New Build, Expert advice needed

[rune1980]

I am trying to put together a few nice Comps for me and 2 friends. My technological
intelligence is however outdated to say the least. So i was wondering if someone around these parts would have the heart and time to lend me a few mintus of their precious time and grace me with their insight. What im asking is basicly what parts should i get to build a decent gaming PC. Id like some nice stuff, but at a affordable price.

Currently ive bought 3xAsus En8800gt Top cards so that takes care of the GPU


Cpu Was thinking e6850 Core Duo, Maybe q6600? or Maybe AMD6400+?


Mainboard Considering Asus P5N32-E SLI AiLifestyle Series but maybe there are
some better cards for the same price or cheaper? Maybe x38?


PSU I have no clue here TBH, been reading up on several reviews, and so
far my conclusion is a OCZ GameXtream 600w should be able to run my
rig even if i decide to slap another 8800gt in there (appearently they dont
burn alot of power) but please correct me if im wrong


Case A standard v54 turbine from Point of View


Ram OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel pc6400 cl5800mhz Or maybe the
reaper edition of the pc6400 from ocz *CL4*


Cooler Asus Silent Knight II

Any in put would be greatly appreciated, as i am completely lost in all these new parts brands and names. I have a love for Asus products cause they have always worked for me in the past and to me equates quality. If this has changed the last couple of years, dont feel bad to burst my bubble.

Thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely
Rune Hansen

 

[daveybrat]

Let us know what your price range is for a system and then we can help a little more. You've so far listed some pretty high end stuff, but said you were looking for affordable priced parts, so it's a little bit confusing.

Give us your budget and we'll help you sort it out.

 

[rune1980]

There is no real set budget, but i guess the range is around 1000-1500 us dollars give or take a few hundreds. Yes i suppose that was abit messy up there hehe. What i meant was that id a system that will last me some time, that will run the new games, Age of conan most importantly... Id like a low high end system or a high mid range. something along the lines of what i wrote up there.
But if you can do a 800 rig thats almost as good id like to see that setup too.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: rune1980
There is no real set budget, but i guess the range is around 1000-1500 us dollars give or take a few hundreds. Yes i suppose that was abit messy up there hehe. What i meant was that id a system that will last me some time, that will run the new games, Age of conan most importantly... Id like a low high end system or a high mid range. something along the lines of what i wrote up there.
But if you can do a 800 rig thats almost as good id like to see that setup too.

Depends on what you want - a simple, smart setup would be a deal-of-the-week Dell ($399 with 19" LCD monitor, basic Core 2 processor) and $250 8800GT/etc. graphics card, so for $650 you have a machine that's about 80% as fast as a machine at triple the cost - plus you have a 19" LCD screen too. Add a little bit of RAM ($60 buys 4GB if you watch for sales) and you're all set. Add $99 for a 500GB HDD if you need it. Simple....will work the first time, fully legal OS, easy to setup and use, super quiet box...

 

[rune1980]

Well i want to be able to play 'Age of Conan` with a decent frame rate. Id like to have a nice computer that will kick some ass for a year or maybe 2. And out of curiosity, what dell machine would i get for 400?

 

[dclive]

http://www.gotapex.com/ is one; there are lots out and about. It's just an information site - they don't sell - all links go straight to Dell. It shows you how to get the best deals.

With an 8800GT or similar in the box, I'd be impressed if someone could point me to a Core architecture machine that couldn't run just about any game out there today at very high (1600x1200) resolution.

 

[rune1980]

That doesnt look alot faster than what i have here now TBH. sitting in a 3600+ amd. I might be mistaken though.

 

[dclive]

Then jump to a C2Duo E6550 for another $120. You're still at $519, and you've still got a great, fast PC. Charts with CPU speed comparisons: http://www23.tomshardware.com/...7&model2=882&chart=421

The 6550 is good because to go further you're paying far more for very incremental performance improvements.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: rune1980
That doesnt look alot faster than what i have here now TBH. sitting in a 3600+ amd. I might be mistaken though.

For gaming you don't really need a faster processor than that. You might as well put an 8800GT and some more memory in the machine you already have. Maybe a PSU if you've got a cheap one.

 

[BladeVenom]

Asus is still a popular brand motherboard. SLI isn't really worth it, unless money is no object and your buying both cards soon. When you want more graphic power, it's usually better to sell your old card and get a new one than run two older cards. Best bang for you buck might be the ABIT IP35-E if you don't want SLI. Check the motherboard section, motherboard features vary, and opinions vary.

If you're willing to overclock, then Intel's E4xxx and E2xxx series are popular for an inexpensive set up. You can upgrade later if you need to. Why spend a lot now when something better is coming out soon.

For it's price the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is the most popular choice for cooling.

Expensive memory offers very little performance gain. Any good DDR2 800 (PC6400), should work fine.

 

[piasabird]

I recommend a Q6600 for the processor. This processor is somewhat expensive ($279.00), but it runs cool and is very fast. It handles software like photoshop very well. Maybe if Intel starts coming out with the 45nm processors in the standard quad it will reduce the price. However, they dont seem to be under enough pressure from AMD to do that right away.

I am using an Abit IP35 Pro motherboard. Seems to run pretty well.

Also used EVGA GDDR3 8600GT. Good midrange video card.

Used Retail CPU Cooler - No overclocking.

 

[rune1980]

First off, thx for the replies guys. According to the cpu charts there seems to be quite abit to be gained from the higher processors, 10 - 30 fps depending on game. I do plan on overclocking, not to the extremes but maybe a 30-40%. But maybe it would be ok just to get the e6550, I was partail towards the q6600 or the e6750 but maybe im just wasting money here.


So far this is what i have in my basket.
http://img.photobucket.com/alb...18/rune1980/System.jpg