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Building a stable, moderately fast gaming rig..

I

imported_elwood

Senior member
I'm always the one friends and family go to for computer repair and building advice but since i started my new job i have been outside the hardware loop and i have no idea which hardware is the best bang for the buck anymore. The last system i built (for a friend) was probably a little over a year ago, it was a P5B, E6600, 8800GTX superclock, etc. So it's been a while.

I have a few ideas on what i want but i would greatly appreciate suggestions from those that are up to speed on all the new hardware out these days.

First off, i plan on spending no more than $1500 if i can help it.

What i need:

Case (P182)
RAM (2gb's of course)
Motherboard (no idea on this. Don't need SLI or overclocking. RAID 0/1/5 would be nice)
CPU (Doesn't really need to be a good overclocker, just good bang for buck)
Video card (i'm thinking an 8800GT 512mb?)
Hard drive (wanting a single 150gb raptor for game load times. going to be mainly playing an MMORPG that requires LOTS of loading/zoning.)
Sound Card (x-fi xtrememusic? for my z-5500's)
PSU (The last 4-5 systems i built i went with pcpower and cooling 660w but i think it's a little pricey and may be overkill for the system i want to build)

And last but definitely not least, a 22" LCD! I'm hoping this doesn't push it over the edge but i'd really want a decent one as i cannot take my ancient blurry 19" dual CRT's anymore that i constantly have to open up to adjust the focus! 🙁

As far as mouse, keyboard, speakers, fans and little extras, i either have already or can figure it out.

I really appreciate the suggestions as i've been looking at reviews, round-ups, forums, etc for the last 12hrs and really haven't been able to make any choices yet!
 
Originally posted by: elwood
Case (P182)
RAM (2gb's of course)
Motherboard (no idea on this. Don't need SLI or overclocking. RAID 0/1/5 would be nice)
CPU (Doesn't really need to be a good overclocker, just good bang for buck)
Video card (i'm thinking an 8800GT 512mb?)
Hard drive (wanting a single 150gb raptor for game load times. going to be mainly playing an MMORPG that requires LOTS of loading/zoning.)
Sound Card (x-fi xtrememusic? for my z-5500's)
PSU (The last 4-5 systems i built i went with pcpower and cooling 660w but i think it's a little pricey and may be overkill for the system i want to build)
Click to expand...

4GB is pretty much standard for a budget of $1500. It's so cheap there's no point getting less when you can afford it.
Get a P35 motherboard like the ABit IP35 or the Gigabyte DS3L. You could get the DS3R if you want RAID but if you have not already decided solidly what kind of RAID setup you're going for, then it's not for you.
The E8400 is a great CPU and overclocks really well too if you feel like it.
8800GTS 512MB is good, 3870X2 is the fastest single card, 8800GT 512 is good too. Depends on how much of your budget you're willing to spend on a card.
Onboard sound is great these days, especially on the newer motherboards, so save the cash and stick with it unless you've got an awesome speaker setup.
PSU: The Corsair 440VX or 520HX are pretty good.
 
Originally posted by: Roguestar
4GB is pretty much standard for a budget of $1500. It's so cheap there's no point getting less when you can afford it.
Get a P35 motherboard like the ABit IP35 or the Gigabyte DS3L. You could get the DS3R if you want RAID but if you have not already decided solidly what kind of RAID setup you're going for, then it's not for you.
The E8400 is a great CPU and overclocks really well too if you feel like it.
8800GTS 512MB is good, 3870X2 is the fastest single card, 8800GT 512 is good too. Depends on how much of your budget you're willing to spend on a card.
Onboard sound is great these days, especially on the newer motherboards, so save the cash and stick with it unless you've got an awesome speaker setup.
PSU: The Corsair 440VX or 520HX are pretty good.
Click to expand...

I plan on sticking with 32bit XP at the moment. My speaker setup is a Z-5500.
 
Wait, you allready HAVE a e6600 and a 8800gtx ? You do not NEED anything new, especially not for mmo's. More ram is REALLY usefull for mmo's btw, I remember LOTRO which really LOVED more then 2gb. If the 8800gtx you are talking about was a build for a friend or whatever, then I'd suggest something like this:

e8400
2x2gb of ram, even in windows XP you will see 3.2gb or so. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122
gigabyte ds3l or abit ip35-e http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059
750gb samsung f1, these are 5 times the size of raptors, and equally fast in loadtimes, and a LOT less noisy !!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152100
videocard, this 8800gt OC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127329 it's cheap AR, it's really powerfull, more then needed for mmo's for sure.
you want a modular PSU or not ? Corsair 520hx if modular, otherwise pick one of these two, the latter is the cheapest and still good. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...E16817139004&Tpk=550vx or this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371007
 
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Wait, you allready HAVE a e6600 and a 8800gtx ? You do not NEED anything new, especially not for mmo's. More ram is REALLY usefull for mmo's btw, I remember LOTRO which really LOVED more then 2gb. If the 8800gtx you are talking about was a build for a friend or whatever, then I'd suggest something like this:

e8400
2x2gb of ram, even in windows XP you will see 3.2gb or so. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122
gigabyte ds3l or abit ip35-e http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059
750gb samsung f1, these are 5 times the size of raptors, and equally fast in loadtimes, and a LOT less noisy !!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152100
videocard, this 8800gt OC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127329 it's cheap AR, it's really powerfull, more then needed for mmo's for sure.
you want a modular PSU or not ? Corsair 520hx if modular, otherwise pick one of these two, the latter is the cheapest and still good. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...E16817139004&Tpk=550vx or this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371007
Click to expand...

The last computer i built was for a friend. I really don't need a modular PSU. Thanks for the suggestions!

EDIT: So even if the OS doesn't recognize all 4 gigs, the motherboard will still be running the two 2gig chips in dual channel?
 
Originally posted by: elwood
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Wait, you allready HAVE a e6600 and a 8800gtx ? You do not NEED anything new, especially not for mmo's. More ram is REALLY usefull for mmo's btw, I remember LOTRO which really LOVED more then 2gb. If the 8800gtx you are talking about was a build for a friend or whatever, then I'd suggest something like this:

e8400
2x2gb of ram, even in windows XP you will see 3.2gb or so. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231122
gigabyte ds3l or abit ip35-e http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059
750gb samsung f1, these are 5 times the size of raptors, and equally fast in loadtimes, and a LOT less noisy !!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152100
videocard, this 8800gt OC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127329 it's cheap AR, it's really powerfull, more then needed for mmo's for sure.
you want a modular PSU or not ? Corsair 520hx if modular, otherwise pick one of these two, the latter is the cheapest and still good. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...E16817139004&Tpk=550vx or this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371007
Click to expand...

The last computer i built was for a friend. I really don't need a modular PSU. Thanks for the suggestions!

EDIT: So even if the OS doesn't recognize all 4 gigs, the motherboard will still be running the two 2gig chips in dual channel?
Click to expand...

Yes, it'll run them in dual-channel. The hardware will see all 4GB, and so will windows, but as far as users are concerned it's around 3.25GB because windows allocates a whole bunch for memory addressing. Besides; dual-channel->single-channel performance increase will be insignificant to adding 1.25GB more of RAM.
 
Your games won't use the other cores so they'll be sitting idle while Intel spends your money on business-class flights for its executives. The Q6600 is a waste in unithreaded applications; most gaming and standard office work. Unless you're heavily rendering or transcoding the dual-core is better for you.
 
Originally posted by: elwood
What about a quad core intel? I could get a quad core for about the same price as an E8400.
Click to expand...

Most games do not see the extra cores so the chip you buy for the same price will actually run worse on a quad core.

The e8400 are hot enough as a gaming solution that no one can seem to keep them in stock even as higher prices. It is really the best choice right now though I'd consider an e4500 and overclocking at the price differences.

 
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