Need Assistance with Gaming Tower...

[phyremynd]

I am trying to build a new tower for gaming and photo/video editing. I would like to keep it in the area of less than $900. It needs to be able to handle any games that could be coming down the pipe this year. I game in 1280 x 1024 and play TF2 right now. Would definitely love to have around 4GB of ram. I'm looking for something able to play Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 later on this year. Please help! I haven't built a tower in over four years, and now when I look at computer specs, I'm completely lost.

Thanks,

phyremynd

 

[DSF]

I think you'll get a better response if you start by answering the questions in the sticky Blain wrote. You've given some of the information, but not all of it.

 

[Denithor]

What he said.

:laugh:

 

[phyremynd]

Sorry, here's the info:

1. Uses: Gaming, Video/Image Editing
2. Budget: $650 - $800
3. Buying Parts From: USA, Newegg.com, etc.
4. Not really a fanboy, but I've been having issues with my Athlon and some issues with my Radeon, so I'd say I'd prefer Intel and nVidia
5. going to reuse my soundcard, sure... Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
6. I read through some similar threads and didn't find what I was really looking for
7. I don't mind overclocking, but usually I just leave it as default
8. I plan to build it in the next few months

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: phyremynd
6. I read through some similar threads and didn't find what I was really looking for

Really... threads HERE? :roll:

 

[DSF]

So do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse and operating system, or are you OK on those?

 

[phyremynd]

I have a flatscreen monitor, although if you had any suggestions for a good monitor i'd take them, also have a usb mouse and keyboard so I'm good there. I have XP Professional, but am in the dark about Vista. I've heard mostly bad things about it, and when I do hear good things, I'm told by some to get 32-bit and some to get 64-bit. what would be your ideas on that.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: phyremynd
I have a flatscreen monitor, although if you had any suggestions for a good monitor i'd take them, also have a usb mouse and keyboard so I'm good there. I have XP Professional, but am in the dark about Vista. I've heard mostly bad things about it, and when I do hear good things, I'm told by some to get 32-bit and some to get 64-bit. what would be your ideas on that.

Well how big of a monitor do you want? Take into accout that bigger monitor means higher resolution which means if you want to run latest games on high you will need an high end video card but you will have more realestate when photo/video editing. you also have to take into accout if your photo/video editing programs support Vista 32bit or 64bit. Also, if you plan to build in the next few months, ask again when you plan to build. Things change too much week to week that what we recommend today, would not be recommended a couple weeks from now.

 

[phyremynd]

I mean to build as soon as I get a spec that fits my budget. I'll work with whatever monitor I need for those games in the OP to run in high. Frankly, it doesn't matter much to me. I usually use PS CS3 for image editing, so I'm not positive on that either.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are by Blizzard and one thing they're really good at is making their games on the low end spectrum of computer hardware. You won't need a really powerful system if those are your target games, your current rig is probably more than enough since you can run TF2 just fine (I'm assuming you're satisfied/happy with your current performance).

But if what you want is a quick suggestion build to work off of:
CPU: E5200
Mobo: Any decent company P45 board
Ram: Cheapest 4gb set
Case: Antec 300 (or whatever the cheapest case you like is)
PSU: Something around 400-500w by Seasonic/OCZ/PCP&C/Corsair/Antec would be good
Video card: For your games, I'd suggest a 4850 or maybe a 9800 GTX+. Your call.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are by Blizzard and one thing they're really good at is making their games on the low end spectrum of computer hardware. You won't need a really powerful system if those are your target games, your current rig is probably more than enough since you can run TF2 just fine (I'm assuming you're satisfied/happy with your current performance).

That's because Blizzard has no need to compensate shitty game play with eye candy!

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are by Blizzard and one thing they're really good at is making their games on the low end spectrum of computer hardware. You won't need a really powerful system if those are your target games, your current rig is probably more than enough since you can run TF2 just fine (I'm assuming you're satisfied/happy with your current performance).

That's because Blizzard has no need to compensate shitty game play with eye candy!

I've liked the majority of their games thus far (WoW exluded) so I'm not really sure where you're coming from, my opinion is a game doesn't need to look amazing unless it already has damn good gameplay, which a lot out there don't.

 

[phyremynd]

Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 I have a friend tell me that this would be a good processor and that the nVidia GeForce 9800 GT would be a good graphics card. Then I consulted this place, cause I have no idea whats going on. How do you guys feel about the Vista issue? Is Corsair ram pretty decent? What are the few best gaming processor/grafx card setups? What motherboards are great for this kind of thing?

 

[krnmastersgt]

Vista is fine if you want to upgrade, XP is fine if you don't. You're solid either way in my opinion, I'm too cheap/broke to buy a copy of Vista to upgrade to so I just stay with XP, no problems here. Corsair is a great company to get ram from, they have that $25 4gb set after rebate, good deal as well.

As for the motherboards, it depends on what you need. The P45s are great for overclockers, still good even if you don't overclock. If you don't overclock or have some special need for Crossfire or SLI, any mother that supports your chip and is from a reputable company with a decent warranty would be fine, whether it cost you $50 or $300, it won't make too much of a difference (except maybe the onboard audio, if you care for the differences between the chips).

On to the video card, also based on what you need/intend to use it for. The games you've mentioned aren't exactly graphically intensive and therefore don't need a powerful GPU to give you great visuals and higher than most monitors can support for frame/refresh rates. And the 9800 GT is on par with or better than the 4830, while lower than the 4850. Any one of those would be a good choice depending on your monitor resolution.

For the processor, most games today will benefit the most from a high clocked dual core over a quad (unless similarly clocked of course) since most games only support up to (if even) 2 cores, 4 cores are only necessary for games with loads of AI or physics that get offloaded to the CPU for whatever reason. Big RTS games like SupCom would require a quad core for large games, and apparently so does GTA4 (exception for now, though developers seem to be making the move towards quad-optimized). The Q9400 is a good quad, but I can't help but feel you'd be fine with an E8400 (unless you plan on playing GTA4).

 

[z1ggy]

If you are wanting a 4gb set of RAM, then you want vista of course. mid level video card should be fine for u.. HD 4850 should do well. All the rest is really up to how much you want to spend to keep it close to your budget.

 

[krnmastersgt]

More info as to WHY it would be good for the OP would be helpful z1ggy, those with knowledge have a duty to help those who ask for it. Or maybe my philosophy class is getting to my head again.

In any case, moving along:
Depending on the resolution and games, one's choice in video cards usually changes.
For instance, if you game on a 22" monitor at 1680x1050, you probably won't see much use for a card more powerful than a 4850 in most cases (assuming your system isn't bottlenecking it). However even though it's a great card at that resolution, it's terribly underpowered at 1920x1200. Of course none of this really matters I suppose unless you game at these resolutions, which leads back to me asking, what's the max resolution you play at? Or is the 1280x1024 (typical of what, a 15" crt?) the max resolution your monitor can support?

 

[phyremynd]

The monitor I currently have only supports 1280 x 1024. If that's fine for games like TF2, D3 and SC2, I'm fine with it. I just don't my graphics to be worse than they should. If a slightly better monitor would help, than by all means suggest away. I love all the input you're giving me krnmastersgt. I'm afraid I don't understand some of it, though. A 4830/4850? Are those nVidia cards? What are they exactly? And the E8400? That an Intel chip? I'd definitely like to save money, but I just don't want to have to upgrade in six months to be able to play anything effectively. The last time I built my own tower was in March/April 2005. I'm not saying my computer needs to last another four years, but what do you feel would be a great build that could last a while. I game ALOT, it just seems that the games I like aren't that intensive, if I understand you correctly. I have a PS3, so most XPlatform games, I get on that over the PC. Taking into account that, and the info you gave me thus far, would this build be solid enough to last a while?

Once again, thanks for your help so far. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Originally posted by: phyremynd
A 4830/4850? Are those nVidia cards? What are they exactly? And the E8400? That an Intel chip?

No, yes.

I'm always one for helping out, but it's obvious you've done no research at all. Information about these products is plentiful on AT forums, and in almost every single system builder thread. I understand you're a bit lost on the current state of hardware, but even a simple Google search would offer the answer to these questions.

I will enable you with some hints:
- ATi is pretty dominant in the midrange market for video cards. The 4830 and 4850 are good examples and are cost-effective, especially for the current resolution you use and for your stated goals.
- Read up on Intel's processor offerings. The E8400 is a highly-overclockable Core 2 Duo.
- Everyone seems to have ignored that you plan to do some photo/video editing. If you're serious about this, you may benefit from a quad core. Do some research in the CPU forum.
- You will need a 64-bit operating system (like Vista x64) to address 4GB or more RAM.
- krnmastersgt's recommended build will definitely last you six months, but future proofing is almost complete speculation. This system may remain capable for a couple years, or it may be seriously hurting if more system-crushing apps and games like GTA4 come out. But as stated, Blizzard is usually very forgiving as far as new games playing on older hardware, so you should be OK with Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

 

[phyremynd]

Alright, so I've been taking this info into account and searching google and newegg.com. I've begun to cherry pick parts, but I'm still absolutely confused on how you pick a motherboard. So far I've looking into this.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115036
Memory: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145184
Video Card: MSI R4850-512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127370

If I understand correctly, if I wanted more power out of my graphics cards, I could buy another one of these and use them in tandem? I really, really don't understand what I'm looking for in a motherboard to support all these things. Do you need a certain motherboard in order to upgrade the ram to 8GB later on? I've always been lost about power supplies, too... Is there a way to calculate what I need for a power supply?

Also saw this PC on newegg.com.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16883229037

Is there a way to construct that build for a little less? Or is that about the barebones price?

Sorry I suck at this, but thanks again...

 

[phyremynd]

I'm trying to finish this on my own, but I just don't understand motherboard or power supply issues at all...please help.

 

[krnmastersgt]

What is it you don't understand? If you're concerned about the chipsets it's pretty simple. nForce 7x0i boards are nVidia chipsets that are capable of SLI-ing 2 nVidia cards, the X48 boards are an Intel chipset capable of Crossfiring ATI cards, and the P45s are another Intel chipset meant more for single card systems, however some of the premium P45 boards support up to 2 video cards in Crossfire.

Most people go with the P45 for a reason, multi-gpu builds typically don't scale too well in ALL titles, so they avoid spending the money for 2 weaker cards when they could just buy 1 stronger card for more stable/higher framerates. Also the P45 chipset is known as one of the most stable for overclocking and other options, while the nForce is notorious for being unstable (haven't had problems with mine personally). Also, because there's no SLI or Crossfire premium attached to the P45 boards, they're typically much much cheaper, usually around $100 for something that's more than enough for the majority of users (some higher end boards have some special features etc.).

As for the PSU, in the case of your system I recommend a 400-500w PSU from a trusted company, you might regret choosing a psu from a shoddy company just because it's much cheaper than the others because if the PSU blows, the whole system could be killed. Hence you go for a really well known company like Seasonic/Antec/Corsair (apparently Seasonic makes a lot of these?)/OCZ, companies with names backing them.

 

[TidusZ]

Grab a gigabyte UD3P board, its pretty cheap, amazingly overclockable, and has 2 pcie-16 slots so you could add another 4850 if you so choose. I gotta say though, with 1280x1024 that video card isnt really being given a chance to spread its wings. I'd seriously consider spending like $170ish on a cheap 22" monitor with 1680x1050, you'd <3 it. Also the E8400 is pretty similar to the 8500 but cheaper, especially if your overclocking. I'd seriously suggest you look into overclocking that processor too, btw.