Building a gaming pc: Need your help!

the_undrtaker89
So I'm wandering what I should choose, Viewsonic, samsung, sony,or whatever else.
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You can never go wrong with Samsung. They always have good LCD monitors.

And about the dead pixels, they're pretty common in LCD monitors from what I understand, one or two isn't that bad, more than that is an annoyance, however.
 
VTGT07
You can never go wrong with Samsung. They always have good LCD monitors.

And about the dead pixels, they're pretty common in LCD monitors from what I understand, one or two isn't that bad, more than that is an annoyance, however.
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So I chose the samsung, but you had a problem with it in a previous post? But I thought you could never go wrong with a samsung.
 
the_undrtaker89
So I chose the samsung, but you had a problem with it in a previous post? But I thought you could never go wrong with a samsung.
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Nah I was saying that if you could go better then do it.

I, personally, wouldn't do it because I have my eyes set on that Sceptre. Samsungs are good monitors, if you're chosing between various monitors with around the same specs/price, the Samsung will generally be the better monitor.
 
If you want to cut down the cost order a AMD 64 3500+ insted its a good balance between speed and cost. I have one since moving from Intel P4 and I can say its a great CPU in 939 socket, from the AMD brand mate.
 
Woot! Someone else in the same boat as me, I'm also looking to build myself a computer with BF2 in mind. Anyways,

From what I hear, the DFI Lanparty motherboards are high quality stuff. You should get the DFI Lanparty Nforce4 SLI motherboard instead if you want a DFI board. It's worth it to shell out that extra little for the ability to have SLI in the future, so you can just buy another card later when prices drop and still have really nice, competitive graphics. Other than DFI, also consider looking into the Asus A8N-SLI motherboard. You can get it online for about 130 US Dollars (Read carefully though, because there are Deluxe and Premium versions of the Asus board, and you might not need what's included in the two nicer, and more expensive versions)

Graphics cards wise, if you are buying a motherboard with SLI capabilites, you need to get a Nvidia card. ATI will have something silmilar called Crossfire coming out in a couple of months, but the ATI technology will not be compatible with the SLI boards.

PS: One thing I forgot to mention, the DFI Lanparty UT Nforce4 Ultra D boards use the Nvidia Nforce 4 chipset, which is the same as teh Nforce 4 SLI chipset, except the SLI feature is disabled. Since it's the same chipset, it is apperantly possible to very easily change it to SLI spec. I don't exactly know how to do it though, you'll need to Google that if you want to do that. Modding it will effectively void the manufacturer's warrenty though, so watch out for that. And that modding will really only work on the DFI Lanparty UT Nforce 4 Ultra D boards becuase they oddly have 2 x16 PCI Express slots. I heard that once it's modded, it's performance are quite similar to a "real" SLI even though the pipelines are split differently.
 
With the motherboard just get either a quite high end single GPU slot job.......or for the same money get a standard SLi x2 GPU slot job.....if you want to have the possibility to add another GPU card then go SLi but it maybe better to get a good single GPU mobo now because SLi is too expensive......
 
the_undrtaker89
But I still don't understand what was said about the mobo and graphics card.....What should I do with that?:indiff:
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DirectX is a graphics API, which contains Direct3D. Direct3D is what game developers use to help them create 3D games. And graphics card manufacturers (ATI & nVidia) implement DirectX into their cards. Every now and then, Microsoft release a new verison of DirectX. So, if you're card is a DX8 card, it won't be able to render and display any of the cool DX9 effects.

Currently, we're at DX9 but DX10 will be shipped with Vista. So soon, all the current DX9 cards will be obsolete and outdated. nVidia have already implemented DX10 in their 7800GTX and GT cards. So, if you want to be future-proofed, those are your only two options at the moment (until ATI bring out their new range of cards).

SLI is one of nVidia's technologies. Any SLI board can run 2 video cards. SLI is only enabled on mobos that use nVidia's nForce chipset, so it's no suprise you can't run 2 ATI cards with SLI. If you want to use SLI and run 2 video cards, you'll have to go with nVidia cards. And at the moment, there's only 2 to choose from (the GTX and GT). The mobo in your first post is an SLI board.

My suggestion? Get the 7800GT and the SLI board. The 7800GT is faster than most cards at the moment and is DX10, so at the moment it'll have plenty of punch and will be safe in the near future when DX10 is the norm. And when it does start to lag behind, you can through in a second one to boost the performace.
 
If you plan on not using 2 cards in SLi format now or the future, then theres no point buying an SLi motherbard. Thats if your only going to stay with 1 Graphics Card mates.
 
TVR&Ferrari_Fan
If you plan on not using 2 cards in SLi format now or the future, then theres no point buying an SLi motherbard. Thats if your only going to stay with 1 Graphics Card mates.
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But why NOT have it? It's not like the one GPU is gonna be 1/2 as fast. I think he should have SLI so if there's ever a game that comes out that he might not be able to play, he wont have to buy a whole another computer, he could just pop in another video card. :)
 
Shannon
DirectX is a graphics API, which contains Direct3D. Direct3D is what game developers use to help them create 3D games. And graphics card manufacturers (ATI & nVidia) implement DirectX into their cards. Every now and then, Microsoft release a new verison of DirectX. So, if you're card is a DX8 card, it won't be able to render and display any of the cool DX9 effects.

Currently, we're at DX9 but DX10 will be shipped with Vista. So soon, all the current DX9 cards will be obsolete and outdated. nVidia have already implemented DX10 in their 7800GTX and GT cards. So, if you want to be future-proofed, those are your only two options at the moment (until ATI bring out their new range of cards).

SLI is one of nVidia's technologies. Any SLI board can run 2 video cards. SLI is only enabled on mobos that use nVidia's nForce chipset, so it's no suprise you can't run 2 ATI cards with SLI. If you want to use SLI and run 2 video cards, you'll have to go with nVidia cards. And at the moment, there's only 2 to choose from (the GTX and GT). The mobo in your first post is an SLI board.

My suggestion? Get the 7800GT and the SLI board. The 7800GT is faster than most cards at the moment and is DX10, so at the moment it'll have plenty of punch and will be safe in the near future when DX10 is the norm. And when it does start to lag behind, you can through in a second one to boost the performace.
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Thank you for that shannon!!!!:bowdown: I totally understood everything you said. And that really helped a lot.


Where are you getting your parts from?
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I'm getting em from this site called ncix.com and maybe bestbuy and futureshop. But I'll only get like speakers and what not from them. Also I might go to this local shop
 
No, I'm going to stick with my ram, unless I 100% have to change it.


Here are some sli motherboards.
DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR ATX S939 NFORCE4 SLI DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
DFI LANParty UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert ATX S939 NFORCE4 SLI DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound LAN Motherboard
DFI LANParty UT RDX200 CF-DR ATX S939 RD480 DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound 2GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
DFI NF4 SLI-INFINITY ATX S939 NFORCE4 DDR 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E 3PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

The last one is the cheapest. If you guys can find a better one, than please post it and explain to me.:dunce:

That looks like an alright mobo i guess iceshooter. I found it for 230.


O yeah one more thing guys.

I Live in Canada.
 
icemanshooter23
If you're looking for the best ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144341

Here's a much better deal on a processor: X2 2800+ for only $350

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144341

I'd go for this motherboard instead, the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe for $170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131517

eVGA 7800gt $400

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130239
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Newegg doesn't ship to Canadaland.
 
the_undrtaker89
Done.👍 Umm. can these burners play dvds and cds too?
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Yes, DVD burners can play cd and dvd, and also write both CDs and DVDs.

the_undrtaker89
Here are some sli motherboards.
DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR ATX S939 NFORCE4 SLI DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
DFI LANParty UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert ATX S939 NFORCE4 SLI DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound LAN Motherboard
DFI LANParty UT RDX200 CF-DR ATX S939 RD480 DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA RAID Sound 2GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
DFI NF4 SLI-INFINITY ATX S939 NFORCE4 DDR 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E 3PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

The last one is the cheapest. If you guys can find a better one, than please post it and explain to me.

That looks like an alright mobo i guess iceshooter. I found it for 230.
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My suggestion if you are going to get a DFI board is to get one of the Lanparty ones. Otherwise, chances are you a regular Asus A8N-SLI is fine, and it's quite a bit cheaper than the Deluxe versions.

Here are some for the Asus board:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14047&vpn=A8N-SLI-UAY&manufacture=ASUS
http://www.xpcgear.com/asusa8nsli.html (That's an American Store, but they will ship to Canada. 124 dollars is about 145 dollars CA? A small bit cheaper than your DFI board.

Here are some DFI Lanparty boards:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...ore_Code=M&Product_Code=110630&AFFIL=FRG&NR=1 (They will ship to Canada, and it's about $188 CA.)
http://www.xpcgear.com/dfiutnf4slidr.html (Will ship to Canada, about $204 CA)
http://www.tankguys.biz/lanparty-nforce4-slidr-p-1285.html (Will ship to Canada, about $197 CA)

Sorry about finding you American sites, I know you live in Canada but Froogle doesn't have a Canadian version, so I looked for sites that will ship to Canada, and then used a currency converter online to convert the prices.
 
Alright, so I just had all this totalled and it comes up to be $1777.45. I'm still not positive on the mobo and processer..... I think I can squeeze in an extra 60-80 bucks, what should I upgrade?
 
If it's going to be a gaming computer then the graphics card. You could get even downgrade the CPU and upgrade the video card.
 
Cut down on the processor. You don't need the very fastest processor. It might be twice as expensive, but it just isn't worth it if it's just 200 mhz faster than one which costs $100 less.
 
the_undrtaker89
Alright, so I just had all this totalled and it comes up to be $1777.45. I'm still not positive on the mobo and processer..... I think I can squeeze in an extra 60-80 bucks, what should I upgrade?
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Why are you pairing an Nvidia SLI mobo with an ATI card? Use an Nvidia video card or else you'll have to buy two video cards if you ever decide to make use of the SLI capability.
 
the_undrtaker89
Alright, so I just had all this totalled and it comes up to be $1777.45. I'm still not positive on the mobo and processer..... I think I can squeeze in an extra 60-80 bucks, what should I upgrade?
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I'd downgrade the processor to a 3500+ (Venice core). It's $293 CAD from ncix.com. You can then put the money saved towards the 7800GT. The video card is more important than the CPU when it comes to gaming. Even games like Doom 3 only have a minimum requirement of around 1.6GHz for the CPU.

As for the mobo, well, I absolutely love my MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum. If you want to run SLI, you'll have to get the Neo4 Platinum SLI board. It is a little pricier than the DFI though. I'd get the SLI board just to keep your options open down the track. Just because you have an SLI board, doesn't mean you have to run 2 video cards.

Edit: Just a word of advice. You'll want to get a better heatsink. If you're going to be gaming, the system will reach some pretty high temps and the AMD stock heatsink (that comes with their CPU's) is mediocre at best. The Zalman CNPS7700 and Thermalright XP-120 are the 2 greatest heatsinks on the market. I have the Zalman myself.
 
What kind of temps do you see with the Zalman? I'm thinking of upgrading to it in the near future.
 
icemanshooter23
What kind of temps do you see with the Zalman? I'm thinking of upgrading to it in the near future.
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Around 34C idle. Mid 40's when under load.

Keep in mind though, I have the AlCu model, that is mostly aluminium. So, cooling isn't as great as it could be if I had the all copper model.
 
Hey.

A friend that plays GT4 linked me to this thread and i had to create an account just to help you out.

You are on the right track but you are getting stuff thats costing you more and will perform the same or less than other parts.

I had to pick the parts for a PC about 2 weeks ago and it came out to be great.

I ended up with this:

Asus A8N SLI MotherBoard
GeForce 7800GTX
2 Seagate 80GB HDD with NCQ
a NEC DVD-RW/CD-RW/DVD-DL
an Athlon64 4000+
an 1GB of ram from OCZ

all this came to be just over 1300$ which leaves plenty of cash for the rest.

Now some people recommend recommend the Athlon X2 processors, one thing DONT GET THEM DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT DUAL CORE IF YOU WANNA PLAY GAMES.
Dual core processors qare good for stuff like 3D and programming or multitasking, but for games, even the fastest dual core processor might not match up to a regular single core processor.

I woul get the Athlon64 4000+ its the best processor out there, its pretty much an athlon FX-55 but not as pricey. If the 4000+ is to expensive for you get the 3800+ and you should be fine.

trust me on this i did extensive research and performance comparisons, dont even think aobut pentium and dont even think about the X2 series. An athlon64 4000+ is the best you can get and if its too expensive for you get the 3800+ it will perorm very, very well.

Now for the motherboard. Dont fo with the LanParty boards, they are mainly pricier because of their reputation and the nice colors they give to them but trust me, the Asus A8N SLI is a cheap motherbeard that will perform exactly like it, aaannd its SLI ready so if in the future you want to get dual graphic cards, you can :D

Now as far as the graphics cards go. I wouldnt go with ATI, not for a while. Their latest cards the X1800XT and the X1800XL are extremely power consuming. The X1800XL has 256MB and it doesnt match up to the performance of a GeForce 7800GTX. Then X1800XT which has 512MB consumes power like a mother, it gets veeery hot, and the results are not good enough to justify the price tag.

The X800XL is too expensive and it doesnt even match up to a GeForce 7800GTX or even a GT.

Now if you can spend it, get the 7800GTX. Best video card out there and will perform like a beast, if you need something cheaper get the 7800GT. And if you cant pay for that get the 6800GT or the Ultra. But from my extensive research, the Ultra comes out to be about 50-60$ less than the 7800 so i would dish out those extra dollars and get the latest card that will last you for a while.

So far. Go with Asus their boards are cheaper and they perform very, veeery well.
Go with Nvidia they are diong good at this moment, their video cards consume less energy and dont get as hot. And i also helped out with the processor so you shoudl be able to pick between the Athlon64 4000+ or the 3800+

Now. The hard disk doesnt need to be that big. Adn if i were you i would get 2 80GB or 120 GB disks because of the following:

If you are playing a game like BF2 then you are running windows and the game from the same HD. Making things slower. If you get a separate HD you run BF2 from one disk and windows from the other which means better performance. Also, you can get someone to raid the disks for you so if you ever lose one of the disks, your data on the other is recovered (i forgot if it was a raid 0 or a raid 1) and trust me its a major benefit to have your data recovered.

For the ram i would go with low latency. For gaming you need low latency RAM as you are making calls to it continuosly.
What else do we need. Ohh yeah for the DVD/CD drive. you should be able to get one that burns CDs, CDRW, DVD, DVDRW, DVD Dual Layer and all the rest of the formats for about 40$ or 50$ at the most.

Its very chepa now a days and nec has good DVD drives i would look with them.

I KNOW I JUST TYPED A BOOK, but trust me i created this to help you. You have no idea how much research i did when i was setting up mine, i looked at many benchmarks and price comparisons for about 1 week and i came up with this. Possibly the best system you could build for your buck.

All in all if you go with the 80GB hard disks, some good but cheap low latency ram, the 7800GTX or the GT if the other ine is too expensive, the Athlon 4000+ or the 3800+ and a good Asus motherboard. You could be building a system for about 1200-1300$ but it will be one hell of a system. VERY VERY HIGH END and will last you for years. Plus its upgradeable and since its SLI ready you can get another video card and performance will see a major boost.

Hope i helped out, i really ask you to consider the parts i recommended and to check out prices for the parts i got, they are very good for their price and if you lower some thigns here and there you could build an incredible system.

The power supply and the case, monitor, mouse and keyboard shouldnt be too expensive so you could get those for 400-500$ which would give you a 1700-1800$ system.

Kinda what you aimed for isnt it?

Thanks for reading my book and hope i helped
 

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