New Compy Advice

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New Compy Advice

Post by ian2120 » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:46 pm

Hey guys. As there have been a few computer related threads, I figured I would post my indecisiveness here. I am building my first gaming rig, and and trying to decide how to get the most bang for my buck (-$999). I have put together two wish lists on New Egg, one Micro-ATX, the other ATX. I want the most GPU power possible, for a reasonable price. I would also like a somewhat portable rig, so i thought a Micro-ATX would be the way to go. However, i probably won't be able to fit better than an ATI 4750 in the case i picked. ATX, I would go GTX 200 series (please don't turn this thread into an ATI vs. nVidia/AMD vs. Intel argument. I have chosen what I have chosen, and am not a fanboy for pretty much anything.), but I would salvage disk drives/HDD's from an old dell to save that money. Anyone have any advice, or other cases to suggest?

FYI: If size isn't a factor, id prefer to go GTX 200 series. Also, no one can deny that AMD delivers (for the most part) better value than Intel, so I'll stick with quad-core Phenom, since I would like a 64x OS. Don't want DDR3 RAM; waste of money. No SLI either.

I'll post links in a bit.
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Post by bicostp » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:49 pm

It would help if we could see the wishlists... ;) (It's asking for a login.)

Generally, ATX boards offer better features for the price, and they're really not much bigger than MicroATX.

I want DDR3 to come down in price, too. :( The i7 is droolworthy, but really expensive when you factor in the extra $100 for RAM.
Last edited by bicostp on Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by ian2120 » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:51 pm

I know, srry. Ill post when I can figure out links that work... :roll:

EDIT: If you're not feeling lazy, look up ATX Rig/MicroATX rig on the public wish lists for them. I'll keep trying...
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Post by Triton » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:58 pm

asus mobo
gskill ram
phenom black edition 2.6ghz
radeon HD4870
500gb seagate 3.0gbps hdd
etc. the one i had specced out was around 840$ with everything but case and optical drive

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by ian2120 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:26 am

Ok, well yesterday I ordered my Micro-ATX kit off of New Egg for $720 (salvaging my a 200GB HDD from an old Dell) and may need case mod tips when it comes. You see, I went a little overkill with performance... I will link my case, GPU, motherboard, and... Processor, and you'll see.

Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811144143

GPU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102770

Motherboard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157127

MY BABY!!!:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103471 :twisted:

...So I'm thinking I may need to add some custom cooling to that case to prevent melting Alaska. When it comes (by next Wednesday), I will post some temps, specs and frame rates. NO WATERCOOLING!!! But I can stand for drillin' some holes and attaching more fans, or other tips.
FYI: Also using 4GB of DDR2 Ram
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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Jongamer » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:17 am

ian2120 wrote:FYI: Also using 4GB of DDR2 Ram
1066 or 800?

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by ian2120 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:34 am

1066 that may need to be manually configed (read some reviews that it auto recognizes it as 800)
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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by bicostp » Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:47 am

MASSIVE CPU heatsink
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1588

Why only 4 gigs of DDR2? That stuff's dirt cheap now! Might as well get another 4 gigs, so you know you'll never have a problem. Even if you don't need all of that, you can set up a RAM Disk and use it for your browser cache. 8)

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Jongamer » Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:48 am

ian2120 wrote:1066 that may need to be manually configed (read some reviews that it auto recognizes it as 800)
I'm gonna take a wild guess. You got OCZ RAM didn't you. :lol: Because I know my 1066 OCZ RAM defaults to 800.
Aww..... I REALLY want that heatsink now, but I haz no money. :(

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Triton » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:57 pm

Id have gone with the phenom II 920 unless that unlocked multiplier is that big a deal for you :lol:
Why only 4 gigs of DDR2? That stuff's dirt cheap now! Might as well get another 4 gigs, so you know you'll never have a problem.
most socket AM2+ motherboards (that ive seen anyway) due to limitations with the processor cant do 8gb of 1066 ram, it defaults it down to 800 if more than 4gb is present and there isnt anything you can do about it

for those curious here is the computer i designed
My pimp gaming rig lol,total cost 983$ plus shipping

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by ian2120 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:30 pm

Well, I decided to go with that CPU because of a combo deal w/ my GPU. I really don't need more RAM than that, and if I do, i'll worry about that after I can afford to live in my house again! No, its not OCZ, not that rich! Its Kensington. And that MASSIVE Heatsink? Did you read that it's Micro-ATX? Well, I'm really happy with New Egg. My parts shipped around 9am EST this morning, ordered them yesterday, got home at 7pm, and half of my parts are here already! I will post more details when its up and running. I'm also thinking about doing a tutorial for YouTube for building the cheapest rig possible (Yeah, even though there are plenty others...).
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We Didn't Start The Fire! Watch!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pjoRZNzC0
Andrew wrote:{I was so happy} I was singing in my head!
me wrote:What song?
Andrew wrote:All of them

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Harshboy » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:03 pm

It's so easy to build a great computer for under $1000 these days.

Current Computer:

3.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.25 Ghz (OC)
8GB of 1066 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
ATi Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card
Biostar T-Power L45 Motherboard (Two PCI-e x16 slots)
Coolmax 950W PSU with Quad +12v rails at 25A
NZXT Hush Case

$808 Shipped

250GB 8MB Cache WD HDD
DVD Drive
DVD Burner
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS SoundCcard

Free (Stolen from my old Dell)

Running Windows 7 Build 7000 x64.

Recently I took out the noisy PSU fan (Reviews said it was near silent, so I believe it was faulty. Why RMA when it's an easy DIY job?) and made this thing almost dead silent. The Case makes it even more quiet because of the noise dampening foam. Now without the PSU fan rattling and revving full all the time (Faulty Ball Bearing I think it was), I can hear only slight HDD noise and an unbothersome hum of the HD4870's fan spinning (and that's only while gaming, I don't hear a thing while doing simple tasks).

Hope you enjoy your new computer as much as I enjoy mine :D

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by rikitheshadow » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:55 pm

Harshboy wrote:It's so easy to build a great computer for under $1000 these days. :D
Ya I built me a PC for approximately 960 or 980 (Minus Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard)

All the parts where obtained from Fry's Electronics:
Antec Case with a huge 40mm fan on top to vent the rising heat (forgot the price)
Modular 600 Watt power supply (because the case calls for the power unit to be stationed in the bottom)
Intel Duo Core 2.66Ghz (i forget the cache but it was 200 bucks)
2x 1gig DDR2 RAM (2gig total but the board can go to 4, price 50 bucks!)
Abit IP 35 Pro ATX mobo (w/ raid capability...which i have not set up because lack of HDDs) 775 socket i think
Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT (not the biggest and baddest but fairly efficient for 150 bucks)
I went with a 150gig HDD by Seagate, SATA enabled (I've never exceeded 100gig on one computer, plus it was marked down)
Memorex DVD-RW drive 16x i think (40 bucks!) IDE not SATA

It plays World of Warcraft, which is currently all i play in computer games atm

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Jongamer » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:08 am

Harshboy wrote:It's so easy to build a great computer for under $1000 these days.

Current Computer:

3.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.25 Ghz (OC)
8GB of 1066 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
ATi Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card
Biostar T-Power L45 Motherboard (Two PCI-e x16 slots)
Coolmax 950W PSU with Quad +12v rails at 25A
NZXT Hush Case
NZXT Cases FTW!

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Re: New Compy Advice

Post by Harshboy » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:54 am

Jongamer wrote:
Harshboy wrote:It's so easy to build a great computer for under $1000 these days.

Current Computer:

3.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.25 Ghz (OC)
8GB of 1066 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
ATi Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card
Biostar T-Power L45 Motherboard (Two PCI-e x16 slots)
Coolmax 950W PSU with Quad +12v rails at 25A
NZXT Hush Case
NZXT Cases FTW!
I love it, here's a pic :D

And yeah, this beastly computer of mine only has to play WoW. I was over at a friend's house earlier, or should I say late last night, and I was playing WoW and he said that it wasn't lagging at all even though it was running at 15 FPS all the time. I'm like "How the hell can you play WoW like this!?" because I'm so used to my constant 60-75 FPS with max settings. His settings weren't even maxed out! Bah!

So I'm going to give him my old 8600 GT and an extra 2GB of Ram because he needs it. His 6800 sucks too much these days and 2GB of Ram? Pfft...4GB is the new 2GB these days.

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