My Final Gaming Build

V

Volume

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
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List revised according to suggestions posted below...

What I did was ask around and see what hardware I actually need to play my games smoothly, and compiled what I think is a complete list of what I'll be ordering very soon. I plan on playing Source games, Call of Duty 4 and 5, Command and Conquer 3, GTA4, and of course messing around in Crysis. I DO plan on overclocking the system if/when I need to.

This is meant as a "budget" gaming PC and I am focusing on the case and everything in it. I already have a 22" 1680x1050 monitor and all needed peripherals that are not included in the list below.

CASE: Antec Three-Hundred needed a cheap, reputable case
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L
CPU: Intel C2D E8400 decided to go for more raw power in the dual-core setup rather than utilize a quad-core just yet
HSF: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
MEMORY: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
HDD: Western Digital, model to be determined
ODD: Lite-On, model to be determined
VIDEO: Asus 4870 512MB

What do you think? This box comes out ~$833 shipped. I plan on using Vista Business 64-bit that I already have.
 
samven582 said:
why not go for the ati 4850?
Click to expand...

Because you have not given me a reason to yet :p

UDATE: The more benchmarks I look at the more I find that the 9800GTX+ actually outperforms the 4850 in most games I care about. The one at anandtech seems to favor the 4850 while a few others are the opposite...
 
1. 6400AAKS or Black as HD
2. G.Skill 1000MHz ram
3. Didn't you post a build thread earlier already with questions answered?
4. Power draw won't even be 400w. 600w is more than sufficient.
5. Overclocking doesn't eat a block's worth of power grid resulting in the need of a massive PSU.
 
Onless you get a great deal on 9800 GTX+ is priced too close a 4870 price point and 4870 would easy stomp a mud hole in 9800 GTX+ any day of the week.
 
I agree with what lowteckh and lt_shiro recommended. However, I have some issue with the general suggestion of not skimping on a motherboard. If you don't need a feature, don't spend extra for it.

There are two good motherboards that are available for under $100 each: the Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L and the MSI P43 Neo3-F. Both boards use the P43 chipset, only have one PCI-E x16 slot, but don't have any extra features like RAID or a second Ethernet port... but they are stable (at stock/default settings) and don't cost an arm or a leg. (The GA-EP43-DS3L is also a pretty decent overclocking board, though not as good as its more expensive siblings, and the P43 Neo3-F comes with eight SATA ports, which no other sub-$100 board has.)

Get the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W PSU instead. It's still overkill for your setup, but it's cheaper (before MIR) than the Corsair TX750.
 
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The Foxconn X38A comes at a good price, but it ignores the main point of my post -- don't pay for extra features that you aren't going to use.

The main appeal of an X38 motherboard is dual x16 CrossFire support, which the OP (with his 22" 1680x1050 monitor) doesn't need. I believe that the OP would be better off with one of the P43 boards that I recommended earlier and either the 1GB HD4870 or the GTX 260 Core 216 instead.
 
Don't laugh, Hal. Foxconn, for the most part, makes some decent motherboards -- though I will concede that nothing it's released recently could compare with the Gigabyte and Asus boards that are recommended more often here.
 
As an entity, they are immensely larger than Gigabyte and ASUS combined. Not to mention, Foxconn basically makes everything. Who makes your iPods? Foxconn! Who makes that LAN port on my DFI board? Foxconn! Who makes the Xbox360, the PS3, the Wii? Foxconn! Paranoid of gov't watching you? Foxconn has more presence under your roof than those creeps.
 
Foxconn make the output ports etc. for GIGABYTE motherboards. giga make the important things like capacitors etc, hence why the boards are a lot better. summary; foxconn are child's play in the recent market, although their older boards are probably decent.
 
tiraides said:
Don't laugh, Hal. Foxconn, for the most part, makes some decent motherboards -- though I will concede that nothing it's released recently could compare with the Gigabyte and Asus boards that are recommended more often here.
Click to expand...


Foxconn makes motherboards for Dells. Out of the 42 Dell that have come in for the year for repair. 19 of those are from motherboards going bad and these are just out of warranty systems. :rolleyes:
 
No, they're not a top tier mobo company, but they don't make crap quality boards either. Their boards are decent enough for a huge OEM like Dell to use. Think of the sheer number of systems dell ships. If they made shit boards, dell wouldn't use them. They are a huge company that makes anything and everything... and if their quality was bad, they wouldn't be so big or get the contracts that they do.

An X38 board for $100? Hell yah thats a good deal. You're trying to tell me just because its made by Foxconn its not worth it? :confused: Find me a better deal with at least the same features from a so called better brand for the same price? I thought not. I'd trust a Foxconn over many of the other brands out there, lol. No, their boards aren't the best, but they are far from the worst.
 
Thanks for the replies so far, guys. What I'm gathering so far is that it may be worth going with the 4870 for the ~$70-80 price difference and that I can take it a little easier on the mobo and PSU. I will work on it some more.

Are you pretty sure that a 4870 will make a difference from a 9800GTX+ at my resolution?
I am looking at two different 4870's by SAPPHIRE. One is $200 while the other is $260, but i can't find a difference between them other than a model number difference:
1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810

And the Visiontek one that seems to be popular is priced at $280, no thanks :confused:
 
HD4870 1GB for a 22" should last you quite a while. ;)

Just remember, rebates are never guaranteed, so don't take on too many at once and stay on top of them.
 
Volume said:
List revised according to suggestions posted below...

What I did was ask around and see what hardware I actually need to play my games smoothly, and compiled what I think is a complete list of what I'll be ordering very soon. I plan on playing Source games, Call of Duty 4 and 5, Command and Conquer 3, GTA4, and of course messing around in Crysis. I DO plan on overclocking the system if/when I need to.

This is meant as a "budget" gaming PC and I am focusing on the case and everything in it. I already have a 22" 1680x1050 monitor and all needed peripherals that are not included in the list below.

CASE: Antec Three-Hundred needed a cheap, reputable case
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L
CPU: Intel C2D E8400 decided to go for more raw power in the dual-core setup rather than utilize a quad-core just yet
HSF: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
MEMORY: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
HDD: Western Digital, model to be determined
ODD: Lite-On, model to be determined
VIDEO: Asus 4870 1GB Black Knight $200AR

What do you think? This box comes out ~$870 shipped. I plan on using Vista Business 64-bit that I already have.
Click to expand...

where are you finding the 4870 DK 1gb for 200AR?
 
damn, I thought u actually found a deal..problem is at newegg it included a trial version of WOW for $50 so they add that to the price = $250 before rebate, not as good as zzf's 230 before rebate deal which happens to be sold out
 
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