New gaming build - Need advice!

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Deutch420

Gawd
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Messages
601
Hey guys,
I am looking to build a new PC strictly for gaming (COD4, Crysis). Normally i wouldn't need assistance but I am not up-to-date. Ive built numerous PCs in my day but its been about 10 months since I've looked at parts. With that said, I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions on the cheapest way to make this build happen WITHOUT cutting any crucial corners. I think its plausible to stay around the $1,500 range (i already have case) But i will spend more if justifiable.

My only requirements would be that it be able to game @ native resolution on my Westinghouse 37" 1920x1080 on high settings in games such as COD4 and Crysis WITHOUT dropping below 40-50FPS.

I'm not huge on over clocking the CPU, so whatever you suggest will need to be quick out of box..(although i hear Q6600's are amongst the easiest to OC.)

So long story short i was wondering what you guys would buy if you were in my shoes, with my budget. Keeping in mind your only goal is to build a PC for games.

I'm pretty set on going with:
Q6600
4GB of ram (even if i go with XP, at $25 p/GB, i really dont care)
500gb 7200.11 HDD
Li Lian PC-V1000 (already have)
Cheap optical

What it seems to come down to is Motherboard and GPU. As a result of not knowing if i should drop the $$$ on SLi or not, i cant know what motherboard to go with. And i have to be able to justify doubling my GPU costs before spend the $$$ on SLi. Will 2x 8800GT's or 2x 8800GTS 512's out preform a 8800GTX...? Yes, they probably would; but by how much? Does it warrant spending double on GPUs.... for what, 5FPS? I personally don't think so... But the gains could be much more than 5FPS. This is why i need help!

Long story short, I'm not sure if i should go SLi or maybe just get one 8800GTS 512 (G92) w/ the EVGa step up program. And I'm not sure which motherboard to go with to accommodate the GPU. So if you could point me in the direction you would go GPU/motherboard wise i would appreciate it. Keep in mind high resolution gaming is my goal. Crysis isn't as much of a concern as COD4, but i want to leave myself headroom for future games....

What type of cooling would you guys go with? Im going to want to OC the GPU a lot, where as the CPU wont get heavily OC'd. Are there water cooling systems for just the GPU? Should i just stick with air cooling? Go full water cooling? Is it really hard? etc...

I dont like Vista. But would you suggest i buy it and use it? or wait another 6 months or so before buying? I really dont care that XP only recognizes 3.5GB out of 4GB. So if thats the only reason to upgrade, ill pass. :D

What do u suggest for a really good pair of headphones? Comfort, quality and aesthetics are all i care about w/ headphones.. Having a small but quality microphone would be a uber plus as well.

Any incite you can give is greatly appreciated. And keep in mind this system is STRICTLY for gaming and will be high resolution.

Thanks a lot
Billy
 
well if you have a 64-bit xp or vista then itll recognize 4gb of ram.

one 8800gts performs as well as the gtx. id get one of those to start off with seeing how you want performance. but there is a new series of cards coming out in a couple months. (9xxx series) but if cant wait then get the gts or gt. seeing how your playing at that high of resolution and want to play 40-50+ fps then sli is prob best for you unless you dont necesarrily need the absolute best graphics. the new 780i mobo's are pricey but they have pci express 2.0 which is meant for the newer cards but have the capability to run present video cards. i think 680i will do though because right now you dont see much of a speed difference between pci express 2.0 and 1.1. plus its cheaper than the 200-300 780i mobo's.

if you decide to go with one card then i would get a p35 mobo. get gt/gts and see how you like it. crysis is a very demanding game but you should have no problems with cod4.

when getting q6600, make sure to get the G0 SLACR edition as it is cooler than the other versions of
 
I'd get the 512MB GTS, an IP35-Pro or Asus P5K-E board, a logitech gaming mouse, and a sennheiser PC151 headset.

Vista is OK but there's no reason I can see to switch.
 
I'd wait it out and go with an Intel chipset. It's what I've done. Grab one single fast card now. And ride it out till the next gen.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

So the way i see it is some people say go with a 8800GTS 512 $350 OR go with 2x 8800GT SLi $500. So would the extra $150 i would spend on 2x GTs be worth it over 1x GTS? From what i hear with my requirements (high resolution high FPS) i would be better off with SLi... And 150 more isn't terrible.

So how would you guys compare 1 800GTS 512 to 2x 8800GT's SLi?

Thanks
 
Why are there 512 GT's are $269 and other 512 GT's are $340?

Also, im reading a lot of bad reviews on the 680i. I don't plan on going nuts with the CPU OC, if at all. So should i be worried? I don't have extra parts laying around to troubleshoot with if this motherboard is DOA.
 
Wishlist link doesn't work. Just list out all your parts.

The more expensive 8800GT cards are usually factory overclocked, have a newer/better HSF or both. The $70 8800GT is a good choice.

Like I said in my reply PM, I wouldn't get a 680i mobo at the moment. Though at least wait until the 780i mobo comes out. Hopefully that should be a bit more stable the current 680i chipset.
 
Judging from what I've heard so far,the 780i isn't much of an improvement over the 680.I'd skip the headaches of SLI and go with an Intel board with the 8800GTS.
 
Q6600 + 680i LT shouldn't cause much issues, but here's an alternative Phenom+SLI build. This will save you $200 over an Intel build (Q6600=$275, 680i LT=$160, HSF~$50). You'll also get a very nice PSU for only $100.
Gigabyte's website claims the mobo supports Phenom with a bios update. This means you'll need a spare Athlon AM2 CPU, and I'm not REALLY sure if the Phenom will run properly or not. Don't put hopes on overclocking though.

$300 - Rosewill RX750-D-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 750W Power Supply - Retail
- AMD Phenom 9500 Agena 2.2GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD9500WCGDBOX - Retail
$85 - GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

The Q6600 is faster than the 9500 but TBH, performance in games is GPU-bound, except at low resolutions, but even then the CPU is seen to give very comfortable FPS.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3153&p=9
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQyMiw4LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

What matters most is the video card. SLI 8800GT or GTS will bring a nice improvement at high resolutions in certain games and settings.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/11/02/nvidia_geforce_8800_gt/5
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQxMCw0LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA== (scroll down to "1920x1200 – 8800 GT SLI vs. 8800 Ultra - Apples-to-Apples")
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=12
 
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