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Ideal Gaming System... Hardware Noob

G

GmaV

Junior Member
Hello Everyone!

I am a computer hardware noob, and today I am going to buy a gaming system. And I am looking for advise on which hardware specifications to get. I don't have a particular budget but ideally I am aiming for best quality😛rice efficiency in the custom-made system.

All advise and suggestions are GREAT appreciated!!

Thanks in advanced,

GmaV
 
hi,
welcome to at.
your description is a bit vague. what games are you planning to run?
if you say that you definitely do not have a strict budget, you will get some reccomendations for some pretty high end hardware which can run to some money.
my personal reccomedation would be for...

good quality/price ratio mid level gaming -

nforce2 mb - abit nf7-s v2 or asus a7n8x deluxe
amd xp2500+ and good hs/fan - many choices here - oc as you see fit
1 gb pc3200 ram (2 x 512 mb dimm corsair or mushkin)
ati radeon 9600 pro
wd 8mb cache hd (x2 if you want to raid)
dvd-cdrw

a case you like and a good ps

i just built a computer like this for a friend for gaming and he's very happy with it. it is cheap and relatively fast and a great gaming system that will run everything currently out and should also run newly released games without a problem (including hl2)

anyway, hope that this helps. good luck
 
I know you don't have a particular budget, but what do you realistically want to spend? Do you need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or just a case and inside components?
 
Also, please search for other similar posts in the forums and see what looks decent. It's usually best to research everything and put together a system and then ask people's opinions on it. You learn more about the features of your equipment and can find out if anything you want to get has known problems or bugs.
 
Asus a7n8x Deluxe Rev 2.0
2 512mb sticks of corsair xms PC3200LL
Athlon XP 2500 and o/c the $&it out of it
2 of those SATA 7200 rpm drives that they found to get for around 60 on the hotdeals forums and do the RAID0 with em
Liteon CDRW
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (hercules, Saphhire, or built by ATI)
Antec Trupower supply
generic floppy
 
Heheh, foofoo, I recently helped a friend pick out some components for his gaming computer, and had similar choices of components as what you suggested. Only differences were the 9800pro instead of the 9600pro, and he's adamant on not OCing, so I went back to PC2700 and bump the 2500+ up to a 2800+ with the extra cash. Plus, he wouldn't be able to afford Corsair XMS PC3200 anyway... well, not 2x512MB.

GmaV, if you can, don't get your gaming computer right away. As MonkeyDriveExpress, do a bit of research, ask for opinions on components you've picked out, and think about what games you want to play on it. Suggest a budge too. I can't help too much with the pricing unless you live in Australia. Otherwise... welcome to the forums. 🙂
 
Don't be too set on getting a dual channel memory kit, 2 x same speed/mfr RAM will probably be just as good but without the premium for a dual channel kit.

Also, a 9800 non-pro might overclock (if you get the right brand) to a 9800Pro and that could save you a few pennies too.

A 2500+ and some PC3200 would be a nice setup, or you could get an Athlon 64 if you really don't have a budget.
Anything much more than a 2500+ can fairly easily be reached by overclocking a much cheaper 2500+.
 
Wait until the end of the month and you can get a P4 3.0C for today's 2.8C price (prices drop 10/26), or a 3.2C for today's 3.0 price.

here is the core of a nice power gaming system:

P4 3.0C (2.8C if can't wait)
Asus P4C800-E
1 GB PC3200 (2 x 512)
Radeon 9800 pro 128 MB

Antec Sonata case (unless you want something more fancy)
 
Originally posted by: Jibby
Heheh, foofoo, I recently helped a friend pick out some components for his gaming computer, and had similar choices of components as what you suggested. Only differences were the 9800pro instead of the 9600pro, and he's adamant on not OCing, so I went back to PC2700 and bump the 2500+ up to a 2800+ with the extra cash.
Click to expand...

Aww, overclocking a 2500+ to 2800+ isn't overclocking, it's like taking a brisk walk in the park! Shoulda bought the 2500+, and then just set it at 2GHz and let him run it at that speed. Considering basically every new 2500+ hits 2.2 GHz +, 2.0 Ghz is a cakewalk!
 
Are you going to build yourself or get someone to build it? I run a business after my normal job as a shuttle engineer building systems and have built 300-400 over the last 10 years. I would be happy to make a quote. If you build yourself, then either the Athlon XP or P4 is fine. If doing the Athlon, the price/performance curve seems to be best at the 2500/2600 frequency range. Of course, a NForce 2 chipset is a must. For the P4 I have built a couple of systems recently using the MSI Intel 865 chipset. The sweet point here is probably the 2.4/2.6 GHz CPU. Both systems are running great. For either AMD or Intel, get two sticks of memory, either 256 or 512 MB each to get the dual memory channel benefits. A Radeon 9600 or Nvidia 5600 would be a good mid range vid card. If you have the bucks to spend, a Radeon 9800 Pro or Pro XT is good (I currently am ATI biased) or the NVidia based 5900 cards. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 is available in OEM version for a decent price. I would recommend at least an 80 GB HDD with 8 MB buffer. I just upgraded my system to an MSI NForce 2 with SATA RAID and it does seem to make a difference. I have 2 120 GB WD SATA drives installed. If you go SATA you might want to see if the new Seagate native SATA drive is available yet. Of course, you can get a plain case but get USB front ports. I splurged a bit and now have a black tower with side neon fan light and it looks kind of neat. Not necessary but neat. A final item is the CD drive. Currently you can get DVD RW drives very reasonably priced. I have an NEC CDRW+/- drive that is working great. Either a MS or Logitech upper level mouse is good also. For my system I splurged last Xmas and bought a Planar 19" LCD. It was about $800 then but I think is down under $700 now. It is great and has a very fast response time. Look for response time if you go LCD. Lower is better. If not, look for a 19" monitor as they are price very nicely. Under $200 now.

If you are interested in a quote, email me at:

rkoenn@cfl.rr.com

Robert Koenn
Performance Computing Systems
315 Mockingbird Lane
Merritt Island, FL 32953
321-459-2743
 
> For the P4 I have built a couple of systems recently using the MSI Intel 865 chipset. The sweet point here is probably the 2.4/2.6 GHz CPU

I have to disagree with both points. The Abit IS-7 is a better budget motherboard, and the 2.4C is only the sweet spot if you are going to overclock it to 3.0 GHz (250 FSB).

Since with the P4 you are paying extra for the CPU, motherboard, and PC3200 RAM the sweet spot to make those costs worthwhile is a 2.8C (or 3.0C after the 10/26 price drop). Instead of buying a 2.4C to run stock speed, an XP 2500+ makes more sense ($125+ cheaper for close to the same performance). A 2.6C is more justifiable, but for that much money it makes sense to keep spending and get a 2.8.
 
Why don't you guys just send him to AlienWare.com or buyABS.com for "best quality rice efficiency". GmaV, you looking to buy or build?
 
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