Advice on building a new gaming rig please!

[TheNamelessOne]

Hey there, everyone in OCforums land. I'm looking for some advice on how to upgrade my system so I can play the newest games. I haven't been keeping up with pc tech for a few years now, so I'm completely out of the loop on the new CPUs and graphics cards. Here's what my current setup is:

2.4 P4(currently not OCed)in an Abit AI7
Radeon 9800 Pro
1 Gb of RAM
2 Raptors in RAID 0, + 250Mb drive for storage
Chaintech AV-710 soundcard
Antec SmartPower 350 PSU

Clearly this isnt going to cut it when it comes to the new games like BioShock, Crysis, and Assasins Creed. So I'm looking for suggestions on how to upgrade my system for best bang for buck. I'll probably be doing some "safe" overclocking, nothing extreme. I'd like a system that can handle the newest games decently. So I'm thinking I'll need a new CPU/mobo, new graphics card, and new PSU, and I keep the rest.

I'm actually trying to decide between upgrading my PC or just buying an Xbox 360. I was thinking playing all these FPS games will be much better on a PC, but if it turns out the upgrade route is way more expensive, I might change my mind.

 

[White_Pawn]

How much do you have to spend?

budget Intel Setup:
E2140
gigabyte DS3L
2 x 1 crucial ballistix ddr 800
x1950pro
520hx corsair psu

 

[ou_phidelt]

I like that set-up. I would go with a 1p35-e. I am just not real fond of Gigabyte, to many bad experiences. But you know there is something right in the world when you can put Ballistix in a budget build.

 

[splat]

i've got a overclockers buyers guide you might be interested in looking thru. it's a sticky at the top of this section, General Hardware.

 

[batboy]

You already have a budget rig suggestion. So, I'll list a middle of the road rig that will perform better, but will cost a little more too.

CPU: E6750 or Q6600
Motherboard: Abit IP35 or IP35 Pro or Asus P5K
RAM: Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400
PSU: Corsair 520HX or 620HX
Video: 8800 GTS

 

[Immortal_Hero]

You already have a budget rig suggestion. So, I'll list a middle of the road rig that will perform better, but will cost a little more too.

CPU: E6750 or Q6600
Motherboard: Abit IP35 or IP35 Pro or Asus P5K
RAM: Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400
PSU: Corsair 520HX or 620HX
Video: 8800 GTS

That was basically exactly what I was going to suggest. That is a pretty high end middle of the road setup.

 

[batboy]

Well, I started out with middle of the road suggestion, but then threw in some higher end options too like the quad core (although the QX6800 is the real high end CPU). If you want a higher end mobo, then the Abit IP35 Pro or Asus P5K Premium is what you'd pick (I bought the IP35 plain). Higher end vid cad would be the 8800GTX or Ultra. So I didn't go totally crazy.

 

[TheNamelessOne]

Thanks guys.

What's the difference between the Abit IP35, IP35-E, and IP35-Pro?

 

[TheNamelessOne]

Another question. What's a good place to buy these parts online besides newegg? Don't get me wrong I love the 'egg, but I live in CA and having to pay 8.25% tax on everything is a *****.

 

[batboy]

What's the difference between the Abit IP35, IP35-E, and IP35-Pro?

The IP35-E and IP35 are very similar and use the same PCB design. Both have only 1 PCI-E 16X slot. The both have one LAN port. The IP35-E has no RAID and no firewire. However, the IP35 does provides RAID (ICH9R) and firewire. The IP35-E has 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors while the IP35 has 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors. The IP35-E has separate heatsinks on the N/B, S/B, and mosfets while the IP35 has a heatpipe that connects the N/B and mosfets sinks (but has a separate S/B sink).

The IP35 Pro has its own original PCB design, although it looks similar and has many of the same features. Unique to the IP35 Pro is eSATA, external CMOS switch, and two Gigabit ethernet ports. The IP35 Pro has SilentOTES™ meaning the N/B, S/B, and mosfets sinks are all connected with heatpipes. The IP35 Pro has two PCI-E X16 slots (second slot has x4 bandwidth when used in Crossfire). Finally, the Pro model has all solid state caps while the rest only have solid caps around the CPU area.