Decision between two builds

[GamingRigger]

I'm wanting to purchase a new gaming computer and I know two people who are selling their old rigs. I don't know too much about these things so I will post the specifications of both and hopefully you guys can let me know which is a better deal.

Rig #1
Price: $400
Antec p182 case
Antec 1000 watt power supply
EVGA nforce 780i motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 overclocked to 3.1ghz with aftermarket heatsink
Two EVGA 9800 GTX video cards in SLI
4 GB OCZ Gold RAM
Two DVD Drives (1 RW)
750 GB Western Digital Raptor HD, 10,000RPM

Rig #2
Price: $500
CoolerMaster HAF932 case
Intel Core 2 quad Q9550 2.83ghz
evga sli motherboard 790i ultra sli
evga geforce gtx 260 core 216
4gb OCZ Nvidia SLI DDR3 PC3-16000 / 2000MHz
Cooler Master V10 Processor cooler
WD VelociRaptor 150gb,10,000rpm SATA hdd
Plextor Multidvd burner with lightscribe
1000w Xion Power Supply
120gb ATA hdd
usb 2.0 pci card
scythe fan controller
Multicard Reader

Thank you for any insight you all can provide!

 

[benj1290]

Er, sorry didnt see the bold prices LOL.

I have a gtx260 myself, but im looking upgrade my current PC which is like the rig #2 problem i have is that newer games have a feeling of "boggin" down

 

[EarthDog]

Looks like $400 and $500 respectively.

Id rather have rig #2.


BUT you can build something better for the same cost really...

 

[pwnmachine]

Rig 2 is definitely the better value.

 

[GamingRigger]

My thinking was buying one of these builds was a bit cheaper and a lot less hassle than building one custom with similar parts. Then, as I gain more money and computer experience I can upgrade whichever build I buy in the future. Just out of curiosity (again I'm new to all this) why would you guys consider Rig 2 > Rig 1?

 

[EarthDog]

Much Better CPU and HDD to name two reasons. The PSU is overkill by a mile in #2...

There is no upgrade path in #2 is the problem... well outside of a videocard.

 

[benj1290]

There is no upgrade path in #2 is the problem... well outside of a videocard.

This is kind of what i was meaning in my post above. Can you also list what you will be using the computer for? I've been going off of gaming, but what kind of games would you be playing?

 

[GamingRigger]

Primarily I'm playing the MMO SW:TOR daily and I'd like to get into Mass Effect 3 as well as Skyrim. Perhaps some shooter games as well.

Just for a bit of background I've been using an HP Pavilion DV8000 laptop for gaming, with 2g RAM and a Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 GPU. Either of these rigs would be a colossal upgrade. This laptop currently gets me 10ish FPS in SW:TOR on the lowest possible settings and I'm fed up. I'm not asking the new rig to play everything I throw at it on ultra settings but I need a hell of a lot more FPS out of it than this laptop and some improved graphics couldn't hurt.

Leaning toward Rig #2 now I would probably keep it as-is for a couple of months and then upgrade the video card as best I can for the future. Whenever it gets to the point where I can't get decent FPS on low settings in a game, I'll build custom. =P

Again, thanks for the advice thus far!

 

[pwnmachine]

There is no upgrade path in #2 is the problem... well outside of a videocard.

True, but for gaming the 9xxx series is perfectly serviceable and definitely great for that price.

In games like bf3 you will benefit from a better gpu anyways, and the 775 9series are perfectly serviceable for most games. The 775 rig in my sig has no issues running games when running with my 5970+5850's.

 

[EarthDog]

Spot on... but HE said he wanted to upgrade from it... I was just noting there isnt a path for CPU.

 

[pwnmachine]

Right, the cpu path is pretty much deadlocked. I will suggest an alternative, threw it together kinda quick but it will definitely be significantly better than the rig2 and its new. Which is definitely a larger consideration.



Edit: No dvd drive(+$15)
The new cost is:
$573 w/ rebates.

 

[GamingRigger]

Unfortunately pwnmachine, it is a strict $500 budget.