Old Geezer Needs Build Info

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stacksmasher

n00b
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
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I just got about 1500 back on my taxes and was looking at a gaming laptop but for what I would pay for a laptop I can build a nice gaming computer I can just lug around to LAN parties if I need to.

I have:
Cheiftec Case
A8N-SLI
AMD 3800+
2GB DDR RAM
7800GT
16X DVD RW

I would add:
2 X 10000 Raptors in RAID 0
600Watt power supply
4800 Dual Core

I know a few years ago guys where getting the Dual Core Intels and overclocking the c*ap out of them for sweet performance. Should I get a Nvidia GTX260 or just add another 7800GT in SLI? Would I be better off getting another motherboard with better RAM? I think the GTX260 should be enough with the dual core 4800 to game just fine.

I know you guys are the uber Elite so whatever you recommended is the direction I will go.

Thanks Guys (and gals)
 
Well, the main question is how much do you want to spend, and what kind of performance are you looking for?

Please also answer the rest of the questions in the sticky for more/better help. ;)

In any case, I'd ditch the raptors in RAID0 plan. I've been there, done that, not worth it - for me, anyway.
 
Im sorry I guess I posted 1500 as a general figure but I did not specify the total amount.

I posted all the equipment I have and what I was looking at buying and as far as performance goes, I like to play all games except Crysis.

What issues have you had with the Dual 10K RPM drives in Raid 0?
I thought that was the de-facto standard for gaming
 
I would not even bother with 2 x 7800GT in SLI. My brother has 2 x 7800GTX in SLI and they're considered slow by todays standards. I would not bother with your current rig and would build a new system. $1500 is a decent amount of money to build a new system. Like enginurd mentioned earlier, it depends on how much you willing to spend with that $1500 budget. If you are referring to an AMD Dual core 4800 series cpu, I would not go with that cpu either. Personally, I would whip up something like this with that budget

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
MOBO - Intel P45 Mobo
VIDEO - Geforce GTX 275
RAM - 4gig DDR2 800
HDD - 640gig HDD
OPTICAL - 22x SATA DVD BURNER
PSU - 650 Watt
O/S - Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit

Total should be about $1,000 w/o shipping. Reuse the Cheiftec Case
 
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@ HardwareGuru
Welcome back! Haven't seen you in this part of the forum for a while :)

@ stacksmasher
I wouldn't say that Raptor RAID 0 is the defacto standard. Anyway, as Enginurd said, Raptors in RAID 0 are not worth the cost considering how regular consumer hard drives perform nowadays.

For example, this Western Digital 640GB Hard drive is only 10% slower than the 150GB Velociraptor drive, one of the fastest 10K consumer drive out there. Note the price difference. That 10% performance difference, still apparent in RAID0, is not worth the extra $110.

Please answer the questions in the sticky titled "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST" so that we can help you better.
 
Issues? I didn't get the uber performance I was looking for from 2x Raptors in RAID0. I didn't get instantaneous response when I clicked on a game to load. I didn't get instantaneous appearance of MS Excel when I opened a 600+ line excel spreadsheet. I didn't get much better performance than a single raptor. Those are just some of the issues I faced, aside from paying 100% more money for only <10% performance improvement. RAID0 will only help in certain situations, and average everyday tasks of web browsing, gaming, and word processing aren't any of them.

Right... games, you mentioned that, but you failed to mention your monitor size/type. We can't recommend a cost-effective GPU unless you provide such info.

Please fill in the blanks...

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
up to $1500
3) Where do you live?
__________________
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Either these:
2 X 10000 Raptors in RAID 0
600Watt power supply
4800 Dual Core

Or a whole new setup...
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
If possible, I'd like to re-use these...
Cheiftec Case
A8N-SLI
AMD 3800+
2GB DDR RAM
7800GT
16X DVD RW

6) Will you be overclocking?
__________________
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
__________________
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
__________________
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
__________________
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
__________________
Click to expand...

A single 8800GTS 512MB would outperform two 7800GT's in SLI, regardless of resolution; so no, SLI would not be a cost effective solution for you unless you got another 7800GT for free. However, with your budget, you could build a nice system, or even a "low end" one that would still outperform your old parts (even after upgraded to a 4800+).

I'd suggest ditching the s939 platform. Sell your old parts, and build a new system, if you're willing to spend the money -- and it doesn't have to be that much money. Answer the questions and you'll get better responses.
 
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