Suggestions on a new gaming build.

[MKOdoric]

Okay, back in October I was planning to upgrade but instead decided to wait for a bit. Now I think the time has has to finally pull the trigger. I'll follow the sticky as closely as possible, then add in other concerns I have at the end. Any advice or considerations would be appreciated.

On with the sticky:

Usage: As the title says, I'll be primarily gaming on it. I don't really code anything as far as mp3s go. There will probably end up being a little bit of word processing, but that's a mute point.
Budget: I'd like to keep the budget under a $1000. If I end up spending just that I can still sit comfy on my bank account.
Country: Canada, to be more specific all parts will come from Memory Express
Brand: In this case Intel. Video cards I'm easy, though I do like the EVGA step up program and have stuck with nvidia in the past.
Using current parts: Well I'm currently gaming on a laptop with a 7600go. So using old parts isn't really an option, although I do have a 2 year old OCZ Gamestream 450w PSU, though it only has 26 amps on the 12v.
Searched: Extensively, though I have questions that are still unanswered, as far as I know.

Overclocking: Yes, more on this below...


Alright so now onto the meat of the build:

Case: Antec 900 @ $110 (Yeah it's tacky, but it has the most fans for the cheapest price)
Mobo: Gigabyte P35-DS3L @ 109 (not from Memory Express) or MSI P35 Neo2-FR @ 140
Proc*: Debatable thinking e8400 @ $230 or a q6600, especially once it drops in price.
Memory: Ugh, could of got some Crucial Ballistix for cheap after rebate for the past few months but I didn't. Here's the next best thing: OCZ Ram, linked for ease of identification @ 45 after rebate
Hard Drive: Seagate 250gig @ $65, or Seagate 500gig @ $100
PSU: Corsair TX 650w (If we decide I need a new one, this or the 550w for $10 less)
Optical Drive: OEM LG drive @ $30
Video Card: Huge debate here. To get things rolling I'll say 9600gt @ $185
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro @ $30
OS: Vista Ultimate (Buddy got it for free, willing to sell to me for $60. It's 32-bit. Though I can probably bully him into just giving it to me)

Okay so that comes to $934. Now the debates:

One thing I'm not sure of is the processor. I game, so the standard response is that the e8400 is the way to go. I would tend to agree, but I also only plan to upgrade during the "tock" phase of Intel (If AMD doesn't get their act together) I do this because prices are quite cheap during this phase, and you can get some pretty decent stuff out of it. So really I'm not sure between an OCd 8400, and an OCd q6600. Right now games don't do quad core, but two years from now, who knows? What do you suggest? Also I've heard the latest batch of the e8400 aren't clocking over 3.4 ghz... I'd like to do 4

Second debate is the video card. Supposedly the real next gen is going to be released soon. I've read May even for the next ATI, though it is mostly speculation. I'd love to know when the next nvidia is coming out, just because they've had the performance lead for a while and I'm guessing that this trend might continue. I can wait a bit to upgrade, I mean it would be after exams anyway, so I'm really not sure. All I DO know is that COD4 at 800x600 resolution is starting to hurt my eyes. Games I'm looking to play (not necessarily old ones) are really Age of Conan, Starcraft 2, Crysis, ect. Also, is PCI-E being phased out or being changed over to a new interface soon? On the last computer I got, that's what screwed me, I picked it up right as AGP was being phased out.

Last thing is that I would consider ordering from NCIX.com, I just don't like the idea of not being able to walk into the store and return a defective product. Also I'm not sure how much shipping would work, though they do have some cheaper RAM, along with the CPU cooler, the Tuniq Tower, that I want. If anyone has ever ordered from there and lives in Calgary, let me know!

Anyway that's my post, I'm very open to comments and criticism. I've got to apologize in advance for any mistakes I've made, I'm dead tired at the moment. Thanks in advance!

 

[Roguestar]

Quad core if you're rendering, transcoding or playing a whole lot of Supreme Commander. Otherwise, dual-core. 4GHz is pretty much unncessary with a Core 2 at the moment, though it's nice if you can get it. The CPU at 3GHz won't be a bottleneck until you spend over $600 on graphics cards.

There's always a new graphics card coming out. Get a 512MB 8800GT now and you're good for a while yet.

I'd get the Gigabyte over the MSI board, especially if the Gigabyte is cheaper.

PCI-E isn't going anywhere.

 

[MKOdoric]

Alright thanks for the reply. A further question though, longevity wise, as in a year or two down the road, would a OC'd quad core fare better? I only ask because of the upcoming price drops on the the 20th. As well, I'm may be going with Vista 32-bit, but would it just be better to pick up 2x2gigs of RAM for over clocking, even if Vista won't "see" all the RAM?

 

[chinaman1472]

The performance difference won't really be noticeable between either. Games are far more GPU limited than CPU limited. An E8400 should still be better, especially if you're overclocking it. If you're trying to compare price/performance, it's a tough toss up. You might as well get 4GB of RAM unless there's an issue of budget. Extra 1.2GB > 0GB, but 2GB > 1.25GB as well.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: MKOdoric
Alright thanks for the reply. A further question though, longevity wise, as in a year or two down the road, would a OC'd quad core fare better? I only ask because of the upcoming price drops on the the 20th. As well, I'm may be going with Vista 32-bit, but would it just be better to pick up 2x2gigs of RAM for over clocking, even if Vista won't "see" all the RAM?

Well with Q6600 costing $180 (@ Frys, in Hot Deals) I don't see much reason not to go for it versus a more expensive E8400/E3110. My way of thinking is that there is no game that a 4GHz C2D can run that a 3.6GHz C2Q cannot; but there are plenty of things a 3.6GHz C2Q can do that a 4.0GHz C2D cannot. An E8400 @ 4.0GHz will not yield any noticeable performance increase over a 3.6GHz C2Q, even in apps that only use two cores, but when an app uses all four cores, you will see a great increase in performance.

I'd consider going w/ Vista 64-bit. I'm running it right now and I haven't faced any compatibility problems so far. If you are going for 4GB of RAM, then definitely you want a 64-bit OS to take advantage of it. As for 2GB vs 4GB of RAM.... 4GB is so cheap at <$60, that I don't see any reason not to pick it up. The only advantage to 2GB will be benchmarking, where the superior clocking/low latency of 2x1GB sets will offer a slight performance advantage.