$2500 for a gaming machine...WHAT TO GET!?

[JJ650]

Ok, I can have $2500 for a gaming machine (p4 flavor).
What do you guys reccomend????

 

[desktopsilver]

2.8 p4, epox board,radeon 9700,scsi drive cheetah,,,used 29160 card off ebay,,,liteon cd ,cd rw drives if not scsi,,,,,,,,,or just wait and buy a ps2 they have more games the quality of games right now for the pc platform is horrrible and not looking to get much better for another 8 months,,

 

[Howard]

Yes, he was very helpful.

How long do you plan to use this one before you buy another?

 

[owensdj]

Here's what'd I'd suggest you build for a gaming machine for a total of $1489.58, not counting shipping:

• 2.53GHz P4 Retail Box $261

• Asus P4B533 DDR Motherboard $127

• 512MB DDR PC2100 Memory * 2 $253.78

• Western Digital 80GB WD800JB 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HD $107

• Plextor 40x12x40 CD-RW $109

• Teac 1.44 Floppy $9.95

• ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB AGP Graphics Card $371.95

• 3COM 905CX-TX-NM 10/100 Network Card $27

• US Robotics 56K Performance Pro Modem $41

• Antec SX635 ATX Mini-Tower Case w/ 2 additional fans $102.90

• Windows XP Home OEM $79

All of the prices are from Comp-U-Plus except for the memory from Crucial Technology and the video card from Buy.com. The video card is currently on back order, but you might be able to find it from another retailer.

 

[Bovinicus]

Owensdj put together a pretty good system there. I have no problems with any of the hardware he has selected. However, I do think you should go with DDR333 instead of DDR266, because it actually makes a difference with the P4.

 

[mee987]

why ddr? if he has the budget for it I say get rdram.

 

[GT1999]

With that budget, I'd get the P4 2.8 _for sure_ since it has very good overclockability But that's just me. Personally I don't have that kind of budget, so I just got a P4 2.53 and am hoping for 3GHz.

As for DDR, I would get 2x Corsair XMS PC3200 CAS2 1T or 512MB of RDRAM PC1066, depending on the motherboard you decide to get.

 

[Imported]

With what's left, pick up a bomb ass 19" LCD

 

[Amused]

P4 2.8

Asus P4T533-C with LAN

2 x 256MB Kingston PC1066 RDRAM (Or go 1GB if it floats your boat)

ATI Radeon 9700 video card OR Gainward GeForce 4 Ti4600 (Or just use what you have until nVidia's next card -- due out in Nov or Dec)

TB Santa Cruz sound card

Lite-on 48x12x48

Pioneer slot load DVD

Adaptec 29160 or 19160 SCSI kit

Boot drive: Seagate X15 36GB 15K RPM MODEL# ST336752LW SCSI drive

Backup and storage drive: WD1200JB

Antec 1080 Performance Plus case

Win XP in your prefered flavor

The CRT or LCD of your choice.

I went SCSI for you and your budget because the most annoying speed issue for me these days is program and file load time. HDDs are so much slower than the rest of today's systems, it's pathetic.

Anyhow, total for the system above ordered from Googlegear for CPU, Mobo and memory, and the rest from Newegg... without monitor is about $2450

 

[JJ650]

I do plan on keeping this one for quite some time if that helps. I like Amusedone's system specs he has there.

 

[jmeyer2718]

Originally posted by: JJ650
I do plan on keeping this one for quite some time if that helps. I like Amusedone's system specs he has there.

You really have no need to spend anywhere near $2500. Heres my suggested system which evenly balances performance with value.

Case - Antec 1080AMG w/ True 430w PSU - $140.00
CPU (after the price cuts within a week) - P4 2.26 - $193.00
Motherboard - Asus P4B533 - $145.00
RAM - 512 MB Corsair XMS 3200 - $215.00
HD - WD Special Edition 120 GB - 164.00
CDRW - Lite-On 40x12x48 - $60.00
Graphics Card - Radeon 9700 Pro - $325.00
Sound - Onboard sound is just fine. If you really want a sound card, Sound Blaster Live 5.1 - $32.00
Speakers - Creative Labs Inspire 5.1 5300 - $80.00
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster 900NF - 325.00
3 1/2 Drive - $10.00
Extra Case Fan - $15.00
Rounded Cables (2 IDE, 1 Floppy) - $30.00
Arctic Silver 3 - $5.00

Total, W/O shipping or Tax - $1739

Thats with the sound card, BTW.

Keep in mind that the CPU can be easily overclocked to nearly 3 ghz. Yes, there are faster P4 CPUs out there, but their current performance increases just dont justify the prices, in my opinion. Then again, if 2500 is your budget and you really dont mind spending more, go for it.

 

[MIGhunter]

Are you building from scratch?

I just put togethere a P4 2.8 system. Cost me $1950 but I am using some components from an old computer.

Here is what I bought.

P4 2.8
Asus P4T533-C MB
1 GB 1066 Samsung memory
Western Digital special edition 100 GB HDD
Cooler Master AX1 Case
Enermax 441W PSU
Radeon 9700 Video Card

Here is what I have
Ethernet card
DSL modem
Pioneer DVD Rom
5.25" floppy
Iomega Zip drive

If you aren't salvaging from an old system you can drop the price a little by getting a slower CPU. Also you could probably get away with a nice DDR 400 MB instead of the 1066. But since 1066 has been shown to be stable and DDR 400 isn't certified yet, I chose to go with what I know works.

 

[res1bhmg]

If you spend more than $1200 on a gaming rig (not including the monitor), you'll kick yourself in the nuts later.

Keep the extra money for upgrades, which YOU WILL want 6-12 months after you build it. Spending all $2500 on a top of the line now will result in a low-mid level rig 12 months from now, with no money to upgrade.

 

[Gabbage]

Message deleted!

 

[Amused]

Much of the cost of the system I listed is in the SCSI card and drive. Buying this would not have him "kicking himself in the nuts" later as the SCSI drive and card will have a longer useful life than most of the other parts. He'll be able to move those right into his next few upgrades with no problem while most of us will be buying faster and faster IDE drives and still not reaching the performance this drive has.

Even if he saved a bit of money on the CPU by buying a 2.4/533 or 2.53/533 I feel he should go ahead and invest in the SCSI drive if he has the money. You'll notice a faster boot/program drive FAR more than you will a few hundred extra MHz of CPU power. Your HDD IS the weakest link in the quest for speed

 

[TonyB]

if i had $2500 for a machine i'd get this:

P4 2.8GHz
Asus P4T533-C
1GB of PC1066 RDRAM samsung
Adaptec 29160 SCSI card
Seagate cheetah 15.3k 36GB
radeon 9700 pro
sound blaster audigy platinum 5.1
klipsch promedia 5.1
3com 3905C-TXM ethernet

AMS gTower w/ PC & Power cooling 600W-PFC power supply

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: jmeyer2718

Originally posted by: JJ650
I do plan on keeping this one for quite some time if that helps. I like Amusedone's system specs he has there.

You really have no need to spend anywhere near $2500. Heres my suggested system which evenly balances performance with value.

Case - Antec 1080AMG w/ True 430w PSU - $140.00
CPU (after the price cuts within a week) - P4 2.26 - $193.00
Motherboard - Asus P4B533 - $145.00
RAM - 512 MB Corsair XMS 3200 - $215.00
HD - WD Special Edition 120 GB - 164.00
CDRW - Lite-On 40x12x48 - $60.00
Graphics Card - Radeon 9700 Pro - $325.00
Sound - Onboard sound is just fine. If you really want a sound card, Sound Blaster Live 5.1 - $32.00
Speakers - Creative Labs Inspire 5.1 5300 - $80.00
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster 900NF - 325.00
3 1/2 Drive - $10.00
Extra Case Fan - $15.00
Rounded Cables (2 IDE, 1 Floppy) - $30.00
Arctic Silver 3 - $5.00

Total, W/O shipping or Tax - $1739

Thats with the sound card, BTW.

Keep in mind that the CPU can be easily overclocked to nearly 3 ghz. Yes, there are faster P4 CPUs out there, but their current performance increases just dont justify the prices, in my opinion. Then again, if 2500 is your budget and you really dont mind spending more, go for it.

I would spend another 300 on top of that already 325... Get a sweet LCD... and save yourself 500$$$ for later upgrades

 

[JJ650]

Quoted by bjc112

would spend another 300 on top of that already 325... Get a sweet LCD... and save yourself 500$$$ for later upgrades

true, true......

 

[BLiT45]

1. Is Rambus really that much faster than PC3200? Is it really worth the extra $$$?

2. Why do you all recommend LCD monitors, if you use them for gaming they blur, besides your stuck with 17" unless you want to spend a fortune, and I mean a fortune for a larger LCD monitor. A nice 19" CRT is way more suited for games and much cheaper.

3. Have any of you considered the new SiS 648 chipset? ASUS has one MB based on it, as do a few others...EPoX too. Has Serial ATA, AGP 8x, and more.

jmeyer, that is an excellent spec system you made out. I'd maybe get the P4 2.53 instead though, as prices are really good on that chip, check again, they are dropping daily.

Also, I'm not sure about recommending SCSI guys...it's damn pricey and 36 GB drive, well that's a bit smallish anyhow considering there are 200 GB drives out there, if you were to go the SCSI route, find a larger drive.

 

[faolan]

Keep in mind portability if you go to LAN parties quite a bit. I just built the following for my recent Quakecon trip:

Shuttle SS51
P4 2.26 ghz
Cosair XMS PC2700 CAS 2 512
Western Digital 120gb Special Edition
Plextor 20x12x40x16 Burner/DVD combo
Radeon 9700 (Qcon edition)
Samsung 181T LCD

The system screams for me in all the games I toss at it, and is rather nice for all the LAN parties I attend. Rough cost on that when I built it is $2000ish. Today, that would get you a faster CPU, since the 2.8 bumped everything else down. I personally never go all out on the CPU, since I can't see paying almost double to jump 10%.

All I want to add now is the Geargrip system for the LCD and Shuttle, but the Shuttle ones are still in prototype stage.

 

[Wolfsraider]

Originally posted by: AmusedOne
P4 2.8

Asus P4T533-C with LAN

2 x 256MB Kingston PC1066 RDRAM (Or go 1GB if it floats your boat)

ATI Radeon 9700 video card OR Gainward GeForce 4 Ti4600 (Or just use what you have until nVidia's next card -- due out in Nov or Dec)

TB Santa Cruz sound card

Lite-on 48x12x48

Pioneer slot load DVD

Adaptec 29160 or 19160 SCSI kit

Boot drive: Seagate X15 36GB 15K RPM MODEL# ST336752LW SCSI drive

Backup and storage drive: WD1200JB

Antec 1080 Performance Plus case

Win XP in your prefered flavor

The CRT or LCD of your choice.

I went SCSI for you and your budget because the most annoying speed issue for me these days is program and file load time. HDDs are so much slower than the rest of today's systems, it's pathetic.

Anyhow, total for the system above ordered from Googlegear for CPU, Mobo and memory, and the rest from Newegg... without monitor is about $2450

ding ding ding we have a winner

Much of the cost of the system I listed is in the SCSI card and drive. Buying this would not have him "kicking himself in the nuts" later as the SCSI drive and card will have a longer useful life than most of the other parts. He'll be able to move those right into his next few upgrades with no problem while most of us will be buying faster and faster IDE drives and still not reaching the performance this drive has.

right on the money

and i might add "a year and a system is low mid level"

considering that most consumers are running considerably less i find that by investing my money all at once the payoff is 2 and 1/2 years before having to look at upgrading again the games play fine for that long at least

hope this helps

oh yeah and for the best bandwidth right out of the box go rdram 1066

but as always this is mho and ymmv

hope this helps
mike

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: BLiT45
1. Is Rambus really that much faster than PC3200? Is it really worth the extra $$$?

To me it is.

2. Why do you all recommend LCD monitors, if you use them for gaming they blur, besides your stuck with 17" unless you want to spend a fortune, and I mean a fortune for a larger LCD monitor. A nice 19" CRT is way more suited for games and much cheaper.

I agree, but others do not. I prefer Sony CRTs for gaming and own two.

3. Have any of you considered the new SiS 648 chipset? ASUS has one MB based on it, as do a few others...EPoX too. Has Serial ATA, AGP 8x, and more.

From personal experience I am terribly biased in favor of Intel chipsets and Asus. :::shrug:::

Also, I'm not sure about recommending SCSI guys...it's damn pricey and 36 GB drive, well that's a bit smallish anyhow considering there are 200 GB drives out there, if you were to go the SCSI route, find a larger drive.

With the OS and all the games and programs one wants to load, they wont get any where near 36 GB. The only thing that's going to fill more than 36 GB is media files. That is why I suggested he buy a 120GB WD HDD for backup and media, and use the SCSI drive for his OS, programs and whatever current project he may be working on.

It really is a huge difference, and makes your computer feel much more snappy. Nothing makes a good computer suck more than a slow HDD. And as I've been moving up the GHz ladder, I've been most frustrated with program load and seek times... everything else moves faster than I need, almost

 

[Sevenhunt]

Just 1 thing
someone in here advised the asus p4t533-c mobo with 2 256 kingtson 1066 rdram stcks.

But the mobo supports only up to 800. So what`s the use in putting 1066 into it????

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Sevenhunt
Just 1 thing
someone in here advised the asus p4t533-c mobo with 2 256 kingtson 1066 rdram stcks.

But the mobo supports only up to 800. So what`s the use in putting 1066 into it????

You can run the memory bus at 533mhz (1066 speeds) no problem even though Intel and Asus do not officially support this as yet.

 

[owensdj]

Using SCSI drives like AmusedOne suggested would be a bad idea for a gaming machine(or almost any workstation) in my opinion. The very, very small performance increase wouldn't justify the extra cost of the SCSI drive and the SCSI controller. I've never seen a game that was disk I/O intensive. Seems like you'd be better off using the money you save from going with IDE to get a much larger drive and/or more memory.