How's this for a high-end gaming system??

[KidChaos]

Speakers - Altec Lansing ATP3 ($63.95)

Definetly replace these with Klipsch speakers.

I would spend less on processor and motherboard. And more on components you're going to be directly interacting with (i.e. speakers).

You could replace this ->

Motherboard - ASUS P48GX Deluxe ($225.95)
Processor - Intel P4 3.06GHz ($699.95)
Audio - CL SB Audigy2 ($126.95)

Total: 1052.85

with this ->

Motherboard - Abit NF7-S ($126)
Processor - AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 333MHz DDR FSB ($260)
Heatsink - Thermalright SLK-800 Heatsink $38
Fan for Heatsink - Panasonic Panaflo 80mm fan $8
Audio - nVidia APU, nearly as good as audigy2 $0

Total: $432

and never notice the difference once you start running your apps (some exceptions) and games.

 

[everman]

I"d never pay $700 for a desktop processor. HT will do nothing for games, save around $400 and spend that on a nice SCSI setup or something useful instead.

 

[Ophir]

I'd say ditch the 3.06P4, crucial memory, LCD, single HD, and pioneer. Pick yourself up a XP2800+, the asus a7n8x deluxe, a pack of Corsair Twin (OC to run 200/200 @ 2-2-2-5), 2X80GB wd RAID0 drives, a good 19" CRT, and the sony burner. Also pick up a pioneer slot load dvd player, for burning on the fly and dedicated dvd (plus they look sweet),, and maybe a cheapo lite-on 52x burner for convenient super-fast burns.

All told:

XP2800+ ~ $400
512MB DDR400 Corsair twin pack ~ $220
Asus A7N8X deluxe ~ $145
Samsung 900NF ~ $315
2X80GB / 8MB WD ~ $200
Sony DRU500AX ~ $300
Lite-on / Pioneer DVD player - $130

Total ~ $1700

XP2800+ running 200/200 @2-2-2-5, Raid0, and a good CRT. Now that's a high end gaming rig.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd still take the P4 over any AMD chip out there.

It's obvious this guy wants the best out there now and is not goig to wait until Monday to "see" the barton and then wait more than a month for the prices to become stable. He definately is NOT going to wait around for an RDRAM solution that will be faster than what's available today when he could get a dual DDR NOW and provide all the bandwidth the P4 needs. Any more bandwidth is just wasted since the CPU will not even use it all.

 

[DX2Player]

Well than dont freekin wait RDRAM RIMM 4200 will own just about everything. Duel DDR is not faster than RIMMM 4200 only the very best Duel DDR can match it.

Stock speed I score 3405/3399 in Sandra Mem test
Oced I score 3881/3876

I would like to know if anyone scores higher than that at stock speeds

 

[cmdrdredd]

here's a strange question. Say I was going to build a photo editing and video processing computer. Would I go with RDRAM or DDR?

 

[ScrewFace]

You'd best go with PC1066/1200 RDRAM to get the full potential out of your 3.06GHz Pentium 4.

 

[KidChaos]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
here's a strange question. Say I was going to build a photo editing and video processing computer. Would I go with RDRAM or DDR?

Granite bay for this setup. 2x512MB memory modules.

 

[whistleclient]

not sure if this is still valid but try it--

save 5% on your Crucial 9700pro by using code BBUSERGROUP -- drops it to $303

 

[PCMarine]

Stews your sig made me laugh

I am NObody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore, I am perfect! :-D

 

[Sahakiel]

I don't think HT will help much in gaming; it's the same argument over dual cpus.
Depending on the game, you may not need much CPU power for a whiles, so you can prolly get by with a lower speed grade. Or, I could just be blowing hot air, and by all means, get the 3.06

I'm pretty sure a Cheetah 15k or any 15krpm drive will perform better than any equivelent IDE solution.

Since the difference between a cd burner and a reader are almost dead even, it'd be a waste not to but a burner in. However, if this is a pure gaming system, I have to wonder about putting a DVD drive in there.

If I were you, I'd ditch the sound card and use whatever's decent/cheapest/onboard. Of course, everyone's ears are different, so to each his own.
Same with the speakers, get the cheapest you can tolerate.

Keyboard and mouse are important. Use at your discretion.

Just my POV

 

[Telinar]

Dude, all that nice hardware means you gotta put it in a Lian-li case or something.

 

[mjolnir2k]

NOTE: Non-related to thread topic but,


Adul
Elite Member

Posts: 25705
Joined: Oct 1999

= Average Posts Per Day: 21.12

Holy Jeeshus!

Do you ever sleep?

 

[Electric Amish]

Personally I think that PS is WAAAAAY overkill and I wouldn't go Creative for sound. I'd go Santa Cruz or Fortissimo Gamesurround 7.1.

amish

 

[butch84]

rdram would be a better choice for pure speed, but not if he wants to overclock. DDR can scale to much higher fsb settings, but then again if you arent overclocking ddr will be a bit slower with the granite bay chipset.

On a sidenote, DX2player, 32bit rambus is NOT faster than 16 bit. If it is RATED higher, ie 800 vs 1066 then yes. Otherwise, 32 bit simply means you dont need to install the memory in pairs.

Cheers
Butch

 

[psy44]

I have two comments about the rig. First I don't think people should spend more money on their power supply than their case. Second, I have never heard of those speakers, if your looking for speakers 50-100 dollar range, get logitechs they seem to offer the best for the cheapest price

 

[DX2Player]

Originally posted by: butch84
rdram would be a better choice for pure speed, but not if he wants to overclock. DDR can scale to much higher fsb settings, but then again if you arent overclocking ddr will be a bit slower with the granite bay chipset.

On a sidenote, DX2player, 32bit rambus is NOT faster than 16 bit. If it is RATED higher, ie 800 vs 1066 then yes. Otherwise, 32 bit simply means you dont need to install the memory in pairs.

Cheers
Butch

Not true, although they have the same theoredical bandwidth 32bit RDRAM consistently performs better, look here

 

[ScrewFace]

Your system rocks! The only thing I'd replace is that 17" LCD monitor with a 21" or 22" CRT monitor especially if you want ot game at all.

 

[mojaam]

Another reason to stay away from Alienware if you cheap.

 

[Dufman]

dammed impressive

 

[Spac3d]

Prices seem high, where did you price all of this stuff? If you haven't been to newegg.com, try it out. Many people from Anandtech.com rely on Newegg. Reliable, cheap, and super fast shipping. Looking over your prices, just off of the burner and cpu it would save you over $120

That being said... I would...

Switch to faster ram
Switch to the Western Digital special edition drives
Swap out the 480watt psu for a 380watt Antec TruPower (nice and quiet)
Switch to better speakers, the Logitech z680's are pretty sweet
Buy new KB/Mouse combo for gamers.

Oh, and I would go with a 19" or 21" crt for gaming

 

[cleverhandle]

Nothing new, but just emphasizing comments others have made...

Power Supply - overkill, why waste your money? Watts != Quality. A lower wattage Antec would be fine.

Processor - I guess you want Hyper-Threading. This is really not going to help a gaming rig much, though. I'd get a 2.4B and sink the extra money into...

Hard Drive - geez, you're going to spend almost $3000 on a rig and use IDE? Bleh. Pick up a Cheetah 15.3 and a decent controller, or 10.6 if you need more capacity per dollar. The hard drive is still the slowest part of the rig, it's worth the cash.

Mobo - OK, pretty expensive considering the minor benefits, but OK.

Speakers - at that price point, the Logitech's are a much better choice. Or spend more and get Klipsch. If you don't dig my SCSI suggestions, at least ditch the Processor and get better speakers and a better...

Monitor - like others have said, for "hardcore gaming" you should take a CRT, and for $450 you can get a damn nice 19" one.


I don't know where all the professed amazement at this rig is coming from. Is it nice? Sure, if you're spending close to three grand, it's almost impossible for it not to be. But you can spend the same amount of money more wisely...