Spec'ing out a new system

[Stormblade]

Hey all,

It's been quite a while since I built my current system:
http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.aspx?rigid=1683

My goals for that system are/were different as it filled a different role. I plan to keep that system as my server/dev/testing box.

What I'm looking to do now is build a high end gaming system. It'll be running Vista so it definitely should be able to run with all the bells and whistles.

I'm at the start of my research. I've read some reviews on graphics cards and CPUs mainly at this point but with things changing so quickly even a month or two is often sadly out of date.

So what spec's would you guys recommend? Not looking to spend a ton but a system that was $2,000 - $3,000 would fit my current budget.

I'll be using my same monitor but will more than likely buy a second and run dual monitor. I'll re-use my speaker system as well and maybe later upgrade that too.

 

[jpeyton]

Core 2 Duo
P965 Mobo
Geforce 8800GTS
4GB RAM
500GB HD
18X DVDRW
22" LCD
Corsair/Seasonic PSU
Case

 

[Stormblade]

Thanks. I'll start looking into these parts and reading up. Some questions though. Just remember I'm a hardware noob. I'm a programmer who dabbles and my knowledge is certainly out of date.

Are the Core 2 Duo CPUs now the thing to get over say an AMD64?
Are the Quad Cores worth it?
Which company do you recommend for the DVDRW? I've always stuck with Plextor but I'm open to suggestions on this
For the PSU is the Corsair/Seasonic better than the offerings by Antec?
What brand of HD? Seagate? Western Digital?
Any recommendation on brand of memory? I'm assuming that's DDR2?
What about an SLI Rig? Not worth the price?

Also for the Case and Cooling. I learned my lesson which my current case. Now I'm looking for a case which maybe two powerful fans rather than many little ones.

 

[moosey]

The Core2's are a better option over AMD now. Going Quad core really depends if you're doing anything that requires a processor like that. For gaming, I'd just go with a nice dual core, maybe like an e6600.

PSU - Corsair/Seasoinc are pretty a top of the and better than Antec. You can also check PC Power and Cooling and the Silverstone "Zeus" models are also good. These will also be a better bet than Antec.

You will need DDR2, with your budget, I'd at least start looking at the DDR2-800 rated modules.

SLI generally isn't worth it and is a waste of money, except if you're running some large monitor at real high resolution. I wouldn't consider it future-proofing either. If you're going with a 22" LCD recommended above, it's a waste of money for you. Even a little bigger than that, like a 24" and I think it'd still be a waste. If you want, just get the GF 8800GTX (which is faster than the GTS). With your budget, you could fit one in and it'll be plenty fast. I'd stick with eVGA for the brand too, plus they have a step-up program for new cards.

For a case, my preference is 120mm fans, nothing smaller. I have a Lian Li and am real happy with it.

But yeah, do your research and post up what you find and think you want.

 

[Stormblade]

Ok. After some reading and some research Here's my system:

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 -- ~$140
• Graphics Card: eVGA e-GeForce® 8800 GTX, (768 MB) PCI Express Graphic Card -- ~$570
• Memory: 2x PQI TURBO 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 RAM -- ~$340
• CPU: Intel Core?2 Duo E6600, 2.4 GHz -- ~$350
• PSU: PC Power & Cooling SILENCER 750 QUAD (Black) -- ~$200
• CD/DVD: Plextor PX-716A -- ~140
• Case: Tt Kandalf LCS Case -- ~$270
• Hard Drive(s): Barracuda® ES SATA 3.0Gb/s 750-GB Hard Drive -- ~$250
• Mouse: Logitech G7 -- ~$70
• Keyboard: Logitech G15 -- ~$100
• Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer -- ~$80

This system comes out to around $2,500

Ok some comments on my choices and reasoning:

Motherboard: (Gigabyte GA-965P-S3)
Not only was it recommended on this thread but after reading reviews from Anandtech as well as a few other hardware sites they all seem to agree that this motherboard is a good one.

Graphics Card: (eVGA e-GeForce® 8800 GTX, (768 MB))
I have been a fan of Nvidia since they won me away from 3dfx way back in the day. Then ATI actually won me away from Nvidia which was a marvel because at the time I'd had an issue with ATI back when they screwed me over with the openGL support. So I've had an ATI in my machine for years. Namely the All In Wonder. But now it's time to go back home

Memory: (2x PQI TURBO 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2)
Anandtech recommended this. I search around and it's good. I had not heard of it before. I always stuck with Crucial or Kingston but that was years ago. Also this time I'm going for 4 gigs right off. None of my machines ever had more than 1 Gig because I always skimped and by the time I got around to thinking of adding it was time to upgrade my computer

CPU: (Intel Core?2 Duo E6600, 2.4 GHz)
Ooo did I eye that Extreme Quad from Intel. But after reading it's basically not worth it at this time. But I'm still trying to set the system up so that if I decide later to go ahead and get a Quad I can. The only justification I have for that (Other than bragging rights) is that I occasionally do video processing and graphics manipulation. I've found that Photoshop and some Video Capture Card really love having more processors. But for now I'll stick with a Core 2 Duo.

PSU: (PC Power & Cooling SILENCER 750 QUAD (Black))
Things sure have changed. Apparently Antec isn't what they used to be and on various lists they were not near the top. PC Power and Cooling seemed to be at the top the most with Corsair/Seasonic right with them. The 750 Watts is a bit of overkill for this system but I'm trying to future proof it somewhat. Who knows, I may have some money to burn and get a Quad CPU and go SLI. It could happen

CD/DVD: (Plextor PX-716A)
I have not owned a non-Plextor drive in close to 10 years. I have always been happy with their drives. When I got my first and only combo drive I just added it to my system since the old Plextor CD Writer is still working beautifully.

Case: (Tt Kandalf LCS Case)
Ok Ok. Yeah it's overkill. Especially since I'm not planning to overclock. My attempts to overclock in the past usually resulted in an unstable system but I may give it a try again. But whether I do or not I got tired of worrying about cooling. With my current computer I often had to run the air conditioner, keep my computer near it and open the case with a fan. Of course this is because over time I kept adding things like 3 more hard drives

Hard Drive: (Barracuda® ES SATA 3.0Gb/s 750-GB)
The price on these 750 gig drives took a nose dive since the 1 Tb drives were announced. They dropped almost half so no reason for me not to get one or even two of these. My only concern was that at least with my current hardware I had to get an IDE card and use their drivers to support the large drives. So for safety I always used a small < 120 drive to boot from and to store my system files so we'll see. I didn't check the motherboard but I would be very surprised if the IDE onboard didn't support the big drives.

Mouse and Keyboard: (Logitech G7 and Logitech G15)
Been a fan of Logitech for years now. My current Mouse is the G5 and my Keyboard is their Elite. So I'm just upgrading.

Sound Card: (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer)
I don't think I have had a non-Sound Blaster in my system since I owned the Pro Audio Spectrum. Anyone remember them? They were strong competitors to Sound Blaster but they actually took themselves out. Rather their CEO did. So sad. Anyway, just like with Plextor about the only thing I do is go see what their latest is and get it. They generally don't cost that much even their latest so I don't often spend much time thinking about it.

And that's the system I plan to go with unless I heard something like something I chose doesn't work well with another component or if there is a better choice. I will either add a second hard drive later or just get two. I will not have more than 2 hard drives in this system. Anything else will be external either in a drive array or just USB.

I will stick with my Dell 2005FPW LCD for now as I've been happy with it. I will more than likely later add a second monitor to my setup. It'll of course be a 24" and chances are I'll get another Dell especially since I have around $3,000 in credit from them. Although I don't ever plan to put over $1,000 on there ever again.

Now to just sell my Dell XPS M1710 Laptop so I can get starting on this system

 

[fire400]

software tests as of March 2007 show little performance increases from quadcore CPU's when used on typical applications that are just starting to take advantage of dual core chips.

quadcore software applications will roll out a bit more towards the beginning of 2008, while developers this year are still attempting to master dual threaded software operations. Unreal Tournament 2007 will take advantage of dual core chips, but will not be held back by single core chips, for example, and quadcore threading support is still in harsh development.

of course the extra cores sound cool, but save your money until the prices are reasonable and the software perspective sharpens a lot more.

good luck

 

[Stormblade]

That sounds like good advice fire400. Thanks. Unless the Quads come down in price by the time I'm ready to buy I'll just stick with the Core2.
Also I'm switching the motherboard above for the MSI P965 Platinum mainly because it costs around the same and has more features and seem like it's a board I can grow with.