Essentials for a new gaming rig

[dmendenjr]

My current windows box is about 4 years old, consumer grade - heavily used eMachine. Under the case is upgraded memory and an early PCI-e Raedon card I added to it, plus I added a second hard drive. It has served me well for the past few years and actually runs very stable on both vista and XP. It is fine for 2-3 year old games but stuggles horribly in either OS on newer (even mid-range) games.

So, this fall I think it is time for a new box. This time I am going to satisfy my inner-geek by building it from the ground up. I know what is needed to build a system (MoBo, case, cpu, power supply, processor, et al) but am looking for tips on getting the best bang for the buck (across the board). I realizie this is probably a pipe-dream, but I want to try and put a system together that can laugh at Dx10 and ask for a challenge - but not spend over 1k.

In addition to being open for suggestions, is it possible to harvest the one hard drive I added to the e-machine (that is my vista hard drive) and use it in the new box. (trying to avoid having to buy yet another OS and likewise having to move most of my files from one system to the new one....)

 

[charper1]

I can give you plenty of ideas.

Do you want dual, tri or quad core?

Do you want AMD or Intel?

Do you want ATI or nVidia?


Try visiting this site first and look at the specs for Crysis PC. If you use Firefox you will need the IE Tab plugin. The will test / compare you current setup and tell you what is recommend and what is optimal.

Can You Run It? Powered by System Requirements Lab


As far as recycling of older parts; if that HDD is SATA II then sure, but if its not, I would highly recommend upgrading and simply migrating the only the saved data over AFTER a clean OS install. Reinstall games and such after this. You will save headaches and PC issues vs the $115 or so the OS may cost you. I assume this means you don't have you original copy of the OS you are running now? If you must buy a copy I would suggest getting XP Pro

 

[Van]

Go with tigerdirect or newegg for all your parts and sign up with both to get email specials. Also slickdeals.net will generaly have daily deals on parts from those two and other sources that dont go out in email notices to members that can be even better.

Price wise you could build a system for under a grand that would do well with dx10 and play current games on high settings. Watch nvidia's 9xxx series for price drops as the 8xxx line is just about finished on the assembly lines ( price drops on the 8400 - 8800 cards are nice ). Hard drives are really cheap now and you can easily put a couple of huge drives in your rig for the price of a 200gig from 18 months ago. You can save money in some area's by scavenging parts such as cases and keyboards and mice and monitors as well as optical drives and be sure to check on craigslist for local buys on used items and some new ones at cheaper prices.

You can take the old hard drive over but you wont be able to use the OS as it has all the dna information for the emachines mobo ect ect. If you dont want vista you can get xp pro for the price of xp home from when it was relatively new though Im running vista home premium 32 bit and have no complaints.

 

[dmendenjr]

Do you want dual, tri or quad core?

Do you want AMD or Intel?

Do you want ATI or nVidia?

With the e-machine, I liked it since it was AMD mainly because I resisted the return to PC from Apple. I had a mac, was gonna get another mac, but had TERRIBLE service at TWO apple stores on (of all days) my birthday 2 years back and decided to go mainstream. I figured if it is a AMD PC then at least it's only half Wintel... This time, I am open for just about anything. I figure, biggest bang for the buck. Will probably lean Intel and nVidia this time; and quad core if I can find one for the right price. Still need to read up on the new technologies, mainly looking for a jumping off point right now.

As far as hard drive goes, the OEM hard drive on the e-machine is my XP hard drive, I bought a Western Digital Caviar (I think) 160GB that I installed Vista on. It wasn't originally filled with all the "new consumer computer" support crud and what not. I do still have my vista install disc, but since I already registered it I didn't think I could use the key again.

As far as XP v Vista is concerned. Like I said, I've been running Vista Home Prem since about 2 weeks after launch (and the beta well before that) and haven't had any gripes. If I build this system right then there should be any issues with it at all...

Will need to sub to the neweggg and tigerdirect thing. BTW, has anyone had any success with those gyspsy "Computer Show and Sales" (like these)? In my first attempt to build a box (10 years ago) I bought some components from a couple of their shows at pretty good prices, but since I lost focus - never actually tested the parts.

---
Out of curiosity I will have to try that site when I get home from work tonight. (I shudder to think what this work pc would rank there).

 

[charper1]

I personally would go with AMD and the comparable video cards are really fairly close in spec right now so which ever you can find at the best cost would be the way to go. I also would not recycle any parts except the HDD &CD/DVD you have now if they are SATA.

1. Case & power about $150
2. Mobo w/ on-board LAN & multi-channel audio about $120
3. OS about $120
4. Processor about $200
5. HDD SATA II $80
6. CDRW/DVD SATA $30
7. Video w/512mb GDDR3 on-board, GeForce 8800GTS (G92) $190
8. Memory 4GB $110

Ball park $1150

 

[snathanb]

Go with tigerdirect or newegg for all your parts and sign up with both to get email specials.

I'm sure what you meant to say was zipzoomfly or newegg.

I wouldn't send my worst enemy to tigerdirect.

Based on Better Business Bureau files, Tiger Direct has an unsatisfactory record due to a pattern of unanswered complaints including dissatisfaction with product quality, failure to deliver promised goods, service issues, misrepresentation in advertising and marketing practices and the failure to address and overcome the basic cause of complaints.

 

[gbjbany]

I personally would go with AMD and the comparable video cards are really fairly close in spec right now so which ever you can find at the best cost would be the way to go. I also would not recycle any parts except the HDD &CD/DVD you have now if they are SATA.

1. Case & power about $150
2. Mobo w/ on-board LAN & multi-channel audio about $120
3. OS about $120
4. Processor about $200
5. HDD SATA II $80
6. CDRW/DVD SATA $30
7. Video w/512mb GDDR3 on-board, GeForce 8800GTS (G92) $190
8. Memory 4GB $110

Ball park $1150

Similar price out there for a quad core intel q6600,Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops, and i have my q6600 oc'd easily to 3.2ghz also.

 

[Poke]

Also make sure to get on Vista if you want to be able to take effect of the new graphic engines coming out by the gaming community. Why due to Direct X 10 and 11 will be out late this year or next and must have Vista and Video card that supports them.

 

[charper1]

Similar price out there for a quad core intel q6600,Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops, and i have my q6600 oc'd easily to 3.2ghz also.

That is the processor I priced in my "ball park" as the OP said he preferred Intel. I simply stated I would go AMD.

 

[dmendenjr]

Thanks all for the advice so far... I am good either Intel or AMD... If I would go AMD, I take it by nature then it would be best to do ATI for gfx (same company and all)?

I will be going with Vista (probably Home Premium) for the OS. I have it now and it works fine on my old box, don't see it being a problem on the new one I will be building.

I guess it will make sense to start from scratch rather than trying to upgrade my existing box. More specifically, at the moment I have an Athlon 64 3200+ CPU, with a 939 motherboard. Could that be upgraded (and would it really make a difference)?

 

[charper1]

Thanks all for the advice so far... I am good either Intel or AMD... If I would go AMD, I take it by nature then it would be best to do ATI for gfx (same company and all)?

No, simply find the best deal for the best GPU with the fastest output in your budget range; it will not matter which chipset. Look for any of these:

ATI Radeon HD4850
nVidia GeForce 8800GTS (G92)
ATI Radeon HD3870

I will be going with Vista (probably Home Premium) for the OS. I have it now and it works fine on my old box, don't see it being a problem on the new one I will be building.

Shouldn't be; just make sure you have drivers for any old devise you may add.

I guess it will make sense to start from scratch rather than trying to upgrade my existing box. More specifically, at the moment I have an Athlon 64 3200+ CPU, with a 939 motherboard. Could that be upgraded (and would it really make a difference)?

YES, start from scratch. Lightly upgrade the older box if you want to have a rig for a partner to use to net game or use it as a backup, or donate to a school or church.

 

[jayn_j]

You have to ask yourself about building when you can buy a nice gaming machine (respiffed) for significantly less. Here is an example at ecost.

Desktops - HP Pavilion M9152P 2.4GHz Elite Intel Core 2 Quad Wireless Desktop PC ( KJ165AAR#ABA ) (Hewlett-Packard) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players

Intel quad core, Nvidea 8800GT graphics, 4 GB ram, a little lite on HD at 650GB, all for $630.

 

[Van]

No I did mean tigerdirect for the prices, I just got my 8600gt 512mb card for $49 from them and its been working fine.

 

[8bitbytes]

Put two of these in your box:

Amazon.com: PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GT 512MB PCIe SLI-Ready Graphics Card VCG88512GXPB: Electronics

 

[GeorgeLV]

You have to ask yourself about building when you can buy a nice gaming machine (respiffed) for significantly less. Here is an example at ecost.

Desktops - HP Pavilion M9152P 2.4GHz Elite Intel Core 2 Quad Wireless Desktop PC ( KJ165AAR#ABA ) (Hewlett-Packard) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players

Intel quad core, Nvidea 8800GT graphics, 4 GB ram, a little lite on HD at 650GB, all for $630.

^^ Actually that rig has an 8500GT, so it's useless for gaming graphics.

 

[GeorgeLV]

If you are building a computer for the first time, you should go with AMD, as the Intel LGA 775 socket is tricky to work with and you can easily destroy your motherboard if you make a simple mistake. Those push pin cpu coolers still scare the bejeesus out of me every time I mount one.

 

[charper1]

^^ Actually that rig has an 8500GT, so it's useless for gaming graphics.

Yep, there is a reason discounted PCs are so discounted, and I would not recommend refurbs either, so be wary of that in the details when looking at crazy low priced items.

 

[jayn_j]

^^ Actually that rig has an 8500GT, so it's useless for gaming graphics.

You're right. This was the one I meant to post:
Desktops - HP Pavilion M9180F 2.66GHz Elite Intel Core 2 Quad DVD+/-RW Wireless Media Center w/ TV Tuner & 1TB HD ( GX610AAR#ABA ) (Hewlett-Packard) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players


If you don't want respiffed (I've never had a problem with one), here is a new one that is price comparable in price with what you are specing:
Desktops - 2.5GHz Pavilion Elite Intel Core 2 Quad DVD±RW BLue-ray Support Wireless Desktop PC - Vista Home Premium (M9280F) (Hewlett-Packard) - eCOST.com - electronics, computers, laptops, mp3 players

It has a TV tuner card and a Blu Ray/HD-DVD combo drive built in to boot.

 

[dmendenjr]

From y'alls advice....

I am on the verge of buying the components to make my box; the plan is to go Newegg for everything. To get started I am going to forgo a new monitor and use the mobo sound chip. These are the components (specs) I am looking at using. If anything here doesn't sound like it will gel right, I'd appreciate any last minute advice. Thanks in advance:

• AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor w/ Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX 92mm 2 Ball PWM CPU Cooler ($189)
• Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (guessing I need this for the fan) ($6)
• MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard ($150)
• HIS Hightech Radeon HD 4670 1GB PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card ($123)
• OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 1066 (PC2 8500) ($110)
• XCLIO Windtunnel ATX Full Tower Computer Case & XCLIO GREATPOWER 750W ATX12V CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply ($190)
• SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe SATA ($27)
• Seagate 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($80)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English ($100)

Subtotal: $974.90
Shipping: $52.71
Grand Total: $1,027.61

I am not sure if I want to go quad core phenom or with an AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ 3Ghz Dual Core CPU and a 4850 1GB gfx card... either way would get me close to the same price.

If I go with the quad core, I know the 4670 isn't the greatest GPU but I can always (for the price) add a second a little later on.

Thanks again (in advance) for the help!

 

[JamesJ]

I just upgraded my rig (if you call it that ) to a nivida 8800 Gt, next I am going to get rid of the amd 3400+ and get a dual or quad core CPU plus motherboard...that will happen in the next 4 months then I should be set (well after a new power supply and more ram, and then I will need to start all over again, starting with the hard drive )