sounds good but that 400 watt ps may be a bit under powered.Who makes the power supply?
My build didn't go exactly as planned had to cut way back due to the automotive industry's problems.What I've come up with screams non the less.
e5200 2.5ghz dual core oc to 3.13
2gig a data 1333 ram
200 gig wd hd
9600 gt 512 ram gpu overclocked
get about 10500 on 3dmark 06 without oc the cpu.Not bad for under $300.00 huh.
will be slowly getting the quad and other stuff as money permits.
Charger...
I think you are 'budgeting' yourself short. Spend a little extra and go Quad. The motherboards are inexpensive - and compatible with the phenom II - you can then move to the phenom II when you are ready. DDR2 sticks for these boards are very inexpensive - 4 gigs only cost $60.
Do yourself a favor - and get an PCI-E 2.0 SLI capable motherboard. This way, if you get the urge to get a second card - you will be ready.
Also... I would skip the 8000 series for the video card. I had 2 of them in SLI on my other machine - and they they just don't have the uuumph you need to enjoy some games - even with low/medium settings. At the least - go to a 9800. After looking a RAB's 3dMark06 scores... I don't think you could go wrong.
As for the power... move it to a Modular 500-700W that is 80 Plus Certified. 700W if you think you think you think you might go SLI.
Just my 2 cents.
I originally looked at PCI-E 2.0 SLI capable motherboard with a 9800 - SLI for that reason if I eventually could add another card. Its a little out side my range right now since I'm trying to add a PS and HD and sound card to the mix.
Vince also suggested I go SLI but I wasn't sure this would be the smart way to go because of my budget. I will re-configure and see what I can come up with.
And yes I value your opinion, thats why I post my intentions.
Sounds good. Let us know how it works out for you.
Lots of good info in this thread!! Going to be building a couple machines for the wife and I here shortly......need to be able to run the current shooters out there.......last build was about 4 years ago.......going to build from scratch...would like to throw out a couple questions if I may
Is it unrealistic to think 5 bills apiece will do it (guts only, single vid, have OS)
should the board be upgradable or just fit the CPU I choose
ddr2 or ddr3....any difference besides price...... ddr2 really low now!
is 700W enough to run dual vids if I choose to later
where should the most money be spent?
Im no guru with this stuff, though I have a brother thats a tech but not much of a gamer.....
I do most of my shopping at newegg......seems reasonable, is there a better place for the bucks?
any input would be appreciated gents.......thanks!
Is it unrealistic to think 5 bills apiece will do it (guts only, single vid, have OS)
I'd say yes you could build something for 500 to play the current games. But that would leave you needing to upgrade in the near future for the next round of games coming out. Personally when I build a system I try to go for the best I can get. Cost a little more at first but keeps you from having to spend more money later to be able to play newer games. My rebuild cost me a little over 1000. That was everything new except the case and DVD drive.
should the board be upgradable or just fit the CPU I choose
I prefer a board thats expandable. I went with a dual core intel board. But do have the option to upgrade to a quad core in the future. Budget permitting. I find alot of people tend to go with lower cost boards to save money. As I did on the first couple builds I did. But when you think about it, Your motherboard is what puts all your parts together. You can have the best CPU, video card and ram. But if your board won't utalize them to the fullest your not really getting your monies worth out of them.
ddr2 or ddr3....any difference besides price...... ddr2 really low now!
DDR3 has a higher clock speed. Also along with the higher price for the DDR3 ram there is also the higher price for the board that will support it. When I was building mine the difference was about $100 between the boards. Would have liked to have gone with DDR3 myself but unfortunately the budget didn't allow for it. Although I am very happy with the performance I'm getting out of the DDR2.
is 700W enough to run dual vids if I choose to later
Yes. 700 watts will run dual video cards. If you go with an Nvida board I would suggest the 780i chipset. (Not an XFX or EVGA board though. There are issues with them.) The 780i chipset will allow you to run 3 video cards if you wish. A tri-sli set up requires a 1000 watt power supply with three rails though.
where should the most money be spent?
That's really a hard question to answer. The obvious choice would be video card. But then again all the other parts are equalling important, in my opinion anyway.
Another thing to consider when building a new rig. When you pick your CPU. Try to pick the RAM with a clock speed as close to the front side bus speed as you can get. That eliminates or reduces any bottlneck while the CPU utilizes the ram.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Will be glad to help where I can.
Wow....thanks RAB
anyway it looks like I'll have to start rethinking things a bit... even if it means a bit more out of the wallet.... the main purpose of this build is to play the newer games and as you mentioned going for the best I can get right now may be better in the long run....If in fact you can say there is actually a long run when dealing with PC's
really do appreciate your opinion on this RAB....thanks
I've had my new computer running for a few days now, haven't done any benchmark on it yet, till I have all the drvers and such in. I have to say that I'm impressed at what I got for the money I paid ($501), thats CPU, Motherboard, Memory, 250GB SATA HD, 600Watt PS and 9800GTX and I didn't lose fingernail one in the process. I found out something improtant with todays games that nine out of ten games do not express anything in the line of grahics cards that are above and beyond what most people can afford, though its acceptable to say that the better the card the higher your gonna be able to up your graphics. Most games center the concern around the porocesser speed. Most all require dual core and GHz above 2.5...most games specifie 6000 series and up.
Is it safe to say, Processor for loading time and graphics for looks?
I went with AMD 6000+ (3.1 Dual-Core) on a MSI SLI ready motherboard, SLI for upgradabilty. Since Windows XP only recognizes roughly 3.25MB of memory I just went with 4Gigs of DDR2 800, it rocks this boat rather well I have to say.
I got a 9800GTX for around $156 from Newegg and it fit perfectly in my ATX tower with room to spare. The only thing is if I added a second card it would litteraly cover one PCI slot but thats not a concern right now.
I can max my games and play online with out a hitch or hicup. Its just smooth seamless action all the way so I'd say I made the right choices for what I'm doing and as for upgrading, buy the time I'm ready for it the stuffs already gone down in price.
Though Quad might be the way to go, I think the prices are still a little steep for just casual gaming.
Depends on your Operating System. Vista can use 3DMark Vantage. XP cannot run that - but can run 3DMark 06.
There are others... but I kinda quit putting stock in any of them because although I cannot see a much of a difference in scores of my old and new machines - I can see a HUGE amount of performance boost in games like FarCry2 and Crysis.....
3dmark 03/05/06, Aquamark 03 i think, superpi, Vantage.Put benchmarking software in google and see what it comes up wiyh.
This new pc benchmarks way better than my old one especialy when overclocked a bit.Used to get aprox 7600 on 3dmark06on old pc even overclocked,now I get up to 11600 same video card and still not at max on overclock on vid card and Cpu.
I'd say use the 3D Mark 06. That seems to be what most people use. Me and BTR posted ours from that. Would like to see how everybody else stacks up using the same benchmark.
Not sure where you guys posted your results before. I just downloaded 3dMark06 and ran the tests, didn't mess with to many settings but got this for an overall score...
10755
CPU was 2363
If its good or if its average I do not know yet.
Had a question about running dual channel memory sticks. I have two 2GB matched moduals, acording to my mobo specification for running dual channel they should be in the right spots. When I run si-soft or other programs theres no indication that the memroy is infact in the dual channel mode.
I remeber my old computer hat in some tests it did indicate the memory was dual channel. Any input on this?
Nevermind, I just ran cpuz and found out it is actually running in the "single" channel mode. Guess I'll have to fix that.
I know its an odd place to look for the benchmarks. But it was in the "What are your rig specs?" thread. LOL Took me a minute to find it. Was looking in the Tech section but it was in the C4 section instead.
http://www.checkpointdelta.net/showt...p?t=112&page=3
I scored a 14262
BTR scored a 13134
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