Building a new gaming rig, what do you think?

[Opterpwn]

I'm about to buy the following components, please tell me what you think of this configuration. I plan on doing alot of gaming and a little video rendering as well.

CPU: C2D E6850

CPU Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120

Mobo: Gigabyte P35 DQ6

Memory: 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix PC2 8500 DDR2

PSU: Cooler master Real Power Pro 1000W

GPU: eVGA Geforce 8800 GTX (plan to step up for G92)

Monitor: Dell 2407 wfp-hc

Storage: 2 x WD Raptor X 150G
WD Caviar SE 16 750GB

DVD Drive: Lite On LH-20A1L-06 20x

Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 5.1 THX

OS: Windows Vista Ultimate Retail

Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech G15 and G7

Total Cost: approx $3650

I already have a Coolermaster 830 Stacker case, a Creative Xifi Platinum soundcard, and a Plextor DVD Drive.

The only component I'm really having trouble deciding on is the processor, think I might get the Q6600 instead.

 

[LowTeck]

I would go with the Quad Q6600 instead, as you suggest. It out performs the C2D E6850 according to tom's hardware benchies.

With gaming in mind - anyone disagree?

 

[coldmeat]

i went with the Q6600, but for me (an average user) i dont think it would have made much of a difference if i had gotten the E6850.
i dont multitask too much and even if i do, the speedstep still recognizes the processor as "idle" and still bumps it down to 1.6ghz

 

[Opterpwn]

Well after taking a look at those benchies I'd have to say I'm leaning a little more toward the e6850 again. It did marginally better on the game timedemos, did noticably better on the winrar compression and the photoshop filtering too. The quad kicked butt in the 3ds and cin 4d renders but that was to be expected. The only benchies it really whooped the duo on was the sisoft suite, but in that case its just processor vs. processor and of course the quad will win in brute strength. I tend to think of the analogy of 2 basketball players. Of course the 7 foot center will beat the 6 foot guard one on one but when integrated into a team the guard could be the much more effective player. I dunno, that's kind of the impression I got. Of course when programs get threaded for the quad it will be no contest but im banking it won't be at least for a couple of years, well at least not games. Then again, I didn't take overclocking into consideration at all. I hear the Q6600 can easily get up to 3.4 and the 6850 taps out around 3.6. I do plan on getting that Tuniq tower anyway maybe I need to reconsider this again

 

[aCynic2]

I built a game rig, that also doubles as my programming rig, for a little less than $3000.

The CPU was the E6600 and I'm not disappointed.

You are planning on 4Gig RAM, whereas I went with 2Gig. My OS is XP Pro and I'm not disappointed (I'm more disappointed with SecureROM than WinXP).

Decent choice of speakers, not great, but decent. Sometimes, they rattle when the bass is too heavy.

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: aCynic2
I built a game rig, that also doubles as my programming rig, for a little less than $3000.

The CPU was the E6600 and I'm not disappointed.

You are planning on 4Gig RAM, whereas I went with 2Gig. My OS is XP Pro and I'm not disappointed (I'm more disappointed with SecureROM than WinXP).

Decent choice of speakers, not great, but decent. Sometimes, they rattle when the bass is too heavy.

when did you build that rig? it must have been a little while ago, because for what you have, i dont think that should have come to $3000 if it was recent

 

[aCynic2]

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: aCynic2
I built a game rig, that also doubles as my programming rig, for a little less than $3000.

The CPU was the E6600 and I'm not disappointed.

You are planning on 4Gig RAM, whereas I went with 2Gig. My OS is XP Pro and I'm not disappointed (I'm more disappointed with SecureROM than WinXP).

Decent choice of speakers, not great, but decent. Sometimes, they rattle when the bass is too heavy.

when did you build that rig? it must have been a little while ago, because for what you have, i dont think that should have come to $3000 if it was recent

Back in may or so and I think you're right, I'm blowing up the price a bit but not by much.

The main shipment from Newegg was a bit over $2100. The E6600 was $226 then, the MoBo was $160, the GPU was $580, audio $170 (not an X-Fi, but something geared toward music), monitor $227, case $119.

Then there was the others that added up, PSU, 2x320Gig HDs, speakers, ram sticks, OS, etc.

The price does include 3-4 games I bought (FEAR, Galactic Civ II, Warcraft III, Oblivion),

It was close to $3000.

 

[coldmeat]

Originally posted by: aCynic2

Originally posted by: coldmeat

Originally posted by: aCynic2
I built a game rig, that also doubles as my programming rig, for a little less than $3000.

The CPU was the E6600 and I'm not disappointed.

You are planning on 4Gig RAM, whereas I went with 2Gig. My OS is XP Pro and I'm not disappointed (I'm more disappointed with SecureROM than WinXP).

Decent choice of speakers, not great, but decent. Sometimes, they rattle when the bass is too heavy.

when did you build that rig? it must have been a little while ago, because for what you have, i dont think that should have come to $3000 if it was recent

Back in may or so and I think you're right, I'm blowing up the price a bit but not by much.

The main shipment from Newegg was a bit over $2100. The E6600 was $226 then, the MoBo was $160, the GPU was $580, audio $170 (not an X-Fi, but something geared toward music), monitor $227, case $119.

Then there was the others that added up, PSU, 2x320Gig HDs, speakers, ram sticks, OS, etc.

The price does include 3-4 games I bought (FEAR, Galactic Civ II, Warcraft III, Oblivion),

It was close to $3000.

actually ya, i can see how it would come to $3000, especailly since those speakers are pretty pricey... and the OS

 

[aCynic2]

Originally posted by: coldmeat
actually ya, i can see how it would come to $3000, especailly since those speakers are pretty pricey... and the OS

Yeah, I'm very happy with the machine, it performs beautifully. I'm trying to get my geometry tracer done so I can actually start developing my game and programming the video card.

I want to see how fast I can transform a Terran Mars Class Battleship.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'd change that psu to a PCPC 750 silencer and get the Q6600 (PLAY GAMES & DECODE a movie at the same time!). and those speakers aren't so good. unless u don't care about sound quality. get some read speakers for ur high end Pc

 

[Opterpwn]

Ok I decided I'll switch to the Q6600 because I do plan on overclocking a bit and I'm gonna get that tuniq tower anyway so it makes sense. Not sure about the psu or the speakers. I hear the real power 1000w is very stable and very quiet as well, and the modular cables are a big sell for me. Only negative I hear about it is that it runs very hot. As for the speakers, I can't play sound very loud in my apartment so I'm going to have to turn the bass way down anyway. Feel free to give suggestions on better speaker systems though, but my budget for speakers will be about $500. Finally I'm still having a little trouble deciding between the gigabyte p35dq6 and the asus p5kdeluxe for the mobo, so if anyone has any strong opinions about that I'd like to hear them.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

if u can't play boomy loud music in ur basement the logitechs aren't for u, thats allthey're good for. boomy bass, squeaky highs, nonexistent mids. get some higher quality speakers like the Swan M200's from newegg or AUdeioengine 5's.