I am looking to build a new PC

[demi]

Should I just get that cheap PC that Crytek suggests for running Crysis? I want a machine that will last me some years, like this one has.

[CurseoftheGods]

What's your budget?

[demi]

I'll just buy the parts as I see fit

[CurseoftheGods]

lol

[AdmiralViscen]

I was going to make a similar topic today but the sale was canceled out from under me   :'(

[demi]

I'll wait until this bonus comes in, then I will start hunting and pecking parts

[Smooth Groove]

It's hard to recommend anything if you don't know your budget. 

Approximately, if you want a PC that'll last a few years, prepare to spend about $600 for the PC & Videocard and about $400-500 for everything else. 

I can go into more detail when you know how much you'll be spending. 

[demi]

$600 for a card? I thought they released those small cheap ones?

Let's say upwards to $1000, but I'm not looking to buy it all in one bundle. Maybe one or two parts here and there.

[trh]

high end for gaming with most shit on max, mid for gaming with everything high and some mid, or low for surfing and general computer using?

I'll just throw some shit out there since I just built a PC and I've still got it all in my head:
Graphic cards:
High end: 8800gts 512mb, there are a lot of more expensive options but I don't think they're very good looking at price/performance
Mid: 8800gt 512mb
Low: 9600gt 512mb or Sapphire Radeon HD3870
the "best" brand as far as I know is EVGA, but they're usually a bit more expensive

Case:
High: Antec p182
Mid: Antec Sonata III case with 500w power supply

Power supply if you did not go with the Sonata case:
Any corsair brand power supply from their HX/VX series, the 450w is a good choice if you don't want to spend too much money; 520w is a good choice if you're looking for a modular power supply so you don't have to clutter up the case with cables; and the 620w is a good choice if you plan on having 4 or more hard drives for something like a raid system. They seem sort of expensive when I look at the price in USA stores though.

Processor:
Intel E8400 is what I would go with, don't know much about the quad cores and the budget ones though.

Mobo:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L, DS3R if you want raid.

Memory: 2x1gb 800 (6400) memory of your choice, I like the Corsair brand the best, don't really know to be honest.

Hard drive: 500gb seems to be the sweet spot for money per gigabyte. Western Digital is a good brand but I don't know really.

And a DVD burner of your choice.

[MCD]

you can find decent graphic cards ranging from 140 to 200$.

smooth, demi isn't gonna play pc games.

[demi]

Those 8800GTs were basically the video card to get right? Didnt they release the cooler chipset models of those? Malek made a thread a while back, cant be bothered to look it up

[Error Macro]

core 2 duo 8400
8800 gts 512MB
2GB cheapo DDR2 RAM

are you reusing components from your current pc?

[Smooth Groove]

$600 for a card? I thought they released those small cheap ones?

Let's say upwards to $1000, but I'm not looking to buy it all in one bundle. Maybe one or two parts here and there.

I meant about $300 for a videocard and about $300 for a CPU.  Malek's 8800 GT is not bad but its performance is kinda limited in high resolutions.  You can get a better card for not much more than what he paid back then.  

The older 8800 GTX is probably the best bargain right now.  You can find one on newegg at $289 after rebate.  The other option is the 8800 GTS 512mb (not the older 8800 GTS).  It's about $240 after rebate.

For CPU, you should wait for the new quad-core Intel CPUs which should arrive pretty soon.  They run cooler and have some new SSE extensions.  You should be able to get a decent one for $300.  

If you can't wait, then go for the q6600.  The clockspeed is a bit low but quad-core should be more important than clockspeed in a few years. 

[Vizzys]

get an amd phenom over pentium craps

[Van Cruncheon]

i thought the phenoms sucked, with the B9900 barely beating out an E8400?

[Phoenix Dark]

*bookmarks thread for later this year*

[Vizzys]

i thought the phenoms sucked, with the B9900 barely beating out an E8400?

but the amd fanboy in me disagrees with the facts that I have purposely avoided

[Van Cruncheon]

ah, yes, i too enjoy cognitive dissonance in certain matters

[demi]

core 2 duo 8400
8800 gts 512MB
2GB cheapo DDR2 RAM

are you reusing components from your current pc?

Probably not, I made this one back in 04

I could just go buy a Gateway or something since I dont really plan on doing any gaming really, but I want to be cool and make my own  :'(

[CurseoftheGods]

demi, check this out:

http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=617239CA-97C8-486A-AB00F0118E16939D-1847976

It even comes with a monitor if you don't have one already.

[Smooth Groove]

Get this, Demi, if you don't care about gaming.



or build your own XPC

[Smooth Groove]

I have an 8400 / 8800gts 512 and I don't have any complaints so far.  Then again, I'm worthless at PC gaming so I haven't done much with this machine at all.

What do you want to play?  We got quite a few people here with extensive knowledge of PC gaming.  Drinky, Frag, TVC, MAF, etc..  Tell us what you want to play and I'm sure we can guide you in the right direction. 

Lost Planet is actually a pretty cool game to check out if you want to see what makes your PC better than a console.  You can find it for $10 online. 

[MCD]

better wait for colonies edition though. (late may)

[huckleberry]

demi if you are in the market for parts then I may have some to sell you on the cheap. 

All these parts are practically brand new (as in only a few weeks old):


EVGA 8800GT

4 1GB sticks of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 RAM

Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620 Watt modular Power Supply

Lian Li V1000B case

aBit IP35 Pro LGA 775 motherboard     <---I won't sell this, however, as it is a piece of fucking shit mobo.

Intel C2D E8400 Wolfsdale

Hauppauge WinTv-HVR 1800 MCE TV Tuner Card.





If you are interested in any of this stuff, let me know.  I will part with any, or all, pretty cheap.

[T234]

How cheap we talkin?

[huckleberry]

I dunno.....much less than what I paid.  I am fucking done with building and maintaining computers.


I will sell the RAM for $50

The Lian Li case $100 (paid 200 for it)

The Hauppauge TV tuner card for $40

Corsair power supply for $50


....dunno about the 8800GT or the E8400...would have to think about that.

[huckleberry]

I will sell the the 8800GT for $150 (paid 240).

The E8400 for $125 since i don't have the original cpu fan.




Also, I have a Western Digital Raptor 150gb 10,000 rpm hdd that I wll sell for $90.




All this stuff is legit...I am not a criminal, and not trying to scam anyone.  I just don't play games on my pc anymore....and this whole aBit mobo shit support for the E8400 has left a bad taste in my mouth.

[T234]

I wish I made real money 

[Fragamemnon]

*bookmarks thread for later this year*

You might as well just ask later this year.

I have an 8400 / 8800gts 512 and I don't have any complaints so far.  Then again, I'm worthless at PC gaming so I haven't done much with this machine at all.

FA needs a MMO detox regiment to get him out of the notion that time playing pc games but not playing WoW is a "waste". I suggest Titan Quest+expansion, you can do all sorts of nerdlinger character building ( titancalc.com ) and loot/stat mongering, just like you would with a level 70 WoW character but without the huge time sink involved.

[demi]

Someone tell me how good that EVGA card of Arde0's is and I might buy it right now

[Smooth Groove]

Someone tell me how good that EVGA card of Arde0's is and I might buy it right now

It's good as long as you don't care that much about anti-aliasing or higher than 1280x1024 resolutions. 

[demi]

Why do you say AA? Does it suck with AA?

[Smooth Groove]

It doesn't suck with AA but the performance is slower since the 8800GT's biggest weakness is a relatively low memory bandwidth. 

[Fragamemnon]

8800GT is good for 1280x1024 or 1680x1050, you'll be able to get some light AA and AF on some games with that card before getting capped on VRAM/bandwidth, and it'll look very pretty.

Anything higher or more than that, you'll need more firepower.

[demi]

Well what it does already is more firepower than I'm looking for

I'll buy the 8800GT off you, Arde0, sent you PM

[Smooth Groove]

The problem with a low memory bandwidth card like the 8800 GT is that the minimum framerate can get really low.  So, the game can be running at 60fps for most of the level but drop to 10fps or less in a memory intensive area.  Benchmarks don't really depict those issues that well.  Hardocp is the best in terms of showing real world performance.  

[demi]

So what's a better alternative then?

[Smooth Groove]

For less than $300, the 8800 GTX is the best all around performer.  It has 768 mb of ram and a higher memory bandwidth than all Geforce 9 cards.   At high resolutions w/AA, it's even faster than the supposedly new top of the line 9800 GTX.  

At $50 less than the 8800 GTX, the 8800 GTS 512 is the next best option.  It's got better shader performance and more memory bandwidth than the 8800 GT.

*bookmarks thread for later this year*

You might as well just ask later this year.

I have an 8400 / 8800gts 512 and I don't have any complaints so far.  Then again, I'm worthless at PC gaming so I haven't done much with this machine at all.

FA needs a MMO detox regiment to get him out of the notion that time playing pc games but not playing WoW is a "waste". I suggest Titan Quest+expansion, you can do all sorts of nerdlinger character building ( titancalc.com ) and loot/stat mongering, just like you would with a level 70 WoW character but without the huge time sink involved.

Basically, yup.  Titan Quest + Expansion eh?  I think I saw this on steam...not sure.  I need something.  I'm craving an RPG but I couldn't get into the Witcher and I tried playing Oblivion (my first Elder Scrolls) but kinda felt overwhelmed...though that was partly due to me not having a manual. 

Maybe TQ will be a good cure.  TVC's recommendation and subsequent thread about Hellgate probably won't work (Hellgate looked like generic butt crack in the shape of a Diablo/Wow clone from the screens). 

3 times this week I went halfway through copying the WoW folder from my bro's computer onto mine...and each time I cancelled.  I don't know how much longer I can remain strong.  I'm trying!

Marvel:Ultimate Alliance looks sweet in high res and your PC should be able to run it at a much better framerate than the 360.  Also, the PC version automatically detects a 360 controller so that you can just play it like a 360 game. 

[demi]

Link to a good 8800 GTX? If I'm gonna make a new PC I might as well put the most into the video card for the next 4 or so years

[Smooth Groove]

This is the best price I've seen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072

It's $289.99 after rebate and there's no tax for Ohio residents.  EVGA and Newegg are good with rebates. 

Also, if for whatever reason you don't like the 8800 GTX, you have 3 months to upgrade to a Geforce 9 card. 

[Fragamemnon]

FA, I'm sort of an MMO junkie too and would recommend it for someone looking to quit. I'd also suggest any of the following, all are engrossing games that will suck you in for hours and not tempt you to play WoW again.

Space Rangers 2
Galciv2 w/ expansion
Company of Heroes
Civ4+Beyond the Sword
Heroes of Might and Magic 5
Neverwinter Nights 2+expansion

That's just a short list of games I played last year coming off of a very long WoW binge along with the already suggest TQ+IT.

[demi]

This is the best price I've seen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072

It's $289.99 after rebate and there's no tax for Ohio residents.  EVGA and Newegg are good with rebates. 

Also, if for whatever reason you don't like the 8800 GTX, you have 3 months to upgrade to a Geforce 9 card. 

Bookmarked, I'll probably order this in the next week or so

[Smooth Groove]

Bookmarked, I'll probably order this in the next week or so

Cool. 

For CPU, Arde0's E8400 is pretty good although games in the future would take more advantage of extra cores than faster clockspeed.   The cheapest quad-core right now is Q6600, which costs about $225 to 250. 

For most games now, a faster dual-core will usually deliver better performance so you might just want to get the E8400. 

FA, I'm sort of an MMO junkie too and would recommend it for someone looking to quit. I'd also suggest any of the following, all are engrossing games that will suck you in for hours and not tempt you to play WoW again.

Space Rangers 2
Galciv2 w/ expansion
Company of Heroes
Civ4+Beyond the Sword
Heroes of Might and Magic 5
Neverwinter Nights 2+expansion

That's just a short list of games I played last year coming off of a very long WoW binge along with the already suggest TQ+IT.

Frag

The extra benefit from playing those games is that you'll be smarter from all the brain exercise. 

[Smooth Groove]

FA, what state are you from? 

Late night studying is mostly pointless as your brain is functioning at a really low level.  It's better just to wake up early. 

[demi]

Ooooooooo

Yes yes I need to play Games for Windows, I want to play Halo 2 and Geaaaahs

How about that, I want a PC that can run Halo 2 and Gears - will that card run these? That would mean I'd need Vista then, huh

[Tauntaun]

Mmmmm, PC talk, makes my penis stiff. KEEP TALKING ABOUT CPU's and GPU's! 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thread is total nerd pr0n.

[close]

[trh]

Honestly man, while the 8800gtx is more powerful, I'm pretty certain the 8800gt will do everything you want and a bit more. I've got a 8800gt and an E8400 and everything I throw at it is running smooth - not counting Crysis although it's still very playable - so I don't see why you'd want to spend an extra $100 for a minimal gain in performance.

[demi]

Can it run Gears PC? That's my benchmark. Fuck boring Crysis, it doesnt even have achieves. Can I run Gears decently- that is the benchmark.

[trh]

Yeah definitely, a friend of mine has pretty much the same rig as me and it was running smoothly at all times, I never really saw any heavy firefights but from what he told me it ran fine throughout the entire game. To be honest Arde0's offer seems like a steal, you'd just need to get a better mobo.

[demi]

Ok, offer retracted on Smooth Groove, I'll go with Arde0's card again

[Smooth Groove]

Demi, it all depends on what you consider to be acceptable performance.   Like I said, the GTX will allow you to have better performance w/ anti-aliasing in higher resolutions. 

Also, the extra 256 mb of ram seems to make a difference with quite a few new games.  If you're thinking of getting something long term, the extra ram might be worth the money. 

The article below describes how these 2 cards would play Gears of War. 

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQxNiwzLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

The only video card in DX10 mode that had enough performance to enable 4X AA (DX10 On/Antialiasing) at 1600x1200 was the GeForce 8800 GTX. It maintained an average of 40 FPS. It did drop below 30 FPS for an extended amount of time, but this was during the most intense fight scenes and the game still felt very playable at these levels on the GeForce 8800 GTX. If this is utterly unacceptable to you, disabling AA will bring the framerates way up.

Unfortunately we cannot force 2X AA in this game which would have been a better compromise of performance and image quality. The GeForce 8800 GTX video card will also let you play easily at 1920x1200 with DX10 “On” but no AA. This was also the only video card that allowed us to play at 2560x1600 with all settings at their highest and DX10 “On”, sans AA.

The GeForce 8800 GT performed well in this game, but it just didn’t have what it takes to enable 4X AA in Gears of War at 1600x1200. Though without AA, as you can see, performance is very high beating the 640 MB GeForce 8800 GTS. If you really want AA you can drop the resolution to 1280x1024 and then enable DX10 “On/Antialiasing” for 4X AA. The GeForce 8800 GT also allowed smooth gameplay at 1920x1200 without AA, in DX10. At 2560x1600 in DX10 mode though he GeForce 8800 GT did struggle at the highest game settings. If you lower some of the in-game settings, such as Texture Quality, Shadows and Post Processing then it would be playable at 2560x1600 with DX10 “On.”

[huckleberry]

I sent you a pm Demi.


Crysis is boring as fuck (beatiful game though).  If you want the card I will throw in Crysis for free if you want it.

[demi]

4x AA @ 1600x1200 is definitely way out of my league - I play console anyway, I'm not concerned for graphics, just that it runs decent

I think this LCD I bought from Prole is only 1280 max anyway

[Smooth Groove]

Only 1280?  It must be a pretty old LCD.  I guess it's not widescreen either?  8800 GT is definitely adequete if you aren't going to be buying a new monitor soon.  You can find a nice 20-22" widescreen mon for $200 or less though. 

[demi]

I'll go with Arde's card since it is cheap. I can always dump it and get the GTX or higher if I see fit

[demi]

for boris:

1) you going to game on it or not? - not a priority
2) if yes then you gonna play old PC games or new, multiplatform (360) titles on it? - check out titles i may have missed maybe, not a priority
3) (which I doubt cause you are an achievement whore) - Gears and Halo 2 say hi, that is my priority
4) any reusable parts from your current PC (dvd, hdd, sound etc.) - probably this DVD Burner, i only have a 80GB drive on here, and 512 ram, onboard sound
5) how much you're willing to spend max - dont care, just not overkill... "medium-high" range?
6) windows xp or vista? - if i am playing Gears and Halo 2, i will need Vista right?
7) you are from usa or canada? - US
8) 8800 GTX is not worth it, dawg - i think we have came to that conclusion

[MCD]

if i am not mistaken, games that require vista/dx10 can be hacked to play under xp/dx9.

[demi]

Easy to do? I won't go to Vista unless it's absolute necessary

[Tauntaun]

I sent you a pm Demi.


Crysis is boring as fuck (beatiful game though).  If you want the card I will throw in Crysis for free if you want it.

I always see your name as oreo.  You mind if I eat you? 

[MCD]

no idea, perhaps borys knows.

Vista is not necessary now, SP1 is great but you can always wait for SP2.