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First stage gaming pc before I buy

(6 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by soulja234
  • Latest reply from raphoenix
  • Topic Viewed 1169 times

soulja234
Posts: 2

Im not to great with building my own computers but my laptop just died and Im in need of a new gaming rig. The Site im using is http://www.ecollegepc.com/ Under the custom builder ->core2 duo.

Note: Im trying to keep this under $1000

Here are the specs i have thus far:

2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 3MB Cache FSB 1066
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler Extremely Quiet
ASUS P5Q Pro (Intel P45, 2xPCIEx, 8-Channel Audio, LAN, 8xSATA2, 1394, 1333FSB)
4GB (2GBx2) Corsair XMS2 PC8500 DDR2 1066Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300
22X LG Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
512MB nVidia GeForce 9800GTX GDDR3 PCI Express DVI/Tvout
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit SP1
Raidmax Black Smilodon (4 5.25, 5 3.5 bays) 3 Fans, Window, Front Audio/USB/1394
650watt Antec EarthWatts EA650
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Standard 1 year parts and labor
(This build runs $970 including shipping)

The guy that was helping me added two 512MB ATI Radeon HD4850 GDDR3 PCI Express DVI/Tvout for the video card but im not sure if those 2 are better than the 9800GTX
-Any revisions would be a great help.

Posted 4 years ago #
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SSSammy
Posts: 40

a few things

I suggest bumping up your CPU to a e8400 at least
You dont need a 3rd party CPU fan unless you plan to overclock your CPU and since you said you're a novice builder i dont think you're going to do that. so just stick with the stock cooler
You need the 64bit windows version if you want to use all of the 4gb of memory you selected, the 32bit version will only recognize and use 3gb of the 4gb
Lastly, like i have mentioned in many posts, 2 radeon videocards in crossfire will give you much much grief, though 2 4850s are way more powerful than a single 9800gtx, ati's latest video drivers do not work for 2 radeon cards, they cause your computer to bsod. it has also happened to a few drivers before, and will most likely keep happening. Of course the drivers work fine for a single Radeon card. Radeons have great value and great performance if you plan to get and use only one videocard. I just don't think ati optimize their drivers to work with crossfire.
If you do plan to use only 1 card and dont plan to upgrade your build with another in the future then i suggest the 1gb 4870.
However if you do plan to add another videocard in the future to boost your gaming power then i suggest getting a single gtx 260, if you choose to go this route you may have to change your mobo, im pretty sure it doesnt support sli.

hope that helps

Posted 4 years ago #
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whs
whs
Posts: 17584

I would like to comment on the RAM question. A 32bit system CAN address 4GBs. There are, however, a variety of functions that take away some of the upper end RAM. That is why one usually says that only about 3.3GBs are usable for Vista. However, if you start out with only 3GBs, the same will happen (some of the upper end will be used by other functions) and you will end up with only 2.5GBs (or whatever). So I would still advise to go with 4GBs of RAM and 32bit Vista. The Vista system makes very good use of all the RAM it can get. I had a 1GB system which is now 2GB and also have a 3GB and 4GB system. My observation is that in many cases RAM matters more for Vista than a little more CPU muscle. For more, see this.

Posted 4 years ago #
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soulja234
Posts: 2

Hows this?

3.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 6MB Cache FSB 1333
Stock Intel LGA775 Heatsink and Fan
ASUS P5Q Pro (Intel P45, 2xPCIEx, 8-Channel Audio, LAN, 8xSATA2, 1394, 1333FSB)
4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300
22X LG Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB ATI Radeon HD4870 GDDR5 PCI Express DVI/Tvout
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1
Raidmax Black Sagitta 2 (5 5.25, 5 3.5 bays) 2 Fans, Window, Front Audio/USB
500watt Antec EarthWatts EA500
Onboard LAN included
Onboard Sound included
Standard 1 year parts and labor

Little more expensive ($1,018) but If it will run solidly im down =/

Also this is my friends custom dell he got for like $1200 2 years ago im wondering how mine will stack up.

-2.40 gigahertz intel core 2 quadq6600
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
-500gig HDD
-motherboard Dell Inc. 0tp406, Bus Clock 1066 Megahertz
gforce 8800gt and 3gigs of ram

Posted 4 years ago #
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ahal89
Posts: 3

For gaming your computer will be much better. Your cpu is faster, and while his is a quad core, hardly any games (if any) will effectively make use of all cores. Your video card is better, and add to that more ram and 64-bit vista and you're good to go.

You might want to make sure that 500W will be enough, most modern graphics cards recommend 500W at minimum. If you ever want a second card, your power supply won't cut it. Having many extra drives could also bring up the power requirements past 500W. I'd recommend 600W and even more if you intend to use Crossfire or SLI.

Posted 4 years ago #
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raphoenix
raphoenix
Posts: 14920

soulja234,

The Build Motherboard and CPU are OUTDATED by the I7 and X58 platforms.

Regards,
Rick P.

Posted 4 years ago #
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