Building a new desktop (1 Viewer)

[runtlocks]

I was thinking of building a new desktop, though I haven't got an idea on how to, so my other mates should be able to help me out with it. Basically I want to be able to play some new release games on relatively high settings, though I'd probably stand for medium. For example, Bioshock has the recommended system requirements of:

- CPU: 3GHz dual core processor,
- Memory: 2 GB RAM,
- Video card: Pixel Shader 3.0 compliant video card with 512 Ram (Geforce 7900 GT or better)

How much money do you think I'll need to reach these specs? I'd also like to be able to play Fallout 3 when that comes out Spring next year, and while the system requirements haven't been released as of yet, I'd imagine you'd need a rather bitchin' system. For an idea, I guess the computer has to be able to run Oblivion with relative ease to play it.

Furthermore I'll also be using a lot of audio programs, like Sonar, Sound forge, Fruity loops etc. but I don't think they are too spec intensive.

Cheers

 

[DeathB4Life]

just got my rig set up.

e6420
ECS 8800GTS 320MB
2GB 667 Corsair Value RAM
Asus P5b (vanilla) motherboard

as im using my previous PSU and case the cost for just the above items was about $870 at msy. should be ~$1100 if youre going for a completely new rig.

i havent done too much gaming benchmarks but from playing BF2 (64 bots on a 16 player map ftw!), CoD2, Oblivion, Stalker, CoH and Sup Comm maxed out at 1600*1200 (2x AA for all except oblivion) they all run beautifully.

with stock gpu settings, playing Oblivion outdoors the fps seems to stay within the 40-70 range most of the time with settings maxed. with grass off its generally +55FPS. indoors the fps fluctuated greatly, from 50-150, depending on the viewing distance.

the cpu and gpu are pretty good overclockers considering their price.
8800 runs fine at 600/900 (i pushed it up to 640/1000 and it seemed stable, anything much higher than that caused a bit of instability) compared to stock settings which are 513/792

e6420 is currently running at 2.9GHz compared to stock 2.14GHz. pushed it to 3.1GHz before crashes occured, though i could have probably gone higher with a better motherboard, 800MHz RAM and pushing the Vcore up, but im more than satisfied with the current speed.

fairly moderate overclocking got me another 2k points in 3dmark06, so id say the price : performance is pretty darn great.

if youre on a tight budget and cant spend much more than $1k then id recommend getting a similar rig as mine. the 8600s and below dont seem too great, neither do ATIs new line of cards. 7900GS is still a great value card, but i dont think theyll be able to handle tomorrows games at decent settings.

 

[DeathB4Life]

also, if youre not too desperate for a new desktop then holding out until christmas when the nvidia 9 series is released should pay off.

if not then theres a price drop on the 22nd on intel cpus so prices should settle down and become competitive by the end of this month as retailers adjust. the cost of RAM is also due to rise (probably within the week). theyve been dead cheap for the last month or two, so you should buy now if you can.

 

[runtlocks]

Yeah, I've been wondering if I should go with the quad or the dual core once those prices drop.

 

[Excalibur_]

Some really good current and upcoming games run on Quad Core (think Sup. Com, Crysis...)

I'd wait for the price drops!

Also, if you absolutely *must* get something that works now, get yourself a 8800GTS. That way, you can play most games now and then upgrade to 9 series for Fallout next year.

 

[Collin]

Wait until the price drop and grab yourself a higher-end dual-core C2D.

Take those recommended system requirements with a grain of salt. If you intend on running Bioshock on high settings at a high resolution, I severely doubt a 7900GT could handle it.

What resolution are you looking to run your games at? This is potentially a major determinant on what specs you'll need. For example, if you're happy gaming on a little 17" (1280 x 1024) screen, you won't be needing a video card geared more towards gaming on a 24" (1920 x 1200). Right now, if lower resolution is your preference, a 8800GTS 320MB is a nice buy. Otherwise you'll want to look into the 8800GTS 640MB or a 8800GTX. Or even wait for the 9800GTX scheduled for Christmas (although I wouldn't rely on that rumoured release date).

 

[ricometa]

alright heres the deal after july 22nd there will be a massive price drop in intel cpus

a intel Q6600 will cost $350
atm now a Q6600 costs 650

for ppl who dont know what that is it is a QUAD CORE cpu 2.4gHz

the difference bettween a quad core and a quad core extreme is that a quad core extreme is better for OCing (can change the multiper)

a Q6600 is 2 E6600 and atm right now a E6600 costs $280
so i suggest you to wait 2 weeks, ill be worth it

For graphics cards, depends if u are using vista
dont hear the crap ppl are saying that vista is crap its not
and the beta drivers for SP1 is coming out soon, go get a OEM 32BIT VISTA HOME PRENIMUN for like $132
Oh yes back to graphics cards depends how much you wanna spend go get a 8600gt for direct X 10 but a ati 1950xt or pro is good value if u are not OCing

but a 8800 is always swwett as hell

A case that has good airflow such as antec 900 or 180 or 182
A decent PSU of 400watt +
A good low latency ram and 800mHz the brand OCZ or CORSAIR 2gb or more .
umm lcds. . .go grab urself a 22' WS a ACER or a VIEWSONIC is always sweet should set you back around $365

 

[Excalibur_]

800 RAM is overrated from my reading.

Anything above 533 in dual channel and you're bottlenecked at the CPU. That is, unless, you're OCing.

 

[ricometa]

then wat do u rekon of 1142mHz ram ?? lol

 

[Collin]

the difference bettween a quad core and a quad core extreme is that a quad core extreme is better for OCing (can change the multiper)

For graphics cards, depends if u are using vista
dont hear the crap ppl are saying that vista is crap its not
and the beta drivers for SP1 is coming out soon, go get a OEM 32BIT VISTA HOME PRENIMUN for like $132

Oh yes back to graphics cards depends how much you wanna spend go get a 8600gt for direct X 10 but a ati 1950xt or pro is good value if u are not OCing

There are potentially ways to unlock the multiplier without resorting to shelling out exorbitant amounts of cash for an Extreme.

For video cards, I'd argue Vista isn't so important in the equation. A high-end card like a 8800GTS is awesome because it's fast in general, not just because it's DX10 compliant. If I bought a video card right now, I wouldn't even give a second thought on whether or not I'd be using Vista or not.

G84 is a dissappointment, unfortunately.

 

[icraig88]

just purchased my pc on the weekend..

case/psu: antec sonata II (quiet as hell)
cpu: intel dual core e6600 (couldve got the q6600 but on tight budget)
m/b: asus p5k-se (has updated chipset from the p5b series)
ram: 2gb kingston 667 ddr2
hdd: 500gb seagate sataII
gfx: asus en8800gts 320mb ddr3

all up cost me round 1200

 

[Redwan]

My Brother Just Built His PC Last Night
Good Specs Too

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz 775-Pin $239
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P $209
RAM: 2x 1GB Corsair DDR2-667 $109
HDD: W.D(Western Digital) 500GB SATAII $175
Case: Antec Nine Hundred $179
PSU: Corsair HX-620 $170
GPU: 768MB ECS 8800GTX $710
Optical Drive: 2xAsus 1814 18x SATA $130
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme $71
CPU Fan: Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan SFF21F $30
Total: $2022

 

[Redwan]

cpu: intel dual core e6600 (couldve got the q6600 but on tight budget)

shuddve got E6750, pretty cheap also

 

[velox]

No, should have got Q6600 Should have waited until July22 when everything is dropping.

 

[dodgyfilokid]

I just bought parts for my system since im upgrading it to handle Flight Sim, San Andreas and other games that I may wanna play down the track..not to mention Vista. I bought all of them at MSY and i was impressed with what I saved. Heres the list:
>CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ AM2 socket($88.00)
>M/B: ASUS M2NE-SLI ($129.00)
>PSU: Coolermaster Extreme 550W ($77.00)
>RAM: Kingston 1GB kit DDR2 667 ($60.00)
>Extra RAM: Generic 512MB DDR2 667 ($25.00)
>GRAPHICS: ASUS 8500GT Silent PCI-E 256MB DDR2: $105.00

all in all cost me $489.00..i also bought a SATA 120gb HDD at Capitol Square for 59.00...all in all i spent 548 bucks instead of $700+...im happy but now its jz a matter of puttin them altogether onto my old case and making sure they work

 

[Redwan]

No, should have got Q6600 Should have waited until July22 when everything is dropping.

E6750 overclocks better + most games don't supprt 4 cores yet + plus its gotta higher fsb.

 

[runtlocks]

Err yeah I'm still not convinced what processor I should get, a quad core (q6600) or a dual core for the same price? I'd like to build the computer to last as long as it can, your thoughts?

 

[Excalibur_]

then wat do u rekon of 1142mHz ram ?? lol

The old E6600 ran on a CPU FSB of 1066. 533 RAM in dual channel matched up as 2 x 533 = 1066. This is known as a 1:1 config and is probably the best for ye average user.

So the optimal RAM for the new E6x50 series would be 667. Only when you overclock will you need the extra frequencies on the RAM. That said, if you have the money to buy it - it's nice headroom if you want to OC.

 

[Redwan]

Err yeah I'm still not convinced what processor I should get, a quad core (q6600) or a dual core for the same price? I'd like to build the computer to last as long as it can, your thoughts?

go the quad, most programs atm are only dual threaded and only support 2 cores, but soon it'll support 4..so it'll have an advantage over a dual core

 

[goony]

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

Some comparisons. The top duo core (e6850) still outperforms a few of the quad cores, but it's probably because most applications haven't been configured for multiple cores yet.

You could get a cheapish core 2 duo now, and then grab one of the new 45nm processors coming out later on.