Please Rate- Ultimate Gaming System -

[MuntaroTheGreat1]

I have been doing a lot of work on designing my system i will be building in august of this year. If you could please rate my setup 1 - 10 . reasons/suggestions appreciated.

I would also like to add i will most likely be sticking to this exact layout with very few changes if any at all, i have designed this system for the ability to upgrade in the future and be the best bang for my buck gaming system i can make.

Case - Cooler Master ATC 201-B $169.00
+ 4 Fans ( Blue LED )

Power Supply - Enermax 550w $149.00

Motherboard - ABIT Ic7-G $228.00 note: i know it didn't perform well in original testing, however after reviews on many pages, i feel it can be OC to par with other boards and offers many upgrades for future expansions , more so then my other option of the Asus Deluxe.

CPU- p4 3.0mhz 800 $350

RAM - Corsair 1 gig (512 x 2) XMS 3500 $270

Monitor - Hitachi 19" cm 772 $300

Video Card - ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256 mb $400 .. this may change to nvidia, however atm i feel ATI would be the better solution, of course the price is also going to be quite lower by the time i get the system.

Sound Card - SB Audigy 2 $112.00

Hard Drives- Main OS/Games - Western Digital Raptor $146
Storage - WD spec Edition WD800JB 80GB $89.00

.. in future i may go with a RAID, however i don't have knowledge and time for it atm, so i will go with a main drive with a slave storage. hopefully these drives will give me the speed i desire in this setup.

DVD/CD - Pioneer slot load $50

CPU Cooler - Vantec Aeroflow VP4-C7040 $33

Speakers - Logitech THX Z560 4.1 dolby $140

Keyboard - Logitech Black Elite $36

Mouse - Logitech Mx500 $46 (not cordless of course)

EST Total $2500.00 US

....
The way i figure it by august most of this stuff will have dropped and shave off about $500 dollars, that will go towards software and other add-on's, but as this system stands, what do you guys think.

Thanks,
Muntaro

 

[Budmantom]

9.5 you would of got a 10 but there is no dvd/rw or even a cdrw.

As far as bang for the buck you only get a 6.

 

[bigpow]

It's gonna be an expensive system there!

I'd rate it as 9.5/10

Personally I would rather go with Asus (from experience).
I also would go for a better display (it'll stay with you longer than any other components)... try Samsung 191T LCD or Sony/Mitsubishi 22" CRT (graphics pro & avid gamer).
Keyboard & Mouse combo, why not get the new cordless MX? Same price with your estimation anyway...

And last, why would you want to pair Z560 (4.1) with Audigy2???
At least go get the Z640 (5.1), if you want to get max. effect from Audigy2 (it's too damn expensive, to be connected improperly).


Just my .02$


.
.
.

and... psssttt... (whisper) I also would go with AthlonXP 3000+ & Asus A7N8X Dx 2.0.... Just because of the steep price difference vs performance gain.

Originally posted by: MuntaroTheGreat1
I have been doing a lot of work on designing my system i will be building in august of this year. If you could please rate my setup 1 - 10 . reasons/suggestions appreciated.

I would also like to add i will most likely be sticking to this exact layout with very few changes if any at all, i have designed this system for the ability to upgrade in the future and be the best bang for my buck gaming system i can make.

Case - Cooler Master ATC 201-B $169.00
+ 4 Fans ( Blue LED )

Power Supply - Enermax 550w $149.00

Motherboard - ABIT Ic7-G $228.00 note: i know it didn't perform well in original testing, however after reviews on many pages, i feel it can be OC to par with other boards and offers many upgrades for future expansions , more so then my other option of the Asus Deluxe.

CPU- p4 3.0mhz 800 $350

RAM - Corsair 1 gig (512 x 2) XMS 3500 $270

Monitor - Hitachi 19" cm 772 $300

Video Card - ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256 mb $400 .. this may change to nvidia, however atm i feel ATI would be the better solution, of course the price is also going to be quite lower by the time i get the system.

Sound Card - SB Audigy 2 $112.00

Hard Drives- Main OS/Games - Western Digital Raptor $146
Storage - WD spec Edition WD800JB 80GB $89.00

.. in future i may go with a RAID, however i don't have knowledge and time for it atm, so i will go with a main drive with a slave storage. hopefully these drives will give me the speed i desire in this setup.

DVD/CD - Pioneer slot load $50

CPU Cooler - Vantec Aeroflow VP4-C7040 $33

Speakers - Logitech THX Z560 4.1 dolby $140

Keyboard - Logitech Black Elite $36

Mouse - Logitech Mx500 $46 (not cordless of course)

EST Total $2500.00 US

....
The way i figure it by august most of this stuff will have dropped and shave off about $500 dollars, that will go towards software and other add-on's, but as this system stands, what do you guys think.

Thanks,
Muntaro

 

[MuntaroTheGreat1]

Had AMD was a big supporter of them, but i will never buy another one of thier chips again, intel has always treated me good. I am not solid on speakers but by time i get around to building this system, i will definatly look for the best speakers for the card. As far as the mouse and keyboard goes, anyone who knows anything about gaming knows, cordless is garbage.

 

[MuntaroTheGreat1]

also would just like to mention, i have 2 other machines, my machine has a burner in it already and a pretty substantial setup, but its not holding with where the industry of gaming is going, i am going fps and everquest 2, i need heavy graphics and also fast refresh/times on my equipment. The monitor is the only thing i am questing, because honestly i don't know what the best route is, i have a 19" gateway now, its ok, but i want something that will take me to next level ( ie flat crystal clear ) . The Hitachi was highly rated and has very good bang for your buck qualities and its from an established company, however i am looking at other options and would like any suggestions, but atm 19" seems to be the best, the bigger the monitor slows down refresh rates, and in the fps world, every millisecond counts.

 

[Budmantom]

I think the cpu is 425 not 350, unless the price is just an estimate for what you think the price might be.

 

[Krk3561]

RAM - 2x 512MB Mushkin PC3500 (best memory you can get)

CPU Cooler - Zalman CPNS7000-Cu or SLK-900

About the IC7-G not performing well in initial reviews. it was because of a bios issue and not being able to set ram timings manually. It has since been resolved. The Asus canterwood is a big disappointment. FYI, The IC7-G is $203 shipped at GameVE.com and Buyxg.com.

Also, the Radeon 9800 256MB costs $500 currently.

 

[MuntaroTheGreat1]

thanks for advise on heatskin/fan for cpu, i will look into that version, looks nice....
i will probably still go corsair ram, many feel its the best atm.

 

[Insidious]

If you are considering Raid-0 in the future, I would recommend buying two matched drives now in preparation for that rather than the divergent selections you are presently considering.

While mix and matching HDs on a Raid array can certainly be accomplished successfully, it is risky.


[/quote]anyone who knows anything about gaming knows, cordless is garbage[/quote]

While I do not own one, I am reading a lot about the logitec MX700 and have begun to believe that maybe the days of no cordless mice are comming to an end... well at least I hope so. As I understand it, (I could easily be mistaken) as long as you stay within 6 feet or so from the receiver, you take no hit on response with this mouse. (cost ~$80 though..... maybe next time)

 

[Lonyo]

The case looks gorgeous. I have a 201 (not revised version), god I love it, it's my baby. Wanna get a window and some LED fans though.

I'd say nice rig just going on the case, cos it'll look so pretty.

10/10 for case choice.

 

[Krk3561]

PC3500 Roundup -Mushkin beat everything in the benchmarks and overclocks better too.

When all is said and done, the top performer is most definitely the Mushkin.

BTW - Not all cordless suck. I do A LOT of gaming and have the MX700 and there absolutely no noticeable difference in performance between it and my Microsoft IntelliExplorer 3.0.

 

[alkemyst]

nothing bought in august based on things today will be the *ultimate* system then.

Still almost any 'nice' h/w bought today is overkill for almost everyone.

 

[MuntaroTheGreat1]

keep in mind i am sticking to most of these items because i'm not chasing the hardware of tommorrow, i want a system that can be upgraded, i got a pos gateway 2 years ago for 3 grand and i can't upgrade that pos for nothing

 

[Krk3561]

Originally posted by: MuntaroTheGreat1
keep in mind i am sticking to most of these items because i'm not chasing the hardware of tommorrow, i want a system that can be upgraded, i got a pos gateway 2 years ago for 3 grand and i can't upgrade that pos for nothing

If you use different parts, it wont effect if you can upgrade.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

I'd give it a 7/10. It's good now but you're wasting money in a lot of areas so unless you're really rich you won't be able to upgrade when critical areas go out of date...The CPU and the 9800 are good choices for a gaming machine looking towards the next few years and don't let anyone tell you otherwise...

 

[RaiderJ]

Where is the watercooling setup?

Overal, 9/10 for the system. I would recommend the Klipsh Promedia 5.1's over the speakers you have selected.

 

[sandorski]

Being an AMD fan I won't rate your system mainly because I don't keep up on Intel stuff much.

Anyway, I'd suspect that the cpu, vidcard, and mobo will be cheaper by the time August rolls around. Just thought I'd point that out.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

What, no multiformat DVD burner? You should be ashamed.

- M4H

 

[bigpow]

Sorry... typo... it should be Logitech Z-680
(only if you're big on speakers... and not worry of being kicked out from the apartment)

 

[RyanVM]

EXCELLENT monitor choice there!!!! I have a CM772 and you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers before I'll give it up! Seriously, this monitor is superb.

Oh, and the rest of the system looks good too

The one thing is that I'd avoid Enermax power supplies. I had a 530W Enermax fry on me after one month of usage and Enermax has ZERO warranty support. I ended up have to eat the loss and just buy an Antec 400W power supply instead. It's been working solid for the last year and a half now.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: RyanVM
EXCELLENT monitor choice there!!!! I have a CM772 and you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers before I'll give it up! Seriously, this monitor is superb.

Oh, and the rest of the system looks good too

The one thing is that I'd avoid Enermax power supplies. I had a 530W Enermax fry on me after one month of usage and Enermax has ZERO warranty support. I ended up have to eat the loss and just buy an Antec 400W power supply instead. It's been working solid for the last year and a half now.

from my experiance, enermax is on the same level as antec in PSU, i've been using a 330W enermax in a oced p4 system for over 18 months without a single problem

 

[Compddd]

I have basically the same system cept a 9800 Pro 128 since 256 isn't out yet. It kicks booty, you can run anything I plan to get 2 Raptors and run them in Raid 0 soon though

 

[screw3d]

It's not really practical to plan into detail on what you are gonna get if you are only planning to build in August. The price/performance ratio would differ a lot by that time and that would totally screw up what you have initially configured.

 

[alkemyst]

I agree 3 months is a loooong time in this day and age of even things like Macintosh Cinema Series 23" monitors dropping from $4999 to $2999 overnight. Get your budget together and then once thats done, then post and quickly buy and forget about it....you can always kick yourself a month or two later..but the machine you purchased will always do what you purchased it for.

A $2500 budget will get you a really really nice system....get the cash in hand, post here and then go buy

good luck.