* Advice * needed on my new Gaming Rig

[justin182]

Hi. I am building a gaming pc. I have not decided on some of the parts, and I would really like to get some advice from all of you mates.


CPU: Q6600 OC to ~ 3.2-3.5gb (if possible)

Motherboard: (a) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R - $115 AR, (b) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P - $100 AR FS, or (c) ASUS P5Q Pro - $115 AR

Memory: (a) OCZ Reaper HPC 2x2gb 4-4-4-15 for $25 AR FS, or (b) CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 2x2gb 4-4-4-12 for $40 AR FS

Monitor: Samsung T190 1440x900 (Purchased)

Video card: GTX 260 (Purchased)

Case: Thermaltake Armor+MX (Purchased)

Optic Drive: SONY DVD-R (Purchased)

HD: One of Seagate or WD's, depending on the price

PSU: I want to wait until all of the other parts are decided. Let me know what you think. Ohoh, do you guys prefer modular?



Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: justin182
Hi. I am building a gaming pc. I have not decided on some of the parts, and I would really like to get some advice from all of you mates.


CPU: Q6600 OC to ~ 3.2-3.5gb (if possible)

Motherboard: (a) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R - $115 AR, (b) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P - $100 AR FS, or (c) ASUS P5Q Pro - $115 AR

Memory: (a) OCZ Reaper HPC 2x2gb 4-4-4-15 for $25 AR FS, or (b) CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 2x2gb 4-4-4-12 for $40 AR FS

Monitor: Samsung T190 1440x900 (Purchased)

Video card: GTX 260 (Purchased)

Case: Thermaltake Armor+MX (Purchased)

Optic Drive: SONY DVD-R (Purchased)

HD: One of Seagate or WD's, depending on the price

PSU: I want to wait until all of the other parts are decided. Let me know what you think. Ohoh, do you guys prefer modular?



Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much.

CPU - No need for an old generation, slower quad core for gaming... Grab an E7300 and OC till the cows come home.
MB - The UD3R all the way.
Memory - Go for the cheaper Corsair XMS DDR2-800 rated at 1.9v ($25 AR).
HD - WD "Black" 640GB or 1TB.
PS - I personally don't prefer a modular design.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: Blain

PS - I personally don't prefer a modular design.

???


Anyways OP, looks good, go for a WD black caviar 750 or 1000 GB

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: justin182
Hi. I am building a gaming pc. I have not decided on some of the parts, and I would really like to get some advice from all of you mates.


CPU: Q6600 OC to ~ 3.2-3.5gb (if possible)

Motherboard: (a) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R - $115 AR, (b) GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P - $100 AR FS, or (c) ASUS P5Q Pro - $115 AR

Memory: (a) OCZ Reaper HPC 2x2gb 4-4-4-15 for $25 AR FS, or (b) CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 2x2gb 4-4-4-12 for $40 AR FS

Monitor: Samsung T190 1440x900 (Purchased)

Video card: GTX 260 (Purchased)

Case: Thermaltake Armor+MX (Purchased)

Optic Drive: SONY DVD-R (Purchased)

HD: One of Seagate or WD's, depending on the price

PSU: I want to wait until all of the other parts are decided. Let me know what you think. Ohoh, do you guys prefer modular?



Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much.

Your build is overkill for your monitor.

 

[justin182]

Originally posted by: Blain


CPU - No need for an old generation, slower quad core for gaming... Grab an E7300 and OC till the cows come home.
MB - The UD3R all the way.
Memory - Go for the cheaper Corsair XMS DDR2-800 rated at 1.9v ($25 AR).
HD - WD "Black" 640GB or 1TB.
PS - I personally don't prefer a modular design.

I was actually considering either the E8500 (x9.5 multiplier) or the Q6600 (x9 multiplier) for the sake of oc-ing, and I actually had preference on the C2D because everybody said so --> most of the games are designed to run on 2 cores...etc.

But then I will play GTA4, and its recommended system requirements actually is a C2Q 2.4ghz, this makes me think that it's about time for quad core gaming. So I want to go with 6600 and OC it to 3.2-3.5ghz

The stick you mentioned is going to make less heat (1.9v), but wouldn't a 5-5-5-18 timing be worse than the ones that I've shown, or is the difference not a concern? I would opt for a better timing b/c everyone is praising GKill's sticks for their timing (4-4-4-12).

 

[justin182]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Anyways OP, looks good, go for a WD black caviar 750 or 1000 GB

I've heard some good thing about WD black for its speed, right?

 

[justin182]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Your build is overkill for your monitor.

I will probably change to a bigger monitor later on. Thanks for your input.

 

[DSF]

Timings are essentially irrelevant in gaming.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: justin182
But then I will play GTA4, and its recommended system requirements actually is a C2Q 2.4ghz, this makes me think that it's about time for quad core gaming.

You're thinking about making the move up to a quad core.
But you're picking a quad core based on price, not technology.

If you really want to make a move up the CPU food chain, don't buy an old school quad core, go with one of the new 45nm versions.

"Fish or cut bait" :laugh:



BTW, IF you tell us what your budget is, this whole exercize will be much easier. :roll:

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I hear GTA4 is a real CPU intensive game

 

[justin182]

Originally posted by: Blain

You're thinking about making the move up to a quad core.
But you're picking a quad core based on price, not technology.

If you really want to make a move up the CPU food chain, don't buy an old school quad core, go with one of the new 45nm versions.

"Fish or cut bait" :laugh:



BTW, IF you tell us what your budget is, this whole exercize will be much easier. :roll:

Hi. Thanks for your input. This is what I think (correct me if i'm wrong) I would say the changes from Q6600 to newer C2Q is not that much compared to the increase in price. Q6600 (w/8mb L2 Cache) can be OC to 3.2-3.5 ghz w a good heatsink (from what I've heard, of course), at $185. The newer C2Q has a shrunken die (45nm == less power, aka heat) and a new instruction of SSE4. I would care less about these 2. The other difference is the size of the L2 Cache. The next C2Q I would REALLY consider is the ones with 12mb L2 Cache (9x50) with the cheaper one being Q9550 (333x8.5) at a cost of $320. For the OC-ing purpose (considering both have high multiplier, Q9650 is even sweeter), both would be great, and Q9550 might be able to break the 4ghz mark. But we are talking about $140 price difference. I think a Q6600 OC should be able to hold up for 2 years, and by then the Q9550 and W9650 should be much cheaper (maybe lower than $200), I could probably use the money that I saved (maybe a couple tens or twenties more) to get a newer C2Q later, if needed. Would you agree?

ps: PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you so much for your input.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: justin182
I am building a gaming pc. I have not decided on some of the parts, and I would really like to get some advice from all of you mates.

Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much.

So far we know...
1. You're planning a gaming build for GTA4.
2. You're asking for advice.

Originally posted by: Blain
IF you tell us what your budget is, this whole exercize will be much easier. :roll:

You're going to get suggestions from A to Z unless you post some kind of budget.
Without a budget, we have no frame of reference in order to advise you.

 

[justin182]

Originally posted by: Blain

So far we know...
1. You're planning a gaming build for GTA4.
2. You're asking for advice.

You're going to get suggestions from A to Z unless you post some kind of budget.
Without a budget, we have no frame of reference in order to advise you.

oh, don't get me wrong, i'm really humbly seeking advice. i wasn't saying anything to prove you wrong or anything. i'm just trying to throw out something for discussion. sorry if you feel anything otherwise. my bad!!

as far as the budget, under $1000's fine. also, beside cpu, please also let me know what you think about the board and the memory. i've heard a lot of good things about Gigabyte boards i'm interested over asus', what do you think?

ps - by the way, i chose intel board w/ a nvidia GPU because i will need just one card and if it doesn't hold up anymore one day, i will just switch to a newer card. thanks.