Building a new rig

StixNStonzStixNStonz Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
edited April 2008 in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">and figured i'd let you plan it for me.</div>Hey all,

So here I am, still mapping and NSing on a 5 year old rig. Which, for the last year, outright tells me that it can't play new games. Supreme Commander was the first to just give me an error when i double click it.

I have about 1200+, and could use direct sites or a great little shop I know. I don't need hard drives, monitors, dvd drives, sound cards, audio equipment or mice/keyboard etc. I'm looking for just the core tower. Suggestions?

I'm mainly looking for your opinions on processors (duo core, quad core...?), video cards (geforce 8800 GT maybe?), and Vista. And whatever accompanying Motherboard. Its been many years since i've been shopping for a rig, so I'm a bit out of the loop.

Much appreciated.
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Comments

  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    I'm told that the 8800GT isn't worth the investment compared to the extra performance you get from the somewhat more expensive GTS. Likewise, I'm told the extra performance a GTX gives isn't worth the extra money, heat output and power consumption over a GTS. I'm certainly happy with my 8800GTS. So if you are going for the 8800 (and thus already spending a decent sum), it seems that the GTS is the way to go.

    As for processors, I don't know whether dual or quad core is better. Again, I'm happy with my Q6600.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    I haven't been keeping up with hardware as much as I used to, but an E6750 + 8800GT is my recommendation at this point.
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  • CabooseCaboose title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
    I just got a C2 Q9300 and a GeForce 9600 GT. So far it's a great combo.

    <img src="http://www.hothardware.com/articleimages/Item1112/crysis1680.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    Pretty similar preformance to the 8800 GT for less.
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  • FaskaliaFaskalia Wechsellichtzeichenanlage Join Date: 2004-09-12 Member: 31651Members, Constellation
    I recently build a new rig with a
    q9300
    asus maximus formula
    en8800 ultra
    pc2 6400 4x1GB

    runs pretty sweet and OCing the q9300 to 3,0 ghz proofed very safe with a scythe mugen

    May I remind you that you will most likely also need a new PSU. Nothing worse than slapping a pc together that needs 500W and you got an old 200W psu in it <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

    Vista is an ok OS, once you tweak the hell out of it. I converted from XP to vista and even worse from 32bit to64bit with my new rig and have yet to run into greater troubles, aside from punkbuster not running under the 64bit crysis version. If you reall want vista you better also move on to 64 bit or you might be forced to buy yet another OS when everyone moves onto 64bit in 3-5 years. Just make sure that there are 64bit drivers for EVERY piece of hardware you are intending to use.

    With the emerge of the 9xxx nvidia series 8xxx prices are dropping like crazy. So my suggestion would be to order a q9300 or q9450, wait for it to arive and then order whatever card from the 8xxx series you want. This is of course under the assumptions that it is still a pain in the ass to get a 45nm CPU <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
    As for mainboard: whatever floats your boat. asus x38 boards are nifty if you like Ocing. Especially the ROG series. With 1200$ to spend I would go for the following ratio:

    PSU 130$
    CPU 250$
    RAM 120$
    Mobo 250$
    GPU 450$
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  • StixNStonzStixNStonz Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Hmm, i just looked up the 9600 GT, and i'm almost sold on it.

    It seems like 8800 GTS > 8800 GT > 9600 GT, but with prices dropping by about $30-50 with each? And the last two are very close?

    At a price of around $180, going SLI with the 9600 does sound tempting as well. Would it be worth it? I don't know much of anything about SLI... is it only supported by certain drivers and games, or does it simply just work? (the 9600 im looking at does support SLI)
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  • FaskaliaFaskalia Wechsellichtzeichenanlage Join Date: 2004-09-12 Member: 31651Members, Constellation
    edited April 2008
    <!--quoteo(post=1675085:date=Apr 5 2008, 03:36 AM:name=StixNStonz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(StixNStonz @ Apr 5 2008, 03:36 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1675085"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hmm, i just looked up the 9600 GT, and i'm almost sold on it.

    It seems like 8800 GTS > 8800 GT > 9600 GT, but with prices dropping by about $30-50 with each? And the last two are very close?

    At a price of around $180, going SLI with the 9600 does sound tempting as well. Would it be worth it? I don't know much of anything about SLI... is it only supported by certain drivers and games, or does it simply just work? (the 9600 im looking at does support SLI)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    SLI does not need extra support by the game.

    All you need is:
    2 IDENTICAL SLI capable GPUs.
    1 MOBO that supports SLI.
    Enough PCIex16 slots on the mobo, depending on the number of cards you want tu run in sli.
    Drivers that support SLI.
    As a rule of thumb, you get about 30% improvement from dual SLI compared to running a single card, but this varies from game to game.

    Then there is also the issue that you have to setup an SLI profile for every game if you want the most of it.

    So my look on SLI is:
    New PC and the biggest most expensive GPu not good enough for you? Get a 2nd GPU.
    Your current GPU does not really cut it and you need about 30% more performance? Getting a 2nd GPU instead of a completely new one might be worth it.

    The only scenario where SLI not as improvement to an old card or to boost the newst biggest model might be worth is when you intend to use a dual monitor setup and you needed several GPUs for this anyway.

    Edit: Also remember to take a 2nd GPU into account for the PSU calculation.
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  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    Now my information is from around December last year, so it may be outdated, but the framerate gains from SLI vary wildly depending on which game you're playing. Some (like Crysis apparently) see a major boost in framerate, while other see only minor gains. A few even run with less fps under SLI. So while two cheaper GPU in SLI may potentially give you higher framerates, a single, powerful GPU delivers better consistency.
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  • sherpasherpa stopcommandermode Join Date: 2006-11-04 Member: 58338Members
    The e8400 is ridiculously cheap (£130) bit it's near impossible to get hold of one in Europe. Seems to be better stocked in America, unsurprisingly.

    Dual core if you're gaming, quad core for other cpu-intensive applications (although I'm told that by the time enough programs utilise 4 cores to make it a worthwhile investment, the current quad core speeds will be too slow- so dual core is the way forwards at the moment)

    I'm looking at ~£300/$600 for

    e8400 (£130)
    2GB DDR2 RAM (£30)
    ASUS P5 mobo (£80)
    250GB SATA HDD (£40)

    to go with my current 7900GT that I might upgrade later on.

    (If anyone in the UK finds somewhere that's selling an e8400 at a non-inflated price let me know!!)
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  • FaskaliaFaskalia Wechsellichtzeichenanlage Join Date: 2004-09-12 Member: 31651Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1675100:date=Apr 5 2008, 12:53 PM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lolfighter @ Apr 5 2008, 12:53 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1675100"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Now my information is from around December last year, so it may be outdated, but the framerate gains from SLI vary wildly depending on which game you're playing. Some (like Crysis apparently) see a major boost in framerate, while other see only minor gains. A few even run with less fps under SLI. So while two cheaper GPU in SLI may potentially give you higher framerates, a single, powerful GPU delivers better consistency.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I highly doubt that there is any combination where two cards in SLI outperform a single card, if you pay for the single card as much as for the 2 running in SLI.
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  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    depending on your budget:

    gfx: 8800gt/8800gts (difference is 50-75 USD, depending on brand and supplier ofcourse)
    cpu: q6600 / e8200
    ram: get 2 or even 4gb of ddr2 gskill (good pricing, micron chip with allows for some good oc'ing)
    mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128086</a>

    Note: with them big 8xxx cards, make sure you have room in your case for the those + hdds, it comes VERY close.
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  • StixNStonzStixNStonz Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited April 2008
    Update.

    I got an estimate today:

    CPU: $262 (normally $307) Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0gig 1333FSN 6mb

    Mobo: $256, eVGA 780I Core2Quad, DDR2, 3-16X PCI-E (so can do triple SLI)

    Ram: $99 (normally $199), 2Gb dual PC2-6400 @ 1000
    (apparently DDR2 is better than DDR3 for gaming?)

    Vid Card: $184, XFX Geforce 9600, 512mb, DDR3 PCIe HMDI

    Power: $140, Corsair 650W

    Case: $115, Antec 900 Ultimate Gamer Case

    Vista Home Premium 64-bit: $125



    Total: $1181
    With Tax: $1346

    If i get it tomorrow, the GST (7% tax) is paid for, bringing the cost down to $1275.

    Thats the plan for now. I'll steal the 24-bit sound card, DVD Burner, 150gig internal and 250 gig external hard drives, and all the peripherals, from my current rig. I think that accounts for everything.

    After extensive research, I'm choosing to not only go with Vista, but also the 64 bit version. Everything seems to say this about both, in their respective debates: vista and 64 bit are both awesome and well worth it if you're not only a gamer but especially a power user, and I consider myself both. Yes there are complications and issues, but apparently almost all of them can be overcome or at least patched enough to be well worth the other benefits. Really, DX10 requiring Vista was a biggie, and 64bit is the 'way of the future' a short few years down the road, yet can still run all the criticals I have (hl1, all mapping programs, and obviously everything above and beyond that).

    If I don't order this comp tomorrow (sunday), I lose the 7% discount overall, and if I wait til tuesday I lose two of the sales, a total of around another $150+. So basically I'm doing this tomorrow but checking the forums right before I leave, if anyone needs to yell at me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

    Also, from what I've read, while the 8800 GTS is definitely better than the 8600 GT and the 9600 GT, it costs about twice as much as the 9600 GT. Apparently the 9600GT and the 8600GT are extremely close in their performance, yet the 9600GT has significant overall better efficiency and features. Since I doubt the 8800 GTS would be more than 30% better than the 9600GT, I can buy the 9600GT now and plan to either add a second one in SLI down the road, or even soon, if I feel I can't play Crisis on full max settings <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

    Onward to my first new rig in 5 years! WOOOOO
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  • StixNStonzStixNStonz Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Comp has been ordered.

    I decided to add in two RAID'ed (sp?) 250gig internal drives, and a couple neon lights and such. Total came to $1550. Gonna be so hot.

    I just bought S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in anticipation, gonna get Crysis tomorrow probably. I'll finally be able to play BF2142 (since my comp cant, even though i bought it) as well as Company of Heroes (comp could barely play it). So much gaming to do.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    edited April 2008
    Neon lights... whut? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />

    Also I'd have got 4Gig of RAM. I know you map, so it's well worth it.
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  • StixNStonzStixNStonz Join Date: 2006-11-06 Member: 58439Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Hmm, i've got to give compiling a go on this. Might invest the extra $100 for the other 2 gigs. Does compiling always max out the ram? It does for my current 1gig...
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  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    Can you run anything other than RAID 0 or RAID 1 with two drives?
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  • MojokdirectorMojokdirector Join Date: 2008-02-21 Member: 63705Members
    Hey StixNStonz, that looks like a pretty sweet computer.

    (i can't send you pm's because it says your inbox is full)
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