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Skipper007
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2004
- Messages
- 185
My dad has been a gamer for a few years now, so I normally play on his gear, not to mention get his handdowns. I do, after all, build the boxes for him. However, there's a possibility that I may be out of town for a while on an internship starting in January and won't have access to his rig. Therefore, I'm going to need my own rig. Luckily, the other city isn't far, just a couple hours from here, so I can transport my gear there fairly easily.
I have two price ranges I'm thinking of buying at: $700 CDN and $900 CDN. I have more but would prefer not to spend it. I would almost certainly be buying from NCIX, a local and online dealer, because I live like 30 minutes from one of their retail locations and therefore can take advantage of their low prices while not having to have it shipped. For most parts, I will have a "base" and "want" suggestion, corresponding to which price range it would come from.
Note: I live in Canada. This means my parts selection and pricing is different from that in the US. The website for NCIX is http://www.ncix.com/. Note that many of these prices are from their weekly special, but they're fairly consistent about their pricing and selection for those, actually.
CPU:
base: Intel E2180 o/ced to 2.67GHZ, about $88
want: Intel E4500 o/ced to 2.93GHZ, about $128
Both overclocks could be done simply by setting the FSB from 800 to 1066. Would I need to increase voltage as well? I'd like to keep everything but the CPU itself under warrenty if possible.
Also, will the o/c wear the CPU out faster? I do intend to keep the rig for a while. I've almost been wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to keep it running non-OCed for the first year or so then o/c it when games actually need more power. Right now most stuff is GPU limited.
Preferably, I'd like enough CPU power that I could squeeze some more life out of the system just by replacing the video card 1.5-2 years from now.
Cooler:
Base: stock Intel cooer
want: Scythe Katana or Freezer Pro 7, about $20
The latter are both fairly decent, aren't they? Would I need one of them for the OCs mentioned earlier?
Mainboard:
base: AsRock Conroe1333-D667, $58
Lacking in upgrade options, especially due to only having two RAM slots and lacking a non-OCed 1333FSB, but hey, looks to me like it should work for what I intend.
Want: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L about $97
Not sure what to say on this one really, seems a really solid board from what I hear and it should support newer CPUs if I decide I just want to replace the CPU at some point, right? Only things it seems to lack are Firewire and more than 4 SATA ports, neither of which is a big deal for me. I'll probably be using 2 SATA ports to begin with and it's been a while since any friends have asked me to let me use a machine of mine to edit stuff from their firewire camcorders, so...
Anyone know if these boards work with drive imaging software recovery discs?
RAM:
base: 2X 1GB Crucial Rendition DDR667, about $40 total
Want: 4GB of... what?
I keep hearing that it's more stable to use 2X 2GB carts for 4GB rather than 4 1GBs, but that's an extra $45 over using 1GBs ($125 vs $80). Also, since I'd probably be running an XP/Vista 64 dual boot, the last 1GB would only be usable in Vista correct?
Video:
base: ATI HD3870, about $240
Want: Galaxy 8800GT, memory factory OCed to 2GHZ. About $280, sometimes $260 on special.
I would really like to get that 8800GT. Actually, I'd really like to get EVGA's SSC version, but from what I hear my chances of getting one in time would pretty much be nil. Anyone know if the upcoming GTS V2 will be worth considering? This will be handling output for an LCD with a 1680X1050 res.
Drives: WD 500GB SATA and Pioneer DVR-111D, about $130
Actually, I want two 500s for backup and multiboot purposes, but I should be getting one for my current rig around Christmas and will just use that as the second. Sticking with IDE for the burner so I have room for another hard drive and next gen optical at some point on the SATA.
Case:
Antec Sonata III, $110 before rebate
I don't like the design as much as the II, but it's the cheapest thing I've seen with a supposedly decent 500 watt PSU.
I think it's also worth pointing out that since this system will probably lack a gameport, I may need new gaming controllers... currently, I have a Gravis Blackhawk joystick and MS Sidewinder gamepad, both of which are gameport. I've heard that the X360 controller is good for console ports. As for a joystick, I played a lot of Descent and Tie Fighter in the 90s, but not a lot of flying games since. Any suggestions on what games might justify a new stick, and which model?
I have two price ranges I'm thinking of buying at: $700 CDN and $900 CDN. I have more but would prefer not to spend it. I would almost certainly be buying from NCIX, a local and online dealer, because I live like 30 minutes from one of their retail locations and therefore can take advantage of their low prices while not having to have it shipped. For most parts, I will have a "base" and "want" suggestion, corresponding to which price range it would come from.
Note: I live in Canada. This means my parts selection and pricing is different from that in the US. The website for NCIX is http://www.ncix.com/. Note that many of these prices are from their weekly special, but they're fairly consistent about their pricing and selection for those, actually.
CPU:
base: Intel E2180 o/ced to 2.67GHZ, about $88
want: Intel E4500 o/ced to 2.93GHZ, about $128
Both overclocks could be done simply by setting the FSB from 800 to 1066. Would I need to increase voltage as well? I'd like to keep everything but the CPU itself under warrenty if possible.
Also, will the o/c wear the CPU out faster? I do intend to keep the rig for a while. I've almost been wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to keep it running non-OCed for the first year or so then o/c it when games actually need more power. Right now most stuff is GPU limited.
Preferably, I'd like enough CPU power that I could squeeze some more life out of the system just by replacing the video card 1.5-2 years from now.
Cooler:
Base: stock Intel cooer
want: Scythe Katana or Freezer Pro 7, about $20
The latter are both fairly decent, aren't they? Would I need one of them for the OCs mentioned earlier?
Mainboard:
base: AsRock Conroe1333-D667, $58
Lacking in upgrade options, especially due to only having two RAM slots and lacking a non-OCed 1333FSB, but hey, looks to me like it should work for what I intend.
Want: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L about $97
Not sure what to say on this one really, seems a really solid board from what I hear and it should support newer CPUs if I decide I just want to replace the CPU at some point, right? Only things it seems to lack are Firewire and more than 4 SATA ports, neither of which is a big deal for me. I'll probably be using 2 SATA ports to begin with and it's been a while since any friends have asked me to let me use a machine of mine to edit stuff from their firewire camcorders, so...
Anyone know if these boards work with drive imaging software recovery discs?
RAM:
base: 2X 1GB Crucial Rendition DDR667, about $40 total
Want: 4GB of... what?
I keep hearing that it's more stable to use 2X 2GB carts for 4GB rather than 4 1GBs, but that's an extra $45 over using 1GBs ($125 vs $80). Also, since I'd probably be running an XP/Vista 64 dual boot, the last 1GB would only be usable in Vista correct?
Video:
base: ATI HD3870, about $240
Want: Galaxy 8800GT, memory factory OCed to 2GHZ. About $280, sometimes $260 on special.
I would really like to get that 8800GT. Actually, I'd really like to get EVGA's SSC version, but from what I hear my chances of getting one in time would pretty much be nil. Anyone know if the upcoming GTS V2 will be worth considering? This will be handling output for an LCD with a 1680X1050 res.
Drives: WD 500GB SATA and Pioneer DVR-111D, about $130
Actually, I want two 500s for backup and multiboot purposes, but I should be getting one for my current rig around Christmas and will just use that as the second. Sticking with IDE for the burner so I have room for another hard drive and next gen optical at some point on the SATA.
Case:
Antec Sonata III, $110 before rebate
I don't like the design as much as the II, but it's the cheapest thing I've seen with a supposedly decent 500 watt PSU.
I think it's also worth pointing out that since this system will probably lack a gameport, I may need new gaming controllers... currently, I have a Gravis Blackhawk joystick and MS Sidewinder gamepad, both of which are gameport. I've heard that the X360 controller is good for console ports. As for a joystick, I played a lot of Descent and Tie Fighter in the 90s, but not a lot of flying games since. Any suggestions on what games might justify a new stick, and which model?