First computer rig help

basilmarket.com forums : Tech Talk | 15 posts archived

thread starter ThatsJustNice Jul 28 2009 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

I am pretty new to these things FYI 1. Are these parts compatible? Answered : yes 2. Are these there better things that are compatible that are better AND cheaper? Answered : no 3. Are there any parts that you would like to suggest for me that are also compatible? Answered : no 4. Is this a good gaming computer? Not answered in detail 5. SHould i wait until windows 7? or should i just install xp? Answered : Just get vista. EDITS: I plan to play counter-strike 1.6 Right now on my laptop i get about 15-25 fps which i think is quite sad so thats why im getting a desktop I am willing to dish out the extra bucks for more durable things I also want to be able to play the high end games and future games that may require even higher specs New build: PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006) Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148445) G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231179) AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680) MOTHERBOARD ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366) SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X 100269VXL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102841) DVD/CD SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188) SCREEN ViewSonic X Series VX2260wm Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 20000:1(1000:1) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16824116400) The price went up quite a bit upgrading to a saphire version of the 4890.

azn011 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Those are all compatible. However, there are a few things I would change. The performance of a 10000RPM HDD isn't quite worth the extra $ if you're on a budget IMO. You're better off with getting two 7200RPM HDDs and putting em in RAID. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320 instead. The graphics card in there is terrible. It's a low spec card, and will NOT run any hard core games. I suggest getting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351 You're also missing a case and disk drive. And you haven't told us your budget, and what you're going to do with it. Also define your definition of "gaming" please.

skye09 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

1) Yes, but your system isnt complete; you are missing pieces 2) In some senses, it would behoove you to go AM3 3) Not at the moment 4) IMHO no, but it also depends on what games you are talking about. If you mean MS, then yes, this is overkill. If you want to play the latest and greatest, be prepared to drop another $150+ on your GPU, if not more. Also, get a different PSU, as I know for a fact that one is overpriced due to its modularity.

agente002 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

-excellent motherboard, ram, and cpu(you could go with cheaper cpu and wouldnt notice a difference if you wanted to save some money) If you want the most bang for your buck in the gaming area you should go with a cheaper cpu and a stronger graphics card. -I would go with the hard drive azn011 recommended. - Modular isn't too useful with lower wattage psu's since they dont really have that many cables; you will probably use all if not most of the cables. -If you do want to save some money the q8400 is a really powerful cpu a bit weaker than the one you selected but you wont notice the difference. - counter strike is not much of a intense game graphically compared to recent games. a 9500 is fine for counter strike but not for todays games. If you wanted to play more recent games like l4d2 which is coming out soon you should go with a ati 4850 which can run them smoothly in high settings. What you are missing: -A case to put everything in. I would recommend a mid tower, since you can actually fit those under a desk. Some of the most popular ones are the cooler master 690, and the antec 900. I recommend the "cm690" since it gives you more bang for your buck. -a dvd drive (preferably serial ata dvd drive for better airflow) the build should NOT go over 800 maybe not even 700 due to todays prices. If you follow the recommendations from this forums it should run the most recent games in high settings and cost under 700 dollars. I recommend using Newegg due to its free shipping on numerous items.

ThatsJustNice 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

is the ati radeon 4870 x2 any good?

skye09 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

When taking the price into consideration, what do you think?

ThatsJustNice 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

oh man, sorry i forgot to check the price.

agente002 Jul 28 2009 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

ThatsJustNice said: "is the ati radeon 4870 x2 any good?" Its obviously a powerful card however, its an overkill. It runs pretty hot too. I wouldnt recommend it, you can get superb performance from much cheaper cards. The 4870x2 is for people with tons of money or people with huge screens and require the power of the card. How big is your screen btw? I doubt you need all that performance. edit: definitely not something you would want in your first rig; since you might run into trouble(just giving you a warning) you definitely don't want to go high end.

xmasturxcheefx1 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

I'd say get a Phenom II or i7

agente002 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

xmasturxcheefx1 said: "I'd say get a Phenom II or i7" he plays cs lol....

ShiroNoYami 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

ThatsJustNice said: "is the ati radeon 4870 x2 any good?" If you wanna run CS at like 700 frames, ya.

Chickenz 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

Your "new build" currently has DDR2 RAM on a DDR3/AM3 board.

agente002 Jul 28 2009 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

ThatsJustNice said: "Intel core 2 Quad Q9550 quad core 2.83ghz 1.333 mghz (http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2quad/specifications.htm) Ram G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 PC2 6400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184) Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372) Hard Drive Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322) Video card NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card (http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9500gt_us.html) PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001) I am kind of new to these things FYI 1. Are these parts compatible? 2. Are these there better things that are compatible that are better AND cheaper? 3. Are there any parts that you would like to suggest for me that are also compatible? 4. Is this a good gaming computer? EDITS: I plan to play counter-strike 1.6 Right now on my laptop i get about 15-25 fps which i think is quite sad so thats why im getting a desktop I am willing to dish out the extra bucks for more durable things but nothing over 1000 please New build: PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006) HARDDRIVE Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284) RAM G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 PC2 6400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184) CPU AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX MOTHEBOARD MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.212193) VIDEO CARD XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351) the cpu and motherboard are a combo at newegg :D" there is one problem that motherboard uses ddr3 and you have selected ddr2. you need to select some dual channel ddr3 which unfortunately is more expensive than dual channel ddr2 edit: got beaten to it edit 2: basil's trojan(as in virus not condom) ads are starting to piss me off

ThatsJustNice 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

ill fix that in a sec

xmasturxcheefx1 07/28/09 + PM | QUOTE | PERMALINK | REPORT

agente002 said: " he plays cs lol...." Phenom II X2?