[McNemar01]

I am basically looking to build a new computer for high end gaming. My budget is basically $1,000. I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and I have Windows XP Home Edition SP2. I've been thinking about getting Vista, but I'm unsure of switching as of yet. I'm basically thinking dual core system with a minimum of 2 GB of RAM I don't much about running SLI or Crossfire and the advantages versus a single video card setup. I have a general idea of what I'm aiming for, but I want the best performance I can possibly get without going over budget.

Ideal Specs

Dual Core
2 GB of RAM
High End Gaming Card
Hard Drive with 250 GB Space (SATA 3.0)
PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (I'm guessing 2 of these would be ideal)

I play online MMORPGs. I've never played with anything other than integrated audio. I'm not sure how much buying an audio card inproves performance, but I've read that it helps. I've looked at different parts on Newegg and other sites and haven't decided on any specific motherboard as of yet. I have thought about going with the ASUS P5Q though. I have enough knowledge to disassemble and reassemble a computer and to do basic trouble shooting. I have never tampered with overclocking, but would like to at some point.

Edited by McNemar01, 03 September 2008 - 02:56 AM.

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Hi there,

Here's a link to a $1000 box I recently helped someone with. What do you think?

Troy

[Troy]

Hi there,

Here's a link to a $1000 box I recently helped someone with. What do you think?

Troy

[CrazyIvan007]

I recently bought and setup a build, but I had to buy Vista, which was $109. Without that, you could get a better video card.

But, for $1k, you should get a Quad Core. I chose an AMD, but you may like the Intel. The AMD can be had for cheaper this week than what I bought it for too. The AMD 9950 Quad outperforms the Dual Cores of both brands as and falls just under the performance of the High-End Intel Quads. That is, at least, what I have read in quite a few different reviews showing benchmark and testing reports. For me, it has worked better than anything I have used before. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz here at the office, and my home computer is faster and smoother than this one at the office.

Here are the specs of mine:

Ultra Aluminus Tower
(2) 120mm Case Fans
(1) Expansion Slot Fan
Power Up 800W PSU
AMD Phenom X4 9950 2.6Ghz Agena Processor (came with free 2GB thumbdrive)
OCZ XTC 4096MB PC8000 (2x2GB)
Corsair Dominator RAM Fan
MSI K9A2 Platinum Mobo
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-300 32MB, 7200rpm
Thermaltake Hard Drive Cooler
Samsung DVDRW SATA drive
Sapphire 4850 1GB PCIe 2.0 Video Card

I got this all for a total of $1234.87



Only thing I would suggest is getting a different Power Supply, perhaps an Antec or Corsair. The processor I got was $249, and Windows was $109 You don't need windows, and you can get the processor this week for $176. So, that comes to a total of $1050. If you wanted to bump up to $1100, you could downgrade to a 512MB version and get 2, ending at about $1k, or upgrade to a single 4870 card and get just about at $1150.

Edited by CrazyIvan007, 03 September 2008 - 10:02 AM.

[McNemar01]

I've looked at both of your builds and I have a question. Both of you use 4 GB of RAM and I've read that Windows XP only recognizes a maximum of 3 GB. So, does that mean that I"ll have to buy Vista in order to use the total 4 GB?

[CrazyIvan007]

Windows Vista or XP 32-bit version will recognize a total of 4GB of RAM, this includes video RAM. So, if you have a 1GB Video Card, you will only be able to use 3GB of Physical DDR/DDR2 RAM, or if you have a 512MB Video Card, you can have 3.5GB of Physical RAM.

To get more than 4GB, you will need a 64-Bit version. Both Windows XP and Vista can be bought as a 64-bit version. Just make sure it is the 64-bit if you want it. Both Vista Home Premium 64-Bit and Windows XP Home 64-Bit can be had for just around $100.

Edited by CrazyIvan007, 03 September 2008 - 07:47 PM.

[McNemar01]

Thank you. I didn't realize that it was specific to 32-bit vs 64-bit.

[CrazyIvan007]

Actually, I looked it up, the XP 64-bit is $140, because I guess you need XP Pro to get 64-bit...here:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16832116378

And here is Vista Home Premium 64-bit ($109.99):
http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=3778

Or, Vista Home Basic 64-bit ($89.99):
http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=3778

Edited by CrazyIvan007, 03 September 2008 - 07:58 PM.

[CrazyIvan007]

P.S. the OEM (System Builders) vs. Retail Versions are exactly the same. You get the full program with the Authorization Key. The only thing you don't get is the retail packaging....well known as the cardboard box, the big user guide (you do get a smaller user guide though), and so forth...but you get everything, program-wise, as you would with a retail version.

[McNemar01]

Here is a build I have that comes to $994.90 before shipping and rebates. The shipping ends up costing me $22.61, but I have mail in rebates totaling $40. I have possible concerns that the power supply may not be enough. I'm also unsure about using AMD vs Intel CPUs. I don't know enough about the differences between the processors to make an educated decision on whether I should buy Intel vs AMD. I'm hoping that with this build I will get the performance I'm seeking and a chance to play with overclocking when I learn more about it. This motherboard can handle DDR2 1066 RAM but I guess it has to be set for overclocking in order to use that RAM. That's from reviewing the specs on newegg's page about the motherboard. Ideally, I'd like this system to last 4 years minimum with plenty of room to upgrade when I need to. Judging from reviews on the case. It has plenty of space and great cooling.

Case : Antec Twelve Hundred ATX 12 Drive Bays 2xUSB 2.0 eSATA Audio Mid Tower Case
Motherboard : Foxconn P45A-S LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
CPU : Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
Memory : A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
PSU : Rosewill Stallion Series RD600N-2DB-SL-BK 600W ATX Form Factor
Video Card : EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English
DVD Burner : LG DVD Burner
HDD : Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Heatsink / Fan : ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Case $159.99
Motherboard $129.99
CPU $189.99
Memory $ 74.99
PSU $ 74.99
Video Card $149.99
OS $ 99.99
DVD Burner $ 24.99
HDD $ 64.99
HSF $ 24.99

Edited by McNemar01, 03 September 2008 - 09:23 PM.

[Troy]

After reading through some of the other suggested builds so far, I still vote for mine...

[McNemar01]

I just had a couple problems with your build. One, you didn't include the cost of Windows Vista. Two, the motherboard you chose has only 1 PCI Express 2.0 slot. I'm undecided whether I really need 2 PCI Express 2.0 Slots or not. I figured the best option would be to have a motherboard that supported dual PCI Express 2.0 at 16x.

[CrazyIvan007]

I just had a couple problems with your build. One, you didn't include the cost of Windows Vista. Two, the motherboard you chose has only 1 PCI Express 2.0 slot. I'm undecided whether I really need 2 PCI Express 2.0 Slots or not. I figured the best option would be to have a motherboard that supported dual PCI Express 2.0 at 16x.

Whose build?

And, just an FYI:

PCIe 2.0 slots are backward compatible with PCIe 1.0 Cards.

[kamille316]

I just had a couple problems with your build. One, you didn't include the cost of Windows Vista. Two, the motherboard you chose has only 1 PCI Express 2.0 slot. I'm undecided whether I really need 2 PCI Express 2.0 Slots or not. I figured the best option would be to have a motherboard that supported dual PCI Express 2.0 at 16x.

Note that to be able to use the second PCI Express slot to do a crossfire configuration (using 2 cards as one), you're limited on using ATI cards (you currently selected Nvidia but using one of that is not a problem). However you can still use the second PCI Express slot to add another video card (no crossfire configuration) if you want to use 4 monitors.

I also suggest going with a better PSU maker like Corsair, Silverstone, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, they maybe a bit expensive, but they make better builds.

[CrazyIvan007]

I just had a couple problems with your build. One, you didn't include the cost of Windows Vista. Two, the motherboard you chose has only 1 PCI Express 2.0 slot. I'm undecided whether I really need 2 PCI Express 2.0 Slots or not. I figured the best option would be to have a motherboard that supported dual PCI Express 2.0 at 16x.

Note that to be able to use the second PCI Express slot to do a crossfire configuration (using 2 cards as one), you're limited on using ATI cards (you currently selected Nvidia but using one of that is not a problem). However you can still use the second PCI Express slot to add another video card (no crossfire configuration) if you want to use 4 monitors.

I also suggest going with a better PSU maker like Corsair, Silverstone, Antec, PC Power & Cooling, they maybe a bit expensive, but they make better builds.

If you want to use multiple Nvidia Cards for one monitor, you can get a SLI-ready motherboard. SLI is Nvidia's version of Crossfire.

[McNemar01]

Alright. It was troy's build that I was referring to. I know that PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible. I am confused though. Is crossfire the only thing that uses dual 2.0 slots running at 16x or is SLI capable of running at 16x as well. I'm not 100% stuck with that build. It was just a build I came up with to see what kind of opinion everyone had on the setup. The power supply I picked because it was part of a combo deal. I've read that it's probably best to go with a name brand power supply at least 750W. I do plan on adding another video card later to run two of them. That's why I figured it was best to probably have 2 2.0 slots. As far as the motherboard being SLI ready. One of the reviews on it stated that it was capable of running SLI.

"Everything worked perfectly out of the box and my system booted XP straight away using the original BIOS. Newer BIOS is available, but I see no reason to upgrade. Lots of room on this board made installation a breeze, and I could easily add another full size graphics card for SLI."

Edited by McNemar01, 04 September 2008 - 06:21 PM.