# Advice please (as per your rules) r.e. Gaming PC - newbie



## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

First I need to say that the existence of this forum is amazing. I've been cruising all over the internet looking for info and to be able to ask these questions here is awesome. 

I have been out of the PC Gaming loop for several years ( I playa few games on my Mac laptop), and only in a recent stop in Hong Kong at an EB Games exhibit did I get re-hooked by some of the games they had on display which made me think that perhaps it is time to get back into it all.

My absolute favorite games are FPS. I reveled in Quake, thrilled at Unreal, got loopy in Half-Life, etc. I tried to avoid other games because they never seemed to float my boat, but in Hong Kong what I saw in SPORE and Warhammer Age Of Reckoning made me realize that it was time to widen my gaming horizons if I am going to get back into this all. Even the latest World Of Craft is starting to look too amazing to not be treated as viable entertainment for even a skeptic like myself who has avoided the MMORP genre completely prior to this.

To this end I stopped at Harvey Norman (oh yeah - I live in South East Queensland, Australia). They had the following "specialized gaming PC" system on sale (these are all the specs they listed, which I now understand leaves out certain details)...

Machine name/series: PRYON (an in-house brand which includes certain benefits described later)
Price: $1800 Aus (about $1250 US as of Oct 20, 2008)
CPU: Intel Core Duo 3 Ghz
RAM: 4 Gb DDR2
HDD: 750 Gb
DVD-RW DL
Graphics: GeForce 8500 GT 1 Gb
XP Pro or Vista inc.
Case: Specialized Black, 1 known fan

(additional sales perks: 19-in-1 Card Reader built in, Silent Fan, Wireless Black Keyboard and Mouse. PRYOR comes with in-house warranty service direct from Harvey Norman for full warranty life = local and EASY warranty service)

They also recommended a Samsung 22 inch T220 (black or red trim) for $550 Aus ($380 US) which comes with a 3-year in-home dead-pixel full replacement policy (1 pixel goes dead you get a new monitor).

FIRST QUESTION:
even though I do not know the motherboard or if the RAM is 800 or 1066 Mhz, etc, does this sound like a good system? A good deal for the price?
(See Below for more details on my current gaming needs)

To answer the 15 questions in the Sticky at the top of this forum:

1: Budget - have to stay under $2500 Aus ($1750 US) inc monitor and speakers. For an AMAZING leap in gaming experience I COULD go up to $3000 Aus ($2100 US) but only if it was an insanely dramatic difference that would blow my mind.

2: Brands - I have always heard that nVidia and ATI make the best graphics cards. Now I hear nVidia is making motherboards too. Not sure if I need that though - what do you guys think?

3: Multitasking - I do all my real work on my Mac laptop and have no intention to change. This PC Gaming computer will be 95% for Gaming (along with the new monitor), 3% for movie watching, and 2% for miscellaneous Windows programs should I desperately need (of which nothing comes to mind that I don't already happily have on my Mac).

4: Gaming - I am hearing all about Crysis, Half Life 2, Spore, and WOW / Warhammer. I would like to thoroughly enjoy these. IMPORTANT QUESTION - I hear online play really boils down to how fast your internet speed is - is that true? I would say I have "average" broadband for Oz (1024 ADSL 2+, not exactly Silicon Valley speeds). Mostly I enjoy playing games at home, i.e. the built in Campaigns of most FPS, the exploration in SPORE, etc. But now I may very well be broadening my horizons to WOW or Warhammer, etc.

5: Calculations - nope. None. Just gaming.

6: Overclocking - couldn't afford to have my PC burn up so probably just stick with the default settings. QUESTION: How important are EXTRA Fans / superior cooling if you are NOT overclocking? Will it still improve performance? One reason I have bailed on PC's for so long is the number of PC's that crashed and died on me under normal user conditions....???

7: Storage - Pretty much only games. On my last PC I had a 160 Gb HDD and never used it up. I hear the newer games use a LOT more storage space though. And once I load a game I rarely remove it. Otherwise I am sure I'll have my usual utilities to keep the PC running smoothly. I WOULD invest in a HDD that has a Higher Speed and Greater Reliability if it was worth the price and not too expensive. I would like to scrupulously avoid "bad sectors."

8: Legacy - nope. Just modern cutting edge tech for gaming. 

9: Op Sys - Windows XP seems to be the one people are recommending for now until Vista gets its act together.
So XP I would say - seems to be tested with many more games.

10: Case - couldn't care less. QUIET is awesome though - no noisy fans or hard drives. IMPORTANT: I have ridiculously sensitive hearing and in my last PC the fan would make a high-pitched whine that would drive me nuts after about an hour. I ended up having to play games using headphones, and even then the whine would penetrate through the headphones. I do NOT miss that irritation one bit!

11: Accessories - yeah keyboard and mouse. Wireless is nice ONLY IF reliable. Otherwise wired is fine. I already own a USB trackball I like and a cross-platform game pad that I use for my Mac.

12: Recycled - nothing except the game pad and trackball.

13: Monitor - yes please. 23 inch widescreen or larger LCD would be nice.

14: Stores - anything here in Australia is fine. Even better if its in Queensland. 

15: Location - Oz 

Ok my friends. Thats about it. I look forward to all your advice on which way to go. Thank you in advance and please know that I will probably use your advice word for word! 

-- GC


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Hello

I am not sure about OZ prices; although I will ask some of our Aussie stafff members to join into this discussion......... but for $1250.00 U.S. dollars you can get a machine that really rocks ....... minus the monitor though! thats another $400.00

so I guess I would reccomend you beef up your budget to at least $1700.00 U.S. dollars


first thing I would advise is find someone who will build you a custom PC..... either a shop or private person doesnt matter 

1) you need a quality motherboard ....... Asus of Gigabyte P45 chipset would be my personal suggestion ..... unless you need to tone down the budget ...... at which point my personal favorite is the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L

other wise top shelf choices without wasting money is Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4P or GA-EP45-DS4 Extreme ........ or Asus P5Q- or P5Q-Deluxe

2) CPU = Intel E8500 

3) memory = Corsair or OCZ or Crucial or patriot or Gskil DDR2-800 ( matched pair of 2 sticks @ 2 gigs each stick) make sure the CAS timings are 5-5-5-15 or better if possible

4) Video = ATI 4850 or better yet ATI 4870 / or Nvidia 9800 GTX plus (single video card is more than powerful enough ...... dont bother with the dual video card $$$$$$)

BTW; the 8500GT is a bum in the gaming world !!!!

5 ) power supply = Corsair 750-TX or OCZ-700 watt

6) case = not so fussy ........ Coolermaster centurion would be fine ..... Antec 900 or Antec 1200 is awesome

7) the hard drives and dvd rom drives etc are sooooo hard to find good ones ..... they are all decent ....... although I would stick with sata interface on both of them so you have the thin cables ! better for air flow

just holler after looking at some prices !


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## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

linderman said:


> Hello
> 
> I am not sure about OZ prices; although I will ask some of our Aussie stafff members to join into this discussion......... but for $1250.00 U.S. dollars you can get a machine that really rocks ....... minus the monitor though! thats another $400.00
> 
> ...


Wow bro - I SERIOUSLY have to say THANK YOU!!!!
That is a ton of awesome information, and I intend to act upon it and head to a custom-build shop and show them a print-out of what you wrote below. 

Also an extra thank you for cluing me in about the 8500 - to a newbie like me it sounded great so its fantastic to have the voice of the experienced here to steer me in a better direction. 

What did you think of the Samsung 22 inch T220 monitor? I guess one of the things that is really important to me in all of this is that after spending all that money on a new gaming PC I would like the visuals to be really pleasing on the eye. I certainly cannot afford a 40" plasma screen (one day...) but it looks like a 22-27" monitor would be a good way to go now. Any budget minded recommendations?

Your help is truly appreciated and thank you again. 

-- GC


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I have found the NEC or Viewsonic monitors to be very good ....... just about any monitor that costs $400.00 in U.S. for a 24 inch is an excellent gaming choice...... you dont have to spend that much ..... but I am not clear on what you expect from high quality gaming experience ...... but I know the reccomendation above will suit any serious gamer ......... as long as the monitor is capable of resolutions of 1680 x 1050 or above you will be fine! 1920 x 1200 is even better!


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

steer clear of the prebuilt h/norman
you live in the right area for good prices on components
have a look at post 7 here will give you a rough idea
http://www.techsupportforum.com/f255/pc-build-help-298029.html#post1737931


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## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

linderman said:


> I have found the NEC or Viewsonic monitors to be very good ....... just about any monitor that costs $400.00 in U.S. for a 24 inch is an excellent gaming choice...... you dont have to spend that much ..... but I am not clear on what you expect from high quality gaming experience ...... but I know the reccomendation above will suit any serious gamer ......... as long as the monitor is capable of resolutions of 1680 x 1050 or above you will be fine! 1920 x 1200 is even better!


You ROCK bro! I have noted to seek out a monitor with 1920 x 1200 resolution. 

I guess what I am thinking / have seen is that even some expensive monitors will have a "dull" or "matte" look to the screen which IMO does not look like as crisp and clean of an image. I saw two Samsungs side-by-side, different models near the same price, yet one had a shiny / glossy / CRISP image, while the other had that "matte" look to it. I know I DEFINITELY want a super-crisp image. 
IN fact, a crisp image on a smaller monitor (i.e. 22 inch) would make me happier than a "matte / dull" image on a huge expensive monitor. 

What do I expect? Just REALLY GOOD Entertainment, a bit of adrenalin, and a visual experience that makes me feel like gaming on the PC holds its own against watching good animation on a DVD.


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## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

dai said:


> steer clear of the prebuilt h/norman
> you live in the right area for good prices on components
> have a look at post 7 here will give you a rough idea
> http://www.techsupportforum.com/f255/pc-build-help-298029.html#post1737931


Truly Awesome!!!
I intend to contact those guys in Perth TODAY!! 

THANK YOU! 

Question:
What monitor do YOU use?


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## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

Oh Yeah - 
What do you guys think is the best AUDIO card for the configuration and budget described? I will admit my desk space is limited, so I cannot fit a 5.1 or 7.1 system in here. Probably could do a 3-speaker system and put a SMALL subwoofer under the desk (but I mean REALLY small). 

Thanks again.

-- A.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

'

I have found the motherboards built in onboard sound will satisfy 85% of gamers


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

i agree you will find the onboard will do what you require


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## GC Gamer (Oct 20, 2008)

Much Appreciated as usual r.e. Audio 

What do you guys think of this rig and this quote from one local custom-build shop that I have listed below?

Note that it has NO operating system (which I think is a bit weak when paying this kind of $$ but what the hey)....

I had them look up two HDD because someone suggested that is a good way to go - is it really that necessary? What is the purpose of two HDD? One for only the System + 100 Gb of stuff, and the other for all your larger / massive files & docs? 

I had a DVD burner and a DVD reader before on the last PC I had - that was very handy when needing to quick copy a data disc / CD / DVD, etc. Or do you guys think that;s superfluous?

Thanks in advance! 
-- GC
________________________

Antec TWELVE HUNDRED Full Tower Gaming Case 

650W "Antec" TruePower Trio ATX Power Supply, 120mm fan, Dual PCI-E Graphics Card Connector, 4 SATA Connectors, Antec Quality 

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4P Mother Board 

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU, 3.16 GHz, FSB 1333MHz 

Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB (2x XMS2 2GB) PC-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 RAM, 2x240-pin DIMMs, Non ECC Unbuffered, 5-5-5-18 

Galaxy GF 9800GTX+ PCI-E 2.0 512MB DDR3 256-bit, 738/2200MHz, Dual Dual-Link DVI, HDTV, HDCP, SLI Ready 

Samsung 320GB 'HD322HJ' HDD - SATA II 7200rpm, 16MB Cache 

Samsung 160GB 'HD161HJ' SATA II 3Gb/s NCQ HDD - 7200rpm, 8MB Cache 

Double-Layer DVD Burner 

DVD-Rom 

It has great Onboard 7.1 Channel sound, check here for specs:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2839



Tower includes assembly and testing
NO operating system
Tower includes 1 Year Onsite warranty 
Tower is $1970 (AUS) plus shipping (require suburb and postcode for quote)
(=US $1300)



Samsung 24" 2433BW Wide TFT Monitor - ($50 Cash Back from Samsung) - High Glossy Black, Max. Resolution 1920x1200, 5ms Response, Digital / Analog

$459.00 (AUS) plus shipping (require suburb and postcode for quote)
(=US $ 300)


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

the only thing i would change is to upgrade the psu to the corsair or thermaltake toughpower 750w psu


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I agree; you have done well....... but I too would much rather have the Corsair or thermaltake toughpower!


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

I'm shocked at the price. I third the PSU change, I'm not sure the extra size in the 1200 is worth 50 bucks or however much over the 900. Ditto with 20 bucks on the E8500 over the 8400 for 0.16 GHz difference [it's not even noticable?] 

Beyond that, all looks good. Maybe save money with a EP35 board and the 8400??


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

MAG is right ....... the gigabyte GA-ep35-DS3L is one hellva board and it sells for a super sweet price ???????????


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## Dr. Paul (Dec 7, 2004)

Why not build it yourself? Not only can you learn about your system and have a better understanding of how it works, but you can have the pride of your own build.
With the help from this forum, you would not have any trouble especially, if you avail yourself of all of the information available here and on the internet.
As a newbie myself, I found that the build was not that hard and there is a deep sense of pleasure upon successful completion.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

right on DOC !!


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