Looking for some suggestions on building a budget gaming desktop

[phooka]

OK, so I really like to play FPS's and produce music. I already have a monitor, CD/DVD burner, a great soundcard, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and some IDE drives I would still like to use.
So basically I need a Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, Processor, RAM & Video Card.
I do want to start with one SATA drive, maybe about 100-300gb for now. I can put XP on it myself.
Quad Core would be great but I think Core 2 Duo is more affordable and efficient for gaming..

Ideally I would like to spend $500 but can go a bit higher.

I will be running Ableton Live & CuBase. Rendering music out. [music production]
GTA4, Far Cry 2 & other FPS's
Also, I think 4gb of RAM would be good but 2 might be enough.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[zerocool84]

How many IDE drives do you want to use cus most new motherboards will only have one IDE channel so you can only have 2 IDE devices.

 

[krnmastersgt]

What resolution do you game at? I'm getting a build for you at the moment, but the video card is largely based on your gaming resolution.

 

[phooka]

I have 3 IDE drives but also own an external enclosure and don't mind swapping a bit. One IDE channel is fine.

As for gaming . . 1280 x 1024 would be fine.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: phooka
I have 3 IDE drives but also own an external enclosure and don't mind swapping a bit. One IDE channel is fine.

As for gaming . . 1280 x 1024 would be fine.

Pretty easy for most video cards to handle that res, planning on upgrading the monitor anytime soon or is that where you'll be staying?

 

[phooka]

I don't plan on upgrading the monitor soon. A higher resolution would be great but not essential.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Case: Cooler Master Elite 330 $45 + shipping
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500W $70 ($50 after rebate)
Ram: Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 $55 ($25 after rebate)
Video Card: ZOTAC GeForce 9600 GT $100 ($80 after rebate) + shipping
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q SE PLUS $97 ($82 after rebate) + shipping
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz $120

Basic list I whipped up, hitting on that $500 budget limit. It's a bit much for the gaming you plan on I suppose but I thought why not build a solid system that could up the res without too much trouble. The CPU and vid card are overkill, I'd be glad to recommend alternatives that are a bit cheaper, but as it stands the set-up above should be able to play just about any FPS on the market at your res with everything turned up.

Pre-rebates = 45+70+55+100+97+120 = $487 + shipping
Post rebates = 45+50+25+80+82+120 = $420 + shipping

 

[phooka]

What about for Fallout 3 and stuff like that?
I've never heard of Zotac, Are they good?
Why do you think that is overkill for CPU & video card?
I would like to be able to play other games in the future too of course.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Fallout 3 should play pretty damn well at your resolution, and Zotac is a decent company, can't compare in terms of warranty with EVGA, XFX, or BFG (the big 3 nVidia companies) but they offer pretty decent quality cards with aftermarket coolers on a lot of them, which means cooler + quieter in most cases, just a bit less aesthetically pleasing.

It's overkill because your system could probably do what you need to with an E5200 as opposed to the E7200 I suggested, I figured you'd keep the system for a while so I gave you a slightly more powerful CPU. As for video card, the 9600 GT should be able to play anything you want at that resolution for now and a few years later, I could offer a cheaper card but the 9600 GT is the king of the mid/low range in my opinion.

Alternatively, the ATI 4830 performs pretty well for this price-range too.

 

[phooka]

Well I am kinda partial to GeForce over ATI though.
Do I really need to spend that much on a PSU? I was thinking around $30 for something like that. 500W is good though.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Ah well if you were looking for a cheaper PSU, there's this OCZ 500w.

 

[phooka]

yea, but that only has 2 SATA plugs. I would like to think I'll get more than 2 SATA drives.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Not sure if the PSU will come with any but there's a plethora of Molex-to-Sata power connectors out there you could pick up for a few bucks, that's the cheapest quality name PSU on the Egg for now, so you could either wait or just buy some converters to go with the PSU.

 

[Bonesdad]

DO NOT drag your feet on a PSU. Get quality and don't skimp. The layout krnmaster gave you is good and fits in your budget. It's a better unit, jump on it while the rebate is still good.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Ah well if you were looking for a cheaper PSU, there's this OCZ 500w.

Originally posted by: phooka
yea, but that only has 2 SATA plugs. I would like to think I'll get more than 2 SATA drives.

I got that PSU a few weeks ago for an AM2 build and it has 3 sata plugs on it. And I want to say it has at least 2 maybe 3 molex plugs.

I'm running an X2 5400/9600GT/250GB Sata HD/Sata DVD burner/2 x 120mmm fans on it and it's doing fine so far.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Another thing to note, there's going to be a price drop for Intel chips in late January, so you might want to hold out a few weeks if you can to save some money. As for the CPU, you could use the E7200 I recommended or downgrade to an E5200, both are good chips for what you have planned, though the E7200 will perform a bit better when the framerates are more CPU-bound than gpu-bound.

 

[zerocool84]

For video cards, since you're wanting to play the latest games, I would at least go with these.

Sapphire 4830 $89.99AR
or
Zotac 9800GT $91.99AR

 

[yh125d]

Krnmaster, I think your recommendation is pretty good for that budget, but the e72oo is far from overkill. Especially for someone playing GTA4 (pretty much the most CPU intensive game out there) and music rendering.

For your purposes, I would recommend waiting until the intel price drops while saving a bit more $$, and build the rig alot like krn recommended but with a Q6600 (will see huge gains over the e7200, in both GTA4 and encoding), a good cooler for the quad so you can overclock to 3.2-3.4 (Xigmatek S1283/Sunbeam CCF can be had for $30-40), and a 9800GT (pretty big boost over 9600)

I'd also recommend ditching your IDE drives and not looking back. just pick up a single 1tb or so sata drive for about $100-120 (samsung spinpoint F1 and WD caviar black are good, very fast drives)

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: yh125d
Krnmaster, I think your recommendation is pretty good for that budget, but the e72oo is far from overkill. Especially for someone playing GTA4 (pretty much the most CPU intensive game out there) and music rendering.

For your purposes, I would recommend waiting until the intel price drops while saving a bit more $$, and build the rig alot like krn recommended but with a Q6600 (will see huge gains over the e7200, in both GTA4 and encoding), a good cooler for the quad so you can overclock to 3.2-3.4 (Xigmatek S1283/Sunbeam CCF can be had for $30-40), and a 9800GT (pretty big boost over 9600)

I'd also recommend ditching your IDE drives and not looking back. just pick up a single 1tb or so sata drive for about $100-120 (samsung spinpoint F1 and WD caviar black are good, very fast drives)

The 9800 GT and the 9600 GT are esentially the same card you know, with different clocks and more SPs unlocked on the 9800, which doesn't play a huge role at the resolution he'll be gaming at. I'm skeptical about recommending a quad, the cost increase might not be worth the few frames difference he'll get in just a small handful of games, only large RTS and GTA4 would see any real benefits in this set-up if you ask me.

And the E7200 is overkill considering the E5200 would be able to do most of this for a bit less. It's a valid idea, but the initial cost+power consumption later on outweigh it in my opinion.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt

Originally posted by: yh125d
Krnmaster, I think your recommendation is pretty good for that budget, but the e72oo is far from overkill. Especially for someone playing GTA4 (pretty much the most CPU intensive game out there) and music rendering.

For your purposes, I would recommend waiting until the intel price drops while saving a bit more $$, and build the rig alot like krn recommended but with a Q6600 (will see huge gains over the e7200, in both GTA4 and encoding), a good cooler for the quad so you can overclock to 3.2-3.4 (Xigmatek S1283/Sunbeam CCF can be had for $30-40), and a 9800GT (pretty big boost over 9600)

I'd also recommend ditching your IDE drives and not looking back. just pick up a single 1tb or so sata drive for about $100-120 (samsung spinpoint F1 and WD caviar black are good, very fast drives)

The 9800 GT and the 9600 GT are esentially the same card you know, with different clocks and more SPs unlocked on the 9800, which doesn't play a huge role at the resolution he'll be gaming at. I'm skeptical about recommending a quad, the cost increase might not be worth the few frames difference he'll get in just a small handful of games, only large RTS and GTA4 would see any real benefits in this set-up if you ask me.

And the E7200 is overkill considering the E5200 would be able to do most of this for a bit less. It's a valid idea, but the initial cost+power consumption later on outweigh it in my opinion.

The 9800 has almost double the SP and TU, which is nothing to shake a stick at (10-15% in most benchmarks, even at 1280x1024, for only about $10-15 more). Especially for GTA4 and FC2, etc.

The FPS gain from a e7200 to a quad would be pretty huge. In quad optimized games Like GTA4, you could go from unplayable to quite smooth (an e7200 isn't going to play GTA4 smooth easily at all). Even in non quad optimized games, you can still see about 10-20% gain, mostly due to the bigger cache. Not to mention the gains from encoding. For only $70 more? I think its definitely a better deal.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
DO NOT drag your feet on a PSU. Get quality and don't skimp. The layout krnmaster gave you is good and fits in your budget. It's a better unit, jump on it while the rebate is still good.

It's good, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved on, and 500w is far more than enough for the system specced, even 400w would be fine.
In a budget build it's better to go for something cheaper (e.g. the OCZ) and save some money when it's just as sufficient as something costing 2x the price.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt

Originally posted by: yh125d
Krnmaster, I think your recommendation is pretty good for that budget, but the e72oo is far from overkill. Especially for someone playing GTA4 (pretty much the most CPU intensive game out there) and music rendering.

For your purposes, I would recommend waiting until the intel price drops while saving a bit more $$, and build the rig alot like krn recommended but with a Q6600 (will see huge gains over the e7200, in both GTA4 and encoding), a good cooler for the quad so you can overclock to 3.2-3.4 (Xigmatek S1283/Sunbeam CCF can be had for $30-40), and a 9800GT (pretty big boost over 9600)

I'd also recommend ditching your IDE drives and not looking back. just pick up a single 1tb or so sata drive for about $100-120 (samsung spinpoint F1 and WD caviar black are good, very fast drives)

The 9800 GT and the 9600 GT are esentially the same card you know, with different clocks and more SPs unlocked on the 9800, which doesn't play a huge role at the resolution he'll be gaming at. I'm skeptical about recommending a quad, the cost increase might not be worth the few frames difference he'll get in just a small handful of games, only large RTS and GTA4 would see any real benefits in this set-up if you ask me.

And the E7200 is overkill considering the E5200 would be able to do most of this for a bit less. It's a valid idea, but the initial cost+power consumption later on outweigh it in my opinion.

The 9800 has almost double the SP and TU, which is nothing to shake a stick at (10-15% in most benchmarks, even at 1280x1024, for only about $10-15 more). Especially for GTA4 and FC2, etc.

The FPS gain from a e7200 to a quad would be pretty huge. In quad optimized games Like GTA4, you could go from unplayable to quite smooth (an e7200 isn't going to play GTA4 smooth easily at all). Even in non quad optimized games, you can still see about 10-20% gain, mostly due to the bigger cache. Not to mention the gains from encoding. For only $70 more? I think its definitely a better deal.

$70 as of today, in about 2-3 weeks it'll be about a $90 difference, he'll be paying roughly twice the cost up front, need an aftermarket cooler, and have a much larger power consumption. While the 9800 might be a plausible upgrade, the quad in my opinion isn't. GTA4 is the exception in this scenario, even high end duals can't run that game correctly for some reason. Virtually all other FPS games of today run fine on a dual core, and the E5xxx/E7xxx are about to become cheaper.

 

[phooka]

I really appreciate all of you guys' help.
I'll be processing a lot of audio which is nothing compared to video rendering and from what i've read a quad core processor isn't really necessary.
If prices for Intel chips are going to drop that drastically then I can wait a month.

 

[phooka]

And yea, I know I should ditch the IDE drives, It's just about backing them up first.
That will be done soon

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt

Originally posted by: yh125d
Krnmaster, I think your recommendation is pretty good for that budget, but the e72oo is far from overkill. Especially for someone playing GTA4 (pretty much the most CPU intensive game out there) and music rendering.

For your purposes, I would recommend waiting until the intel price drops while saving a bit more $$, and build the rig alot like krn recommended but with a Q6600 (will see huge gains over the e7200, in both GTA4 and encoding), a good cooler for the quad so you can overclock to 3.2-3.4 (Xigmatek S1283/Sunbeam CCF can be had for $30-40), and a 9800GT (pretty big boost over 9600)

I'd also recommend ditching your IDE drives and not looking back. just pick up a single 1tb or so sata drive for about $100-120 (samsung spinpoint F1 and WD caviar black are good, very fast drives)

The 9800 GT and the 9600 GT are esentially the same card you know, with different clocks and more SPs unlocked on the 9800, which doesn't play a huge role at the resolution he'll be gaming at. I'm skeptical about recommending a quad, the cost increase might not be worth the few frames difference he'll get in just a small handful of games, only large RTS and GTA4 would see any real benefits in this set-up if you ask me.

And the E7200 is overkill considering the E5200 would be able to do most of this for a bit less. It's a valid idea, but the initial cost+power consumption later on outweigh it in my opinion.

The 9800 has almost double the SP and TU, which is nothing to shake a stick at (10-15% in most benchmarks, even at 1280x1024, for only about $10-15 more). Especially for GTA4 and FC2, etc.

The FPS gain from a e7200 to a quad would be pretty huge. In quad optimized games Like GTA4, you could go from unplayable to quite smooth (an e7200 isn't going to play GTA4 smooth easily at all). Even in non quad optimized games, you can still see about 10-20% gain, mostly due to the bigger cache. Not to mention the gains from encoding. For only $70 more? I think its definitely a better deal.

$70 as of today, in about 2-3 weeks it'll be about a $90 difference, he'll be paying roughly twice the cost up front, need an aftermarket cooler, and have a much larger power consumption. While the 9800 might be a plausible upgrade, the quad in my opinion isn't. GTA4 is the exception in this scenario, even high end duals can't run that game correctly for some reason. Virtually all other FPS games of today run fine on a dual core, and the E5xxx/E7xxx are about to become cheaper.

When the price drops come they'll be closer in price, not farther from each other in price. And there won't only be benefit in quad optimized games. As I pointed out already, the quad will still give 10% or so advantage in non quad optimized games due to the much larger cache