Almost Done

[jojo29]

Ok all i am almost done with my brand new killer rig: here are the parts that i have already bought:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred got it for like $70, gotta love FRY's deals

Power Supply:Antec Earth Watts 650W Picked up cheap at FRY's

Graphic Card:MSI 4850

Processor: Intel Quad Core Q6600 will probably end up picking up the Q9450 or a Penrynn

Hard Drive: Westerm Digital Caviar 640GB Another FRY's deal

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Premium

RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR1000 Dual

Now my question is whether i should get the Asus P5E3 Premium, as i've heard DDR3 is not worth the price, but i would like a board that is as similiar to the Premium as possible, meaning i would like it to support Penrynn as well. It doesnt have to be an Asus board, but a board that is compatable with the parts i already have I want to be able to run Crysis, and especially want to run Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 flawlessly, even tho they don't have the specs for those games out yet, i want to NOT have to worry about them. So please help me out, im only 2 parts away from being done!!

NOTE: i didn't buy all the parts from Newegg, i just used them as a linking reference.

 

[Roguestar]

If you want to play Crysis, and a bunch of UNRELEASED games flawlessly you should have invested more in your graphics card.

However, if you want motherboard recommendations:

Ignore DDR3 until there is a socket change.
Get the Gigabyte P45 DS3L and 4GB of DDR2-1000 G.skill off newegg; together it'll set you back ~$200.

 

[jojo29]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
If you want to play Crysis, and a bunch of UNRELEASED games flawlessly you should have invested more in your graphics card.

However, if you want motherboard recommendations:

Ignore DDR3 until there is a socket change.
Get the Gigabyte P45 DS3L and 4GB of DDR2-1000 G.skill off newegg; together it'll set you back ~$200.

I invested in what i thought was the best bang for you buck card, which is the 4850

cool and i will check out that motherboard

 

[DSF]

Playing a game FLAWLESSLY isn't about bang for the buck. It's about buying the best. Having a 45nm quad isn't going to do anything for you if your video card is holding you back.

Either way I don't see any reason to go for a "Penryn" if you already have a Q6600 in hand. (For what it's worth, Penryn refers to the 45nm mobile chips, not the quad cores. 45nm quads are Yorkfields.) Just about any P35 motherboard and all P43/P45/X48 motherboards are going to support the Yorkfields without a problem.

You'll get similar performance out of the Q6600, especially if you're willing to overclock. Your RAM choice is going to depend on whether you plan to overclock and which CPU you settle on.

 

[jojo29]

Originally posted by: DSF
Playing a game FLAWLESSLY isn't about bang for the buck. It's about buying the best. Having a 45nm quad isn't going to do anything for you if your video card is holding you back.

Either way I don't see any reason to go for a "Penryn" if you already have a Q6600 in hand. (For what it's worth, Penryn refers to the 45nm mobile chips, not the quad cores. 45nm quads are Yorkfields.) Just about any P35 motherboard and all P43/P45/X48 motherboards are going to support the Yorkfields without a problem.

You'll get similar performance out of the Q6600, especially if you're willing to overclock. Your RAM choice is going to depend on whether you plan to overclock and which CPU you settle on.

Gotcha about buying the best, but i was under the impression that the 4850s were the some of the best cards out there, especially in regards to price, besides the 4870s/4870 X2 that is. Which cards would perform better than those? Just wondering what you think the best would be in regards to those 3 cards

 

[MarcVenice]

How much do you want to spend? You're not going to play Crysis flawlessly, depending on the settings of course. Starcraft II and Diablo III shouldn't be any problem at all for a HD4850. You should pick up a p45 mobo, with 2 pci-e slots, like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131299

Stop thinking about a q9450, a q6600 overclocked at 3.2-3.4ghz should be just fine. That way you have money that could be spend on a second HD4850 instead. With two of those you will get pretty close to playing Crysis on high settings and acceptable framerates. High settings btw, not very high, but those barely offer extra IQ anyways.

 

[jojo29]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
How much do you want to spend? You're not going to play Crysis flawlessly, depending on the settings of course. Starcraft II and Diablo III shouldn't be any problem at all for a HD4850. You should pick up a p45 mobo, with 2 pci-e slots, like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131299

Thank you for this recommendation, initially i was thinking of getting the Asus P5E3 Premium but it is quite expensive, but i didn't know which other motherboard to look for that had similiar features and could run a Penrynn CPU, so thanks!

Stop thinking about a q9450, a q6600 overclocked at 3.2-3.4ghz should be just fine. That way you have money that could be spend on a second HD4850 instead

Ok done, i was only thinking about a Q9450 for the way future, but i know ill be happy with the Q6600 And yes that way i would be able to have more money, probably for better RAM or something else

With two of those you will get pretty close to playing Crysis on high settings and acceptable framerates. High settings btw, not very high, but those barely offer extra IQ anyways.

Being able to run Crysis at a playable level was good enough for me, i'm not a huge FPS buff, i was more interested in if this system would be able to run RTS games like Starcraft 2, Company Heroes, the upcoming Dawn of War 2, and Diablo-esque games near flawlessly I know those games could get quite heavy for any rig, especially with all those crazy units

THANK YOU! Exactly the insight i was looking for

 

[jojo29]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
How much do you want to spend? You're not going to play Crysis flawlessly, depending on the settings of course. Starcraft II and Diablo III shouldn't be any problem at all for a HD4850. You should pick up a p45 mobo, with 2 pci-e slots, like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131299

OMG what a coincendence, my cousin's friend ( our buddy actually ) works at our FRY's, and he is able to get me the "Premium" version of that motherboard for about $30 more than the one you linked, i believe it might be a great deal so im jumping on that!!! i'm glad i held off on buying a mobo and RAM, as for my RAM how is this for some good RAM Corsair Dominator 2 GB 9 (1GB x 2) DDR1066 RAM or is there a better suggestions!

 

[MarcVenice]

Buy this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231145

It's 1000mhz, no rebates, for $80, it's a pretty good deal if you ask me. Sure, there's cheaper 2x2gb sets, ddr2 800mhz ram, but most of them involve rebates. For intensive RTS games, I think it's a save bet to go with 2x2gb instead of just 2x1gb ...

 

[jojo29]

thanks for all the recommendations, ill post pics of the new demon once i get it up and running

 

[DSF]

I wouldn't spend the extra $30 on the Premium unless it has a feature you know you need that's not on the P5Q Pro. Otherwise you're paying $30 for no performance gain. Crysis doesn't care whether your motherboard is "Premium" or "Pro" or "Complete Shit Edition."

I also would go with DDR2-800 since it's less expensive and will do just fine for overclocking a Q6600. There's nothing in the world wrong with the memory Marc linked, but DDR2-800 won't hold a Q6600 back and is as low as $50-60 after rebate these days for 2x2GB.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Just to let you know that the new Q6600's do not overclock as well as last years batch. The VIDs of the new ones released in the last 6 months seem to be 1.3 or higher. I can get mine to 3.2ghz but I wouldn't want to go any higher.

 

[jojo29]

Damn, just when you think you have it all figured it, the universe throws you a curveball. Ok i have ( or have/will order the rest ) of all the components i want for my new system. Now comes the big question: Which OS will i use?

Well, bear in mind that i am gamer, and as such i will be using this system to first and foremost game. My games of choice are World of Warcraft, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3- type of games, if that helps any. Now, i do or would like to run 4GBs of RAM, but not if it ends up costing more just to buy an OS.

Now my question is, given the specs of the computer i have listed, which OS would better suit my gaming needs Windows XP or Windows Vista?

System:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred got it for like $70, gotta love FRY's deals

Power Supply:Antec Earth Watts 650W Picked up cheap at FRY's

Graphic Card:MSI 4850

Processor: Intel Quad Core Q6600 will probably end up picking up the Q9450 or a Penrynn

Hard Drive: Westerm Digital Caviar 640GB Another FRY's deal

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Premium

RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR1000 Dual

 

[Boobs McGee]

Well if you plan on getting 4 gigs of ram and actually want to use it, Vista x64 is your most viable choice.

 

[MarcVenice]

Windows Vista 64bit, of course, no question about it. Vista is the future. Vista runs stable, vista runs pretty fast because of superfetch. Vista might eat more resources, but you've got the system to easily handle vista. Vista has dx10, you have dx10, why not take advantage of it? Vista can use all 4gb of ram, XP 32 bit can not.

 

[jojo29]

Ok so looks like i will be adding Vista x64. Now, what other differences/advantages are there in running a 64 bit enviroment? I mean will i be using up a good chunk of my resources running 64 bit Vista, or will i be "just" using like 1/4 of my system? I want to overkill the OS by as wide a margin as possible, that way, the rest of the CPU/RAM/Graphics power can be "focused" on gaming

 

[jojo29]

Ok, now i have one last noob question, the first rig was built by my and friend and myself, and he bought the windows disk for me ( i just gave him the money and he ordered from newegg). Now i am going to go with XP.

Now my question is which version of XP am i gonna buy? Heres the source of my confusion:


Windows Home Upgrade w/SP2 99.99

Windows Home Edition w/SP2 Retail 191.49

Windows Home Edition w/SP3 System Builders 89.99

So see im confused, i just want to install the damn OS and play my games, which do i order? or should i just use my copy of XP ? hehe

What am i considered? A system builder? cuz the price is right on that one!

 

[jojo29]

Ok cool, one last question, my brother is also upgrading but he has a tighter budget, he really doesn't care for the next gen of processors families ( cough nehelem) and he wanted to know if he should either get

the Q6600 or the (2.4GHz) or the E8500 C2D (3.16GHz)

I told him the Q6600 but he said the E8500 is at 3.16GHz and the Q6600 is at 2.4GHhz and based on that (hehe) he wants to go the E8500, he primarily games, pretty much same games as me, but he kinda threw a curveball at me. For purely gaming purposes, which of those two processors would be better/perform better??

 

[Roguestar]

For gaming, a faster dual core is much better.

 

[jojo29]

thanks a bunch

 

[jojo29]

one last question, my GF is upgrading her comp ( got some parts from her dad) but she has an AMD system. I just have one question

Motherboard: Asus P5Q Premium

Whats the AMD Equivalent to that motherboard??