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Topic: Need help putting a system togather
Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-05-2007 05:58:06 PM
I want to put togather a computer for gaming that costs under or at most $1000, don't need mouse, keyboard, or monitor just the system itself. But I haven't paid attention to what hardware is good in a long time and what manufacturers make reliable parts in ages so need some help figuring out what parts to buy for one.
"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Naimah
In a Fire
posted 04-05-2007 06:23:36 PM
Do you need a case, power supply, and storage as well or are you moving these from a previous system? Do you want to run vista or XP? Do you need to buy an OS? What kind of sound support are you looking for?
Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-05-2007 06:50:04 PM
quote:
Naimah stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
Do you need a case, power supply, and storage as well or are you moving these from a previous system? Do you want to run vista or XP? Do you need to buy an OS? What kind of sound support are you looking for?

Need a full computer, so yeah case, power supply, etc. Gonna need an OS included in the cost also probably, though I might be able to argue with microsoft about freeing up the liscence on my copy of XP since the old system that was using it died. Basic sound support really since I pretty much am always using a headset with the computer.

"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Alaan
posted 04-05-2007 06:54:50 PM
quote:
Taylen had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
Need a full computer, so yeah case, power supply, etc. Gonna need an OS included in the cost also probably, though I might be able to argue with microsoft about freeing up the liscence on my copy of XP since the old system that was using it died. Basic sound support really since I pretty much am always using a headset with the computer.

If its an OEM copy, don't bother even starting the argument with them. You aren't clearing it. If it isn't OEM, you won't even need to argue. So in short, don't bother calling MS.

Naimah
In a Fire
posted 04-05-2007 07:33:36 PM
code:

Vista: Home Basic 84.99
400GB Drive, Seagate Barracuda 99.99
Core 2 Duo E6600 308.00
Intel BLKDG965RYCK 109.99
Corsair XMS2 2GB Kit 169.00
EVGA GeForce 7950GT 256MB 199.99
Thermaltake ATX 500W W0100RU 59.99
Rosewill R5717-P Case 29.99
Total 1061.94

A little bit over but you can cut that down to $1k flat by dropping Corsair down to non name brand. Could also drop down the video card. Wouldn't recommend letting go of the processor, the drop off from E6600 is a decent little drop. Case is a bit cheap but that's so that you can have a little bit better power supply.

Edit: Screw the formatting.

Naimah fucked around with this message on 04-05-2007 at 07:35 PM.

Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-05-2007 09:45:15 PM
quote:
Alaan had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
If its an OEM copy, don't bother even starting the argument with them. You aren't clearing it. If it isn't OEM, you won't even need to argue. So in short, don't bother calling MS.

Well it's not an OEM or Retail version, it's one I got back when XP came out that was only avalible to people that took the tests about it on their retail parteners website.

"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Damnati
Filthy
posted 04-06-2007 02:48:45 AM
I'm actually looking to upgrade to Core 2 Duo based system; I wish my laptop hadn't died when it did, I could've gotten such a setup in the first place if it had lasted a few months longer. Can anyone recommend a good mobo and RAM? I've got everything else and the best processor candidate is the E660 at this point. I need an SLI compatible mobo, preferably with two PCIe x16 slots.

Edit: on a related note, is it possible to run dual monitors on an SLI setup?

Damnati fucked around with this message on 04-06-2007 at 02:53 AM.

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Maradon!
posted 04-06-2007 03:33:08 AM
I hope you're getting two 8800 GTXs because there's no other reason to get an SLI setup.
Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 04-06-2007 03:36:47 AM
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2412666

seriously read this right now

Therapy works for Corsair. He builds awesome computers and pushes them to the limit as part of his job. He's awesome and you should listen to his advice and his linked article

edit: I know Taylen's limit is $1000 but the advice is still solid and I guess Damnati can use it

edit #2: fools and their money blah blah... SLI is dumb unless money is just absolutely not a consideration. At that point it's just a "why not?" If you're on any kind of reasonable budget, though, put that money towards a nice monitor or something.

Kegwen fucked around with this message on 04-06-2007 at 03:46 AM.

Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-06-2007 04:01:47 AM
quote:
How.... Naimah.... uughhhhhh:
code:

Vista: Home Basic 84.99
400GB Drive, Seagate Barracuda 99.99
Core 2 Duo E6600 308.00
Intel BLKDG965RYCK 109.99
Corsair XMS2 2GB Kit 169.00
EVGA GeForce 7950GT 256MB 199.99
Thermaltake ATX 500W W0100RU 59.99
Rosewill R5717-P Case 29.99
Total 1061.94

A little bit over but you can cut that down to $1k flat by dropping Corsair down to non name brand. Could also drop down the video card. Wouldn't recommend letting go of the processor, the drop off from E6600 is a decent little drop. Case is a bit cheap but that's so that you can have a little bit better power supply.

Edit: Screw the formatting.


Hmm well aside from the fact that $1000 is the absolute limit and you didn't add an optical drive to that list it is helpful as a starting point. You suggested going with a non-name brand memory or a cheaper video card to save some money so I guess the followup questions are. What is still a good slightly lower video card? and What cheaper memory isn't gonna die out on me quick and is compatable with that board since some of the customer reviews seemed to indicate it has issues with memory?

"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 04-06-2007 04:05:56 AM
Honestly due to the value you can squeeze out of a few hundred you'd be much better served saving up a bit and not having to sacrifice so much power.

There's not much wrong with no-name memory, though. I can't think of any RAM manufacturer that doesn't have a ridiculous warranty.

Tier
posted 04-06-2007 05:15:32 AM
quote:
Check out the big brain on Damnati!
Edit: on a related note, is it possible to run dual monitors on an SLI setup?

Yes and no. One of the inherent handicaps of SLi is you'll have to disable SLi acceleration if you want to have a second monitor. But then only games really need the rendering power SLi provides, and none of these are going to be run on dual monitors, so the point is moot.

SLi excels at running stuff at huge native resolutions, however, meaning I can run FEAR on max detail on my 24" native resolution with a pair of 7800s.

quote:
Nobody really understood why Maradon! wrote:
I hope you're getting two 8800 GTXs because there's no other reason to get an SLI setup.

Dot dot dot.

Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-06-2007 06:13:06 AM
Supreme Commander runs on dual monitors.
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-06-2007 07:34:54 AM
quote:
Kegwen was naked while typing this:
Honestly due to the value you can squeeze out of a few hundred you'd be much better served saving up a bit and not having to sacrifice so much power.

There's not much wrong with no-name memory, though. I can't think of any RAM manufacturer that doesn't have a ridiculous warranty.


Pretty much not gonna be possible to save up more as this money is a gift for the specific purpose of getting myself a new computer and I have too many bills at the moment to save up more than a couple bucks a month.

"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Naimah
In a Fire
posted 04-06-2007 09:42:33 AM
Go with Patriot memory at $127 instead then throw on a DVD-ROM from LiteOn for 17.99. Quite honestly, if you drop down the CPU or the GPU it's a pretty long drop. Though you can move to the PNY 7900GS for $149.99 without too much damage and save $50 bucks. You could also move to the Intel BLKDP965LTCK motherboard at $71.99 to save another $30 dollars.

So that moves the price down a little over $100 bucks. Still a pretty good system. Computers are getting cheap.

Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-06-2007 12:06:01 PM
quote:
Kegwen said:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2412666

Urge to get this upgrade and follow the OC guide.. rising..

I have a single core P4 3.4GHz, a Radeon X850 Platinum Edition (AGP), 1GB of RAM and an Audigy 2. Few years old now but the only game it's -really- choked on has been Supreme Commander. Second Life has no Vista edition yet so I'm sticking with XP until they do, but I'm wondering if the above link would provide that much of a performance boost over what I'm currently using to justify the cost.

My current system is pretty much a maxed-out last generation computer, max single core CPU and max AGP card that money could buy at the time (both upgraded once).

Damnati
Filthy
posted 04-06-2007 12:07:40 PM
quote:
Maradon! impressed everyone with:
I hope you're getting two 8800 GTXs because there's no other reason to get an SLI setup.

I presently own a pair of 7900 GTXs, I'm not going to buy new cards anytime soon.

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Damnati
Filthy
posted 04-06-2007 12:38:38 PM
So, looking at the guide, I'd make the following selections:

ASUS P5N-E SLI
OR
ECS NF650iSLIT-A
Core 2 Duo E6600
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4

Total comes out to $621.99 with the ECS mobo or $632.99 with the ASUS mobo; is ECS a reliable brand? The guide recommends a higher grade of Corsair memory that I honestly don't need ($75 difference for next to no performance difference, wtf) and the $130 difference in processor is for a pretty significant different in performance (they recommend OC'ing a 6300).

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-06-2007 12:41:13 PM
quote:
Damnati said:
Total comes out to $621.99 with the ECS mobo or $632.99 with the ASUS mobo; is ECS a reliable brand?

ASUS are reliable and rock solid with good OC performance and superb customer relations (at least in the UK). I'm using an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe right now and have been for years.

I had an ECS board once. It was utter shit.

I go with past experience in my case. ASUS all the way.

Damnati
Filthy
posted 04-06-2007 12:44:28 PM
quote:
Mortious's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
ASUS are reliable and rock solid with good OC performance and superb customer relations (at least in the UK). I'm using an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe right now and have been for years.

I had an ECS board once. It was utter shit.

I go with past experience in my case. ASUS all the way.


Kind of my thoughts that I HATE the ASUS mobo I have right now and it looks like the listed one will have similar issues (cooling...goddamned). Still, ECS is an unknown and ASUS has had a long reputation for making good mobos; they've started to suck hard price-wise though.

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Blackened
posted 04-06-2007 03:00:59 PM
togather

Although my distaste for you as a human being is brobdingnagian,
what I'm about to do isn't personal.
Taylen
Pancake
posted 04-06-2007 04:53:58 PM
quote:
From the book of Naimah, chapter 3, verse 16:
Go with Patriot memory at $127 instead then throw on a DVD-ROM from LiteOn for 17.99. Quite honestly, if you drop down the CPU or the GPU it's a pretty long drop. Though you can move to the PNY 7900GS for $149.99 without too much damage and save $50 bucks. You could also move to the Intel BLKDP965LTCK motherboard at $71.99 to save another $30 dollars.

So that moves the price down a little over $100 bucks. Still a pretty good system. Computers are getting cheap.


Thanks for the help Naimah.

"When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." - Tom Lehrer.
Sadomasochism: It's Fun!
Taylen Ashenbow
Rangers never run we mearly stratigically retreat.
Thats not a train thats a pull, my trains are always much bigger.
Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-06-2007 06:28:55 PM
quote:
Mortious said:
I have a single core P4 3.4GHz, a Radeon X850 Platinum Edition (AGP), 1GB of RAM and an Audigy 2. Few years old now but the only game it's -really- choked on has been Supreme Commander. Second Life has no Vista edition yet so I'm sticking with XP until they do, but I'm wondering if the above link would provide that much of a performance boost over what I'm currently using to justify the cost.

So can anyone say if this is worth the upgrade or not?

I'm not really up on the latest tech. I guess I should spend an hour or so now reading up on the new cards and chipsets.

Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-06-2007 07:27:42 PM
Well, the move to multiple cores will show great improvement on games that are optimized for them. Supreme Commander was wood-inspiring with all the graphics turned up and dual monitors enabled. Hellgate should be worth the price of admission in terms of newer card and multiple processors, too.

So. . .it depends. Your current system should do okay, but the move to a multi-core processor will pay huge dividends on newer games.

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

Noxhil2
Pancake
posted 04-07-2007 12:13:52 AM
I think you should get something like this X1950 PRO at 140 AR (though I'm apprehensive about this specific card) and an E6300 and overclock it. It's a good way to save money. Home Basic kind of sucks; you should keep XP if you can.

Noxhil2 fucked around with this message on 04-07-2007 at 12:16 AM.

Maradon!
posted 04-07-2007 02:40:56 AM
Home Basic is actually a pretty OK way of getting all the good points of vista (superfetch, etc.) without the pork (aero)
Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-07-2007 02:54:49 AM
But aero is cool.
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-07-2007 03:16:41 AM
No real point going to Vista until DX10 games and HD-DVD/Blu Ray movies are out.
Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-07-2007 03:46:17 AM
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies are out. I'm personally waiting for one format or the other to go belly-up before I revamp my home theater to support 1080p, but that's another thing.

I'd wait a bit on Vista, but everything I've read says the jump to multi-core has a huge payoff in performance. And most of what I've read about Vista say the shortcomings are less the OS and more poorly-constructed sound and video drivers.

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

Naimah
In a Fire
posted 04-07-2007 03:57:24 AM
If you already have an XP license then there is very little incentive to make the move to Vista. However, if you are getting a new license you may as well get Vista.

Until something forces me to move to Vista I won't. Not because I don't want to, but because I see no reason to drop $100 just for a new UI.

Maradon!
posted 04-07-2007 08:49:53 AM
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq Bloodsage booooze lime pole over bench lick:
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies are out.

Now you just have to blow $750 on an internal Blu-Ray player for your pc and you're set!

Greenlit
posted 04-07-2007 08:50:42 AM
quote:
This one time, at Bloodsage camp:
And most of what I've read about Vista say the shortcomings are less the OS and more poorly-constructed sound and video drivers.

Korrekt.

Creative and nVidia in particular have been dragging their feet when it comes to a decent set of Vista drivers.

Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-07-2007 10:57:53 AM
quote:
Quoth Maradon!:
Now you just have to blow $750 on an internal Blu-Ray player for your pc and you're set!

Hey, he didn't say he was waiting until the players were reasonably priced; he said he was waiting until there were movies out.

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

Faelynn LeAndris
Lusty busty redheaded wood elf with sharp claws
posted 04-07-2007 12:12:20 PM
Question, and this seems like a good thread for it.

Is it worth waiting for a few months for AMD to get thier new chipset out for the processors, or do you think Core Duo will reign for a while longer?

Or will you take a significant hit by getting a current gen AMD 64 x2 6000 (3.0Mhz) over getting say an E6600 since the AMD 64 x2 is about $100 cheaper? Is the diffrence negligable concidering the savings, or is it large enough to warrant the extra cost?

Also is WINTEC AMPX reliable enough memory (Since I can 2 2GB sticks for $50 cheaper than Patriot sticks of the same size.)

Faelynn LeAndris fucked around with this message on 04-07-2007 at 12:13 PM.


My LAUNCHCast Station
"Respect the Forest, Fear the Ranger"
I got lost for an hour and became god.
Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-07-2007 03:27:48 PM
quote:
Bloodsage said:
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies are out.

They are?

I've yet to see one on a store shelf over here at least, well, when I said waiting until they were out.. perhaps that should be rephrased to "when they're mainstream".

Mortious fucked around with this message on 04-07-2007 at 03:28 PM.

Naimah
In a Fire
posted 04-07-2007 06:26:12 PM
Both Intel and AMD are due to have Quadcore consumer solutions out by the end of year. These will probably be in the enthusiast market for awhile and won't be a good deal for awhile, however the current chips will probably take a reasonable price drop when they come out.

If you are looking to drop buku bucks then wait a couple more months and get a quad core, otherwise get a E6600 and call it good.

Mortious
Gluttonous Overlard
posted 04-07-2007 07:25:17 PM
I decided against an upgrade right now, since all I really play is EVE Online and Second Life and they run silky smooth at the moment. EVE is planning a huge texture and graphics upgrade to DX10 but not for a while, I wouldn't expect that to come out until the end of this year at the earliest.
Maradon!
posted 04-07-2007 10:57:10 PM
quote:
Mortiousing:
EVE is planning a huge texture and graphics upgrade to DX10 but not for a while, I wouldn't expect that to come out until the end of this year at the earliest.

Considering DX10 only runs on vista, and vista has had a pretty tepid reception in the gamer market, I'd say that's a poor idea.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 04-07-2007 11:37:24 PM
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Considering DX10 only runs on vista, and vista has had a pretty tepid reception in the gamer market, I'd say that's a poor idea.

There's a difference between DX10 required and DX10 enabled

Bloodsage
Heart Attack
posted 04-08-2007 02:48:03 AM
quote:
Naimah startled the peaceful upland Gorillas, blurting:
Both Intel and AMD are due to have Quadcore consumer solutions out by the end of year. These will probably be in the enthusiast market for awhile and won't be a good deal for awhile, however the current chips will probably take a reasonable price drop when they come out.

If you are looking to drop buku bucks then wait a couple more months and get a quad core, otherwise get a E6600 and call it good.


Intel has had a quad core solution since at least february. I built one. It is the .

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--Satan, quoted by John Milton

All times are US/Eastern
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