 4400+ can do 4800+ speeds at default voltages.
I have a system very similar to the one your building:
Asus A8N premium, 4400+, 2 BFG 7800's, 2 gigs ram and a 24 inch dell. It will own any game at max settings that is out. When I say max settings I mean max everything at 1920x1200. In BF2 I play with everything maxed at 1920x1200, yes its streached, and get 60+ fps even with stuff blowing up around me.
 
r3m3dy said:
well i am REALLY into gaming and i usually don't do anything while i'm in game except play the game. allthough when i am out of game i have a ton of different programs running. i hear that they are going to incorporate dual processors into future games. if i know that the fx will still be more powerful than an x2 in the future when the technology catches up with dual processors then i will definitely go with the fx. question i am asking is what will be the better long term investment for a gamer.
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Computer and investment dont go hand in hand. By the time the x2's are to slow amd will not be using the 939's you will want to upgrade mb and cpu so does it matter? When this rig is put in as a second string gaming rig the x2 will handle most power user applications better.
 
is john saying that the x2 would be better to go with because it will last longer? and also which router would be the best?
 
do NIC cards come with the motherboard or do people just not include those in their setups when they post them?
 
The motherboard you linked comes with two Gigabit Ethernet controllers. One is built into the NF4 chipset, the other is a bonus. Virtually any motherboard manufactured today is going to have onboard LAN.
 
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