Input on this gaming pc build.

Wanderlai

Wanderlai

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My cousin just built himself a gaming pc and he said this would be a very good build for me:

2--XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330

ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Pr.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

3--Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card with free Creative FATAL1TY 3.5mm gold-plated Circumaural Gaming Headset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.162234

ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit for System Builders
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116493

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

All this is about $2100 shipped from Newegg.

I already have a new Antec 1200 gaming case, keyboard and mouse to use. I'll need a power supply...suggestions? Seems he left that off my item list. I'm also looking for a monitor in the $300 range.
I'm looking at the 24" viewsonic at Costco
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/902195

and this 24" Samsung at Sams.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=410802&pCatg=5902
 
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Looks like overkill to me and I wouldn't go for vista-64, but yea, its a good build.

Its also gonna be expensive as hell but if you've got the money to waste on those parts, no prob.

I'd also pass the sound card unless you need a specific feature from it.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Looks like overkill to me and I wouldn't go for vista-64, but yea, its a good build.

Its also gonna be expensive as hell but if you've got the money to waste on those parts, no prob.

I'd also pass the sound card unless you need a specific feature from it.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking it was overkill too. Where is the price point for building a very good gaming pc? I don't mind spending the money but I do like to get the best bang for my $$$. For example I bought the Gateway I'm typing on 6yrs ago for $2400. Its really showing its age now and I need to have a new system built.

I was thinking about this deal but after taxes I'd be over $1000 and the pc would need upgrading soon.
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/17865
 
Definitely go for Vista 64. It's mandatory if you want to use more than 3 GBs. I'd look for a different place to buy it though. That's way overpriced for a OEM. I would sell you a sealed full retail Vista Ultimate for $150 if you want it.

Do you really need that much hard drive space right this moment? If it were me, I would only get two and than wait until I needed the space before buying another. That way you can get something better for cheaper in the future.

I would also skip putting two graphics cards in SLI. You would be better off getting one and either waiting for the price to drop for a second on or just buying a new graphics card when the time comes. I've heard nothing but bad stuff about SLI (too much money for not enough performance boost/plus issues with multiple monitors/having to disable one card to get stuff to run)

I'd also skip the sound card. Creative's driver support for Vista is horrid and alot of the time, the onboard audio is almost the same.

The thing to remember when building a computer is that it will never be future proof. For the price of one amazing system (right now), you could get two very good computers that will hold you over longer.
 
If you're building for a two year cycle, a new system doesn't need to cost more than $1,000. Building for today, less than that.
 
I build a new gaming PC every 2 years for under $1000. My advice would be to skip the sound card and go with ATI for your graphics. Also the Caviar Black drives are nice but why would you need 3 of them? Get 1 fast drive for your OS and 2 cheaper drives for storage. And now's not the best time to go Core i7. Step down to a quad core from Intel or preferably AMD.
 
Right, I think my last build in January '08 with an E8400 and an 8800GT 512MB ran about $700 total, but I don't buy a display and peripherals at the same time. Those can be upgraded later. I expect this system to last me into 2010. USB 3.0 definitely needs to be out before my next build.
 
i built my e8400 ati 4870x2 vista 64bit for 980 shipped to my house with the psu case mouse and keyboard hdd and 4gb ram

the o nly thing i need to buy was the monitor
 
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My goal was $1500 for a very good gaming pc not counting a new monitor. I see where alot are saying to skip the soundcard? Are they not needed?

And if $1000 gets a new gaming pc every 2 yrs, how long does the "above" build get me at $2000? If I knock off the soundcard and go with just 2 WD 1TB HD's that would save me $270 making the build about $1800. Crap, now I'm confused. My GF is wanting to do some HD video editing stuff would a $1000 gaming pc be able to do that?
 
I'd skip the pair of GTX 260 cards and get a GTX 285 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130447) or a GTX 295 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130453).

Vista 64bit is great. Some people remember that XP 64bit is crappy and assume the same about Vista 64bit, but they're wrong.

If the sky is the limit you may want to throw in a Raptor hard drive. They spin 10,000 and so are faster (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296).

You don't really need an audio card because the motherboard has onboard audio. I would just skip it and then buy an audio card if you find that the onboard audio isn't enough (and it has 8 channels of audio, I think you'll be fine!).
 
Vista 64 is great. You'll also need it as with two video cards with 876MB of ram, Vista 32 will only see a hair over 2GB of ram.

I agree with the others. If you have money falling out your ass, just get a GTX 295 or two 285s. There's no reason to spend that much for middle of the road.

Drop the sound card. I have the same board, and the onboard audio works great. It has optical and coax digital out as well as 6 1/4 jacks for 7.1 audio, mic and line in.

If your a performance whore, you'll want to get better ram. The 9-9-9-24 timings are really lame on that kit. Look at the OCZ gold or platinum low voltage DDR3 kits. I have the gold thats rated at 8-8-8-24 and I run it at 8-7-7-20 @ 1600mhz.

The HDDs are really overkill. You won't need 3TB for gaming. Get some smaller, faster drives and think about a raid 5. (The MLB supports it)

You don't need an aftermarket heat sink unless you plan to overclock the CPU. If you are going to overclock, get a TRUE 120.


Honestly though, I'd scrap the whole build if you want this for gaming. Not that it's not good, but it's really too much. The i7 chips are worthless for gaming. They have 4 hyper-threaded cores, of which, 90% of games use 1, or just 12.5% of your CPU.

If you're getting this for gaming, you'll want to get a C2D and OC it to 3.5+ and you'll get more/equal performance for much less money.
 
I'm wrapping up work now, but send me a PM and I'll see what I can do when I get home from the gym tonight.

Include price range and preferences and such. Games, raid, etc...
 
Intel 8400. New 3.0 CPU with 45nm manufacturing process. Will draw less juice and put out less heat, subsequently, will OC better. I've heard these can hit 4.0 on air.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Intel DP45SG. Intel boards are renown for their reliability. This is an open box item, but it's also about 60% off. It's a DDR3 board. DDR3 is a bit more expensive (it's plummeted since i7 came out), but it's hella fast. Onboard RAID and 7.1.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121348R

Matching DDR3 RAM. The important thing is to get it at 1333mhz to match the FSB of your CPU. The lower the CAS latency the better.
Everything on this list is good. 1333mhz and CAS7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...deValue=524:30325&PropertyCodeValue=525:28354

GTX 285. If you want the best, this mother fucker is that and then some (this week). It's 320 for one card with a current rebate. Not a bad deal considering the 280 came out near $500. However, if you want to go SLI, you'll have to get the 295. The P45 chipset doesn't support SLI. I'm not a huge fan of SLI, it doesn't always work well and in games that don't support SLI, the 285 will dominate the 295, especially at higher resolutions.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130442

The powersupply is going to be a matter of taste. I prefer getting modular PSUs. Mine also has a blue fan and lit plug ports... but I'm a blue whore.
The important things are 80 Plus certification and at least 700w. Corsair makes really good power supplies, but I think the modular cables look tacky as fuck. Just do research, look at pics, and read reviews.

True 120 is the heatsink of choice. If you want better, you have to go water cooling. Newegg actually doesn't carry the TRUE, but here's what it looks like: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulexbled.html
This is the black version, and it costs a bit more. When buying it, get some arctic silver 5 if you don't already have it. Also, some places might try to bundle the 1336 socket mount with it (+$10). You won't need it. If I recall, the latest TRUEs come with new fan mounts, make sure you get two 120mm fans you like. Fans are also a matter of choice. I know you said you have an Antec 1200, so you might want something that matches the blue LED fans.

There are a lot of factors to consider with hard drives. Do you want to go as fast as possible? You can RAID new SSD drives and get damn near 500MB/s transfers. Do you want RAID 0? 1? 5? Separate drives for OS and games? Raptors?

Optical... BluRay? DVDRW? Whatever you want.

Everything else is up to you.
 
As an alternative, I wouldn't completely rule out AMD.

The AMD Phenom II X4 940 is a beast, and the price is very reasonable. ($229 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471 )

I'd look at the DFI LanParty UT motherboard. http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-L...ssfire-AMD-790FX-SB600-Chipset-ATX-p-404.html -- Even includes a free cpu to boot. (184.99 plus shipping)

Videocard - 4870 X2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768 ($439.99)

Audio - Onboard

OS Drive - VelociRaptor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322 ($229.99 - $30 MIR)

Storage Drive - WD 1 TB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317 ($109.99)

HSF - Use Boxed if not overclocking

PSU - Seasonic - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151031 (159.99)

Ram - G. Skill 4GB (2x2GB PC1066) x2 54.99 (109.98) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

DVD Burner - Samsung (24.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

So you're around $1300, not including rebate, plus shipping. (And an extra CPU to sell, give away, whatever) Pretty much half of the initial amount, with similar performance and 2 more GB of Ram for 8 total.
 
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I would personally go with the ATI 4870 x2 metioned above. And the Intel processor that Kayden mentioned is a beast ... I'm gonna buy one once I pay off some bills and have some extra cash.
 
[quote name='Kayden']Intel 8400. New 3.0 CPU with 45nm manufacturing process. Will draw less juice and put out less heat, subsequently, will OC better. I've heard these can hit 4.0 on air.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Intel DP45SG. Intel boards are renown for their reliability. This is an open box item, but it's also about 60% off. It's a DDR3 board. DDR3 is a bit more expensive (it's plummeted since i7 came out), but it's hella fast. Onboard RAID and 7.1.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121348R

Matching DDR3 RAM. The important thing is to get it at 1333mhz to match the FSB of your CPU. The lower the CAS latency the better.
Everything on this list is good. 1333mhz and CAS7: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...deValue=524:30325&PropertyCodeValue=525:28354

GTX 285. If you want the best, this mother fucker is that and then some (this week). It's 320 for one card with a current rebate. Not a bad deal considering the 280 came out near $500. However, if you want to go SLI, you'll have to get the 295. The P45 chipset doesn't support SLI. I'm not a huge fan of SLI, it doesn't always work well and in games that don't support SLI, the 285 will dominate the 295, especially at higher resolutions.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130442

The powersupply is going to be a matter of taste. I prefer getting modular PSUs. Mine also has a blue fan and lit plug ports... but I'm a blue whore.
The important things are 80 Plus certification and at least 700w. Corsair makes really good power supplies, but I think the modular cables look tacky as fuck. Just do research, look at pics, and read reviews.

True 120 is the heatsink of choice. If you want better, you have to go water cooling. Newegg actually doesn't carry the TRUE, but here's what it looks like: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulexbled.html
This is the black version, and it costs a bit more. When buying it, get some arctic silver 5 if you don't already have it. Also, some places might try to bundle the 1336 socket mount with it (+$10). You won't need it. If I recall, the latest TRUEs come with new fan mounts, make sure you get two 120mm fans you like. Fans are also a matter of choice. I know you said you have an Antec 1200, so you might want something that matches the blue LED fans.

There are a lot of factors to consider with hard drives. Do you want to go as fast as possible? You can RAID new SSD drives and get damn near 500MB/s transfers. Do you want RAID 0? 1? 5? Separate drives for OS and games? Raptors?

Optical... BluRay? DVDRW? Whatever you want.

Everything else is up to you.[/QUOTE]

If he has the money, why not go with a Quad 3.0 GHz?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115130

I've also never been a fan of open box stuff or raptor hard drives.
 
For the same reason he shouldn't go for the i7. If he's mostly going to do gaming, those extra cores only add cost and heat. If he wants to OC it as far as possible, the extra cores will lower his potential maximum clock. 4 cores at 3.5 would be faster than 2 at 4.0, but only if the apps he ran supported 4 cores.
 
[quote name='Kayden']For the same reason he shouldn't go for the i7. If he's mostly going to do gaming, those extra cores only add cost and heat.[/QUOTE]

Well, he also wants to edit HD video. I can't imagine the Quad adding too much heat.
 
Yea, IF he wants to edit HD video. I told him if he was only playing games and wanted to OC, he should go C2D. He asked me to spec something out. I'm just doing what he asked for.
[quote name='Sporadic']Well, he also wants to edit HD video. I can't imagine the Quad adding too much heat.[/quote]


Also... As for AMD, they haven't been "enthusiast" grade for years. Price wise, they are cheap, but they also aren't as good. The new Phenom IIs are just now catching up to OLD C2Ds. The 940 PII (Not to be confused with the i7 940 (AMD is pathetic trying to get sales that way)) is also about $100 more expensive than an Intel offering that it underperforms. I've never liked ATI cards either. If you ever want to dabble with Linux, avoid ATI like the plague. The only area ATI beats nVidia in is scaling link arcitecture. (You get more out of their cards in Xfire than nVidia cards in SLI.)
 
Question...Will the ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard be able to work with 2 gtx 285's? I'm going to get one 285 now and I may pick up another when a deal comes along?
 
Read reviews on each and make up your own mind. Most people wont be able to tell you if they prefer one $300 board over another as they probably only have one. I can tell you the Foxconn board sucks though.

EVGA makes really good GPUs, so I can't see why their MLBs would be any different.
 
[quote name='Kayden']Yea, IF he wants to edit HD video. I told him if he was only playing games and wanted to OC, he should go C2D. He asked me to spec something out. I'm just doing what he asked for.



Also... As for AMD, they haven't been "enthusiast" grade for years. Price wise, they are cheap, but they also aren't as good. The new Phenom IIs are just now catching up to OLD C2Ds. The 940 PII (Not to be confused with the i7 940 (AMD is pathetic trying to get sales that way)) is also about $100 more expensive than an Intel offering that it underperforms. I've never liked ATI cards either. If you ever want to dabble with Linux, avoid ATI like the plague. The only area ATI beats nVidia in is scaling link arcitecture. (You get more out of their cards in Xfire than nVidia cards in SLI.)[/QUOTE]

Why does it matter that the Phenom IIs are now just catching up? You seriously think that the C2Ds are going to spank the 920/940 for the price (Even the new AMD 720 X3 can be unlocked to 4 cores) for gaming? In the future more and more games/software will utilize 4 cores.
 
By the time that happens Intel will probably have their 6-8 core processors out and those games will require a whole new level of hardware. So you'd be spending more money now to not utilize your extra hardware until it's already outdated.

Why not go the cheaper route that will get you better performance now?

[quote name='richierich']Why does it matter that the Phenom IIs are now just catching up? You seriously think that the C2Ds are going to spank the 920/940 for the price (Even the new AMD 720 X3 can be unlocked to 4 cores) for gaming? In the future more and more games/software will utilize 4 cores.[/quote]
 
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