Gaming PC Suggestions

I have a budget of $805 for my new gaming PC. I have all the parts set up on a wishlist on newegg. I was wondering if anyone could give me some opinions on how well this pc will be able to play games? http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/WishShareShow.asp?ID=1674688&WishListTitle=Gaming+Comp


RAIDMAX Horizon 380w Case
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Board
Radeon X850PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Processor
GeIL Ultra 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR500 (PC4000) RAM
LITE-ON Black IDE DVD Burner

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

P.S.
This forum is great, I recently purchased a Celeron D 2.66ghz and easily overclocked it to 3ghz. ROSEWILL (2x 512DDR400) overclocked to 241mhz. i am selling this pc to a friend and buying the pc I described above.
I like this PC and all but it can't really play games very well, it may just be the GeForce 2 mx 400 slowing me down but it's probably the low quality processor and ram.

I'd go 3000+ venice and use the extra cash for better psu.

I am going to get a better PSU eventually, the PSU that comes with it hopefully will hold out a few weeks for me.

I really suggest trying to spring for a 7800GT for only about $100 more. The boost is worth it IMO.

Of course it's worth it, but he's on a budget. I could say spend $100 more and get 2GB of ram, which is also a great upgrade.

I'd probably recommend dropping down to the 3000+ as well. Since you choose the DFI board, then you can OC it easily to 2.7ghz. It's not worth paying the extra money for the 3500+ which just has an extra multiplier, getting the 3000+ for almost $90 cheaper is a much better price/performance ratio decision.

By saving the money from dropping down to a 3000+. You can get a 6800GT for about $280ish, which would outperform the X850pro...debateable though.

You would definitely need a better PSU for OCing, but that may last you if you be careful on handling your computer. Just don't OC anything at ALL.

There's room for upgrade later. I'm not too god at OCing yet, I plan on it eventually, but for the time being I want a system that will function well without OCing. Atleast until I get a better cooling system and PSU. I want to be able to play games like Half-Life 2, Guild Wars, and Final Fantasy XI on high and not have to deal with horrid lag. I've been playing this games on a 2ghz Pen4, 256RDRam and GeForce 4 mx 440 for the past 3 years and its kinda annoying since the video card is only directx 7 and the low amount of ram.

Don't forget heatsink -> Ninja or SI-120 for silence.

Purchase your case at fry's when they have sales. You want to make sure the metal is pretty thick otherwise your computer will be extra loud when you get those paper thin cases. Or atleast go to a couple stores and look at their cases and make sure you get one with thicker metal. From just looking at the back of the case it looks like the paper thin metal type of cases. Might want a case with room for a 120mm front and 120mm back fan(for silence).

Drop down to 3000+, like everyone said, or 3200+

I'm not sure which dual layer DVD burner to get, but check out cdfreaks forums and some are better than others. Ripping speed, Burn failures/Errors, etc..

Check out the fortron Blue Storm 500watt PSU. They're pretty silent, good power.

I'm all about getting computers quieter, but if you don't care then go ahead and get a tornado/delta. Then a couple months later realize you should have gone with the quieter stuff.

Might want to get a new heatsink for whatever video card you choose. They tend to get pretty loud and hot.

Also want some AS5 incase you don't have any. Extra fans if your case doesn't come with some.

Options for video cards
6600gt - around $150 (Deals)
6800gt - around $230 (Deals)
7800gt - $500 or something?? But supposidly twice as fast as 6800gt.

I'm all about getting the Nvidia cards this time around since they're generally much cheaper for similar performance.

Edit: I suggest a VF700-Cu for the video card if it fits. Pretty quiet and works pretty well to reduce the idle/load temps.

Edit2: Found the 7800gt for just under $400 from other forums http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...tore_Code=M&Product_Code=190339&AFFIL=TH&NR=1

DeFessler said:

2ghz Pen4, 256RDRam and GeForce 4 mx 440 for the past 3 years and its kinda annoying since the video card is only directx 7 and the low amount of ram.

Click to expand...

Yeah, any upgrade from that will make a big difference in games. Even just getting a new video card and ram like you said.

you can get a 7800gt for under $500. you can go with 1 stick of 1gb of ram and then upgrade later. as for having to play on that, i had an old hp until freshman year which had 1.7ghz williamette, TNT2 32mb, 80gb 5400rpm wd drive, and 512 of pc2100 generic ram.

-1cem4n

7800GT for $359 actualy http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170088
and yeah, he's right, go with the 3000+ Venice because it sounds like your not going to be doing any extreme oc'ing so you won't need the higher multi

also i just noted that DumpALump said to make sure to get a case made of thick metal, well his point was true about noise levels but it's not that much difference and also it creates issues with heat dissipation, a case made of thin aluminum with no paint or anodizing(you probabaly won't get a case that isn't painted or anodized though so don't stress on it) will dissapate the most heat, and when running fan cooling every bit counts

I do plan on doing some majorly serious overclocking. I am not ready for it at this point in time, I am researching the subject and will be doing it not to long after buying the new pc. So I do want the extra multiplyer. If the only suggestion is going lower then what I got just to make it cheaper then I guess I can be confident on how well this will be able to handle games. Thx a lot for the input, I may be asking tons of questions in the future. Overclocking this celeron d was my first overclocking experience and I've learnt a lot from it.

I could use some suggestions on cooling and some input on how well my system will be able to run games. Thx a lot! ^_^

Yeah, in general, all cores between the 3000+ and 4000+ OC to about the same speeds on air cooling, which is about 2.7ghz, and maybe the higher ends (3700+ and 4000+) may be able to get to 2.8-2.9ghz. But otherwise, every other core between them would give you the same speeds. Therefore, it doesn't matter which core you buy, both the 3000+ and 3500+ would give you the same gaming performance if you OC them both to 2.7ghz. The only difference would be getting a 3700+ or 4000+ San Diego, because it has 1MB L2 Cache, it may give you a tad better fps and a few seconds in load up times, but most say it's not worth the extra money for a few fps.

Most people can get to 2.7ghz easily, if not at least 2.6ghz, even with the 3000+. The 1x extra multiplier provided by the 3200+ and others is not worth the extra cost you'll pay for it.

For gaming, as long as it's OCed to 2.6ghz or 2.7ghz, and has only 512KB of cache, almost all of the above mentioned CPUs would perform exactly the same in gaming.

Just get a simple and cheap case, no need to spend $200 on buying a case while your budget is limited. Doesn't matter what material the case if made of, most say get Aluminum since it's most likely the most common type of case.

As for cooling, it depends on how much you want to spend on a heatsink. The best one may be the Thermaltake Sonic tower paired with a few deltas, but that's loud, and a tad expensive. So I'd just recommend a XP-90C or XP-120, both should be able to help you get 2.7ghz easily.

xp90c with a delta tri-blade could get you pretty far. as for the case, get QUALITY above all else instead of simple and cheap. you can find quality, cheap, and simple all in one.

-1cem4n

wel in terms of what darksparkz said abou tgetting a "cheap and simple" case and not worrieng about the material because everyone says aluminum because it's common, this is not true, as i pointed out before, aluminum has the best heat dissapation(besides copper, which you can't get and wouldn't want a case made of, just a wee bit heavy), so look for aluminum, and if possible within your budget get plain or brushed aluminum

for $59.00 on newegg there is a plain aluminum case with more than adequate fanspace(1x120mm, 2x80mm), its pretty nice looking too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811105119

and if neccesary there is a cheaper one for $24.99 but the metal is thicker and the fanspace isn't as good, but it would still work just fine
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811117029

what id got for is the p180 and xp-90 as your cpu cooler.
^it's what im doing ;]

Well, when I found this forum, I had sadly already ordered the parts but since it was on a weekend I figured I could still get input and cancel if needed well I tried to yesterday and the cancel option is gone and its shipped, it would probably be too big of a hassle to cancel what i had anyway considering that it just that fact I bought pricey stuff. I hope this pc works out well for gaming and I hope it OCs well, if possible could anyone give me links to cooling units taht would be good.

you NEED a 24 pin psu for that board or warranty will not cover it. if you're not going sli then a 480-500watt psu is good. read this http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854&highlight=psu+guide

as for cooling, for cpu i would go with an xp-90 with a panaflow 92mm on top. keeps it amazingly cool.

I woudl definitely suggest vga cooling. if you are looking cheap go with a zalman or a nv silencer. check out this site http://www.coolerguys.com/videocooler.html

as for case cooling, i woudl suggest 2x120mm fans(1 intake, 1 outtake). If you are in to modding, you can cut some holes in your side panels and mount fans. I have 2x80mm over my ram and then a 120mm over my vidcard . Check out the cooling section on this site. the people are very helpful.

pm if any questions. also www.dfi-street.com is a AWESOME site with TONS of info about compatibility issues if you run into problems.

Yea 3000+ is ALL you need for a CPU i've been running mine at Stock HTT and CS:Source, Guildwars, Doom3 all play just fine... just think what you'll get when it's OC'd.

yea throw an xp-90 cooler on there for cooling mine hits the cpu and leans completly over the ram cooling both of them for a cheap price.

xp120 cools even more but i think a blowhole over the ram is sufficient. just at least SOME air going over(same with hd)

-1cem4n