New AMD Gaming Rig - high-end Pt. 2

[Gynthazi]

Hey guys,

Last month I got a lot of help from people on certain parts of the computer. Well i've worked and worked on this, and I think i've come down to what will be a pretty solid gaming rig. I want any last minute input on this please! It will help me out greatly!

Heck, feel free to outright bash it if you want as long as you give me constructive critisism on what I should replace, with what, and why.

Thanks again for everyones help, this is one of the best tech forums on the net!

-Gyn

Here's the system as it stands now:
---------------------------- Please check page 3 for the latest hardware list of what i'm ordering so far..discussion on that stuff is after that list! Thanks again for all the help!!


Total all in all is about 3k... Please, would love your input!!!

 

[loudSilence]

its rig not rid...

 

[Gynthazi]

I had it edited before you even posted..if you can't make an intelligent contribution to the post, maybe you should troll elsewhere?

Thanks,

-Gyn

 

[kleinwl]

The G70 Laser wireless mouse is really good. Response times are excellent. I would prefer it over the MX518.

I would also investigate the new ASUS A8N32-SLI motherboard. Antec just put up a review for the Intel version and the 8 phase power converter seems to make a large difference in overclocks. It's not yet listed on newegg, but it is on ASUS webpage... so it should be available shortly.

Check out storage review for hdd suggestions. I perfer the Hitachi T7K250 or Seagate 7200.9... buth seem fast than WD Caviar

I'm sure that you have heard this all before... but if you are going for the 4000, why not invest in a 3800+ or 4200+. The 4200+ w/ free Nero 7 software for $400 seems like a really good deal.

 

[Gynthazi]

The only problem with the SLI version is I'll never get another graphics card.. I mean I don't see a point.. What I listed there should run any game that comes out any time soon with ease...

As far as the dual cores, I went single core because this is primarily a gaming rig.. When I game I don't run anything else so no real need for the dual core, right?

As far as the mice.. Wireless scares me for twitch FPS games.... always has.. I mean has the response time really improved that much?

 

[Stangs55]

I few things i would definatly change:

1. Get an X-Fi card...yes, there is a big difference in games
2. Get a Seagate 7200.8 for the 2nd HDD (or a 7200.9 🙂 )
3. Get the Logitech G5 or G7 mouse
(4.) Optional: I would go for a Widescreen monitor (dell maybe)

EDIT:
5. Get a X2 Processor

Other than that, it looks to be a great build...congrads 🙂

 

[Aznguy1872]

Wow, nice system there!

 

[kleinwl]

Even if you are not going to use the SLI (and I understand not paying for what you don't use), It makes sense to look at this motherboard for the 8 phase converter.

The X2 will be nice, just for burning DVDs, and general responsiveness. When you are gaming, it can take care of the OS/sound/overhead/antivirus/etc that can shave 10-20% of cpu cycles even when your not doing anything. It's up to you though.

According to the Logtech website the G7 is 5x faster than std wireless.
g7:
2000dpi
6.4 MPix/s
20G max accell
45-65 inch/sec speed
USB report rate 500 reports/second

M518
1600dpi
5.8Mpix/s
15G max accell
USB report rate 125 reports/second

So... according to Logitech the G7 is as good, if not better than the M518.

 

[Ike0069]

Looks very nice. Not sure you need the 4000+ over the 3700+ as they will bith OC to about the same max.
If you don't plan to OC, then I would go with a different MB.

You could drop the Raptor to save some $$. I like the Raptors, but the newest generation SATA drives have nearly caught up to them in performance, and will definitley be quieter if that's a concern. But if the budget allows and noise isn't a huge concern (although since you went with a Seasonic I 'm thinking it might be), then the Raptor is still a good choice IMO.

Everything else looks real good.

 

[PKing1977]

X2 3800+ is the same price. You should look into it

Edit: I just looked at the video cards. Nivida has dual core drivers that are really nice. X2 is the way to go..

PKing

 

[Stangs55]

Originally posted by: PKing1977
X2 3800+ is the same price. You should look into it

Edit: I just looked at the video cards. Nivida has dual core drivers that are really nice. X2 is the way to go..

PKing

I agree...let me amend that previous list..

5. Get aX2 processor

 

[Budmantom]

I wouldn't call it "high end" unless your running a X2 cpu and x2 video cards.


That is a stout rig though, I wouldn't be spending 3k.



Tom

 

[Snakexor]

x2, 7200.9 segate, xfi, and possibly a widescreen 20inch dell monitor 🙂

 

[Remedy]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
x2, 7200.9 segate, xfi, and possibly a widescreen 20inch dell monitor 🙂

Why buy the 7200.9? According to the Purav's article, it isn't the crown royal that people here tend to make it out to be. If it wasn't for the warranty, I don't get why people boast about their (sata) drives.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Gynthazi
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Very solid board from all accounts. Considering this myself for a system upgrade.

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail

As suggested numerous times, you may want to consider an Athlon64 X2. Also, if you are looking to save some money, you can definitely buy a slower CPU and overclock it to the speed of a 4000+.

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Platinum System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103529

You could save at least $50 by getting cheaper RAM (although the MIR on this set helps a bit). See the sticky in the processors/OCing forum to see the performance impact of faster/slower RAM for A64s (it's not much).

eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227210

Two things: 1) The high-end XFX for $499 has the same OC. 2) It's not really OCed that much compared to the regular GTXs at $469. If you're gonna go all-out on a part, the video card is probably the best one to do it with, but I'm not sure it's worth a nearly 25% increase in price over a stock 7800GTX.

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM X 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130237

Raptors in RAID0 is paying a whole lot for only a fairly marginal increase in speed over either a single Raptor or a regular latest-generation SATA drive. RAID0 mostly helps with STR, which is not usually the limitation with desktop use. You'll boot in like 10 seconds, and copying big files will be real fast, but you're paying $300 for that. Go with either a single Raptor, or just a fast 7200RPM SATA-II drive.

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JD 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144160

A fine drive, although I like the Samsung Spinpoint series ones myself (they're a little quieter than the WD models).

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144154

Not much to say; I bought this for my last build. Haven't used the DL capabilities, but it works fine with regular DVD-R/RW.

Lian Li PC-65B Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152047

This is a *really* nice case; I have my main system in one of these right now (minus the side window). Obviously there are cheaper choices out there, but you can't go wrong with this case.

SAMSUNG 204T-Black 20.1" 16ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 0.255mm Pixel Pitch - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811112040

The other obvious choice would be the Dell 2001FP, which is actually on sale this week for ~$450 (I think). They've very similar (they may actually use the same panel).

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 70SB035000000 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824001194

A decent sound card helps a bit, especially if you have good speakers. You may want to look at the VIA Envy cards as well.

SeaSonic S12-600 ATX12V 600W Power Supply 100 - 240V UL, CE, CB, FCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16829102162

A great PSU, but WAY way overkill unless you are building some sort of dual-CPU SLI monster with a dozen hard drives. The 430W model would be more than enough for a single CPU and video card.

ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817151025

Looks good if you go for the LED lighting effect, but a little pricey. If you want to save a few bucks, the stock AMD heatsinks are actually very good. This would likely be a little quieter.

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835118223
- Ok, scared as hell to use this since I never have, but I found some good step-by-steps so I think I can handle it..please god, please..

Um... you put it on the CPU and then install the heatsink. Not really much to it. 😕

CASEACE GGPFKS GEARGRIP PRO (Standard) Computer Carrying Harness - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811999901]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835100007">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835100007</a>

Works great for carrying your system around (and you *definitely* want an aluminum case if you move your system at all frequently).

Basically, you could probably shave at least $500 off this and have appreciably the same system. Also, you didn't list an OS (unless you already have a copy of WinXP/Win2K).

 

[Deucebags]

Something for you to possibly consider. If your rig is strictly for gaming, then that montor might give you more ghosting than you would desire. Samsung always lists their screens as optimal response times. Dell uses Samsung for a lot of their screens. Just something to look out for.


Let me toss in my opinion and go for the Dell 2005fpw. It is a Philips screen with Typical 12-16ms. I enjoy it a lot.

 

[Snakexor]

if your gonna be lanning, lanboy ftw

 

[Gynthazi]

Thanks for all the great input so far!

Here's what i've changed so far:

1) Already ordered the Dell 2005FPW !!! 🙂 Found it for under 500 - God I hope its good for gaming...

2) I redeuced 1 10k raptor to just 1.. not going to raid-0 it

3) Changed the other WD 7200 to a seagate barracuda 7200.8..it is a little faster, thanks!

4) going with a G7 mouse instead of the mx518.. Hopefully it will respond fast even though it's wireless.

5) processor.... ok I will go dual core, but dumb question -- can you OC a dual core?

6) ok, I see the evga for 120 less then the one I listed ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130248 )

But question, the differences: Core Clock - 450 is the cheaper, 490mhz is the more expensive one and Memory Clock - 1200mhz is the cheaper and 1300mhz is the more expensive...

If I go with the 120 cheaper one, am I making a good buy? is it possible to OC it back to the more expensive settings?

Thanks a lot for all your guys' help!

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: Gynthazi
Thanks for all the great input so far!

Here's what i've changed so far:

1) Already ordered the Dell 2005FPW !!! 🙂 Found it for under 500 - God I hope its good for gaming...

2) I redeuced 1 10k raptor to just 1.. not going to raid-0 it

3) Changed the other WD 7200 to a seagate barracuda 7200.8..it is a little faster, thanks!

4) going with a G7 mouse instead of the mx518.. Hopefully it will respond fast even though it's wireless.

5) processor.... ok I will go dual core, but dumb question -- can you OC a dual core?

6) ok, I see the evga for 120 less then the one I listed ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130248 )

But question, the differences: Core Clock - 450 is the cheaper, 490mhz is the more expensive one and Memory Clock - 1200mhz is the cheaper and 1300mhz is the more expensive...

If I go with the 120 cheaper one, am I making a good buy? is it possible to OC it back to the more expensive settings?

Thanks a lot for all your guys' help!

You might get artifacts (random stuff on the screen) if you overclock to the KO settings, but even if you don't it's only a 5 - 10 percent difference.

 

[Gynthazi]

but even non OC'd you think its a better buy to just go with the cheaper one? will it push the 2005fpw at full settings with no problem with a game like BF2 all the way cranked up?

Also, how about the question on the dual core..can you OC it? Here's what i'm planning on getting:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz FSB 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...Price=&SubCategory=202&Submit=Property

It's about 100 more or so, but I figure i'm spending so much anyway..whats 100 bucks.. if the processor is worth it..looks like I get a free version of nero 7 too..

 

[theMan]

SWITCH TO X2 3800+ WAY BETTER THAN THE 4000+ SD.
SWITCH TO X-FI
SWITCH TO DELL 2005FPW WIDESCREEN LCD

SORRY, SOMEONE TURNED ON CAPS LOCK.

 

[Gynthazi]

hrmm, little late on that post 🙂 read the one right before yours for the most recent update

 

[Stangs55]

Originally posted by: Gynthazi
Thanks for all the great input so far!

Here's what i've changed so far:

1) Already ordered the Dell 2005FPW !!! 🙂 Found it for under 500 - God I hope its good for gaming...

2) I redeuced 1 10k raptor to just 1.. not going to raid-0 it

3) Changed the other WD 7200 to a seagate barracuda 7200.8..it is a little faster, thanks!

4) going with a G7 mouse instead of the mx518.. Hopefully it will respond fast even though it's wireless.

5) processor.... ok I will go dual core, but dumb question -- can you OC a dual core?

6) ok, I see the evga for 120 less then the one I listed ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130248 )

But question, the differences: Core Clock - 450 is the cheaper, 490mhz is the more expensive one and Memory Clock - 1200mhz is the cheaper and 1300mhz is the more expensive...

If I go with the 120 cheaper one, am I making a good buy? is it possible to OC it back to the more expensive settings?

Thanks a lot for all your guys' help!

Excellent choices 🙂 You won't regret it. Make sure you keep us posted w/some pics and benches when your done 🙂

Best of luck.

 

[Gynthazi]

Thanks.. Things are coming together..

Would love to know the overclocking question though.. although it may be stupid.. can you overclock a dual core processor? I was going to get the 4400 X2

 

[bob4432]

don't see the need for raid0 raptors. 1xraptor = good, 2xraptor(striped)=bad. your raptor will be pretty equal to my 10krpm scsi hdd and i am usually one of the first in the games and every so often, one of the last, can't figure this out. a friend of mine has a raptor and he is in also quick, but i really don't see the need for this as i still get what i want for vehicles. doubling the $$$ spent could probably benefit you somewhere else..

also i have seen cpu utilization graphs that do show both cpus being used pretty well with those new nvidia drivers, so you may want to go x2 3800.