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I have $3,500 to drop on a gaming PC and I am hardware-retarded.
Ein
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
I'm hoping I can get the assistance of you more tech-saavy types to help me out a bit. Here's the skinny:
I would like a new PC. My current one is four years old, and while it's been working quite admirably with a few improvements over the years there comes a time when I think I'd rather grab an entirely new machine and start fresh. To facilitate this, I have a budget of somewhere between 3-3.5k (American)
I am extremely computer-hardware-retarded. I don't know what makes a piece of hardware better than another, and despite my research on such things I would feel much more comfortable with advice from you guys.
I have a couple specific needs from my machines that suggest to me that I might be better off getting a custom-built PC rather than something off the shelf from Dell or the likes. I've looked at services like cyberpowerpc and ibuypower to maybe get a computer built, but I wasn't entirely happy with what I was seeing there. I have recently discovered, however, that one of my friends can apparently build PCs, so I was going to basically order and obtain all of the requisite parts and hand them off to him for the construction. I've read about how easy it is to build your own PC and all that, but a trial-by-fire on 3,000+ dollars of hardware is not my idea of a good time. By having him assemble the thing for me, I also save a bit of money over paying those online places to build me a PC to order, allowing me a bit more economy in my budget to really get flashy with the machine.
Typically, I multitask like a bastard - I have three screens running on my current setup, with the middle one being a 24" Sansung Syncmaster 243T that runs at 1920x1200. At any given moment I can find myself playing City of Heroes on the middle screen, watching a movie on the left screen, and Photoshopping something on the right. While my current computer keeps up with this to a reasonable degree, it is really starting to show it's age. After a chat with one of my more technically inclined friends, he has suggested that based on my multitasking demands and budget I look into getting an Intel Quad-Core. I was wondering if anyone could say if this was a good or bad idea?
Also, I would really, really love to be able to play my games maxed out at 1920x1200 with all the bells and whistles, and it would be even better if said computer were able to do so for future games as well as present ones. I've had it recommended to me that I look into SLI GeForce Nvidia 8800 XTS cards. I'm sort've inclined to this, as I've had bad experiences with my ATI x800 XT in the past - every driver update seemed to break more than it actually fixed with that stupid thing. I know that SLI'd 8800s are completely excessive, and from what I've read a single one could probably handle it, but as I've got the money to throw around I was hoping that maybe the SLI would help make future games easier to max out. Also considering that 1920x1200 is my preferred resolution, it seemed like adding more horsepower to the visual end of things wouldn't be a bad idea. Also, each 8800 apparently has two DVI-out ports on them, which I think should cover me for the additional monitors?
I've also been thinking about throwing 4 gigs of ram into the thing, mostly just because I can and if I decide to go with Vista I've read things about how the more ram, the better.
These [the quad and the 8800 SLI] are the only two things I've actually had recommended to me as far as computers go. I am not entirely sure I even know all of the required parts for a fully operating computer. There's obviously a few things that I need but am in the dark about - things such as a cooling method (fans? water? What's good and what's not?), a motherboard (What works well? I have no idea how to compare these), or a power supply (how much wattage am I going to need? People have suggested a minimum of 800), to name a few.
I have been digging around on Newegg and starting to assemble a wishlist of parts that I'll need.
Here is what I've devised currently
The case that's there (a Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower) is there mostly because I've been reading that if you use SLI 8800s you need the full tower to fit them in properly and also get the required cooling for the heat that a pair of those things can put out. The particular choice of case is simply because it's one of the cheapest full towers on newegg with a decent rating - I don't like the aesthetic of it much, but as it'll basically just exist beside my desk I'm not too concerned with how it looks.
The Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz is just a guess, though I'm considering getting the 2.6GHz one instead.
The 4 gigs of RAM I picked out there was mostly just because it was the highest rated 4 gig type I saw. I don't know if it's good or not.
The card reader on that list is important to me because I want my PC to have one - the one currently on my PC is a godsend. I take a lot of pictures and being able to get that stuff right off the SD cards without a cable makes my life easy.
I've been looking at getting a 32 Gig SSD HD for the PC to put windows and my commonly used applications on - from what I've been told, it would allow the machine to boot up a lot faster, and something like photoshop running off an SSD HD would perform a lot better. I don't know how true this is, or if the difference is worthwhile enough to justify the expense. I'm not too concerned with the hard drive going into this thing, as long as it's a decent enough size - something like a TB, maybe? I already have a few external hard drives for my work that total up to about 3 TB of data storage aside from whatever goes into this machine.
Like I said, this is really the barest of bones and I am missing a lot of important stuff (motherboard, power supply, etc). I would really appreciate pointers or advice, as I feel like I'm wandering around in the dark here.
tl;dr - I have 3-3.5k to drop on a PC, a friend who will build it for me once I get the parts, I am looking at an Intel quad core, GeForce 8800 GTX SLI, but I have no idea what else to put into this thing to get a seriously beefy machine. Help me obi-forumers, you're my only hope!
I would like a new PC. My current one is four years old, and while it's been working quite admirably with a few improvements over the years there comes a time when I think I'd rather grab an entirely new machine and start fresh. To facilitate this, I have a budget of somewhere between 3-3.5k (American)
I am extremely computer-hardware-retarded. I don't know what makes a piece of hardware better than another, and despite my research on such things I would feel much more comfortable with advice from you guys.
I have a couple specific needs from my machines that suggest to me that I might be better off getting a custom-built PC rather than something off the shelf from Dell or the likes. I've looked at services like cyberpowerpc and ibuypower to maybe get a computer built, but I wasn't entirely happy with what I was seeing there. I have recently discovered, however, that one of my friends can apparently build PCs, so I was going to basically order and obtain all of the requisite parts and hand them off to him for the construction. I've read about how easy it is to build your own PC and all that, but a trial-by-fire on 3,000+ dollars of hardware is not my idea of a good time. By having him assemble the thing for me, I also save a bit of money over paying those online places to build me a PC to order, allowing me a bit more economy in my budget to really get flashy with the machine.
Typically, I multitask like a bastard - I have three screens running on my current setup, with the middle one being a 24" Sansung Syncmaster 243T that runs at 1920x1200. At any given moment I can find myself playing City of Heroes on the middle screen, watching a movie on the left screen, and Photoshopping something on the right. While my current computer keeps up with this to a reasonable degree, it is really starting to show it's age. After a chat with one of my more technically inclined friends, he has suggested that based on my multitasking demands and budget I look into getting an Intel Quad-Core. I was wondering if anyone could say if this was a good or bad idea?
Also, I would really, really love to be able to play my games maxed out at 1920x1200 with all the bells and whistles, and it would be even better if said computer were able to do so for future games as well as present ones. I've had it recommended to me that I look into SLI GeForce Nvidia 8800 XTS cards. I'm sort've inclined to this, as I've had bad experiences with my ATI x800 XT in the past - every driver update seemed to break more than it actually fixed with that stupid thing. I know that SLI'd 8800s are completely excessive, and from what I've read a single one could probably handle it, but as I've got the money to throw around I was hoping that maybe the SLI would help make future games easier to max out. Also considering that 1920x1200 is my preferred resolution, it seemed like adding more horsepower to the visual end of things wouldn't be a bad idea. Also, each 8800 apparently has two DVI-out ports on them, which I think should cover me for the additional monitors?
I've also been thinking about throwing 4 gigs of ram into the thing, mostly just because I can and if I decide to go with Vista I've read things about how the more ram, the better.
These [the quad and the 8800 SLI] are the only two things I've actually had recommended to me as far as computers go. I am not entirely sure I even know all of the required parts for a fully operating computer. There's obviously a few things that I need but am in the dark about - things such as a cooling method (fans? water? What's good and what's not?), a motherboard (What works well? I have no idea how to compare these), or a power supply (how much wattage am I going to need? People have suggested a minimum of 800), to name a few.
I have been digging around on Newegg and starting to assemble a wishlist of parts that I'll need.
Here is what I've devised currently
The case that's there (a Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower) is there mostly because I've been reading that if you use SLI 8800s you need the full tower to fit them in properly and also get the required cooling for the heat that a pair of those things can put out. The particular choice of case is simply because it's one of the cheapest full towers on newegg with a decent rating - I don't like the aesthetic of it much, but as it'll basically just exist beside my desk I'm not too concerned with how it looks.
The Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz is just a guess, though I'm considering getting the 2.6GHz one instead.
The 4 gigs of RAM I picked out there was mostly just because it was the highest rated 4 gig type I saw. I don't know if it's good or not.
The card reader on that list is important to me because I want my PC to have one - the one currently on my PC is a godsend. I take a lot of pictures and being able to get that stuff right off the SD cards without a cable makes my life easy.
I've been looking at getting a 32 Gig SSD HD for the PC to put windows and my commonly used applications on - from what I've been told, it would allow the machine to boot up a lot faster, and something like photoshop running off an SSD HD would perform a lot better. I don't know how true this is, or if the difference is worthwhile enough to justify the expense. I'm not too concerned with the hard drive going into this thing, as long as it's a decent enough size - something like a TB, maybe? I already have a few external hard drives for my work that total up to about 3 TB of data storage aside from whatever goes into this machine.
Like I said, this is really the barest of bones and I am missing a lot of important stuff (motherboard, power supply, etc). I would really appreciate pointers or advice, as I feel like I'm wandering around in the dark here.
tl;dr - I have 3-3.5k to drop on a PC, a friend who will build it for me once I get the parts, I am looking at an Intel quad core, GeForce 8800 GTX SLI, but I have no idea what else to put into this thing to get a seriously beefy machine. Help me obi-forumers, you're my only hope!
Ein on
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Posts
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
Anyways, here goes.
LGA 775 nForce 650i SLI Motherboard - $150 (SLI's a gimmick IMO, but you may want to upgrade later)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 - $540
Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX - $500
500GB Hard Drive - $120
4x 1GB sticks of RAM - $200
2x DVD burner - $100 or so
Case and Power supply - Depends on your personal preferences, as they usually come bundled together, but you probably want to get at least a 700 watt power supply - varies from $100 to $300
Fans - Get a few, you want to keep your system cool ~$100
Monitor - Whatever you prefer, and as big as you want it.
Sound Card - If you want, but I find that onboard audio's often fine for gaming purposes
Speakers - Again, as big as you want them.
The operating system is up to you, and you can grab vista 64-bit if you want, but be aware that you might have trouble running some less-recent games.
This is very helpful! Thank you. I'm doing a rundown and reading through these things and I have a few questions...
First: Is this case any good? Is the power supply with it sufficient? I hadn't been looking at the combos because I didn't think any would go that high with the wattage. I'm only glancing at the full towers because I was reading that some of the mid towers couldn't fit the 8800 GTX's properly and still allow proper cooling.
Second: The 4 1GB sticks of ram is a much smarter idea. I don't know why, but I was under the impression that some motherboards only had room for two of those sticks, which was why I had thrown 2 2GB ones on the wishlist. Is it fair to say that I just made that up and the 4 will work just fine?
Edit: Actually, looking at it, the 2 2GB are cheaper than 4 1GBs would be for some reason. Does it matter which I choose?
RAM varies in price pretty drastically based on quality and how much cooling they have. Just be aware that if you're not sticking with a name-brand product like Kingston or Corsair, you're probably getting what you pay for.
Edit: Then again, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 gets a lot of good customer reviews, and you can double it up (Pretty unnecessary for the next few years) if you really want to.
Of course, unless you want to run 5 instances of Bioshock at once, or are heavily into video or image editing, you really don't need 8 gigs of ram.
I agree that spending ~2k now and 1.5k down the line would buy you a VASTLY superior computer, and you'll take very little performance hit now. An 8800GTS could be substituted for the GTX, and you'd only really notice if you wanted 16xAA and AF or something at the native res of your monitor. You probably don't even need 4 gigs of RAM yet; 2 should be pretty good unless you love bogging 3dsmax down with tons of triangles. Saving money now would let you get a new video card when nVidia/AMD release their next generation, which by all indications will be blazingly fast compared to the current gen (just as the current is blazingly fast vs the 7X00 generation, etc).
Indeed. I built an kick ass system (2.8mhz dual core, 4gb ram, 1tb, 256mb video, 21" widescreen) about 3 months ago for under $2000.
Newegg.com is your friend. Lots of user reviews. Products sortable by user rating and overall sales popularity.
Steam ID: Good Life
I don't really know what would be the 'correct cables' from a power supply. Is 600W really enough? What if I stick with the SLI?
Yes, those sticks were the ones I found and had on the wish list in the OP. Would it work if I just got the pair of 2 gigs for now and held off on any others until maybe a few years down the line?
It does honestly feel necessary to go up to 4 GB with that at least for the sake of Vista if I move in that direction, though I've not made up my mind between the two yet - part of me wants DX10, the other part wants to run my old games.
Does anyone have any recommendations as far as cooling goes?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001
Both are solid and the 520W will be enough as long as you're not running dual 8800GTX in SLI.
For cooling, if you want to do something other than stock I would go with one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109140
You'll need a 120mm fan for those, I recommend
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185005
because it's quiet, but you can use any 12mm fan if you want to go cheaper.
I've had friends who have crap monitors, mice, keyboards, chairs, desks, speakers, setups, and it's miserable. It doesn't matter how good your computer is if it isn't comfortable and easy to work with.
I always shake my head at people who spend more than 1,200 on a computer who don't use it for anything but gaming and forum browsing. Buy a fun complimentary toy if you don't have them already, like a digital camera, tablet or camcorder, you might make a really healthy hobby or career out of it.
Spend between $1500 and $2000 right now, and spend the rest upgrading your video card once a year and your CPU in two years. You'll have the same high end experience, but it'll remain a high end experience for the next four years rather than the next two.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
intel quad core 2.4
2GB RAM (w/heatsink 800mhz)
160GB Hard drive
DVDR-RW w/lightscribe X2
8800GTS
all SLi Ready (all i need to do is slide in another 8800GTS, power supply motherboard is ready)
and that cost me $1600 through a dealer after shipping. i havent found a game that it cant play on the highest settings, which is what it looks like you are most interested in. if anything spend $2k and then get a bad as HDTV or save the rest.
or send it my way... that works too.