Gaming Computer...

My friend is planning on getting a new computer soon, and he asked me for suggestions. His budget is around $2000 CDN. This is what we came up with:

That fits nicely within his budget.

Anyway, how does this PC sound? He will most likely be playing FPS games such as Crysis and UT2007, as well as some RPGs.

I don't know much about Intel processors. I've always been an AMD guy, but obviously Conroe is the hottest thing out right now, so he had to get one. Is this one fast enough to do gaming?

We decided to go with 1GB of RAM instead of 2GB because I don't really think that 2GB RAM is neccessary right now. I've got 1GB in my system, and Vista only uses up 40-60% during normal usage. I haven't had any problems with any of the current games, so 1GB seems fine for now. He can always upgrade later.

The case should be able to hold everything, right? And I'm assuming it has good heat flow and everything.

We chose to go with 700W PSU instead of 600W, mainly as a precaution. It's nice to have a bit of room to upgrade with, and I hear that the video card is quite demanding, so... meh. Also, the extra 100W was only $30, so it's worth it IMO.

HDD isn't very big, but he's been running on 20GB for the last 5 years. He knows how to conserve space well(unlike me- I filled up my 500GB in a few days).

The DVD drive can read/write CDs and DVDs. Should be good. Also, Lightscribe is nice(although the disks are expensive).

He chose to go with DX10 for the video card. 8800GTS. He could have picked a GTX, but then he would be over budget(and wouldn't be able to get a new monitor). Also, from all the benchmarks I've seen, the GTS is plenty fast(faster than 2 of my X1900XTs in Crossfire), so he should be good. /jealousy

As for the monitor, 19" widescreen seems fine to me. He could get a 20" BenQ widescreen for only a bit more, but I'm not sure about BenQ. 1440x900 isn't very high a resolution, so he should be able to get good framerates for a long time.

What do you guys think? Personally, I'm jealous.

 

Hi:
I am not a computer guru but I do know one thing for sure....AMD is the only way to game!
I have the same processor you are talking about and it sucks!!
I have an AMD 1.8 that is 7 years old (on another computer) and on mathematical equations it is 30% faster than the Intel and it will nearly run most of the games I currently have.
I will "NEVER" get another Intel for gaming.
Just my opinion.
Thank you.

 

I've always gone with AMD, but with the Core 2 Duo benchmarks I've seen, none of the current AMD processors can compete.

 

I disagree with you here, AMD is not the only way - the current Intel Core 2 cpus are faster than the AMD equivalent and on the same wavelength as the FX series, not to mention far cheaper.

Also, that cpu definitely does not suck, as it'll run any game that's on the market now absolutely fine, providing you support it with good ram and have a powerful enough video card to enjoy the detail.

Yes, everyone's entitled to their opinion but I wouldn't go around saying "such&such" sucks, especially in this case where it doesn't.

 

That seems like a good setup, and I don't see anything wrong with it at all in terms of performance and compatibility.

That CPU is plenty enough to game with and will last quite a long time before needing an upgrade. That amount of memory seems what a standard gaming system should have, but I wouldn't be surprised if he finds he could use another gig within the next year or two. I think a 19" monitor is sufficient, especially for the given budget.
I'm not sure about the CPU cooling, but then again I have no idea what temperatures to expect with that setup.

Overall I'm sure he'll be quite happy with that rig.

 

I think it looks good as well. If it were me, I wouldn't jump for the 8800GTS right now especially since nobody knows how good it'll be with DX10. It will run DX9 games really well, but so will a x1950 and it's a lot cheaper. Then I'd take the money I saved and buy another gig of ram. You'll need at least one more.

 

dude im sorry 1 your friend was ripped off secondly yeah its a good build go on newegg i looked up that stuff u couldve save 300-500 bucks

 

if u want to run Vista at any point i would STRONGLY recommend 2gigs of RAM

 

As far as I know, newegg doesn't ship to Canada. Also, those prices are all CDN, which would probably account for the price difference.

We were planning on installing the Vista beta on it for now. I'm using the beta right now. 1GB is fine, and I do HD video editing and compression, as well as 3D rendering. So 1GB should be fine for him for just normal usage. He'll probably get another gig some time next year if he thinks he needs it, but IMO we should start with 1GB for now. We can always upgrade later.

The reason we're getting an 8800 is because if we were to get a DX9 card, we'd have to upgrade to DX10 in less than a year anyway. The 8800GTS will do fine with DX10 performance, and we really can't afford to buy an X1950 now, and then a new DX10 card in a few months.

BTW, we haven't bought the thing yet. I think he said he was going to order it this weekend, so he should have all of the parts by early next week. Still not too late to make alterations, though.

 

BTW, how is nVidia driver support in Vista? I hear nVidia cards don't have too many problems running in Vista, but I've been having problems with my ATI X1900XT. Hopefully nVidia is doing a better job keeping their Vista drivers up to date and fully functional than ATI is. =/

 

Ok man... I hate to say this but if you bought a GTX or GTS G80 ... your Fawked -_- There are no vista Drivers out at all! I hear that the current drivers are ok but still do not run the GTX/GTS the way it should be ran. As far as any DX10 game goes... Yes that one GIG of Ram will be a Chincheck once he starts running Real DX10 stuff and with a Real Version of Vista. Crysis dont come out till late 07 man... maybe even later... But yeah I think for a monitor he should just use what he already has and Just get a 680i Mobo and not the ASUS Cause I already know those better INTEL processors will drop like a Bad Habit when the new AMD line hits K8L AM2 Quad-Cores ... Honestly DO NOT RUSH! Never rush it give it time and thought b 4 you Blow the money seriously you will thank yourself. All in all the system will Haul-*** and take names And I hope that Case can fit the GTS G80 in it cause I hear its pretty Big plus I have the GTX verison and it Is Pretty Big so Full Tower if it is not already. My Rig is not done yet But it will Kick some crazy ***(I have an AMD build going on, wish I had waited and got INTEL then I would be GOD... -_- oh well getting 5200+ yay)

 

Umm, what?

The GTX is 10.5" long. There should be plenty of room in teh case.

His monitor is... umm... I'm pretty sure he needs a new one. What is the point of having a good video card if the monitor sucks too much to show it off?

I'll do some more research on the 8800 Vista drivers. If it doesn't work out, we'll have XP installed as well, so meh.

 

Amd cpu's are good but so are intel cpu's, I've got a intel pentium 4 2.5 gig and it works just fine for gaming plus other uses.

 

I've stated this in the past, but vista and games run fine on 1.5 gigs of ram, 128 mb 6800 (vanilla), athlon xp 3200+ cpu. No, I do not play at high resolution. But they run a-ok.

Games, I've ran, are: Prey, Civ4, Fear, COD2, HL2.

On the system specs of the above computer, it seems that 8800 gts for $550 is kind high. Since ye can get an 8800 gtx for a few bucks more ($40).

Also, to those who state, why get the 8800 series of video cards, ATI did the same thing when dx9 wasn't even out yet. But, the 9700+ series are still decent cards (well, maybe not in today's standards, with extreme resolutions).

I'm also thinking along the same, lines, but I'm waiting around january when Intel will be dropping their intel prices. (Probably get the e6700 for the same price as an e6600 now., or go with the e6600 for $220 and upgrade the 8800gts to a gtx).

Overall good system!

 

8800GTX is listed for $750($200 more).

Again, this is in CDN, so it'll be a bit different.

 

Sorry, didn't see that it was CDN prices.

Overall, good system! Jan 7th (approx.) is the price reduction, if one is willing to wait.

 

<-----PWNED "XD"(facial expression) ouch

 

OK guys lets simmer down a bit here.

The build you've put together looks great and will run smoothly.

In response to your vista query, why not wait a while until more drivers have been released? I'm not touching Vista for another year or so, don't need it and don't want to until I've upgraded my own system.

Just my opinion.

 

god y is ur stuff so much more?

 

Thats a silly question. Kind of like asking why british currency is worth more.

I'll give ya a hint. Its a different country with a different economy and currency.