My future system

I am new here and i was wondering if anyone wouldnt mind giving some recomendations on a gaming system build. I am looking at building a gamer pc with dual vid cards but i am not sure if i want to go with Gforce or ATI and what would be the best processor type in your opinion as far as amd or intel i have always been a asus guy and ran amd. any help would be apreciated. As a after thought i would love to not have to pay over 2000 dollars for this so thanks for any advice.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
CPU Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 -> 1366 edition
Mobo: Asus P6T
Graphics: nVidia GTX 295 (dual GTX280 - you would only really need one)
Ram: 3 x 2G DDR3
PSU: 800W +
Case (IMO): Antec P182 for quiet/clean look, Cooler Master Stacker 832 for space + cooling
HDD: Maybe grab a Raptor drive from Western digital, expensive but very fast.
OS: Vista 64-bit

This should easily keep you under 2000, but you can definitally squeeze some deals and cut down a bit to decrease the amount. I'm sure other will chime in!

-D

In my opinion a Core i7 would be a bad idea. At this point they are way too expensive for only minimal gains. The best option for gaming is still a good Intel dual core like the E8400 or E8500 that can easily be overclocked to 4.0Ghz. Also, if you get a Core i7 system you will have to pay a crapload for ram and the motherboard.

Asus P5Q
Intel E8500
Gskill 2 x 2gb ddr 1000
Dual HD4870s
PSU get a good name that's not cheap check out jonnyguru.com for some good options.

The gaming improvement of a core i7 system over something like this would not be worth the hundreds of dollars you would spend. Even if you have mounds of money to spend the core i7 still would not overclock as well as the E8500.

juane414 said:

In my opinion a Core i7 would be a bad idea. At this point they are way too expensive for only minimal gains. The best option for gaming is still a good Intel dual core like the E8400 or E8500 that can easily be overclocked to 4.0Ghz. Also, if you get a Core i7 system you will have to pay a crapload for ram and the motherboard.

Asus P5Q
Intel E8500
Gskill 2 x 2gb ddr 1000
Dual HD4870s
PSU get a good name that's not cheap check out jonnyguru.com for some good options.

The gaming improvement of a core i7 system over something like this would not be worth the hundreds of dollars you would spend. Even if you have mounds of money to spend the core i7 still would not overclock as well as the E8500.

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Which is a great option, but for that price I would go for a Q9300 / Q9550. Quad core all the way. Dual cores play most of todays and yesterdays games better, but quads play the higher end games of today better, and more importantly, the future games better.

-D

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/Crysis-1680x1050,818.html

Look at this. In Crysis, only four quad core processors beat the E8500, and the cheapest of them is the core i7 920, which is $300. Then when you factor that the cheapest LGA 1366 motherboard is more than $200, and the cheapest 4gb DDR3 kit is $80, twice that of DDR2, you're talking a lot of money all for an additional 6 frames per second.

So if six frames per second is work about $250 to you, by all means go for core i7. Core i7 and quad core processors are the future of course, but the future looks very expensive to me since the technology is still so new. At least wait a few months for some new products and lower prices to arrive. Having more than 3 core i7s on the market and some competing AMD quad cores will bring lower prices.

I say go i7, that way when/if you decide to upgrade you wont have to buy new cpu/ram/mobo. Even if you go with a ddr3 mobo right now youll have to buy more ram again anyways unless you get tri-channel ram under 1.65 volts, wich is what the i7 platform depends on for optimal speed.

Seriously dont buy into a dying socket its just not a good idea, especially if you start getting hungry for a 25mm chip or an octacore system when they come out.

I agree with diaz 100% on the choices in his first post, except i hate asus thats just a personal thing though. Building a new pc shouldn't be based on how many frames crysis gets or any other game, but especially crysis because its just a bad game all around . No seriously i think for an average user buy a system that can grow with you. You may not need a quad atm, but you will eventually. Buying a dead socket with a dead ram standard is just not a good idea unless you throw your systems away when your done and never upgrade.

All I'm saying is if you really want to get a Core i7 system, wait a few months for more options and better prices. LGA 775 systems will still be very good for a long time. If you want the latest and greatest you are going to pay the latest and greatest prices.

juane414 said:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/Crysis-1680x1050,818.html
So if six frames per second is work about $250 to you, by all means go for core i7.

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Yeah, only 6 frames a second for today's games, but the main point of getting an i7 and triple channel memory is to prepare for the future. Software gaming technology increases year after year, so one cannot continue to have success using outdated processor technology if they want to keep up with the gaming development. Sure, the Core 2 Quads I would say will be sufficient for some time to come, but why not just get the latest and greatest now? You might just save yourself $2000 down the road...

The OP has a Budget of $2000

if his Budget was <$4000 I would say i7 all the way.


Really what are you looking to get for $2000?

do you have the basics? Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor?
or are you building from Scratch?


When I do a QUICK newegg search,

for a Good Mobo/CPU/Ram combo with i7 you have hit $800
for a Good Mobo/CPU/Ram combo with E8500 you get it at $500
That is already a $300 savings,


that 300 bucks would go much nicer into Video Cards, and a Raptor Hard drive for over all system proformance,

and after 8 years of building/upgrading my own systems out of my own pocket, I know that you rarely upgrade the CPU as much as you upgrade the Ram, Video Card, and Hard drives. after 3 years you need to replace your Motherboard anyway to keep current, I Seriously recommend buying a Core 2 Duo, over anything else, I don't think you'll see too many games taking full advantage of Quad core over dual core in the next few years. and heck if you can get a decent system under budget, it just means you can get a nicer monitor, and having a beautiful monitor is worth 10fps for me, ( assuming I'm getting at least 40)

deRusett said:

that 300 bucks would go much nicer into Video Cards, and a Raptor Hard drive for over all system proformance,

Click to expand...

The man has a point. After a few years a graphics card upgrade will do much more than a cpu upgrade. At least unitl cpus and gpus are integrated into one unit, but then you'll need a new motherboard anyway so whats the difference? That $300 could also go toward getting a killer 24" LCD display for that gaming rig.

I'd rather have a GTX280 and a Dell ultra sharp 24" running on a dual core pentium 930 than a 8600GT and a 19" westinghouse running on a core i7.

Ok I was procrastinating, so I went to newegg and selected this,
I did NOT include a CPU cooler, because I would have to do a crap load of research before picking one, this build does show some of my bias, I like eVGA they have always done me well, and I like PC P&C again, never failed me always rock solid, and Corsaid Ram. some budget changes could be made, but this is what I would purchase with 2000USD

XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $139.99
This case just looks great, has fantastic cooling, and lots of room, if I was going to buy a case this would be it

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail 189.99
I am still convinced, Core 2 Duo is the best bang for the Buck, and OCing it to 4Ghz seems not to be a challenge on air

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 134.99
With out TOO much research this seems to be the best bet for motherboards with out going out to lunch with pricing,

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF - Retail $119.00
I have used Corsair in 3 of my 4 last builds, never a problem, the 4th was because I got stupid cheap OCZ ram from the Classifieds

EVGA 01G-P3-1284-AR GeForce GTX 280 SSC Edition 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 459.99 each * 2 for $919.98
I like EVGA, really if this was me I probably would get 1 of these now, and a second one in a year, but to be complete in this build I have 2 listed

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 229.99
1 VelociRaptor, why justify it? I love my Raptor. and when upgrade time comes, I'd get a second one and RAID 0 them, you'd need to pick up a drive to back up everything but SWEET!
Killer NIC K1 Gaming Network Card – 10/100/1000Mbps PCI Network Adapter -- Less Game Lag, Smoother Gameplay - Retail $149.99
If I was a SERIOUS gamer, building the Machine for gaming, I would be wired, not wireless to reduce lag, AND I would get this, the Windows Stack causes lots of Latancy, and Latancy is just as dangerous as missing a few FPS,

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $17.99
The ONLY thermal compound I use, buy it, it will last 6 or 7 builds.

OH total cost of this build was $1921.91

I was wondering what about ATI cards like the 4870 would two of those be a bit better than just one of the new Gforce cards? I have also been talking to ppl about ddr3 ram and heard that its doesnt have a set standard meaning that it might change in near future would using ddr2 ram be better or would it be ok going with ddr3 anyway? thanks for all the help guys

Don't know anything about the new ATI cards, I have been a nVidia guy for a long time, I don't like the ATI software, so even marginal performance increases would not make me go to ATI over nVidia.


With your 2000 you can not afford DDR3 Ram, and as it stands today, I don't see the value in building a DDR3 bases system,

IF you take my recomendations, your next machine is going to required Mobo/CPU/Ram anyway, why spend more now that can be put to quality alternative components, when you will still need to do the major upgrade later.

I listed my build with 2 nVidia Cards, though as I said I would go with one now, and if/when you need it get a second,