My DOOM 3 RIG: suggestions, opinions, advice... PLEASE!

[ch0sen]

Hey all,

I just wanna say thanks in advance for any and all input... This will be my first rig to own myself. I've finally saved enough cash to build my 0wn! I'm building a new rig that will run Doom 3 perfectly at medium to high settings. What I'm going to do is build this machine now and then when Doom 3 comes out i will buy the latest Graphics Card, then Overclock the CPU like Tom's Hardware.com to 3.22Ghz, a Thermaltake heatsink, get another (Twin Pack) 512MB, an Audigy 2, and anther Hard Dirve to set in Raid 0.

I'd really appreciate any input on what i have spec'd out... particulary in terms of performance, stability, compatibility with the above goals in mind... Please suggest better hardware if you think what I have is not good.

Salary Cap - $1500
Total So Far - $1438.43 - newegg.com prices

Case - ANTEC Performance PLUSVIEW LE (Limited Edition) Model PLUSVIEW1000AMG LE - with Side Window Snap-On Fan

PSU - ANTEC P4 ATX12V 400 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans

Case Fan - THERMALTAKE Smart Case Fan II

Mother Board - ASUS Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 / Celeron Processors, 800Mhz FSB Model# P4P800 DELUXE Retail

CPU - Intel Pentium 4 / 2.8CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading Technology 800 MHz FSB - RETAIL

Memory - CORSAIR MEMORY XMS , Low Latency (Twin Pack) 512MB(2 x 256MB) 2x(32MX64) PC-3200LLPT

Hard Drive - WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB

AGP Card - ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV RETAIL - waiting for Doom3 to come out then going to buy best card

TV Tuner Card - TV LEADTEK WINFAST "DELUXE" TV2000XP TV/FM MULTIMEDIA CARD

CD-RW - LITE-ON 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S

DVD ROM - LITE-ON XJ-HD166S/XJ-HD165H 16X DVD ROM Drive

Floppy Drive - *BLACK* PANASONIC 1.44 MB DENSITY FLOPPY DISK DRIVE, MODEL # JU-256A-198P

OS - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

EDIT - Changed to Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

 

[PCMarine]

Why don't you just wait until doom 3 is released and THEN make you decisions? Speculation costs time and money...

 

[ch0sen]

Because i've wanted my own freaking computer for sooooooooo long! Finnaly i can aford it and i want it NOW!

Plus I'm in a Counter-Strike clan and I'm tired from playing from work every time we have a CAL-M match.

 

[CrackityJones]

Originally posted by: ch0sen
Hey all,

I'm building a new rig that will run Doom 3 perfectly at Max settings

Don't mean to burst your bubble, but I don't hink that when the game comes out you'll be able to run it perfectly at max settings. That game is going to be a graphics hog... You'll run into some bottle neck. I do think you'll be able to run it at a nice resolution (1280x1024) fairly well, but then again what is perfect.?

just my opinion

 

[ch0sen]

By the looks of this Benchmark Test Here I should have no problem in Medium settings. Especially at 1024 X 768.

 

[CrackityJones]

Ok look at the third graph. Notice medium settings NO AA 1600 x1200 50fps on the fastest card currently available. Turn up the settings to full detail with AA on and your going to be probably in the 20-30 fps arena, not what I would call perfectly, however you will be able to run it well at medium settings like you say very very well

 

[ch0sen]

OK, i didn't mean MAX settings. Who the hell will be able to run this game at max settings, unless they have a $3k machine.

Other than that.... do you have any comments on my general hardware?

 

[CrackityJones]

No I think the hardware that you chose looks good, similar to what I just purchased.

 

[ch0sen]

thanks!

 

[JZilla]

I would say go for 1gb ram.

 

[ch0sen]

I was also planning to do that latter also. But in the Doom 3 benchmark tests they only used 512mb of ram and did fine. 1 gig really must not be nessesary if they didnt use it.

 

[CrackityJones]

very very marginal performance increase from 512 to 1gb

 

[ch0sen]

kewl, thats what i thought it was. 1gig of ram is just overkill with games these days.

 

[ch0sen]

Also i cant decide on what OS to buy. Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Home. I sorta could use the $50 i save from the Professional towards something else. Are there any must have features in Professional that I really would need?

 

[CrackityJones]

Buy XP home if you never plan on connecting the computer to a windows Domain other than that there are only a few advantages to pro. Save the 50 dollars if this is and always will be a stand alone computer only on a peer-to-peer network

 

[ch0sen]

Well... I plan on taking the computer to LAN tourney's and LAN part's. Would i need XP Professional?

 

[CrackityJones]

Not if it's in a peer to peer enviroment. (just a buch of peoples hooking up together with a hub/switch. If the use client server (usernames and passwords) then you'll need pro, however I have never been to a lan party that was client server

 

[ch0sen]

kewl! Home Edition it is!!! What do you suggest I use my extra $50 on? ehhh i really dont need anything else....

 

[CrackityJones]

Save it for your new video card its going to cost 1/3 of your total system in november 10x what you saved on the OS

 

[Baronz]

Get 1gb of ram, it's cheap enough. The increase of load times and that extra quickness is very noticeable, despite what everyone says about 512mb vs 1gb.

 

[ch0sen]

shut up Baronz! It's OVERKILL!!!! heheheh I'll get it latter maybe.

btw CrackityJones you've been alot of help. Thanks

 

[FishTankX]

Eek. A doom3 rig for 1500$?

Definatley wait until it's out. Please. The price drops that will occur between there and now will be invaluable to your quest to get a decent DoomIII rig.

 

[BFG10K]

I'm building a new rig that will run Doom 3 perfectly at medium to high setting

Such a rig doesn't exist yet but by the time Doom3 arrives it'll probably be possible with an R360/R400 paired with a 3.5 GHz+ CPU.

What I'm going to do is build this machine now and then when Doom 3 comes out i will buy the latest Graphics Card then Overclock the CPU like Tom's Hardware.com to 3.22Ghz.

Uh, no offense but that's a rather foolish plan and you'll probably end up getting burnt, especially since overclocks are never guaranteed.

Wait until Doom3 arrives or you'll probably just end up wasting money.

 

[RIGorous1]

your rig seems very expensive ... I could build that exact same rig for 1/2 to 2/3 the cost... do some price searches or visit the hot deals section...

Read overvolt's post in your post from the overclocking section.... you're ram won't cut it... you need atleast pc3500 or 3700 and mad OC'ing skills.

 

[paperfist]

I saw the other day on Tech TVs X-Play show that Doom3 will also be out for the X-Box. If that's the case then either it will look awful on the X-Box compared to the PC or the final requirements aren?t going to be as steep as everyone is worried about...