new pc build help :)

Kaldar

hey guys, ive deicided its time for a whole new PC but of course i will be doing another build

i have roughly over 1000$ to spend on just the PC it self but that is for everything, case, gfx, mobo etc.

but ive been out of the PC world for a while and i'm not up to date on the latest processors and gfxs that are good so i'm looking for you guys to point me in the right direction

so basically, if you guys had a $1000 budget what parts would you use to build a PC with hardcore gaming as its main focus?

Also, what are some good games that i should look for to go along with my PC?


another reason for the upgrade is i want to have hardware that is compatible with the new age stuff such as the new socket AMD processors and a dx10 card etc.

current setup:

radeon x1950
amd operaton 185 processor
2gb ram
a

Kaldar

specs in my sig are old build, i cant remember my current mobo but its ABIT but i'll be upgrading that anyways so who caresl ol

lemontree

With $1000 i think you could get a decent power supply like the Corsair HX 620, a nice case like the Antec p182, maybe grab two 8800 512MB GTs and SLI them (they run pretty well!) on;y thing is you wouldn't be future proofing your comp this way.
As for games, personally i'm an RPG enthusiast so currently mass effect is quite an enjoyable game, but the game i'm looking forward to the most is fallout 3!

Kaldar

i am an RPG fan too, along with FPS and other fantasy games.

i have a pretty nice power supply right now, mainly i'm looking for input on upgraded motherboards/CPU/gfx cards.

i do have $1000 to spend but i would love to keep it under that and budget it where i can. i want the best bang for buck parts and i'll skimp on low end parts (cd drives, etc)

Kaldar

bump

unknownjd

Definitely worth waiting for the new ATI 770 stuff, it's just around the corner, and apparently will be well priced

AMD Phenom is looking good, X3 or X4, but Intel have a keen edge on some applications... so Penryn Q8000 maybe worth looking at, which will most likely we quite the overclocker when it's out v.shortly...

A decent power supply is worth while, you can get some good energy efficient ones now... Corsair memory all the way :P

Kaldar

what do you all think of dual 8800 GT? are there any downsides to that?

i want to run the phenom x4 processor but what motherboard do you suggest?

Mousey

Dual 8800GTs would be great if you can afford it, they've definately got the grunt to handle modern games with high settings from what i've seen in benchmarks.

and i definately wouldn't recommend going AMD. In the long run it's a lot cheaper and smarter to go Intel. Their cpus use less power, overclock better and are cheaper in most cases.
I've got a Core 2 Duo E4500 and i clocked it from 2.20GHz to 2.86GHz without a single complaint, didn't even touch the voltage settings and it's 100% rock solid stable.

Just a pointer though, if you are going to go SLi Make sure you find a board which has an NForce chipset if you didn't know that already, the Intel chipsets are the best for overclocking but they only support CrossFireX, in which case i'd recommend Dual HD3870s or even HD3870X2's if you can afford it.

Kaldar

i've always been an AMD guy, are you just speaking out of bias or has intel surpassed amd?

so which motherboard would you recommend?

procupine14

I would say that phenom really doesn't the the credit it deserves. i finally got the oportunity to mess with a phenom system the other day and im sold on it. Really the energy intake difference in the processor is not so extreme that your power bill is going to suffer. If you are an AMD guy go with the phenom. The x4's are quite good (especially the black edition ) and the x3's are nice too. I just built a phenom x3 system for my friend who does photoshop and illustrator rendering. That is paired with two lowend 8800's and it is a smoking workstation. It does well in games also


as for a good AMD SLI board i think this will suit your purpose

GIGABYTE GA-M750SLI-DS4
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-M750SLI-DS4 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Syndicate2083

I used to be an AMD guy (for roughly 10 years.. first cpu was a p3, then all AMD until the E8400), but the performance on my x2 6000+ was just so poor compared to like priced intel stuff that I have switched back to intel.

Its your call, but take a careful look at the benchmarks and power usage of the chips. Intel has a clear edge in the high end gaming and speed field at the moment that AMD sadly ceded in an attempt to gain low cost consumers... Intels response was to slash prices and cripple the AMD campaign of lower end, but cheap and reliable.

/Shrug.

Mousey

I'm not biased, forgive me if i'm mistaken but you clearly haven't been watching the news around here at DH for about the past year now
If it was intel you're going with i'd recommend an ASUS Board, possibly the Maximus Formula

OldBuzzard

No bias, Mousey gave you the straight poop. Intel has indeed surpassed AMD for flatout performance

Now I AM biased, and I'm a confirmed AMD person, but it's for other reasons, and I'll not go into that here.

A high end AMD system will still make 99.99% of the people happy, and in the "real world", outside of benchmarking, it's really hard to tell the difference in performance, as the high end Intel's and AMD's are both damned fast. It's kind of like someone saying Car A sucks because it only goes 230 MPH, while Car B does 235

Now for things OTHER than the CPU, first and foremost, get a high quality PSU. I'm partial to the CORSAIRs, as they just don't make a shabby PSU. Across their whole line, their quality is second to none. They are a bit pricey, but you do get what you pay for.

For a new case, unless you want something with alot of 'bling', it's pretty hard to beat the Cooler Master CM690 or RC590. Lot's of room inside, very good cooling as is, with options for lots more fans, easy to work with while installing your new goodies, and damned nice looking in an understated way. OH, and really easy on the pocket book when compared to their compatition.

Memory. Now that opens up a real can or worms. Ask five different people, and they will give you five different answers. I'm a "Corsair Man" myself, and I've always been happy with it. My system isn't/wasn't built for flat-out performance, and the 'not quite top end' Corsair memory I have works well for what I want it to do. I woud suggest, especially if you are going to be using Vista 64-bit, to get as much memory as you can afford and/or stiff in the mainboard. I'm running 8GB in Vista 64, and the performance is awesome.

Operating System: Vista 64-bit with out question. Contrary to what some say, it's the best OS from MS since Windows for Workgroups 3.11. You will heard a lot of them say that it's a memory hog, but what it's doing is USING memory in an intelligent manner, and not just letting it sit there looking pretty If you have a lot of memory, you want to use it. Otherwise it's a waste of money.

All of this is just an old fart's $0.02, but maybe some of it will help you out with your decisions.

kris23

they all speak the truth, Intel is better, and now is also the cheaper choice.....

for case, go with the above mentioned 590 AND 690 cases, they are the best on the market for cost.

for PSU, go with Enermax or Corsair, both are among the most powerful, most efficient and most stable

for memory, go with Corsair or OCZ, OCZ is the cheaper of the two and alot of people feel they got some of the mest tech support around, both are good.

for motherboard, go with ASUS or Gigabyte me leaning personally with the Gigabyte models for value and better OCing BIOSes

for HDD, go with Seagate or WesternDigital

for Graphics card, Nvidia is currently the best and cheapest but ATi is still good. go with either EVGA or Sapphire no one else is worth anything.

procupine14

Yeah I guess I forgot to mention that Intel is cheaper currently. We will call that a "my bad" lol

Kaldar

intel is cheaper? really... wow ive been out if it for a while haha. thank you for all the input guys.

currently my build is going to be a budget performance build, well not really haha but nothing too crazy.

i'm not familiar with intel in anyway so could someone recommend me an actual intel processor?

i originally was going to go with the amd phenom 9850 black edition

procupine14

yeah you might want to do a little price comparison if you are curious but right now that seems to be the general swing of things


as far as processors go on an intel build I think (now some of the intel people can say yay or nay or course =) ) that you would most likely be happy with a good ol' Q6600

Kaldar

before i build my new pc.. iwas actaully thinking today, what about running crossfire with dual x1950 pros?

would that net me a significant performance increase? i've been slightly overclocking my cpu too (currently 2.9 ghz)

another x1950 is cheap solution and before i build my new pc i planned on selling it to my brother anyways so this way it will just make him happier (hes a gamer too)

Kaldar

actually, i just read up on it a little... what bout ditching the x1950 and just switching to a 8800GT in this PC?

kris23

9600GT is better bang for buck but 8800 is better

get a Q6600 with Gigabyte P45 mobo

get some OCZ 2x2GB DDR2 1066 platinums

and a seagate 500GB 7200.11

thats a good base to start with

Syndicate2083

Note that the P45 mobo will not support an SLI solution, so if you prefer SLI to Crossfire, or vice versa, make sure you either get an intel chipset for crossfire, or nVidia chipset for SLI.

Otherwise Yeah, thats a good base right there.

kris23

ok throw out everything i said about nvidia and get this.......

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

its sexy fast

procupine14

did those just hit newegg?!? i didn't see them yesterday

Kaldar

should i really get one of those instead of a 8800GT?

kris23

its equivalent to a 9800GTX man...

and yea it did just hit the egg yesterday

Syndicate2083

uhm, am i seeing things or does that thing have 800 stream procs??