Comments on my potential new rig?

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=8933327

This computer will be used mostly for gaming (CS: Source, DoD: Source, maybe some DX10 later), a little DVD Authoring, etc. Needs to be around $1200. I have a monitor already, so that's fine.

Maybe like 2 years' future proof (don't want to have to upgrade this baby in a short time).

Thanks!

- G

 

video card? lol

just a LITTLE part of a gaming PC everything else looks good

 

Must have been taken off for some reason.

Anyways it is the 640 MB 8800 I believe.

Edit: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=9137067

 

you forgot an OS

 

Ok personally I hate Cases with Plastic front doors as they can break very easily (being plastic), so I would choose a case without a plastic front door, pointless having a "cool" looking case that has a broken door within 2-3 months and then looks crappy.

PSU: are often overlooked or under-rated by the naive, personally I used this as my reference for buying a "decent" PSU that will do SLI/Crossfire if I ever want to in the future:

http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10854

Theses guys know what they are talking about and it is worth a look. It can be noted that OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply is 2nd on their list for highly recommended and only $10 more;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

I know it's not modular but tie the cables up or get their modular style if you really want that style. But do some research and you will find this PSU wins and wins and wins again in shootouts and reviews.

CPU I think you could find an Intel that will outperform for a little more, that imho but have a look at;

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

to becnhmark CPU's side by side or for tons of articles and reviews;

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/index.html

RAM DDR2 personally Crucial Ballistix all the way, a DDR2 shootout at Tom's;

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/21/overclocking-9-value-priced-ddr2-800-kits/print.html

Basically it beat all the competitors but wasn't considered in the conclusion because it was "to expensive" but Crucial have come right down in price but still offer arguably the best performance for only $10 more than what u listed;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Forget the LCD cleaning solution it is probably a gip, do a google on cleaning LCD screens and you should find the best solution to use is water with nothing else.

Ohhh and the OS personally I hear a lot of gamers complaining that Vista is still very buggy I have XP 64-bit which will allow me to use more than 2Gb of RAM if I ever want to unlike 32-bit OS's (Vista included).

 

I can get one from my Uni's bookstore cheaper than NewEgg.

And thanks for the links, Eagle. I'll keep that in mind.

 

HEY! Bold Eagle, i havent seen you around in ages!!!

anyways, i would check into an 8800GT as they supposedly outperform the 8800GTS and are cheaper. BE basically covered everything i would've said lol, i too would recommend intel over AMD but for the price, AMD systems are super cheap now. (plus, i didnt want to have to go searching for a similar priced mobo and processor laziness FTW!)

 

Hey HEY Viper.....been a victim of that WoW epidemic.....it has been all consuming.

 

32 bit OS's can use upto 4gb or ram.

Vista isn't very buggy, but it does use up a good chunk of resources.

 

XP will support it, but it really can't use it. You would be lucky to see much more than 3GB if you put 4GB in. More likely, with a video card using a lot of RAM like the 640MB mentioned here, you will see 2.75GB out of the 4GB. It's just how XP handles it. Better off with 2GB, test after test proves it.

 

Okay, I added a few things... this is what I'm looking at now:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=9137067

It's about as good as I can get it under $1200 (changed the mid-tower to full because I want the room in it; and the FT case is cool too).

 

Looking good and I think you will be thankful you spent the extra $10 on a "decent" PSU. Would still see if you can do some research on DDR2 RAM and just see how G-Skill rates amongst the others.

Good luck.

 

Of course this is higher-end DDR2 RAM, but I think Tom's Hardware does a nice comparison:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/15/hardcore_ddr2_ram_by_corsair/page12.html

When overclocked (which I might do), the G.Skill was second best only to Corsair; and 2x1 GB Corsair's run from $30 odd - $200; with the $30 having fair reviews. With the G.Skill being only $10 more and highly rated, I chose that instead.