DL's New Gaming PC - Poll & Questions

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Okay,

After close to 3 years out of the world of PC gaming (meaning I still have an AGP based system), I am coming back to my roots, finally, and building a new gaming PC. I want to it be a damn good one as well.

So here is my deal. Obviously the less I spend the better, but as I said, I do want to to be a good one, so I am willing to spend a bit on it.

THE CPU

I am heavily considering going Core i7. Naturally doing so, means motherboard is more money, etc. So I will spend more doing so.

Is it stupid to go this route, and will a nice Quad Core still do the job?

Also I am pretty set on wanting to go Intel, I just know right now they have a decent lead, but I have always been an AMD man, and WOW, AMD's processors can be purchased hella cheap right now. So should I maybe consider AMD?

THE GPU

I have ALWAYS been a Nviida person, just my personal preference as I really never liked ATis drivers so I owned an old Radeon and that was the last of that. This was years ago.

However, I do know in the past few years ATi has not only become competitive again, but a lot of people actually recommend them over Nvidia.

So I really just want to get the best GPU out there. If that means going back to ATi, I will do so, so what do people think about this as well?

As far as the GPU, I was thinking of getting this card, one for now, then possibly SLI'ing down the road.

MISC

As far as motherboards, I am going to go either Asus or MSI, just my personal preference, probably Asus.

So once I get some feedback of what brands to go with, I will post the choices that I have made, as I actually have all three systems already laid out in my new egg cart. ;)

TIA

DL

[+shift. MVC]

Since you are coming from an AGP based system, I would choose Core i7. No sense going with Core 2 unless you were buying 4 months ago.

As for GPU, I would choose ATI at this point, 4850 for mid-range best value for money card. Or you can go with the slightly faster 4870.

If you're looking for the all around video card champion, I would have to say either HD 4870X2 or GTX 295.

Edited January 25, 2009 by shift.

[Andre S. Veteran]

On Corei7 vs Core2 and gaming : http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html...W50aHVzaWFzdA==

On video cards : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-g...-card,2118.html

On a limited budget (say about 1300$CAN), I'd get a Core2 E8500 and either a single HD4870 1GB or dual HD 4850s.

[RAID 0]

Shift. is right. The i7 is where it's at.

As far as the video card... I would go a nvidia 260 (the 55nm) or a 295. The difference is price is a big one, however.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Okay, think after that Toms Hardware guide (thanks Dr_Asik) I am definitely going to go with ATi.

Probably something along these lines, 2 In Crossfire.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Also, I have narrowed it down to these three motherboards I think....

ASUS P6T WS PRO

or

ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm

ASUS P6T Deluxe

You will see, they are the same model, just different levels of said model. So can I just go with a regular Deluxe?

What is the major difference? Is it really just the speeds of the PCI Express slots?

Keep in mind I will have a Creative Sound Card XiFi Titanium in one of the PCI Express slots.

EDIT 01- This is the differences between the two deluxe models of that motherboard.

Looks like I can just go with the regular version no? It is $50 cheaper.

EDIT 02 - Sorry to keep adding things, but it also seems this EVGA mobo comes highly recommended?

Anyone know about it?

The EVGA X58

And going to go with this Processor...

Intel Core i7 920 Nahalam

Last question is Ram. For example, I know Corsair has new XMS Triple Series that is meant to work in tandem with the Core i7. Should I get this Ram?

Or something else?

So really just need to know if I show go Deluxe, Super Deluxe (just calling it that), or just Pro with the Motherboard, and then the Ram.

Definitely going to get two of the cards I have above, after the mail in rebate they are just $115 each.

[Lord Ba'al]

Okay, think after that Toms Hardware guide (thanks Dr_Asik) I am definitely going to go with ATi.

Probably something along these lines, 2 In Crossfire.

Good choice to go with Ati. I'd take a 4870 w/ 1GB, especially if you use a resolution above 1280x1024.

[Argote]

I'd say get a Core i7, 4870 1GB, 6GB of DDR3 in Triple Channel, any X58 MoBo, a decent HDD, 64bit OS.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Okay, think after that Toms Hardware guide (thanks Dr_Asik) I am definitely going to go with ATi.

Probably something along these lines, 2 In Crossfire.

Go for a 1GB video card if possible. 512MB is becoming quite restrictive in the latest games, especially at 1920x1200.

[Lyric]

I vote a top of the line core 2 duo processor for gaming, and a nvidia 280 card...x2 if you want SLI.

Quad's don't do anything for gaming at the moment, Dual core is where its at for a Gaming Rig....

of course maybe in a year or two games will be developed to take advantage of Quad cores, but you can always just swap out the CPU for a Quad when / if that ever happens.

[Sethos]

Don't bother with those old processors, just spend the extra money now and get an i7. Future games will even support a larger L3 cache as opposed to the current L2 trend, so the i7 is going to be a perfect investment.

I recently upgraded my entire PC to an i7 system and I am impressed, even the crappy port job called GTA IV can't bring the system down. Few current ( Like GTA IV ) and a lot of future games will support quad+ cores, so in case you want to upgrade and stay future proof, quad is definitely the way to go. ( Just to be sure, by quad I am referring to the i7 )

As for motherboards, don't start researching too much in the current X58 scene - Most of them have a basic reference design and each sport some exclusive feature but they are all pretty much the same. I went with the ASUS P6T WS Professional which came highly recommended, though they all pretty much did - So it's just a matter of price and stock at the time of purchase to be honest.

For the Ram, the ones you listed should be okay, should also stand up to some overclocking which I'm assuming you are going to be doing?

On the ATi vs nVidia subject, I had a huge streak of failing nVidia cards so I decided to go with an ATi card this time around, the 4870X2. Though the drivers has disappointed me so badly, the last 3 versions of the Catalyst drivers have had major compatibility issues with X2 cards and few other cards in the ATi range, BSODs and driver recovery errors all over the place. Though I have slowly managed to fix them and find workarounds, I find that very poor. Though the single-card versions should stand up very well, plus they shouldn't have the same driver issues, not from what I've heard that is. So it's pretty much a price vs. performance ratio pick, both of them have their quirks for sure.

And promise me you'll get Vista 64 Bit. (Y)

Edited January 26, 2009 by Sethos

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Okay all, thanks so much for the replies.

Turns on the 1GB version of the card is listed as $135 after rebates and such.

Here it is...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121278

Probably get two of those suckers... Not sure about he motherboard just yet...

@ Sethos - Yep, plan on going with Vista 64 and 7 on a partition...

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Okay guys and gals, my only last thing is should I go with this EVGA X58 Motherboard or the Asus P6t (probably just the pro)?

I have always used either Asus or MSI for my motherboards over the year, so am leaning towards Asus just because I am comfortable with them, but if EVGA really is the best mobo out there, which I have read on severl different reviews it is the "flagship" board for Core i7, then I will definitely consider that...

Oh, keep in mind, I might never overclock, but definite possibility I would eventually...

[Sethos]

The reviews I've read say most of the motherboards are pretty even, I'll bet you anything you wouldn't even notice the difference beside the POST screen when firing up the computer. So get whatever is cheapest and in stock! Besides, the ASUS boards aren't exactly scoring low in reviews either. :)

Though you should really overclock, it's the perfect setup for it - Else you might as well save a few bucks and get PC10666 Ram instead as well.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

The reviews I've read say most of the motherboards are pretty even, I'll bet you anything you wouldn't even notice the difference beside the POST screen when firing up the computer. So get whatever is cheapest and in stock! Besides, the ASUS boards aren't exactly scoring low in reviews either. :)

Though you should really overclock, it's the perfect setup for it - Else you might as well save a few bucks and get PC10666 Ram instead as well.

I will overclock it, no doubt, just not looking to do so right out of the gate, but hell, if it can be OC'd, I will do it.

And I am going with the Asus P6T Deluxe, combined with the ram there is a $50 automatic discount, so it winds up being the best deal out of the original choices.

So my FINAL SETUP *

GPU(s) - ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/1G Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 (Going to Get 2 Of Them @ $135 each)

CPU - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

MOTHERBOARD - ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

RAM - CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C9 - Retail

* So can people please just glance it over and make sure everything is cool and compatible? I plan on pulling the trigger on this real soon

[+shift. MVC]

Looks good to me, very well balanced.

You have a PSU already?

[Argote]

Looks good, what HDDs are you gonna put on that?

As for the PSU, something decent in the 550W range should be more than enough.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Looks good to me, very well balanced.

You have a PSU already?

Looks good, what HDDs are you gonna put on that?

As for the PSU, something decent in the 550W range should be more than enough.

Yep, I have the PSU, a new case and a heatsink. I will be reviewing all of those components in the very near future for the site actually.

As far as HDD, just getting a basic SATA 7200 RPM drive to get things started, already over by budget by a lot so just need something to get Windows on, etc.

Probably this one checking them out real quick...

Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who helped out in this thread and to whom voted. Very much appreciated and made my life much easier, so definitely appreciated for sure. (Y)

[Argote]

3 Rather decent and fast drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136218

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822152100

[Mathachew Veteran]

Wait a minute... I thought you were a Mac guy DL?

[Frank]

Wait a minute... I thought you were a Mac guy DL?

He is coming to the dark side....

muhuhwahahahahaha

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

3 Rather decent and fast drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136218

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822152100

Nice. Thanks for that list. I actually might switch it up and get that last one if I do order in the next day or two, so thanks again. (Y)

Wait a minute... I thought you were a Mac guy DL?

Always have been and always will be a Mac user, but that is for work, meaning design stuff.

Honestly though I am a cross platform user, have been for years, so for pleasure, i.e. to game, Windows all the way (and Boot Camp or a similar app just does not cut it especially since I have an iMac).

The reason I even joined Neowin way back was because I had just built my first custom Windows based PC and had some questions, so if anything, just getting back to my roots. ;)

Honestly I am forced to use Windows at my current job, so I have really gotten use to doing design work in the past year in Windows, and this comp is going to be so powerful compared to everything else I currently own, that I will probably install all of the design apps on it and possibly use it on a frequent basis for design. Maybe not, and it really may just be my gaming comp, but damn good chance I might.

He is coming BACK to the dark side....

muhuhwahahahahaha

Fixed it for you. ;)

I just took a little vacation *cough* Two to Three Years *cough* but I am indeed coming back to the ultimate darkside...

Oh man, just realized, my favorite thing in the whole world... back to dealing with drivers again. Pure Joy LOL

[Sethos]

Too bad the PC scene is dead as a doornail these days :/

Hopefully you'll join in on some America's Army games once the 3.0 version is out

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Too bad the PC scene is dead as a doornail these days :/

Hopefully you'll join in on some America's Army games once the 3.0 version is out

See, thats the thing. I have over 2 years of catching up to do!!

Very first game I install is Crysis and then the expansion, see what all of the hype and hoopla was about.

Then I am pretty sure I get Team Fortress 2... Maybe even Left4Dead as even though I own it for the 360, that is a perfect game meant to be played on the PC...

Then from there, not sure LOL Maybe give Far Cry 2 a whirl... possibly even Fallout 3... games that when I played them on the 360 I thought to myself this would be better on a comp... For example, I am pretty positive I will be playing F.E.A.R 2 on this new comp instead of the consoles.

[Athlonite]

Nice. Thanks for that list. I actually might switch it up and get that last one if I do order in the next day or two, so thanks again. (Y)

Always have been and always will be a Mac user, but that is for work, meaning design stuff.

Honestly though I am a cross platform user, have been for years, so for pleasure, i.e. to game, Windows all the way (and Boot Camp or a similar app just does not cut it especially since I have an iMac).

The reason I even joined Neowin way back was because I had just built my first custom Windows based PC and had some questions, so if anything, just getting back to my roots. ;)

Honestly I am forced to use Windows at my current job, so I have really gotten use to doing design work in the past year in Windows, and this comp is going to be so powerful compared to everything else I currently own, that I will probably install all of the design apps on it and possibly use it on a frequent basis for design. Maybe not, and it really may just be my gaming comp, but damn good chance I might.

Fixed it for you. ;)

I just took a little vacation *cough* Two to Three Years *cough* but I am indeed coming back to the ultimate darkside...

Oh man, just realized, my favorite thing in the whole world... back to dealing with drivers again. Pure Joy LOL

so realy your a sort of IT tranny ( Hi i'm a Mac by day but I'm a wicked little PC by nite) rofl