New gaming comp $1500 limit (sort of)

[coejus]

Yeah, that's what I'd do. I'd get a 36 GB Raptor since I don't install a whole lot of programs, and probably a 120 GB SATA drive for storage. Raptors work really well with RAID, but they're pretty expensive, and they perform exceptionally well by themselves.

 

[KoolDrew]

Yes that is a good idea if you have the cash. Just use the 74Gb Raptor for OS, apps, games etc. and use a 200GB Seagate or something for storage like movies, music etc.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Another quick question, is a 16mb buffer good for anything? I picked the HD that I did because it was the only one I found with a 16mb buffer, and I thought I read somewhere that that would be a good performance boost by itself.

edit: If it DOES give a performance boost, then it also has the added benefit of being quite a large drive as well, so I wouldn't need a second one. Please correct me if I have been mislead

 

[ts3433]

It'll be a bit of a performance boost, but the Raptor will probably still be faster.

 

[mircea]

Read this and the rest of the article to know what 16MB can do in a HDD buffer

I plan on having both the Raptor for OS/App/Game and the 300GB MaxLine III for storage (need responsive space)

 

[AiponGkooja]

Originally posted by: mircea
Read this and the rest of the article to know what 16MB can do in a HDD buffer

I plan on having both the Raptor for OS/App/Game and the 300GB MaxLine III for storage (need responsive space)

From site: "With the MaXLine III, Maxtor has given users a good in-between point for those who want the capacity of a 7200RPM drive, but with the performance of Western Digital's 10,000RPM Raptor."

Soooo, I guess I'll just stick with this HD, as it is cheaper than getting a decent sized Raptor plus a storage drive. And as I said earlier, it's HUGE

 

[Byers]

Hey AiponGkooja, as others stated above an additional DVD/CD drive can be useful. They're so cheap and let you do direct copies from drive to drive which you may want to do. A dedicated reader also takes some of the strain off of the more expensive burner. Two drives can be pretty handy.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I like the rig just the way you have it. Look at the prices and availability thread for A8N-SLI. you should be able to get it cheaper than $269. I beleive its under $200 at a couple of places already.

You should only consider the 6800's if you have a large monitor with 1600x1200 or higher resolution.
If you use a 17"-19" monitor with 1280x1024 or less resolution 6800's are a complete waste in real world gaming. Of course the 6800's will score higher in benchmarks if that means anything to you.

I'm currently running 1 6600GT, with another on the way.
With the 1 6600GT I can play Doom3, Halflife2, etc... at 1024x768 with maxxed settings flawlessly.
I honestly don't expect a large real word improvement at these resolutions with the second 6600GT. I may crank it up to 1280x1024 and see if there is a big differnce.

Bottom line, if you have a mid range monitor, buy mid range VGA cards. If you have a 30 inch LCD or a plasma or something get 6800's

 

[AiponGkooja]

Yes, I probably will be getting a second cd/dvd drive, and thanks for the comments from everyone.

As for my monitor, yes it is an almost 4 year old 17" with max res of 1280x1024...but I figured the 6800gt would be best in the long run (yes I WILL try to wait some more for them to come back in stock), as it will run most games fully maxxed at 1280x1024 and when I upgrade I can get a second to run close to max at 1600x1200 on most games. I'm looking mostly to stay close to $1500 (MAYBE $1700 max) now and to make it as painless as possible to upgrade later.

I noticed nobody has yet commented on my CPU choice. Will it be good enough to last a decent amount of time (say at least 2-3 years) while still being able to play all the fun games (after I have dual 6800gt's hopefully)?

 

[amol]

oh yeah definetely (with little or no OC)

games depend mostly on the GPU, not CPU

 

[AiponGkooja]

Noticed something else just now...will my PSU work with this setup? Thought I saw that SLI mode will need 24 pin PSU, not sure what that means...how can you tell how many pins a PSU has without actually counting them, should it say in system specs? I ask because it doesn't seem to show it on newegg...

 

[AiponGkooja]

Originally posted by: Tarrant64

Originally posted by: Byers
I would toss in a second drive, a DVD/CD reader. Also, would you consider perhaps a 74GB raptor as a boot drive and keep the 300GB maxtor as a secondary HD? I ask because you have a hefty budget...

Maybe get the NEC instead of the prioneer

Will you be using onboard audio?

I was also thinking that too Byers. Get a second drive. I also recommend the NEC, i believe it's also a few dollars cheaper.
Perhaps get the 74gb raptor and a smaller secondary HD(200gb?). Try to think if you really need 300gb, if not, save the money and find the 6800gt.

nick1986~
What's wrong with the 6600gt? It will save money. The costs of 2 6800GT's can get up to $1000 in itself. His budget is only around $1500, and if he wants to run dual vids the 6600 will work for that budget.

OK, changed cd/dvd drives to:

Rosewill 52x32x52x16 CD-RW Black Combo Drive, Model C523216B, Retail --$30

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK, OEM --$64

Rosewill for everyday use, NEC for burning...good?

 

[Farmer]

damnit I want a new computer.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: AiponGkooja

Originally posted by: Insomniak
Wasting money on SLI from the start. Get the board and a single 6800GT (faster than 6600GT SLI) and add a second 6800GT down the line if you need it.

Yeah that was my original plan, and from what everyone is saying it seems like the vid cards WILL be back in stock sooner than mid-January? Trust me when I say I looked nearly EVERYWHERE for cards that were in stock, and I did all the auto-notify e-mail things that I can find. As long as I can order and obtain the card before the 12th or so it should be ok.

The've been saying the same thing all year about all these cards..

get a $350 AGP 6800GT (one NIB in for sale forum now shipped)
Epox 9nda3j $92
3000 939 make into 3500 $152 boxed
Thermaltake Black Highest Xaser III Super Tower without Power Supply, Model "V1000A" RETAIL--$129
Pioneer Black DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-108, OEM --$75
Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6B300S0, 16MB Buffer, OEM Drive Only --$205
Muskin 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 OEM --$134
Enermax 465 PSU $77

=$1214

now get a real monitor with the change and you'll be flying for a long time... sli not for people with less than $2500 right now.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Originally posted by: Zebo

The've been saying the same thing all year about all these cards..

get a $350 AGP 6800GT (one NIB in for sale forum now shipped)
Epox 9nda3j $92
3000 939 make into 3500 $152 boxed
Thermaltake Black Highest Xaser III Super Tower without Power Supply, Model "V1000A" RETAIL--$129
Pioneer Black DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-108, OEM --$75
Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6B300S0, 16MB Buffer, OEM Drive Only --$205
Muskin 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 OEM --$134
Enermax 465 PSU $77

=$1214

Well...I did want to go SLI, which is why I can't find the 6800GT (need a pci-express one). And by "3000 939 make into 3500" do you mean overclocking? I don't yet feel comfortable in beginning to overclock, so I'd rather have the slightly higher CPU and then overclock that down the road if need be.

Ram is something that is still pretty much up for grabs...that Mushkin is a VERY good price it seems, but is it a reliable one? I'm guessing you like it since you suggested it, but I'm just looking for reasons/more opinions

Also, will that PSU still be sufficient since I want to stay with SLI?

Thanks again everyone


Edit: missed last part of your post in my quote, so I'll just say that with $2500 I would be able to get a monitor + a second 6800gt most likely, which is my plan for the future anyway. So $1500 right now should still be reasonable correct? It also has the added bonus of things becoming cheaper later, so overall it should cost LESS than $2500 for a high end gaming rig that will last for at least a few years

 

[Jassi]

Look around in the Hot Deals forum, there is a deal for the SLI MB for $222 shipped (I think). Save some money there too.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Yes I saw those too. Zipzoomfly is reliable right? I was just getting everything from newegg because it has so many good reviews and provides all the information you need. Zipzoomfly doesn't even seem to give full system specs on some things. I'm almost sure that they are the same thing, but why don't the two sites seem to match up.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...amp;affiliate=shopping

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

FSB for instance...800 vs 2000?

 

[ts3433]

ZZF and Monarch are also reputable places to buy this kind of stuff. That discrepancy between the HT speeds is half an error on ZZF's part, half on the interpretation of what the bus speeds mean (you can quote it as either 1000MHz one way, or 2000MHz when referring to both ways).

 

[AiponGkooja]

I noticed monarch before too and was wondering about it (too bad it doesn't have 6800gt's in stock either I did notice that it has 256mb pci-e 6600gt's though...would they be a decent replacement? They must at least be better since they're 256mb, right? heh Don't specifically say that they are SLI ready though, and the site doesn't give good pics of anything so I can't tell.

EDIT: Scratch that, they aren't gt's....whoops

 

[ts3433]

The increased frame buffer probably will not yield too much performance increase, especially if you're mistakenly looking at plain 6600s. The plain 6600s aren't SLI-capable, either.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Hmmm, this thread is kind of flying all over the place; but better one place than a bunch of threads everywhere else I guess ;p

Have a couple more questions again.

First, I noticed a few days ago that some people were complaining about something with the silicon revision on the mobo or some such thing (it's labeled above the pci slots I think, I really can't remember what it was ) and I was wondering if that really matters, or if it was only a problem with the first shipments of the ASUS SLI mobos.

Second, instead of making a whole new thread about ram, I thought I would just ask here in case anyone was following the whole thread and knows what I want (not even sure I know what I want lol). What would be the best amount/type of ram for around $200 (maybe a little more *shrug*) that would work with my mobo and be more than enough for gaming these days, and in the near future, without any overclocking needed (at least not yet).

[EDIT]: Third, PSU and cooling again... Will the 530W Fortron be sufficient for what I want + future additions? And will all the fans in my case + built in heatsinks and fans on the hardware be enough to keep it cool indeffinitely if I don't overclock at all yet? Just need a quick yay or nay on these two from someone that knows their stuff, and if you have time for a slightly less quick response please tell me if either are overkill so I can downgrade a little and get some money back to use on new ram/vid card [/EDIT]

Thank you YET again everyone, this has all been very helpful, and sorry if I seem to blow off some ideas. I DO think all of them over before making final decisions

 

[masshass81]

Get a gig of ram. Either value ram for around $150 or OCZ Performance or Enhanced Latency for $200 at newegg. The OCZ ram would be better if you want to OC later when you want to squeeze a little more out of your system.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Shameless bump Thought I would update with all the suggestions people have given. So here's the next run:


Thermaltake Black Highest Xaser III Super Tower without Power Supply, Model "V1000A" RETAIL--$129

ASUS "A8N-SLI Deluxe" nForce4 SLI Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU RETAIL--$229

AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939 Windows Compatible 64-bit Processor RETAIL--$274

Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6B300S0, 16MB Buffer, OEM Drive Only --$205

Rosewill 52x32x52x16 CD-RW Black Combo Drive, Model C523216B, Retail --$30

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK, OEM --$64

OCZ Enhanced Latency Series Dual Channel Kits 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail --$205

Fortron 530W Power Supply, Model "FSP530-60GNA" RETAIL--$78


**NEEDED** Vid card = 256mb 6800gt pci-e --$400-$450 **NEEDED**


Total = $1607-$1657


This is of course slightly over budget, which might still be ok, but any suggestions to lower the price a bit without sacrificing performance? Only thing that comes to mind for me would be the case. With SLI I will need adequate cooling, but if someone knows of a case with sufficient airflow for this setup (and addition of second vid card later) that is running for cheaper, please tell. Switched ram also; will this be quality stuff? I was told before to get something with TCCP or TCCD or something, but what are those? And do they really matter? Would like to reinforce that I probably won't be overclocking for a while at least.

THANKS AGAIN!!!!

EDIT: K now I forgot...OH yeah, wanted to ask about the 6800gt at chumbo. Says it is OC'd already...does that mean I'll have to worry about it being unstable or overheating? And yes I saw that they have it on order, and I e-mailed about it. They said they are expecting 2-3 weeks for it...bleh. Thinking I might as well though, except that I don't know when newegg will be getting it back in stock (probably around same time?).

 

[amol]

6800GT at chumbo for $400

on order, but it will be there soon

might i ask where are you getting the 3500+ from? is it a winchester??

 

[AiponGkooja]

Originally posted by: Amol
6800GT at chumbo for $400

on order, but it will be there soon

might i ask where are you getting the 3500+ from? is it a winchester??

Getting it from newegg, and it's a newcastle, is that bad? heh

EDIT: Can you vouch for Chumbo? Right now I'm only liking newegg, ZZF, and Monarch because people said they were reliable and they seem popular enough.