I've got an ~$2000 budget - Help me build a dream machine....

[kwo]

Well,

My friend, who is rather loaded, has now decided it's time for a new relatively high-end gaming system.

He cut me a check for $2000 and said, "Here, go make me something that will let me play any game at the highest settings on my Dell Ultrasharp 24" Flat Panel 2405FPW"

Well, with the plethora of choices available, I'm kind of split on some - so I'd like some feedback on the following components.... (especially video.....)


Case:

Raidmax X1
Thermaltake Eclipse
Antec P180 (PS cable issues as per anandtech review?)

Power Supply:

Seasonic S12-500W

Motherboard:

Abit AN8 SLI
Abit KN8 SLI

(what's the difference - I can't seem to find anything significant besides audio on the website)

CPU:

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester (~$80 more - worth it or not?)

Heatsink:

? haven't decided yet....

Video Card(s):

SLI option: 2x eVGA (N517) Geforce 7800GT CO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Single: 1x eVGA (N529) Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
(with potential for SLI later in year with a second one)

Sort of split here as to what I should do. The price is a little cheaper for a GTX (with a performance hit), but I'm thinking the addition down the road of another GTX card will be a nice upgrade (maybe 6 months....)

Memory:

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Kit
G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Kit
G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000) Dual Kit

I'm thinking that since he doesn't really seriously overclock anything, that the extreme PC3200 G.Skill would be better (better timings...)

Drives:

2x 160GB Seagate SATA in RAID (striping)
1x DVD-RW (haven't picked one yet...)

OS: Windows XP Pro

Peripherals: (thanks JustAnAverageGuy )
(nothing really special yet)
2.1 audio
Wired keyboard and mouse
some type of USB joystick, probably...

Any overall thoughts, recommendations, or 'red flags' would be much appreciated.....

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Don't forget the Operating system, speakers, peripherals, etc

Peripherals as in mouse, keyboard, etc

 

[Akhen]

Also like Viper GTS said in your other misplaced thread an opteron might be nice, but your going to have to overclock it to get to said speeds, so throw down 50 bucks for a good hsf.

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: Akhen
Also like Viper GTS said in your other misplaced thread an opteron might be nice, but your going to have to overclock it to get to said speeds, so throw down 50 bucks for a good hsf.

Reading this article helps to delineate..but I'm still not sure I see the advantage of going Opteron vs. 64 X2.....

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: kwo

Originally posted by: Akhen
Also like Viper GTS said in your other misplaced thread an opteron might be nice, but your going to have to overclock it to get to said speeds, so throw down 50 bucks for a good hsf.

i was under the perhaps misguided impression that the 64 X2's were simply dual core desktop versions of the opterons....no?

There are also dual core opterons (165, 170, 175, and 180, ( as well as the 2xx and 8xx versions).

As far as the above rig goes, the A64 ABIT motherboards haven't really been too impressive. I'd stick with ASUS or DFI. Considering he's not overclocking (heavily) go with ASUS.

As for the rig

Your choice of case.
Seasonic PSU you chose is fine
A64 X2 3800+ / Opteron 165 (Pretty much all of them will hit 2.4GHz easy)
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
The AMD retail dual core heatsink is actually pretty beefy, so you could stay with that.
A single 7800GT is enough for now.
2X1GB G.Skill PC3200
Hard drives are fine, but not the best. Hitachi 7K250 FTW.
an NEC 3550A would work fine
Rest is fine

If he's not really heavy into overclocking, you could just get a Sonata II, which comes with a 450W Antec PSU.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Get value RAM, the better timings will give you a minimal boost, and I mean minimal. Also because you are not going to overclock. Asus is a good choice for mother board. I would definatly take 2 GT's over one GTX anyday. Antec P180 case is sweet! But , yes there are some people who have trouble routing cables. The X2 3800+ is good enough.

 

[kwo]

As far as the above rig goes, the A64 ABIT motherboards haven't really been too impressive. I'd stick with ASUS or DFI. Considering he's not overclocking (heavily) go with ASUS.

As for the rig

Your choice of case.
Seasonic PSU you choose is fine
A64 X2 3800+ / Opteron 165 (Pretty much all of them one will hit 2.4GHz easy)
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
The AMD retail dual core heatsink is actually pretty beefy, so you could stay with that.
A single 7800GT is enough for now.
2X1GB G.Skill PC3200
Hard drives are fine
an NEC 3550A would work fine
Rest is fine

Thanks for suggestions ;

Regarding Asus, they have the A8N SLI, Premium, and Deluxe....I'm looking at the specs, besides differences in USB ports, network ports/controllers, and the use of a heat pipe vs. fan..is there really any other majour difference?

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: kwo

As far as the above rig goes, the A64 ABIT motherboards haven't really been too impressive. I'd stick with ASUS or DFI. Considering he's not overclocking (heavily) go with ASUS.

As for the rig

Your choice of case.
Seasonic PSU you choose is fine
A64 X2 3800+ / Opteron 165 (Pretty much all of them one will hit 2.4GHz easy)
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
The AMD retail dual core heatsink is actually pretty beefy, so you could stay with that.
A single 7800GT is enough for now.
2X1GB G.Skill PC3200
Hard drives are fine
an NEC 3550A would work fine
Rest is fine

Thanks for suggestions ;

Regarding Asus, they have the A8N SLI, Premium, and Deluxe....I'm looking at the specs, besides differences in USB ports, network ports/controllers, and the use of a heat pipe vs. fan..is there really any other majour difference?

The Premium is superior when overclocking the HTT bus beyond ~240.

The heatpipe though? :heart:

 

[Sqube]

I think the Deluxe has two true x16 lanes for SLI, as opposed to separating the x16 pipe for the video card into x8/x8.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: Sqube
I think the Deluxe has two true x16 lanes for SLI, as opposed to separating the x16 pipe for the video card into x8/x8.

No, that's the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Which is also a kickass board.

However, it doesn't really make a difference as PCIe 8X isn't even close to being saturated by even a 512MB 7800GTX.

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy

Originally posted by: Sqube
I think the Deluxe has two true x16 lanes for SLI, as opposed to separating the x16 pipe for the video card into x8/x8.

No, that's the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Which is also a kickass board that I would recommend.

However, it doesn't really make a difference and PCIe 8X isn't even close to being saturated by even a 512MB 7800GTX.

Yeah..i saw that and was thinking about it....but at $100 more....then again, this is supposed to be a "dream" system for him...and if he's planning on going SLI in the future.....

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: kwo
Yeah..i saw that and was thinking about it....but at $100 more....then again, this is supposed to be a "dream" system for him...and if he's planning on going SLI in the future.....

It's a nice motherboard, I'd be lying to you if I said otherwise, but the price premium isn't worth it IMO.

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy

Originally posted by: kwo
Yeah..i saw that and was thinking about it....but at $100 more....then again, this is supposed to be a "dream" system for him...and if he's planning on going SLI in the future.....

It's a nice motherboard, I'd be lying to you if I said otherwise, but the price premium isn't worth it IMO.

Sort of my thoughts.....

regarding MB's, I was also thinking of the DFI lanparty UT nF4..but in terms of price vs. performance, and the light overclocking I thought the DFI may be overkill for him....After I build it, he really just wants to turn it on, and play...play...play....

 

[Bobthelost]

Problem:P180 and seasonic 500W may not be possible with SLI, the cables are very tight on my A8N32 and i can't go for SLI with them, they just don't strech far enough, fixable with extenders though. 500W is plenty though and it's a very good PSU.

CPU:A64 X2 3800+ / Opteron 165 (Pretty much all of them one will hit 2.4GHz easy) <-- C&P'd as it can't be said better.
Mobo:Asus A8N-SLI Premium <-- Not a bad board
CPU heatsink:I'd go for a TT big typhoon or a Zalman 9500, both are very good coolers and there's no mucking about with chosing and finding a good fan. There are plenty of other options including the scythe ninja, a great cooler for the P180.
Graphics card:I'd plough the most money into the GPU, that's what's going to be limiting the gaming, not the CPU. You've got $2000 to play with? Wrong, you've got $1400 and a 1900XT (wrong link provided, oops)
RAM:2X1GB G.Skill PC3200 <-- good choice
HD:Hard drives are not fine for gaming, they will do, but you should look at a Raptor 150 when you're in this budget range. RAID0 does very very little for gaming performance.
an NEC 3550A would work fine but a BenQ 1655 is slightly better.

 

[Malladine]

Personally i'd aim for an X2/X1900XT/2GB/XiFi rig.

That's like $1200 for those parts, leaving $800 for ps/case/keyboardmouse/hdds/OS. Easy.

 

[Tostada]

The dual-core CPU should really be your last priority if all he's concerned about is gaming.

And for your hard drive you want to have two 160GB Seagates in a RAID? Where do I begin... Seagates aren't the fastest drives out there, and for God's sake do some reading about RAID before you assume it helps more than it hurts. About the only time RAID is clearly superior is in video editing.

I think your first priority should be the video card(s), and the second priority should be one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: Tostada
The dual-core CPU should really be your last priority if all he's concerned about is gaming.

No longer true for current / next generation games. Dual threading is here already with some games, future releases will be using it too. The FX60 is dual core for a reason.

 

[Wall7486]

CM Stacker 830/P180
Enermax Liberty 500W
A8N32 since this is a "dream" computer (I would personally go with the premium or DFI)
Opteron 165 w/ Thermalright XP-90
evga/bfg 7800GTX
2x1GB OCZ platinum
NEC 3550
1x74GB raptor, 1 Hitachi/Seagate/WD >250GB

 

[kwo]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
P180 and seasonic 500W may not be possible with SLI, the cables are very tight on my A8N32 and i can't go for SLI with them, they just don't strech far enough, fixable with extenders though. 500W is plenty though and it's a very good PSU.
A64 X2 3800+ / Opteron 165 (Pretty much all of them one will hit 2.4GHz easy) <-- C&P'd as it can't be said better.
Asus A8N-SLI Premium <-- Not a bad board
I'd go for a TT big typhoon or a Zalman 9500, both are very good coolers and there's no mucking about with chosing and finding a good fan. There are plenty of other options including the scythe ninja, a great cooler for the P180.
I'd plough the most money into the GPU, that's what's going to be limiting the gaming, not the CPU. You've got $2000 to play with? Wrong, you've got $1500 and one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102643
2X1GB G.Skill PC3200 <-- good choice
Hard drives are not fine for gaming, they will do, but you should look at a Raptor 150 when you're in this budget range. RAID0 does very very little for gaming performance.
an NEC 3550A would work fine but a BenQ 1655 is slightly better.

Heh..that's some great feedback.

Regarding the SLI board and SLI, I chose to stick with NVidia graphics for 1) compatibility with chipset and SLI harware (have had issues with ATI and Nvidia chipsets in past) and 2) Nvidia has a more mature SLI technology (seems to be a lot of issues with Crossfire....)

Also, the choice of Crossfire-capable motherboards is rather slim.....perhaps this Asus board....

 

[Bobthelost]

There are no compabability issues i've ever heard of for using a NF4 board with ATI graphics cards, doesn't mean there isn't any, but it is not worth worrying over.

SLI is only a good idea when you buy it from the word go. High end parts never get really cheap so upgrading to a SLI setup in the future is never going to be cheap for top end parts, and it's generally going to be better to buy one top end graphics card and sell on the old one secondhand. However i realise this thread would be best served not going into a "SLI is teh cool" direction . I'd read up on a bit and make your own mind up, but i'd avoid it myself.

Thread to read : http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...&STARTPAGE=2&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Buy a 1900XT, it's the fastest card there is at the moment, and it's only around $600, i clicked on the wrong link there and only just realised.

 

[Wall7486]

I believe the x1900XTx is the fastest card =Þ

 

[Bobthelost]

Yeah, yeah, pick on the dyslexic.

It is the fastest card, but every review i've seen makes it look like an utter waste of money when compared to it's slower sibling.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost

Originally posted by: Tostada
The dual-core CPU should really be your last priority if all he's concerned about is gaming.

No longer true for current / next generation games. Dual threading is here already with some games, future releases will be using it too. The FX60 is dual core for a reason.

Don't tell me we've got another guy suggesting spending money in the wrong area to future-proof the rig. That's never a good idea when you could spend the money somewhere else to have an outright better system.

Maybe a dual core CPU will fit in the budget. Maybe it won't. My point is that the GPU is much more important, and there's no excuse not to get a Raptor 150 when you have a $2000 budget.

 

[Bobthelost]

He's not sacrificing GPU for CPU, and the performance difference will be far greater than if he were to get a Raptor 150 with the extra money.

It's for current games, serious sam 2 uses Dualcore if memory serves, as do various other games, more are being patched to use them too. Dual core is here now not soon.

 

[Wall7486]

I think a 74GB raptor will suffice, especially with the price drop. At least to me the raptor150 works better on a >2500 set up. With 2000, you either want to go all out on a GPU or CPU. Since many of the opteron can OC so well you can save some money on the CPU and go all out on a GPU. You definitely would want 2 hard drives. One for OS, 74GB raptor imo for the burst speed, and another >250GB HD for storage. That will take you about 300 dollar on hard drive. 500-600 on GPU. 300-400 on CPU. That is about 1300 already. Get a mobo, burner , PSU and a case and that's basically the setup. Most importantly you want a decent monitor. The point of getting a nice GPU is so you can play on higher res. So invest the rest of your $$ on a monitor.