I Need Gaming Rig Advice!!!

Post by Computerplayer1 (1 posts) See mini bio

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I'm about to dump a bunch of cash into a new rig, but the games I am building it for won't be out for a while longer such as starcraft 2 and guild wars 2. I need to buy this soon though because my friend wants to buy my current rig.

I'm just wondering how long you guys and gals who are more than likely way more PC saavy than I, this rig will remain a good gaming machine before I'll have to upgrade like crazy. I'm not hellbent on ultra high settings and stuff, but if I could get like 3 years out of the thing I'd be a happy camper...albeit probably a wishful hoping one haha.

Here's the list of parts:

Two (for SLI) EVGA 8800GT Superclocked Edition (single slot solution so my tower isn't full as hell haha)
EVGA Nforce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard (Preferabbly the A1 version as it's the updated and has all the extras)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz Processor
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0 GB/s Hard Drive
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V Power Supply
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) RAM
Thermaltake Tsunami ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (Or whatever case you think would fit all this and have better or equal cooling)
Whatever the best DVD drive you have, and a floppy drive
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit Edition

Thanks for the help!

If you have any suggestions for different parts and whatnot, just let me know -- it'd be much appreciated!

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

I'm about to dump a bunch of cash into a new rig, but the games I am building it for won't be out for a while longer such as starcraft 2 and guild wars 2. I need to buy this soon though because my friend wants to buy my current rig.

I'm just wondering how long you guys and gals who are more than likely way more PC saavy than I, this rig will remain a good gaming machine before I'll have to upgrade like crazy. I'm not hellbent on ultra high settings and stuff, but if I could get like 3 years out of the thing I'd be a happy camper...albeit probably a wishful hoping one haha.

Here's the list of parts:

Two (for SLI) EVGA 8800GT Superclocked Edition (single slot solution so my tower isn't full as hell haha)
EVGA Nforce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard (Preferabbly the A1 version as it's the updated and has all the extras)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz Processor
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0 GB/s Hard Drive
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V Power Supply
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) RAM
Thermaltake Tsunami ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (Or whatever case you think would fit all this and have better or equal cooling)
Whatever the best DVD drive you have, and a floppy drive
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit Edition

Thanks for the help!

If you have any suggestions for different parts and whatnot, just let me know -- it'd be much appreciated!

Post by VACkillers (352 posts) See mini bio

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seems like a good build to me... got all the important parts just right like gfx cards, mobo, ram, people may tell ya to go for a quad core cpu, but i'd personally stick with that cpu and get a quad core later if u need it, that dual core is plenty fast enough to everything today... That build is pretty much same setup im going for in my machine just a few things like powersupply gfx card and PC case slightly different from yours....

also work with your budget.... you can get a lot for your money these days

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

seems like a good build to me... got all the important parts just right like gfx cards, mobo, ram, people may tell ya to go for a quad core cpu, but i'd personally stick with that cpu and get a quad core later if u need it, that dual core is plenty fast enough to everything today... That build is pretty much same setup im going for in my machine just a few things like powersupply gfx card and PC case slightly different from yours....

also work with your budget.... you can get a lot for your money these days

Post by Hamz (1,341 posts) See mini bio

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I'm no PC expert but here is my opinion based on what i've picked up lately, i'm in the same situation as you mate so you might wanna check my thread here to see what people recommended to me as the best parts for a gaming rig.

Case - Always go for a Full Tower case when building a gaming PC. They provide better airflow and more room to move around in which is the two biggest things you should look for in a case. Some popular and well known brands to look into are Coolermaster, Silverstone and Lian Li. All three of these make great cases, Antec might be another you will want to look into. Plus if you are set on going down the SLI or Crossfire path then you will want a big case with lots of room and if you decided to get water cooling aswell then you should have plenty of room to add it into a full tower.

GPU - At the moment ATI is the top dog in the GPU market for both price and performance of graphics cards. Two ATI 4870 GPU's in a crossfire setup will outperform every other card on the market i believe except the ATI 4870 X2 card which is probably the most powerfull card out currently. If you have no real preference or loyalty to either Nvidia or ATI then i would suggest going for a Crossfire setup instead of a SLI, Nvidia has really dropped the ball with their cards and prices. Also remember that even having one of the most recent GPU's in you're machine will create a lot of heat so having two will create even more. So definately look into how you can counter this, last thing you want is GPU's overheating you're system and crashing the machine.

Optical Drives - Any £15 DVD drive will do and really in this day and age you shouldn't need a floppy drive at all. But if you want one then again just go for any of them as i don't believe their that expensive these days. If you intend to watch Blue-Ray films on you're PC you might want to look into a drive for those, but i think their a little pricey these days.

Other than those points i really don't have any better or alternative options for you, not totally clued up on the recent CPU's lol.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

I'm no PC expert but here is my opinion based on what i've picked up lately, i'm in the same situation as you mate so you might wanna check my thread here to see what people recommended to me as the best parts for a gaming rig.

Case - Always go for a Full Tower case when building a gaming PC. They provide better airflow and more room to move around in which is the two biggest things you should look for in a case. Some popular and well known brands to look into are Coolermaster, Silverstone and Lian Li. All three of these make great cases, Antec might be another you will want to look into. Plus if you are set on going down the SLI or Crossfire path then you will want a big case with lots of room and if you decided to get water cooling aswell then you should have plenty of room to add it into a full tower.

GPU - At the moment ATI is the top dog in the GPU market for both price and performance of graphics cards. Two ATI 4870 GPU's in a crossfire setup will outperform every other card on the market i believe except the ATI 4870 X2 card which is probably the most powerfull card out currently. If you have no real preference or loyalty to either Nvidia or ATI then i would suggest going for a Crossfire setup instead of a SLI, Nvidia has really dropped the ball with their cards and prices. Also remember that even having one of the most recent GPU's in you're machine will create a lot of heat so having two will create even more. So definately look into how you can counter this, last thing you want is GPU's overheating you're system and crashing the machine.

Optical Drives - Any £15 DVD drive will do and really in this day and age you shouldn't need a floppy drive at all. But if you want one then again just go for any of them as i don't believe their that expensive these days. If you intend to watch Blue-Ray films on you're PC you might want to look into a drive for those, but i think their a little pricey these days.

Other than those points i really don't have any better or alternative options for you, not totally clued up on the recent CPU's lol.

Post by xruntime (1,295 posts) See mini bio

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Instead of two 8800GT's, how about one GTX 280? I hear its the fastest GPU out there.

How about a 10,000 RPM Raptor drive? Seeing that you have money to burn, it might be a good investment.

You might want to consider a quad core drive, but I doubt games will be taking advantage of that anytime soon.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Instead of two 8800GT's, how about one GTX 280? I hear its the fastest GPU out there.

How about a 10,000 RPM Raptor drive? Seeing that you have money to burn, it might be a good investment.

You might want to consider a quad core drive, but I doubt games will be taking advantage of that anytime soon.

Post by xruntime (1,295 posts) See mini bio

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By the way, 4870 X2 is *not* a good buy. I've seen the benchmarks, and their performance isn't that much better than GTX 280, and it costs considerably more. In some games the difference was as low as 3-5 fps. Google it...

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

By the way, 4870 X2 is *not* a good buy. I've seen the benchmarks, and their performance isn't that much better than GTX 280, and it costs considerably more. In some games the difference was as low as 3-5 fps. Google it...

Post by Sparky_Buzzsaw (300 posts) See mini bio

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Looks like a very solid build with a good eye to the future. At this point, I don't think a quad core is really a necessity of gaming, but if you're looking for longevity, it might be an investment worth looking into. Otherwise, I think you're safe to run games on good settings for probably two to three years with that kind of build.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Looks like a very solid build with a good eye to the future. At this point, I don't think a quad core is really a necessity of gaming, but if you're looking for longevity, it might be an investment worth looking into. Otherwise, I think you're safe to run games on good settings for probably two to three years with that kind of build.

Post by Hamz (1,341 posts) See mini bio

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Well all i'll do is post two links and the OP can decide for themself whether they feel a ATI 4870 X2 or a GTX 280 is worth buying.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Well all i'll do is post two links and the OP can decide for themself whether they feel a ATI 4870 X2 or a GTX 280 is worth buying.

Post by Computerplayer1 (1 posts) See mini bio

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VACKillers: Yah the budget is the most important part, being around $1500 Canadian :P

Hamz: Yah, my problem with the tower is where it goes in my room, which is in a custom built desk made for mid towers haha. I might be able to swing a full tower if it's just tall and not super deep. I will definitely be attempting to make this as cool as possible, especially if I go dual 8800's haha. Thanks for all the tips, this is great stuff!

Xruntime: I was thinking about that, but the FPS for that card is horrendous, especially for the price. It barely keeps up with a 9800GX2 in most games which surprised me! And yes, I agree that 2 4870's is a bad idea haha.

Sparky: Thanks! Yah I don't need a quad as far as I figure. The dual cores are smoking the quads in most cases for gaming -- especially when price comes into play!

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

VACKillers: Yah the budget is the most important part, being around $1500 Canadian :P

Hamz: Yah, my problem with the tower is where it goes in my room, which is in a custom built desk made for mid towers haha. I might be able to swing a full tower if it's just tall and not super deep. I will definitely be attempting to make this as cool as possible, especially if I go dual 8800's haha. Thanks for all the tips, this is great stuff!

Xruntime: I was thinking about that, but the FPS for that card is horrendous, especially for the price. It barely keeps up with a 9800GX2 in most games which surprised me! And yes, I agree that 2 4870's is a bad idea haha.

Sparky: Thanks! Yah I don't need a quad as far as I figure. The dual cores are smoking the quads in most cases for gaming -- especially when price comes into play!

Post by xruntime (1,295 posts) See mini bio

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There's a difference between 2 4870 and 4870 X2, btw. The latter is two graphics cards fused together.

Here are some benchmarks:

When just running this benchmark program, the 4870 X2 is miles ahead most other cards. At higher resolutions, the results are more or less the same, I didn't post the graph because its pointless.

For only a little more money, you can get a pretty big boost in Call of Duty 4.

The graph is wrong, this is with 4x anti aliasing enabled. The GTX 280 outperforms the 4870 X2. Without anti aliasing enabled, the GTX 280 either outperformed the 4870 X2 or the difference was a mere 2 fps.

So - I was sort of wrong, sort of right. Crysis shows barely any difference between the two cards, to the contrary, the 4870 X2 was inferior. Call of Duty 4, however, shows a modest gain in FPS.

Its worth noting that the 9800 X2 performed on par with the GTX 280 in several cases, but in other cases it was MUCH worse.

But, I forgot to mention Unreal Tournament 3 and World in Conflict, which show the GTX 280 *again* on top:

So, in total, you can see that the 4870 X2 does not provide a reliable boost in FPS. Also, in these last two benchmarks, the 9800 GX2 performed on part with the GTX 280.

The cost of a 9800 GX2 is approx. $343. The cost of a GTX 280 is approx. $450. The cost of a 4870 X2 is approx $530. The cost of SLI 8800 is about $280 bucks.

Therefore, I'd conclude that you are best off with the 9800 GX2 or some Crossfire SLI setup with a comparable price that could outperform that card (I don't know whether 8800 GT will outperform it or offer a comparable speed).

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

There's a difference between 2 4870 and 4870 X2, btw. The latter is two graphics cards fused together.

Here are some benchmarks:

When just running this benchmark program, the 4870 X2 is miles ahead most other cards. At higher resolutions, the results are more or less the same, I didn't post the graph because its pointless.

For only a little more money, you can get a pretty big boost in Call of Duty 4.

The graph is wrong, this is with 4x anti aliasing enabled. The GTX 280 outperforms the 4870 X2. Without anti aliasing enabled, the GTX 280 either outperformed the 4870 X2 or the difference was a mere 2 fps.

So - I was sort of wrong, sort of right. Crysis shows barely any difference between the two cards, to the contrary, the 4870 X2 was inferior. Call of Duty 4, however, shows a modest gain in FPS.

Its worth noting that the 9800 X2 performed on par with the GTX 280 in several cases, but in other cases it was MUCH worse.

But, I forgot to mention Unreal Tournament 3 and World in Conflict, which show the GTX 280 *again* on top:

So, in total, you can see that the 4870 X2 does not provide a reliable boost in FPS. Also, in these last two benchmarks, the 9800 GX2 performed on part with the GTX 280.

The cost of a 9800 GX2 is approx. $343. The cost of a GTX 280 is approx. $450. The cost of a 4870 X2 is approx $530. The cost of SLI 8800 is about $280 bucks.

Therefore, I'd conclude that you are best off with the 9800 GX2 or some Crossfire SLI setup with a comparable price that could outperform that card (I don't know whether 8800 GT will outperform it or offer a comparable speed).

Post by Hamz (1,341 posts) See mini bio

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xruntime said:

Long and awesome post here.

Yes i think we just crossed wires, wish ATi would rename the 4870 X2 to something a little less confusing for everyone since natural reaction is to assume its two 4870's when its one single card.

But i stand corrected for the moment thanks to you sir, those are some awesome graphs. I remember seeing some graphs with the ATi 4870 outperforming the 8 and 9 series Nvidia cards but i don't remember those graphs mentioning the 9800 GX2 which is surprisingly good from those results you posted.

Though to be fair to the 4870 X2 its still a relatively new card so time shall tell how good it really is once the driver support improves. But like everything with PC gaming its all a matter of time, whats best one week soon gets replaced by something else the next. So very annoying.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

xruntime said:

Long and awesome post here.

Yes i think we just crossed wires, wish ATi would rename the 4870 X2 to something a little less confusing for everyone since natural reaction is to assume its two 4870's when its one single card.

But i stand corrected for the moment thanks to you sir, those are some awesome graphs. I remember seeing some graphs with the ATi 4870 outperforming the 8 and 9 series Nvidia cards but i don't remember those graphs mentioning the 9800 GX2 which is surprisingly good from those results you posted.

Though to be fair to the 4870 X2 its still a relatively new card so time shall tell how good it really is once the driver support improves. But like everything with PC gaming its all a matter of time, whats best one week soon gets replaced by something else the next. So very annoying.

Post by DARKIDO07 (597 posts) See mini bio

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Hamz said:

"xruntime said:
Long and awesome post here.
Yes i think we just crossed wires, wish ATi would rename the 4870 X2 to something a little less confusing for everyone since natural reaction is to assume its two 4870's when its one single card.

But i stand corrected for the moment thanks to you sir, those are some awesome graphs. I remember seeing some graphs with the ATi 4870 outperforming the 8 and 9 series Nvidia cards but i don't remember those graphs mentioning the 9800 GX2 which is surprisingly good from those results you posted.

Though to be fair to the 4870 X2 its still a relatively new card so time shall tell how good it really is once the driver support improves. But like everything with PC gaming its all a matter of time, whats best one week soon gets replaced by something else the next. So very annoying.
"

Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Hamz said:

"xruntime said:
Long and awesome post here.
Yes i think we just crossed wires, wish ATi would rename the 4870 X2 to something a little less confusing for everyone since natural reaction is to assume its two 4870's when its one single card.

But i stand corrected for the moment thanks to you sir, those are some awesome graphs. I remember seeing some graphs with the ATi 4870 outperforming the 8 and 9 series Nvidia cards but i don't remember those graphs mentioning the 9800 GX2 which is surprisingly good from those results you posted.

Though to be fair to the 4870 X2 its still a relatively new card so time shall tell how good it really is once the driver support improves. But like everything with PC gaming its all a matter of time, whats best one week soon gets replaced by something else the next. So very annoying.
"

Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders.

Post by Hamz (1,341 posts) See mini bio

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DARKIDO07 said:

"Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders."

Last years bacon is sort of...it smells funny man!

But yeah i guess its sometimes better to go for the older product since its more reliable but then sometimes its fun to try out the new one, go through the hardships of its teething process and then smile as it matures into a viable and decent product.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

DARKIDO07 said:

"Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders."

Last years bacon is sort of...it smells funny man!

But yeah i guess its sometimes better to go for the older product since its more reliable but then sometimes its fun to try out the new one, go through the hardships of its teething process and then smile as it matures into a viable and decent product.

Post by larco (15 posts) See mini bio

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I'm currently using the hd 4850 which i got for $165 from tiger direct, and from what I have heard, it outperforms 8800 GT SLI in some cases, and I certainly believe it.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

I'm currently using the hd 4850 which i got for $165 from tiger direct, and from what I have heard, it outperforms 8800 GT SLI in some cases, and I certainly believe it.

Post by Agent_Lost (192 posts) See mini bio

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Hamz said:

"DARKIDO07 said:
"Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders."
Last years bacon is sort of...it smells funny man!

But yeah i guess its sometimes better to go for the older product since its more reliable but then sometimes its fun to try out the new one, go through the hardships of its teething process and then smile as it matures into a viable and decent product."

there is some true to buy old model, since it out longer, there are revision of the product, bug fix and so on. Only thing, I get and did hardware that is 6 months old. Hardware is staple and there new product so the old stuff get a price cut.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Hamz said:

"DARKIDO07 said:
"Thats why you buy last years stuff, works wonders."
Last years bacon is sort of...it smells funny man!

But yeah i guess its sometimes better to go for the older product since its more reliable but then sometimes its fun to try out the new one, go through the hardships of its teething process and then smile as it matures into a viable and decent product."

there is some true to buy old model, since it out longer, there are revision of the product, bug fix and so on. Only thing, I get and did hardware that is 6 months old. Hardware is staple and there new product so the old stuff get a price cut.

Post by Bucketdeth (710 posts) See mini bio

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Yeah man your build is actually pretty damn good choices, but if I were you I would go with the 9800GX2 or the GTX280.

Posted 4 months, 1 week ago

Yeah man your build is actually pretty damn good choices, but if I were you I would go with the 9800GX2 or the GTX280.

Post by Will1Lucky (200 posts) See mini bio

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VACkillers said:

"seems like a good build to me... got all the important parts just right like gfx cards, mobo, ram, people may tell ya to go for a quad core cpu, but i'd personally stick with that cpu and get a quad core later if u need it, that dual core is plenty fast enough to everything today... That build is pretty much same setup im going for in my machine just a few things like powersupply gfx card and PC case slightly different from yours....

also work with your budget.... you can get a lot for your money these days"

I think he made the right choice going with a Dual Core as not many games out there are ready for Quad Core yet and I dont see it happening over night either as they only just got used to the dual core.

Posted 4 months ago

VACkillers said:

"seems like a good build to me... got all the important parts just right like gfx cards, mobo, ram, people may tell ya to go for a quad core cpu, but i'd personally stick with that cpu and get a quad core later if u need it, that dual core is plenty fast enough to everything today... That build is pretty much same setup im going for in my machine just a few things like powersupply gfx card and PC case slightly different from yours....

also work with your budget.... you can get a lot for your money these days"

I think he made the right choice going with a Dual Core as not many games out there are ready for Quad Core yet and I dont see it happening over night either as they only just got used to the dual core.

Post by Patchinko (555 posts) See mini bio

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To be honest, I think the setup you have listed in the OP is overkill for the two games you mentioned. Not that that's a bad thing at all. :)

Posted 4 months ago

To be honest, I think the setup you have listed in the OP is overkill for the two games you mentioned. Not that that's a bad thing at all. :)

Post by Kuttermax (1 posts) See mini bio

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One of the most important things to consider is what resolution do you plan to game at? Also, do you plan to run multiple monitors?

I game at 1920x1200 and I run two 24" Dell monitors. I briefly ran two 8800GTX's in SLI, but didn't like that two monitors are not supported when SLI is enabled. It was a bit of a pain going into the control panel turning SLI on and off. I ultimately "traded up" one of my 8800GTX's with eVGA and got a GTX280. I've been extremely happy with it.

My suggestion is getting the fastest single graphics card you can afford - either an ATI 4850 or 4870 or a nVidia GTX260 or 280. You can always add a second card down the road when you need more power.

I'm running an eVGA 680i motherboard and it has performed well, but be aware that it does not support the latest Quad core Penryn processors. This could be a factor if you want to upgrade your Dual Core at later date.

Posted 4 months ago

One of the most important things to consider is what resolution do you plan to game at? Also, do you plan to run multiple monitors?

I game at 1920x1200 and I run two 24" Dell monitors. I briefly ran two 8800GTX's in SLI, but didn't like that two monitors are not supported when SLI is enabled. It was a bit of a pain going into the control panel turning SLI on and off. I ultimately "traded up" one of my 8800GTX's with eVGA and got a GTX280. I've been extremely happy with it.

My suggestion is getting the fastest single graphics card you can afford - either an ATI 4850 or 4870 or a nVidia GTX260 or 280. You can always add a second card down the road when you need more power.

I'm running an eVGA 680i motherboard and it has performed well, but be aware that it does not support the latest Quad core Penryn processors. This could be a factor if you want to upgrade your Dual Core at later date.

Post by SimpleBear (13 posts) See mini bio

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I suggest checking out a PNY 9800 GX2 rather than 2x 8800 GTs.

Go with a newer motherboard chipset like the 750i motherboard to keep your upgrade options open.

Posted 4 months ago

I suggest checking out a PNY 9800 GX2 rather than 2x 8800 GTs.

Go with a newer motherboard chipset like the 750i motherboard to keep your upgrade options open.

Post by Cartman (3,102 posts) See mini bio

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Seems good but make them 4850's

Posted 4 months ago

Seems good but make them 4850's

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I Need Gaming Rig Advice!!!