What would you build?

ToiletDuck · May 5, 2006

I'm building a new PC. Strict for gaming. HD size is no issue so long as it's a good 30gb. I already have a monitor/case/keyboard/joystick/headphones/mouse/soundcard.

If your budget was $1k for the mobo, proc, mem, hd, vcard, and psu. What route would you go? Would you go intel or AMD? I was thinking about the AMD 4000+ or maybe save a little and get the 3700+ and a better gfx card. How would you build it? I don't know how much processor I actually need. Better to get a mid card and high end proc or a mid proc and high end gfxcard. Then there is the AMD duel core that I hear will be better in the future. All I play is bf2, flightsim 2004 and will be playing the new FS when it comes out.

Duck

rseven · May 5, 2006

Save asa much as possible for the video card. Get an Opteron dual core 165 and an Epox9NPA+ Ultra. This will cost under $400. Get a Fortron Blue Storm 500 Watt PSU at Actbuy.com for $76. Look for some kind of hard drive drive. Staples is selling a 200 gig hard drive right now for $50 after rebate. Get any 2x1gig UTT ram for about $160 and spend the rest on the video card. At the least you should be able to get a 7900GT. Good luck with whatever you get.

batboy · May 5, 2006

I would wait until summer for the Intel Conroe to arrive. Intial results are awesome and they are blowing everything away.

rseven · May 5, 2006

It may not be that easy to get a Conroe this summer, plus I would not recommend anyone's brand new technology, as if there are any bugs to be ironed out, you will be the the one they are ironed out on.

jmt391 · May 5, 2006

if you wanna hold out for conroe or am2 ur gonna be waiting a good 6 months or so after it comes out because if you dont ill have to laugh at you when you get bugged out

as for your build, rseven had pretty good ideas

the only problem i have are with the RAM - do not get ANY ram, get something respectable like OCZ, corsair, kingston, g. skill, or patriot

mista ting · May 5, 2006

Opteron 165 Dual Core @ 1.8 $327
DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR $186
WD SE16 250GB SATA 3.0 $82
G.SKILL 1GB DDR 500 $90
SeaSonic S12-500w $124
7900GT KO $288
____________________________________
$1097 total

pros
165 Avg OC 2.5~3.0
Price / Stability / Preformance / Silence / Ocability
SLI leaves room for Upgrade

cons
conroe...am2...lol :bang head

Logan1033 · May 5, 2006

the above listed rig is nice. to save some money you can also get a DFI Ultra-D for $125 (can be easiely modded to SLI), and an Enermax 535w PSU for $90 (known to be great and work well with DFI boards). conroe is gonna be awesome but due to some wierd company conflicts Nvidia is not making any SLI boards that are compatable with conroe, not for a while anyway, so for easy gaming upgradablility get the system above.

Sleepy_Steve · May 6, 2006

I am building a new rig in a week or two when i am back from school - big supprise, its got an opty 165 in there.

Im using some rather empty and large drives from my file server for storage, so like you it didnt get factored into budget - which is a good thing according to that X1900XTX i have my eye on :sn:

*EDIT* oh yes and i almost forgot... 2x1gb ddr4000 memory from g.skill... and some other goodies that are not as important :santa2:

batboy · May 6, 2006

mista ting said:
Opteron 165 Dual Core @ 1.8 $327
DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR $186
WD SE16 250GB SATA 3.0 $82
G.SKILL 1GB DDR 500 $90
SeaSonic S12-500w $124
7900GT KO $288
____________________________________
$1097 total

Pentium D 930 dual core $212
Asus P5WD2 $155
WD SE16 250GB SATA 3.0 $82
G. Skill 2X1GB PC2-5400 $139
OCZ Powerstream 520w $110 after rebate
7900GT KO $288

total = $986 newegg.com prices
(I didn't look up HDD and vid card prices, just assumed Mista was right)

Pros: better price than the AMD dual core system, more stable than AMD system, will O/C to at least 4.0 gig on air, and has twice the RAM

Cons: will not be as good as Conroe

ToiletDuck · May 6, 2006

hmmmm the Pentium D has me thinking. 4ghz. wow. However why the opty? I was looking on tomshardware.com and haven't seen that one tested for any gaming. What is so different between that an the 4000+ or the dual core x64's?

Sleepy_Steve · May 6, 2006

Near as i can tell, the opty is little more than an X2 priced lower, and yeilding some awsome OC results at the moment.

The main reason i chose the AMD opty route is that i feel AMD diserves a chance after my prescott experience... that and i realy like what i see from the 165's

seer33 · May 6, 2006

I think itd be fun to tinker with an intel system for once, as I've had 4 a64's now. lol the opteron/epox would prob be your best bet if stricly for gaming, easily overclock the baddie to 300x9 and be running 2.7 dual core, and loving it.

mista ting · May 6, 2006

batboy said:
Pentium D 930 dual core $212
Asus P5WD2 $155
WD SE16 250GB SATA 3.0 $82
G. Skill 2X1GB PC2-5400 $139
OCZ Powerstream 520w $110 after rebate
7900GT KO $288

total = $986 newegg.com prices
(I didn't look up HDD and vid card prices, just assumed Mista was right)

Pros: better price than the AMD dual core system, more stable than AMD system, will O/C to at least 4.0 gig on air, and has twice the RAM

Cons: will not be as good as Conroe

4gig on a Pentium D requires more on the Vcore not to mention how hot the Pentium D series are...40-50c idle - 60-70c load with stock cooling he would need to spend more on wc/hs&f to acheave 4gig

where as the Opty 165 Oc's to 2.5~2.8 with stock cooler & stock volts...also opty 165 @ 2.8 > Pentium D 930 @ 4gig FPS wise. For multitasking/encoding and what not get the Pentium D 930

like THG says "AMD Plainly For Gaming Fans"

but when conroe gets released thats all going to change

jmt391 · May 6, 2006

AMD dual core>intel dual core for gaming

go amd for gaming

batboy · May 6, 2006

The 9XX series Pentium D will require a bump in vcore to hit 4 gig and will need a little better cooling, but it would still be cheaper. Some of the new stepping 930's are hitting 4.4 gig on air. I've seen them do 3.8 gig on default voltage and stock cooling. If this is strictly a gaming rig, then the AMD dual core rig will have a slight advantage in some of the gaming benchmarks. I play Oblivion with my rig at ultra high settings, F.E.A.R. at almost max settings, etc. This is with a 20 inch wide screen. My rig beats the Opty 165 in several other benchmarks. By all means post yours and I'll post mine.

batboy · May 6, 2006

Can some of you AMD dual core folks post your PCmark2004 score? Here's mine.

ToiletDuck · May 7, 2006

w00t Opteron it is i guess lol. I just found a guy who is selling his on some classifieds. $250 for the opteron in the box as well as $200 for the GFX card.

Figure I just saved about $150

He's got 1gb of ddr500 mem too I just don't know what to offer him for it.

batboy · May 7, 2006

Excellent deal. Good luck.

ToiletDuck · May 7, 2006

Now it's down to getting a PSU. You know I have to admit. I've NEVER really understood completely what the big issue was. I don't know which stats to look for. How 400watts constant is better than 400watt constant on another one. I'm reading up on the ones you guys suggested. I'm looking on ebay maybe I'll find a good one

batboy · May 8, 2006

For a PSU, look at total watts and almost more importantly amps on the +12v rail(s). A lot of PSUs nowadays are dual +12v rails, but the dual core processors generally work better with a single rail with lots of amps. Mista suggested a Seasonic 500w and I recommended the OCZ Powerstream 520w. Well, 20 watts ain't much difference, so I would call them about equal in that regard. The Seasonic is a dual rail rated +12V1@17A and +12V2@16A. The OCZ Powerstream is a single rail rated +12V@33A. Now if you add up the two rails on the Seasonic, it does equal 33 amps, but only half of that is available if your CPU is under heavy load. Does this make sense?

What would you build?

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