Gaming PC - $2000 budget

[ShadoutDH]

Going to get a new PC in the next couple of weeks (when the GPU's get widely available). I'm getting pretty close to the finals setup, but could always use some input and opinions.

Usage: Mostly gaming, but also studying, internet, Office package and various other programs, multimedia, all the usual stuff. Overall a pretty broad usage. I wont be editing video or pictures or anything though, so a Quad core isnt strictly required, however, I plan to get one nonetheless, as I like to be able to multitask with my applications/games.

Overcloking: I plan to overclock the CPU, but not a whole lot, Preferably with stock voltages or only minor increase. Would like to reach 400FSB though.

One of the goals for this build is to make it quiet. So I wont overclock more than what the cooler and fan can keep up with at a reasonably low fan speed.
That goal is also the reason for the various fans and heatsinks.

Budget: Around $2000. Cheaper is great of course, but saving 50 bucks on something you end up regretting 6 months later is not something I like. Over the course of 2-3 years it doesnt really matter if the PC cost $1800 or $2000 as I see it, I'd rather get it right from the start.

Country I'll buy from: Denmark

Current stuff I'll reuse: 22" monitor (HP w2207) so game resolution will be 1680:1050. Everything in the PC itself will be new.

Been searching around on these forums and plenty others for months. Started looking for hardware nearly a year ago, but never got around building it, since the Gefore 9 wasnt that interesting, however this is the time, the new GPUs seems nice, and I dont want to wait much longer or we will get too close to Nehalem launch and I would just end up wanting to wait just a bit more (aaand then just a bit more...)

Usually keeping PC's for 5 years or so, then doing a full replacement. This time around I hope to throw a PC together though which can be used as a foundation for incremental upgrades over the years rather than replacing everything at once (although I'm sure technology progress will manage to screw my future-proofing again by coming up with new case sizes or something :| ). Anyhow, earliest upgrade would probably be whenever Nehalem die shrink comes out (around 2010 I assume), so it has to last for a while, which is another reason for the slightly expensive Quad core (when do the rumoured Intel price reduce come anyway? ).



CPU: Q9450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16819115042R

CPU Cooler: Zigmatek S1283 (hopefully with a backplate bolt thru, although its nearly impossible to find one of those here). Other heatsinks Ive considered is OCZ Vendetta 2 and ThermalRight 120-Ultra-Ext, but they seem to be pretty equal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233003

MB: Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS5 (or maybe DS4 depending on availability) - While its unlikely I would get Crossfire later on, I like to have the option.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128089 (The DS4 version. Seems like DS4 is more common in US, while DS5 is more common in Europe, they are pretty much the same though)

Memory: Mushkin DDR2 PC2-1000 4GB CL5 Kit HP2 (2x2GB)
Mushkin: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16820146755R

GPU: Radeon HD4870 - Not sure which brand yet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102748

GPU cooler: Accelero S1 r2 (with a Scythe Slipstream or Scythe S-Flex on it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835186016
(Might go for Thermalright T-Rad^2 if it comes out really soon, but it doesnt seem so)

PSU: Zalman ZM850-HP - I know 850W isn't needed, but I like the 140mm fan and supposedly low noise (according to SilentPCreview among others), and it doesn't cost much more than Corsair 620HX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...817379007&Tpk=ZM850-HP

Hard drive: Western Digital WD6400AAKS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136218

Sound card: Asus Xonar DX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16829132006R

Case: Antec P182
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...2E16811129025&Tpk=P182

DVD: Samsung S203P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151154

OS: Vista Home Premium 64-Bit

Various cooling stuff:
3-4 Slipstream 1200 RPM for case fans and GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185058

Scythe S-Flex 1600RPM for CPU (slowed down with either a Fan Mate or SpeedFan software), might use one of those for GPU too due to the longer lifetime compared to the Slipstreams (sucks to have CPU or GPU fans breaking down )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185005

Scythe Kama Bay for front intake case fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185020

Arctic MX-2 thermal paste
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...6020&Tpk=Arctic%2bMX-2

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Welcome to the Anandtech Forums!

Looks like it'll be a nice system for ya.

 

[Rinaun]

So far, you picked out great items. Some helpful advice:
Find a different brand PSU, such as the Silverstones or PC power and cooling. Sound I REALLY don't think will be an issue for most power supplies. For your CPU, I would suggest P35/P45 chipset unless you really want crossfire. X38 is just more money.
You can also purchase Yate loons ( http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa.html )for like 5/20$ and they're great as well.
The heatsink for the CPU could be a better choice for $40. I haven't been to up-to-date on air cooling, but I think a Tuniq or Thermalright are better.
You could also opt and get the G.Skill 2gbx2 (4gb) of pc 1066, they recently dropped to 88$ and overclock great! Sound might be an issue with that case. The only other case I can think of if you're going for total sound proofage would be a rocketfish.

If you're REALLY short on cash, I'd suggest doing all the above, and settling for a Q6600. I still think for 120$ more or whatever, the 9450 is just not worth it yet.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The quad core really is a waste of $120 compared to an E8400. You can do plenty of multitasking with 2 x 3 GHz cores, people were able to multitask with much, much slower single cores just a few years ago.

Also, you won't need to overclock the E8400 at all, it's 333 MHz faster right out of the box

Here iin the US you can get the Asus PQ5 Pro motherboard for $50 less than the Gigabyte, it's intel P45 chipset with 2 - PCI-E 2.0 slots (x8 x8 if 2 cards, x16 if 1) with full crossfire support. It is slower than X48 boards with crossfire 4850 or 4870 cards at resolutions above 1900 x1200 though.

 

[MarcVenice]

Here's some cheaper ram, without rebates: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231145

Build looks good though, might wanna check the other $2000 build to compare? It's on the same page

 

[Rinaun]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231166


4 dollars more.

win?

 

[Rinaun]

"The quad core really is a waste of $120 compared to an E8400. You can do plenty of multitasking with 2 x 3 GHz cores, people were able to multitask with much, much slower single cores just a few years ago.

Also, you won't need to overclock the E8400 at all, it's 333 MHz faster right out of the box"

This also doesn't futureproof this pc, as most people whom are building a PC for the long run aren't replacing the cpu next year, when quad core games/applications start to come into play (I assume).

 

[ShadoutDH]

Thanks for the answers. One thing though, dont place too much importance on the Newegg prices and rebates, as mentioned Im from denmark, so Ill not be ordering at Newegg It was just to show which hardware I was talking about.

The Mushkin memory is mostly because they were one of the decent (I hope) ones I could find here at a low price (OCZ being the other). G.Skill is pretty hard to find here for some reason. Is G.Skill much better than Mushkin?
It wont really matter if its 1000 or 1066Mhz, both will be way higher than whats actually needed for the CPU.

Motherboards: I was considering a P45 board, but then reports of crossfire issues started to appear. Not sure how accurate they are (it seems a bit weird 4870's should be bandwidth limited on 8x PCI-e).
For a P45 MB would likely go for Gigabyte GA-P45-DS4 (or 5) or Asus P5Q Pro. But Im not sure its a great place to save, if I wanted to go crossfire down the road, and it turned out it really is bandwidth limited. Hopefully more people will test this in the upcoming days when they get their hands on 4870s.

 

[Rinaun]

If you want crossfire, get the x38. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813136045 I would stick to asus or dfi for those boards. I have heard of a couple issues with the gigabyte boards eating micron ram and such. Some of the other boards have just better parts (DFI for example). Just my 2c.

Mushkin memory is good, but usually that stuff is actually more expensive than other brands here. Do you have a denmark site or such with local prices so I can see what choices you have? It all depends on model numbers. You want micron chips on your ram. 66 MHZ on the ram is actually a nice boost too. adding 10 more is easy as well

 

[ShadoutDH]

This site compares prices between various computer shops in Denmark (its not 100% accurate but its decent):
Link is showing 4GB DDR2 with 1000Mhz or faster
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Produc...9=&Trueval28959=277330

As you can see OCZ Platinum and Mushkin (1000 MHz that is, the 1066 is quite expensive) are the two cheapest there (the 'XX kr' column is price ^^)

This shows 800Mhz memory, funny enough the 1000Mhz ones are actually cheaper than most of the 800Mhz.
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Produc...ubmit.x=12&Submit.y=13

 

[Rinaun]

http://www.edbpriser.dk/Produc...&searchArea=&Soegeord= this psu is one of the higher end psus. I'd suggest this one. Your memory from your choices are fine, and those are more expensive here because usually they overclock better compared to some other brands.

 

[ShadoutDH]

The Zalman seems to have both higher efficiency and lower noise. Is there anything specific bad about the Zalman?
A few reviews if you want to compare:
http://www.techpowerup.com/rev...Zalman/ZM850-HP/1.html
http://www.pcper.com/article.p...=521&type=expert&pid=8 (this is Zalmans 1000W version, but supposedly similar build)
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article834-page4.html (this is their 1000W version though)

 

[Rinaun]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=108088

http://www.virtual-hideout.net...50-HP_PSU/index3.shtml

no off switch? Besides, do you really need a PSU THAT quiet?

I guess I just go for the best of the best, I guess that explains why my room is always humming

 

[ShadoutDH]

No off switch is quite weird indeed, but then again, I rarely remember using the PSU off switch (turning PC+monitor etc. off at the wall outlet anyway). Still I agree, its a sign of lazy design not to have it, which is obviously not good.
I dont know if I need it that quiet, probably not But its not like it can get too quiet... Of course it has to be high quality at the same time. Maybe it will be a waste to get such a quiet PSU (the loudest parts of the system kinda determines the noise anyway), but I wont really know without trying Havent cared much about noise when buying computers before, but damn I've got tired of noisy PCs.
However, other PSUs which still quiet would fit too. I've considered Corsais 620HX earlier, and I'm sure it would fit me well too, the Zalman just seemed better overall (and more flexible for whatever I might throw at the computer later on, due to the higher Watt - obviously, if I threw more components (like a second GPU) into the PC, quiet operation hardly wouldnt matter anymore, since it would be impossible to cool it quietly, but again, I like some flexibility)

Been looking at the extremesystems thread. Not sure how exact and updated it it though (for instance it doesnt separate the different Zalmans, where the lower watt versions are made by FSP, while higher ones are Enhance).

I'm sorry if I sound stubborn thats not the intend, but some very good arguments are needed to convince me. I appreciate your effort a lot though, I'll certainly try to dig up more information about the quality of the Zalman and look for other alternatives.
That said, the Silverstone Zeus you mentioned didnt convince me much either, a 80mm fan really seems like something that could make quite a lot of noise (although Ill admit reviews mention its quiet, but people seem to have wildly varying ideas of 'silence'). I would say a 120mm fan is the minimum. (what makes the Zalman special isnt really the big fan though, it seems to be the heavy use of heatsinks inside the PSU).

 

[Rinaun]

The zalman got reviewed today by AT, and the reviews are good, so if you can get it cheap, go for it

edit: you never said if you were going q6600 or q9450 still. 9450 is just a tiny more cache for more money. If you have other things to spend it on (video card, hd) I suggest a Q6600 for 120 less. More money on the video card = win in the long run.

 

[ShadoutDH]

Think Ill take the final decision for CPU right before I buy it (away on vacation next 7 days, so it wont be before I get back, by then the radeon GPUs are hopefully in stock too), the Q9450 has already gone considerably down in price in a short time, hopefully it continues.
Not sure, seems smarter to get a Penryn, just for the small improvements and die-shrink, especially when I dont plan to change it for a long time. The improvements surely comes with a premium price though.

Will check the AT review out, hadn't noticed