The $3,000 gaming rig thread

D

.diversant.

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Jun 15, 2007
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OK. I am demoting my current gaming rig to lesser duties (ripping/converting CDs, burning DVDs, general computing chores, etc.) and I want to build a gaming rig for $3,000. This is a dedicated gaming rig that will run Windows Vista. I am predicting 3K will buy me a kick a$$ rig that will last 4 to 5 years with only minor upgrades along the way. Below is a link to my newegg wish list (I would prefer to buy everything from them).

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8986787

So, if all of you OCing Gurus, computer gearheads and hot$hit system builders would please take a look at it, add your comments to this thread, tear it down, build it up, cuss me out, I don't care. Just as long as you are providing some feedback related to this rig. Thanks.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. The QX9650 is non-negotiable. That is the only thing that cannot be changed. And no I will not be swayed by any arguments or benchmarks showing that the AMD blah-blah-blah is better. Nothing at all against AMD but I made a choice to get the Intel QX9650 CPU.
2. I want a motherboard that does NOT use the Realtek audio chip. Analog Devices is the way to go IMO, much better quality audio. So, if the motherboard ends up having this chip, I will just disable it and buy an X-Fi or something like that. No big deal.
3. I really want someone to show me a different case. I like the svelte look of the Lian-Li but I just don't know if that case is worth $249. (I wont be putting any windows on the side of my case or anything like that.) I want the case to hide any indication that it is a gaming rig but it should be a top notch (preferably all aluminum) case.
4. No monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. Just the parts that are listed. And you can ignore the Sony Blu-Ray recorder/player. I am going back and forth on that one. Sony is so d@mn expensive but it looks like a nice one.
 
You should by an X-Fi in any case for gaming...especially on a 3000 budget...

That much CPU seems like a waste if all your doing is gaming...

DDR3 has no substantial real-world benefit over DDR2... There are many reviews that back that up.
 
Menelmarar said:
You should by an X-Fi in any case for gaming...especially on a 3000 budget...

That much CPU seems like a waste if all your doing is gaming...

DDR3 has no substantial real-world benefit over DDR2... There are many reviews that back that up.
Click to expand...

Again he says that he wants to still have this for couple of years.
 
1. Please post the list in this forum so that we don't have to click on any links.

2. You are missing a video card, perhaps the most important aspect of any $3,000 rig.

3. For us to offer meaningful advice, please a) list what you plan to do with the computer, including what types of games you plan to play and b) let us know what monitor you plan to use with the computer, including its resolution.

4. It's not quite encouraging to offer advice when you've already made it known that you've taken a non-negotiable stance stance about purchasing what most on this forum would agree is an egregious waste of money. Spending $1000 on a processor is ridiculous, regardless of the setup and how much you want to spend overall. There are many other things you can spend that money on which will have a much better performance and/or value return over a longer period of time. So lets start that conversation here. Why do you want an extreme chip?

EDIT: one more thing -- no amount of money will ensure that a computer you buy today will be kick ass 3 years from now with only minor upgrades. Thats not how PC technology works, for better or worse. This is doubly true now, considering that Nehelem (Intel's next generation CPU architecture) will require new motherboards with new sockets, making the core components of your system (motherboard, cpu, RAM) dead-end technology by the end of the year. There are times when you can spend $3K on a system that will maintain performance for a long time, but that depends as much on technology cycles as it does on the quality of the system itself. For instance, November 06 would have been a great time to buy high end, as a dual-8800 GTX Core 2 setup for $3K then would still pretty much be top gear now. With Nehelem on the horizon and DDR3 prices still too high to make any sense, this is not the time, in my opinion, to shoot for the moon with a new rig.

Thanks.
 
If this is going to be a gaming rig, why only 2 gigs of ram??

bump that up to 4.

Where's the graphics card??

wait one more week and the 9800GX2 should be out.
 
I agree that you should bump to 2x2gb of ram for 4gb and down the line you can add another 2x2gb to up that to 8gb if it's needed.

Of course you'll need to have a 64-bit OS involved, Vista x64 Ultimate of course.

I own that Lian-Li case, and I can attest that it is worth every penny. I know there are other cases out there that people like a lot, the P180B/P182 come to mind especially, but I came from a Lian-Li case, and once you've had a taste of that quality, there is nothing else that will satisfy.

I'm just floored by the fact that you have no graphics cards and no dedicated sound card and you're already at 3500$, that is just insane, there is something wrong here.

What monitor are you planning to run this on? That is just as important as the rig itself.
 
Remove the blu-ray drive. No need to pay top dollar for a drive that will be less than $200 bucks by the end of the year. HD-DVD is dead and I figure it will take until the end of the year to get rid of everything, meanwhile blu-ray has to come down in price for consumers to consider it. Otherwise their discs will remain on the selves like concrete blocks.

With $599 free to spend go ahead and get the 9xxx series Geforce card or whatever the latest and greatest video card is at the current moment. You will have to replace this later on anyway. No question about it.

I suggest the COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case at Newegg.com. It looks a lot better than the Li-Lian case that you chosen. Get some really quiet fans for an almost silent workstation.

I think the Zalman's do a better job at cooling. You could also try and get the Artic Freezer Pro heatsink if you want to go cheap.

Ditch the 2x1GB ram and get the 2x2GB RAM modules.

I like the WD and Maxtor drives. Seagate is good too. Why Samsung?
 
Note that he currently has selected DDR3 RAM, which is why he's looking at a 2x1 set. 2x2 in DDR3 is still very expensive.

DDR3 itself is absolutely not worth it for any Core 2 setup. It's incredibly overpriced for the minimal performance gains it brings to any Core 2 system. The value of DDR3 won't be realized until Nehelem, at which point prices for it should be much more reasonable. At the moment, DDR3 RAM is money down the drain.
 
Agreed about the RAM. DDR3 isn't future-proofing unless you intend to upgrade to Nehalem, which the OP doesn't seem to be planning, and it's not worth it at all for a Core 2 system.
 
3K will buy me a kick a$$ rig that will last 4 to 5 years ................
Click to expand...

Wishful thinking, will a 4-5 year old rig play todays games.......

I think the Zalman's do a better job cooling. You could also try and get the Artic Freezer Pro heatsink.
Click to expand...

A Zalman s9500/s9700 is superior to the AF Pro.

1. The QX9650 is non-negotiable. That is the only thing that cannot be changed. And no I will not be swayed by any arguments or benchmarks showing that the AMD blah-blah-blah is better. Nothing at all against AMD but I made a choice to get the Intel QX9650 CPU.
Click to expand...

no worries there AMD is behind Intel and prob wont be on top for some time again, anyone who buys a $3K amd based rig needs their head checked.
 
since your going with a x38 chipset motherboard, I hope your going with a ati graphics card since it only crossfires... otherwise get another board.

what graphics card do you intend to get or use. sli/crossfire or just single? that helps in determing what power supply fits your build.

qx9650 for 1060... nice... that cost about as much as my rig im using right now... :-/

get 2x2gb ddr2 ram instead. ddr3 so expensive right now and itll be cheaper by the time nehalem comes out.

im a fan of this cpu cooler thats also zerotherm:
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing

expect to upgrade your graphics cards every year or so to keep up with the newer games.
3k.... wished i had that for a build :D
 
Great job. Thanks for all of the replies so far. I really appreciate it.

Here is the list including the GFX card. Newegg removed the 3870x2 I originally had:

LIAN LI PC-V1100BPlus II: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811112060

ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813131235

SAPPHIRE 100221SR Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102723

ENERMAX Galaxy EGX850EWL: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817194020

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115034

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) x 2 : http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231142

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB x 2 : http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152052

ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835887002

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835100007
 
Again, what's your monitor resolution? More pertinent advice can not be given until we know this. Also, as asked above, why the Extreme chip? Unless you are a hard-core benchmarker or are dead set against overclocking and need every last stock mhz a chip can provide, its a gross and foolish waste of money. An overclocked Q6600 will perform as well, if not better, for $200.
 
If you need a blu-ray burner, I'd go with the LG, it's $270 cheaper and it'll play HD-DVDs as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137

The Lian-Li V1100 should have a replacment out by next month. Plus it can be found for considerably cheaper then neweggs price.

For the price of that cpu, I'd get two 5430s, 5400 series board (skulltrail if you want to overclock) and 8 gigs of FB-Dimms in a 4 x 2GB config. That'll last you longer then 2 gigs of DDR3 and a single quad-core.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117145
 
Markyip1 said:
1. Please post the list in this forum so that we don't have to click on any links.

2. You are missing a video card, perhaps the most important aspect of any $3,000 rig.

3. For us to offer meaningful advice, please a) list what you plan to do with the computer, including what types of games you plan to play and b) let us know what monitor you plan to use with the computer, including its resolution.

4. It's not quite encouraging to offer advice when you've already made it known that you've taken a non-negotiable stance stance about purchasing what most on this forum would agree is an egregious waste of money. Spending $1000 on a processor is ridiculous, regardless of the setup and how much you want to spend overall. There are many other things you can spend that money on which will have a much better performance and/or value return over a longer period of time. So lets start that conversation here. Why do you want an extreme chip?

EDIT: one more thing -- no amount of money will ensure that a computer you buy today will be kick ass 3 years from now with only minor upgrades. Thats not how PC technology works, for better or worse. This is doubly true now, considering that Nehelem (Intel's next generation CPU architecture) will require new motherboards with new sockets, making the core components of your system (motherboard, cpu, RAM) dead-end technology by the end of the year. There are times when you can spend $3K on a system that will maintain performance for a long time, but that depends as much on technology cycles as it does on the quality of the system itself. For instance, November 06 would have been a great time to buy high end, as a dual-8800 GTX Core 2 setup for $3K then would still pretty much be top gear now. With Nehelem on the horizon and DDR3 prices still too high to make any sense, this is not the time, in my opinion, to shoot for the moon with a new rig.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks. One thing that is important here is the only thing this computer will be used for is gaming. Gaming only. And the quesitons of which games is a good one. Here are the games I play now:

RTCW
Wolfenstein: ET (Frequently)
Bioshock (Frequently)
COD/UO, COD2 (Frequently)
Half-Life2 (Ep. 1, Ep. 2) (occasssionally)
Portal (Frequently)

So, I like the FPS. I mostly play OLD games. I'd say I play ET 75% of the time. And the newer games (the ones that are slowing my current rig) the other 25% of the time.

Your comment about technology and dollars and what you can buy for your money is a good one. I bought my current CPU (P4EE 3.4) when it first came out. Costs me a lot of money but you know what? I have been through several refreshes over the last four years and the CPU has never been replaced. So, it is only now starting to show its age by bottlenecking my current GFX card (GECube X1950XT). And that is only from a gaming perspective. I have upgraded memory capacity in the past, GFX cards, network cards, sound cards. But that CPU has been a good one.

My thought is, I bought big last time, and here I am four years later with probably $1200 in upgrades along the way. Why can I not do the same thing again?
 
$250 - Q6600 G0 (should OC to 3.2-3.6Ghz fairly easily)
$70 - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + Scythe S-Flex fan
$200 - Abit X38 Quad GT
$900 - 2x Radeon 3870X2
$200 - 8GB (2GBx4) G.Skill DDR2-800
$170 - Auzentech Prelude
$200 - Lian Li V1000B
$250 - Enermax Galaxy 850watt (you can do better than this -- price is too high)
$210 - 2x Samsung Spinpoint T 500GB
$30 - Samsung 20x DVDRW
$15 - Arctic Silver MX-2

Around $2500 + shipping.

Waste your money if you must, but the fact of the matter is that the above build will destroy the one you intend, and cost less doing it. You could manage a Tri-SLI build with 3 8800 GTXs and a 780i board for about $100 more if you prefer the Nvidia route to the ATI route, or wait for the newer Nvidia cards in a month or so.

The Q6600 will be just as fast as you $1000 chip, and the OC limits on air will be very similar. Unless you intend to go really high end water, or really, phase change on the cooling (which isn't within budget with such an expensive chip) it really is $800 spent on nothing. A 9x multiplier is high enough -- unlocking it doesn't give you more than another 200Mhz or so, which will have absolutely no performance impact.
 
horrorshow said:
If this is going to be a gaming rig, why only 2 gigs of ram??

bump that up to 4.

Where's the graphics card??



wait one more week and the 9800GX2 should be out.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I put 4 gigs in there. Hard to tell from the wish list I guess. Had to add the GFX card back in. The resolution will be 1680x1050 for now. In the near future it will be 1900x1200.
 
Optional87 said:
I agree that you should bump to 2x2gb of ram for 4gb and down the line you can add another 2x2gb to up that to 8gb if it's needed.

Of course you'll need to have a 64-bit OS involved, Vista x64 Ultimate of course.

I own that Lian-Li case, and I can attest that it is worth every penny. I know there are other cases out there that people like a lot, the P180B/P182 come to mind especially, but I came from a Lian-Li case, and once you've had a taste of that quality, there is nothing else that will satisfy.

I'm just floored by the fact that you have no graphics cards and no dedicated sound card and you're already at 3500$, that is just insane, there is something wrong here.

What monitor are you planning to run this on? That is just as important as the rig itself.
Click to expand...

Yes. Case has me wondering. Glad you replied. I currently have one of the first CoolerMaster cases they put on Outpost.com way back when, and I love it. Unfortunately they do not have anything that really blows me away now. Question: Does the Lian-Li have a motherboard tray that slides out? I cannot tell from any of the pics I have seen. I would think the absence of this would be mentioned on the reviews. Still, sounds like you can answer that. Thanks.

Yeah, I corrected the wishlist but I also included (at someone's request) a lit of the items in this thread. Should have done that to begin with.
 
.diversant. said:
OK. I am demoting my current gaming rig to lesser duties (ripping/converting CDs, burning DVDs, general computing chores, etc.) and I want to build a gaming rig for $3,000. This is a dedicated gaming rig that will run Windows Vista. I am predicting 3K will buy me a kick a$$ rig that will last 4 to 5 years with only minor upgrades along the way. Below is a link to my newegg wish list (I would prefer to buy everything from them).

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8986787

So, if all of you OCing Gurus, computer gearheads and hot$hit system builders would please take a look at it, add your comments to this thread, tear it down, build it up, cuss me out, I don't care. Just as long as you are providing some feedback related to this rig. Thanks.

....

.
Click to expand...

Okay... i read MOST of the posts here, not all, but would really stood out was the "future proofing" for 4-5 years with minimal upgrades.

There's no way to tell what's going to come out in 4-5 years. You're best bet? Cut your budget to $1500 for a PC system to play the games that are out NOW. The other $1500, put it in a savings acct, or if you can, invest it to make some money off the interest (though at only $1500, it won't be much if anything).

4-5 years from now, buy a new PC with that $1500.

Spending $3000 for a system to play today's games is overkill, when you have no idea what will come out down the road. Especially with the fast advances in tech, and prices... it's just too hard to predict.

Anyway.. I know there's no "latest parts" I can recommend... just a suggestion on how to "future proof" your money. :)
 
silent-circuit said:
$250 - Q6600 G0 (should OC to 3.2-3.6Ghz fairly easily)
$70 - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + Scythe S-Flex fan
$200 - Abit X38 Quad GT
$900 - 2x Radeon 3870X2
$200 - 8GB (2GBx4) G.Skill DDR2-800
$170 - Auzentech Prelude
$200 - Lian Li V1000B
$250 - Enermax Galaxy 850watt (you can do better than this -- price is too high)
$210 - 2x Samsung Spinpoint T 500GB
$30 - Samsung 20x DVDRW
$15 - Arctic Silver MX-2

Around $2500 + shipping.

Waste your money if you must, but the fact of the matter is that the above build will destroy the one you intend, and cost less doing it. You could manage a Tri-SLI build with 3 8800 GTXs and a 780i board for about $100 more if you prefer the Nvidia route to the ATI route, or wait for the newer Nvidia cards in a month or so.

The Q6600 will be just as fast as you $1000 chip, and the OC limits on air will be very similar. Unless you intend to go really high end water, or really, phase change on the cooling (which isn't within budget with such an expensive chip) it really is $800 spent on nothing. A 9x multiplier is high enough -- unlocking it doesn't give you more than another 200Mhz or so, which will have absolutely no performance impact.
Click to expand...

this build is the best way to go imo. and if you want you could use a temporary graphics card and get the new nvidia cards when they come out.
 
I will go blue in the face repeating this but I would recommend upgrading that PSU to a PC power and Cooling unit. For THAT much money your spending, why would you buy a Buick when you could have a Lexus?
 
ebeattie said:
I will go blue in the face repeating this but I would recommend upgrading that PSU to a PC power and Cooling unit. For THAT much money your spending, why would you buy a Buick when you could have a Lexus?
Click to expand...

The Enermax is solid... it's just a lot of money to pay for an 850 watt supply. I believe you could get Corsair's 1000watt unit for that price.
 
Even with that budget I can't justify buying an $1100 cpu. That money would be better spent on tri-sli GTS 512mb's or 2x 3870X2 in my opinion.
 
Silent Circuit has posted a great list of parts for you to consider. Note that the product space is very different now than it was when you bought your Pentium 4, such that the performance and longevity of what you propose to build for $3000 will be outmatched by rig put together for $1500, or as Silent Circuit has shown, greatly outclassed by a rig put together for $2500.

The two biggest red flags with your setup is the Extreme Chip and the DDR3 RAM. For a strictly gaming rig, there is no argument that can be made to warrant those purchases. A Q6600 for $200 will last just as long and perform just as well for a QX9450. DDR3 RAM, despite being close to 10x the cost in some cases, offers no performance or longevity benefit when paired with a Core 2 setup. By the time DDR3 comes into its own, you will need a new motherboard and a new processor, and the RAM itself will be much less expensive.
 
j3ff86 said:
Even with that budget I can't justify buying an $1100 cpu. That money would be better spent on tri-sli GTS 512mb's or 2x 3870X2 in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Can't run Tri-SLI with 8800GTS 512MBs. They have only one connector, which limits them to regular SLI, just 2 cards. As of right now only the 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra support Tri-SLI. The 9800 GTX, whenever Nvidia gets around to releasing it, should support it as well.
 
.diversant. said:
Yes. Case has me wondering. Glad you replied. I currently have one of the first CoolerMaster cases they put on Outpost.com way back when, and I love it. Unfortunately they do not have anything that really blows me away now. Question: Does the Lian-Li have a motherboard tray that slides out? I cannot tell from any of the pics I have seen. I would think the absence of this would be mentioned on the reviews. Still, sounds like you can answer that. Thanks.

Yeah, I corrected the wishlist but I also included (at someone's request) a lit of the items in this thread. Should have done that to begin with.
Click to expand...

No it does not have a slide-out motherboard tray, which would be the only drawback of the whole thing, but it's an amazing case and I love it.

Do know however that lian-li is refreshing the whole 'V-series' cases in 1-2 months.
 
Listen to silent-circuit and Mark... I agree with everything they've said.
 
calikool said:
Remove the blu-ray drive. No need to pay top dollar for a drive that will be less than $200 bucks by the end of the year. HD-DVD is dead and I figure it will take until the end of the year to get rid of everything, meanwhile blu-ray has to come down in price for consumers to consider it. Otherwise their discs will remain on the selves like concrete blocks.
Click to expand...

Yep. I am going to toss that Sony unit for a much less expensive unit that someone else mentioned. $599 is so high and I do not see the price of Blu-Ray going down too fast now that HD-DVD is "dead". No reason to drop the prices b/c there is no competing technology. So, that Sony unit will probably stay up there for some time. I like HD-DVD. I have a few of them now. I think it still has a lot of potential in personal computing. Anyway. Thanks to whoever mentioned that Blu-Ray unit that also played HDs.

calikool said:
Ditch the 2x1GB ram and get the 2x2GB RAM modules.
Click to expand...

I think the 1x is the only way that memory can be configured. I could be wrong.

calikool said:
I like the WD and Maxtor drives. Seagate is good too. Why Samsung?
Click to expand...

I am a WD person all the way. Always have been. But, the price and the reviews of the Samsung drive was pretty good so I went with them.
 
silent-circuit said:
$250 - Q6600 G0 (should OC to 3.2-3.6Ghz fairly easily)
$70 - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + Scythe S-Flex fan
$200 - Abit X38 Quad GT
$900 - 2x Radeon 3870X2
$200 - 8GB (2GBx4) G.Skill DDR2-800
$170 - Auzentech Prelude
$200 - Lian Li V1000B
$250 - Enermax Galaxy 850watt (you can do better than this -- price is too high)
$210 - 2x Samsung Spinpoint T 500GB
$30 - Samsung 20x DVDRW
$15 - Arctic Silver MX-2

Around $2500 + shipping.

Waste your money if you must, but the fact of the matter is that the above build will destroy the one you intend, and cost less doing it. You could manage a Tri-SLI build with 3 8800 GTXs and a 780i board for about $100 more if you prefer the Nvidia route to the ATI route, or wait for the newer Nvidia cards in a month or so.

The Q6600 will be just as fast as you $1000 chip, and the OC limits on air will be very similar. Unless you intend to go really high end water, or really, phase change on the cooling (which isn't within budget with such an expensive chip) it really is $800 spent on nothing. A 9x multiplier is high enough -- unlocking it doesn't give you more than another 200Mhz or so, which will have absolutely no performance impact.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. No, I do not want to throw coin down the drain. Who does? Not me. I came here to get more info. I like what you have here. I would not have thought a comparable CPU would be so much less in price that I could buy another gfx card. But there it is. I will only overclock to what is stable with the fans, whatever that may be (10%-20%)

And yes, everyone is down on the memory. Not because the performance is bad. Just that it is not enough of a performance gain to justify the price right now. So, I hear that one loud and clear.

The sound card looks pretty solid. But, if I go with the Asus board I know I will be satisfied with the soundcard. The price difference is about the same. I just wonder if I can use the SupremeFX slot with the Crossfire setup. Looks like the PCIex1 slot would be blocked. Also, it is unclear (to me) if it supports all of the EAX versions out there. Analog Devices website only lists EAX 1 and 2. Still, the Abit and the Auzentech are in the running. The Abit board looks good and it appears to be stable. According to the reviews I read and the other threads here on hardforum.

Thanks again for your input.
 
The Prelude is really overkill in my mind -- a second-hand original X-Fi XtremeMusic will do just as well, just make sure it's the older full-height card, around $60. What kind of speaker setup are you running / do you intend to get?

Also, no problem, it's why I'm here. Just glad to know I wasn't being ignored.
 
.diversant. said:
The sound card looks pretty solid. But, if I go with the Asus board I know I will be satisfied with the soundcard. The price difference is about the same.
Click to expand...
No it isn't. You forgot to factor in the price of RAM. The Maximus Extreme only takes DDR3 RAM. The Abit X38 Quad GT uses cheaper DDR2 RAM.
 
tuksonrider said:
Okay... i read MOST of the posts here, not all, but would really stood out was the "future proofing" for 4-5 years with minimal upgrades.

There's no way to tell what's going to come out in 4-5 years. You're best bet? Cut your budget to $1500 for a PC system to play the games that are out NOW. The other $1500, put it in a savings acct, or if you can, invest it to make some money off the interest (though at only $1500, it won't be much if anything).

4-5 years from now, buy a new PC with that $1500.

Spending $3000 for a system to play today's games is overkill, when you have no idea what will come out down the road. Especially with the fast advances in tech, and prices... it's just too hard to predict.

Anyway.. I know there's no "latest parts" I can recommend... just a suggestion on how to "future proof" your money. :)
Click to expand...

Almost 5 years ago I future proofed myself with my current rig. Now it's time to do it again (with a little help). Thanks for the advice but I have taken care of the investments and savings. Would not be proposing a $3K rig if I had not done that first. :)

As an example, when Bioshock came out I thought there is no way my current PC would handle it. But, after looking at the requirements on the box I knew it would play it with minimum eye candy. And it played it better than I expected, with more than the minimum settings. Even with all of the problems that game has had, my rig handled it......barely. So, it can be done.

You're partially right I guess. NO way to look too far into the future like it might have been 5 years ago. Still, folks here are all too eager to come in under th $3K mark with some good, practical recommendations. That is great.
 
"If you budget they will come." :D

I just wish it was a 5K build so I could play around with multiple water loops and phase change. ;)

My dream is to some day run 3 modded VapoChills or Mach IIs, one for the CPU, one for each GPU, and a chilled water loop for the MOSFETs, northbridge, and southbridge. ;)
$1400 in phase (buying second-hand even!), about $500 in water. 2K in cooling alone. ;)
 
I must have missed it. Which post has your current rig parts list? 'cuz I don't see it in your sig. Thanks.
 
that CPU is... gets under my skin. It'l set record ocs but its just so damned expensive. I want 45nm quad core just as bad as anyone else, but damned if I'm paying even half that much to get it. Nope, my maximums formula coupled with E6300 is now given me 3.72Ghz, a 200% OC. Ill take it kk thx bb.

anyways, back on track, you could save a couple bucks on the motherboard by going with DDR3, subsidize a little bit of that expensive ass ram. NCIX has Intels own DX38BT "Bone Trail" motherboard going for $200 CAD. You can still get that deal if your an American client, just add it to your cart and hit the American checkout button. They have a deal going on for cheapo ground shipping for like $4, don't know if they have any sweet international shipping options going on. IF you do decide to go with the Asus, get the Maximus Formula, not the Maximus Extreme. The extreme has built in WC and you will run into trouble if you dont use it. I've got my Maximus formula, and from a pure hardware stand point, I love it (AI auto oc utility is driving me nuts though. "oh your idle well I'll just monkey around with your CPU voltage and clock speed to see if I cant kill your system for you").

Now as for DDR3, this is going to hurt;$409 for a 2X2gig kit of Corsair DDR3 1600, (ncix to the rescue again!). Again, if you consider your mobo a $300 part (which it is really), your ram is $309, which is somewhat kinda sorta in the realm of possibility (this coming from the cheap bastard whose waiting for those Ballistix 2X2 DDR2 800 cas 4 to come down below $100). A quick search of Buy.com also reveals 2 2gig kits of DDR3 1333 for just under $200. Here is the kit from Corsair, and Here is the kit from OCZ. Take your pick.

now as for the grpahics card, even with Hard OCPs poor findings, I think the HD3870X2 is right now the most powerful graphics card on the planet and is an excellent choice. Get the Visiontek, as it has a lifetime warranty. I suspect It'l be the MRSP price everywhere you look. Here is the Visiontek HD3870X2 from Newegg. edit: alas, backorder.

What else? Drop that damned CPU, I'd go with an E8400 myself. Your also going to want to look at some decent aftermarket cooling if you plan on overclocking. The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme is the best air cooler out there imho.

I don't know enough about sound subsystems to make any comment there, I do know that the onboard realtek ALC889 8 channel "HD" sounds damn fine. The base replication on my Sennheiser HD515s is spectacular.

Hard drives! DON'T CHEAP OUT ON THESE SUCKERS! Go for some Raid-0 or Raid-10 7200.11 500 gig cudas. Those suckers are posting some pretty decent sustained read speeds.
 
silent-circuit said:
The Prelude is really overkill in my mind -- a second-hand original X-Fi XtremeMusic will do just as well, just make sure it's the older full-height card, around $60. What kind of speaker setup are you running / do you intend to get?

Also, no problem, it's why I'm here. Just glad to know I wasn't being ignored.
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I have an X-Fi Platinum in my current PC. I could just put that one in the new PC. Then turn on the onboard sound in that machine (Asus P4P800-Deluxe).


My speakers are Logitech Z-680's/5.1 setup. Had them for about 3 years now and I am so satisfied with them. They were a little pricey at the time but they have proved worth it. People with a lot better ears than mine have commented that they like the way they sound (once you get the speakers setup and turn off all of the Creative junk like the Cystalizer and CMSS. Garbage!).
 
.diversant. said:
I have an X-Fi Platinum in my current PC. I could just put that one in the new PC. Then turn on the onboard sound in that machine (Asus P4P800-Deluxe).


My speakers are Logitech Z-680's/5.1 setup. Had them for about 3 years now and I am so satisfied with them. They were a little pricey at the time but they have proved worth it. People with a lot better ears than mine have commented that they like the way they sound (once you get the speakers setup and turn off all of the Creative junk like the Cystalizer and CMSS. Garbage!).
Click to expand...

Yeah, just move your X-Fi and turn on onboard on the old machine. No reason to throw down $160+ to get what amounts to the exact same hardware.
 
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