Suggestions for a $1500 gaming machine?

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
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Good afternoon gentlemen!

This time around my [soft] budget is $1500 (no monitor/speakers required), and I'd like a few suggestions for the CPU/MoBo/RAM/Video and any additional cooling (if required).

The components I've currently selected are:

--------------------------------------
Case = Antec P180 = $119
PSU = SeaSonic S12-500 500W = $129
HD = WD Raptor 74GB = $163
DVDRW = Plextor PX-740A = $53
--------------------------------------

Which leaves me with about $1000 for the CPU/MoBo/RAM/Video. If it spills over by $100-$150 thats fine. Also, I'm leaning more towards an AMD X2 and ATI combo. Fu¢k Intel, and Nvidia sucks for Valve games (all I play!).

*IMPORTANT* I don't want to overclock, SLI or RAID anything. If the MoBo is capable of SLI, thats fine, but I really don't want (or need) two GPU's in this rig.

Thanks for your help!
 

HendrixFan

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2001
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If you are limiting what you are going to do with the computer (overclock, SLI, RAID) then what are you asking? You seem to be pretty set on what you want.
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
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76
MSI Neo4 Platinum $125
X2 4200 $400
2x1GB Corsair VS $200
ATI X1800XL $370

Total: ~$1095

OR

EVGA 7800GTX w/free NF4 SLI MB $380
2x1GB RAM $200
X2 4400 $500

Total: ~$1080

Drop the Raptor and get a regular SATA drive and save close $60-100.
 

w00t

Diamond Member
Nov 5, 2004
5,545
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evga 7800gt copper
2gig ocz plat OR ocz value select 2gig
opteron 165-170 dual core :) better than athlon x2's more stable and higher grade quality also oc if in the future you would like to
mobo of your choice
 

imported_electron

Senior member
Nov 6, 2005
427
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evga 7800gtx
2 gig OCZ 2-3-2-5 timing ram (2 sticks of 1 gig)
athlong64 4000+
seagate 250gb hard drive
DFI lanparty mobo (for stability)
 

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
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Ike0069 - what would you think about dropping down to 1GB of RAM and getting a X2 4400 (toledo) which comes with 2MB of L2 for $500?

also, ive never used an MSI mobo... are they better [for gaming] than Asus/Abit? all i need from my mobo is onboard LAN/USB/Audio and ofcourse PCIe x16..

and i wanna hang onto my Raptor simply because as a system drive (C:) it cannot be outperformed by any other SATA drive on the market. i know better GB/$ values exist, but i'm counting on my hd to be of the highest performance possible for SATA.


BTW to those who suggested 7800 GT / GTX - from the benchmarks i've seen for Valve games (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2556&p=3) it seems to outperform the X1800 XL/XT...

So perhaps Nvidia isnt that bad of an idea after all?
 

w00t

Diamond Member
Nov 5, 2004
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dude, i am a ATI fanboy ok but nvidia one this round no matter how u look at it. the 7800gt is better than the x1800xl and cheaper the 7800gtx is slightly worse than the x1800xt but than guess what the 7800gtx with 512mb beats the x1800xt now ati has to make a x1800xt to be back on top. ati cards are to expensive right now i am very dispointed in them they used to care about the products they made right now they are beginning to look like nvidia look how long there cards are look how much voltage it needs look and the temps and than look how big the card is.
 

alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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you're really limiting yourself with that budget and not wanting Nvidia or OCing. if you change, then i have some suggestions
 

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
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w00t i think i'm gonna go with the 7800 GT (GTX is too much $)

TheoPetro thanks for the tip

alimoalem i don't want to OC. a few extra mhz at the cost of more power/heat and loss of warranty isn't a viable option for me.

Now i'm thinking, if i'm gonna get a 7800 GT, I might as well go with the DFI LanParty nF4 mobo.... are there any issues with that board and athlon X2? i wonder if ill need any additional cooling..
 

biostud

Lifer
Feb 27, 2003
19,085
6,015
136
Originally posted by: majestik
w00t i think i'm gonna go with the 7800 GT (GTX is too much $)

TheoPetro thanks for the tip


now i'm thinking if i'm gonna go with an Nvidia GPU I might as well go with the DFI LanParty nf4 mobo.... are there any issues with that board and athlon X2?

nope

any reason you don't want to do any overclocking? (you don't need to do an extreme o/c)
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
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The MSI Neo4 is an excellent board. I have been very UNimpressed with ASUS boards of late, so I personally woudn't suggest one to anybody right now. Abit is great, but my choice would be the MSI first, and the Epox NF4 board second.

You can drop to the MSI Neo4-F. Same board as the as the Platinum minus SATA II and on board Firewire. For ~$85, it's an excellent deal.

Dropping to 1GB RAM would be fine, because while 2GB is nice, it's not necessary, at least not yet. You can always upgrade to 2GB later.
 

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
25
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0
Welp, heres what the rig is looking like:

Case Antec P180                                                      $119
PSU SeaSonic S12-500 500W                                   $129
MoBo MSI Neo4-F                                                     $90
CPU Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2x1MB L2                           $500
RAM OCZ EL 1GB PC3200 (OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K)    $129
GPU eVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB   $350
HDD WD Raptor 74GB                                              $163
DVDRW Plextor PX-740A                                           $53

Sub Total                                                            $1533


Comments?


 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
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Looks very nice.
You could substitue Corsair VS RAM for teh OCZ. Works great in MSI boards and the 1GB sticks are about $95 right now.

Everything else looks great.
 

tyborg

Member
Sep 14, 2004
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Your biggest limitation it looks like will be with your harddrive space. Depending on how much gaming you'll do, you'll soak up 80 GB like a sponge. you MAY consider saving up for an upgrade to 2 gigs of RAM in the near future. That's another potential weak spot in your rig, however it shouldn't be a problem for a while, as BF2 and FEAR are the only games right now that will utilize more than 1 gig if you give it to em.
 

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
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harobikes333 thanks for the tip - thats $15 less than newegg (which is where i priced everything, btw). but i think since im ordering everything from newegg, might as well get the PSU from there too, even tho i am paying a bit more - its worth the while just to have everything consolidated into one payment/shipment.

tyborg an additonal 1GB of ram and a 500GB sata hd will be among my first upgrades for this rig, im thinkin. right now though, i've only got this much to spend, and i wanna get everything up and going ASAP!

im thinking about getting a coolermaster blue led fan for the p180's upper fan/vent...

:cool:
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
61
Originally posted by: majestik
Welp, heres what the rig is looking like:

Case Antec P180 $119
PSU SeaSonic S12-500 500W $129
MoBo MSI Neo4-F $90
CPU Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2x1MB L2 $500
RAM OCZ EL 1GB PC3200 (OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K) $129
GPU eVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB $350
HDD WD Raptor 74GB $163
DVDRW Plextor PX-740A $53

Sub Total $1533


Comments?

Yeah. You'll get much better performance by dropping one level of CPU and getting the GTX instead of the GT. People tend to put too much emphasis on cpu when it comes to gaming.
 

Lasthitlarry

Senior member
Feb 24, 2005
775
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i know you probably don't want to... but you could get a 6800GS instead of a 7800GTand save 120 bucks.

Course, you will be sacrificing 8 pipelines, 35MHz core clock, 100MHz memory clock, and OpenGL2.0 for OpenGL1.5.

It all depends on how much performance you want, but for me the 6800GS is a sweet spot for video at this point in time.

As far as RAM goes... 1GB of Value RAM is good enough(unless you wanna OC)... for about 3 months or so. But by that time RAM will be cheaper anyway. BF2, FEAR, WoW, and many more games will want 2GB. I say keep the raptor if you are gonna spend(why skimp on the slowest thing in a system?), just take extra care of that thing, it gets hot and it is very delicate.
For storage, find a good deal on the FS here on Anandtech or check ebay for a good deal on a 160-250GB HD.
 

GuitarDaddy

Lifer
Nov 9, 2004
11,465
1
0
Originally posted by: majestik
Welp, heres what the rig is looking like:

Case Antec P180                                                      $119
PSU SeaSonic S12-500 500W                                   $129
MoBo MSI Neo4-F                                                     $90
CPU Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2x1MB L2                           $500
RAM OCZ EL 1GB PC3200 (OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K)    $129
GPU eVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB   $350
HDD WD Raptor 74GB                                              $163
DVDRW Plextor PX-740A                                           $53

Sub Total                                                            $1533


You've spec'd out a nice overclockers rig but you state that your not overclocking?

If you are not overclocking you can scale back the ram,PS, and case and spend the money saved on a 4600+, the 200mhz higher default clock speed will make a difference.
You can get a gig of value ram for well under $100, a quality 400-450w PS for $70. I understand the case is a matter of choice and looks etc.., but you can definately get a nice case for less.

 

majestik

Member
Mar 12, 2001
25
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0
Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
You've spec'd out a nice overclockers rig but you state that your not overclocking?

If you are not overclocking you can scale back the ram,PS, and case and spend the money saved on a 4600+, the 200mhz higher default clock speed will make a difference.
You can get a gig of value ram for well under $100, a quality 400-450w PS for $70. I understand the case is a matter of choice and looks etc.., but you can definately get a nice case for less.
Why would you say i've spec'd out an overclockers rig? My PSU choice is based on a recent PSU comparison done @ tomshardware which gave the S12 a very high ranking in terms of efficiency and reliability. If 500W seems high, I had 2 main concerns:

1) can my PSU pump out enough juice to my GPU
2) will my PSU be "future proof" - i don't want to have to worry about system stability or lack of power if i decide to throw in a more powerful GPU, more HDDs or anything else

I'm set on the Case/PSU.

However, i'm contemplating getting the Corsair value RAM as bamacre suggested... and perhaps scaling back the $500 for the 4400 X2 and spending the extra $ on a GTX - considering this will not be an SLI system, a high performance PCIe x16 card is all the more important.

JustAnAverageGuy: your system looks great! while i understand shopping from multiple stores could save some cash, i feel the negatives would outweigh the positives for me - if i can order it all at once, charge it at once, and receive it at once, and only have one phone number to call incase something is DOA, it makes it all the more easier to deal with; and that conveinence is worth something to me.

thanks everyone for all the suggestions - its very much appreciated!