# Help building gaming PC



## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Hi, haven't built a PC in a long time, currently running an old athlon xp 3200, the only thing keeping it going for gaming is an x1950 card. Am completely out of touch with all the components available, I thought dual core was new, seems now theres quad core.

Am looking to build a system purely for gaming, hoping to run upcoming titles like Farcry 2, Starcraft 2, Empire Total War etc without a hitch.

Have filled out the list thing from the sticky, hopefully you guys can help me pick the parts as I'm completely clueless!



*Budget*: Price ceiling would be around £700, hopefully less though.


*Brands*: Have no preference on brands as long as they're performing the best. Have always used AMD and ATI but am fine jumping ship to Intel and nvidia if thats the way to go.


*Multitasking*: Main multi tasking I'd be doing is browsing the web with a game minimised, and just running multiple browser windows.


*Gaming*: Want a pure games machine, looking to run the latest games as well as possible within my budget. Mainly play FPS and RTS with a bit of flight simming too.


*Calculations*: No plans for anything like that and can't foresee any need for this.


*Overclocking*: Have always been wary of overclocking but wouldn't exclude myself from it if sufficient performance increases could be granted with no risk.


*Storage*: Downloaded games (legally ) and just lots of installed games will need storing.


*Legacy Support*: My keyboard and mouse are currently ps2 but buying usb replacements is fine if ps2 are outdated and cause problems with choosing motherboard etc.


*Operating System*: I would prefer windows xp, but whatever works for best gaming performance.


*Case*: Case size isn't an issue, room for at least 2 DVD drives preferrable though.


*Accessories*: Sound card only accessory i can think of, don't really rate onboard sound.


*Recycled Components*: No recycled bits, starting a whole new rig.


*Monitor*: Will be using my 19" flat panel so no need to include a monitor.


*Stores*: No preference on stores, as long as they're reputable and secure I can't see an issue.


*Location*: England, UK.


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## krisb (Apr 24, 2008)

First off. take it slow and make sure you do some research. This way your price to performance ratio will be at its best. lets get started

Brands. I am an intel Nvidia guy so my recommendations will follow suit.

Case. look for somthing with good airflow. i build with full towers as the extra room is nice

MOBO. really you can go so many ways here. I like ASUS boards. Look at FSB memory and CPU support If my memory serves me (on the model #) P5NE/ WiFi is a great mid range performance board

CPU. you can get good quad core for cheap now. the Q6600 is a good CPU that will do what it is told. I would go with an aftermarket cooler though. Great models starting at $30

Memory. go with 4x1GB DDR2 PC-6400(800 mhz). Crucial Ballistic is a solid choice. this will let you multitask and run any app with no probs. DDR2 has gotton alot cheaper now so it isnt that big of a deal to double up on RAM

Graphics. pick a card you really like so if you want to eventually do SLI you already have the first half. the GeForce 9600gt are nice cards. look for a factory overclocked one. This card will give back what you expect from it. 

Sound. Sound Blaster X-Fi is the best choice for sound

HDD. Start with a 500Gb SataII drive and you'll be happy. for under $100 you can get ones with 32mb cache and under 5ms respone times.

Optical. i like the Samsung Multidrive. SataII

OS. with XP you get a tried and true OS but who knows how long microsoft will keep supporting it. 

I think that might be it. i probably did miss something though


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Thanks, that should give me a base to work from, any further suggestions are welcome as will all help my research. You were spot on in saying to research for best profit/performance ratio, not going to rush into anything.

Looks like I'll definitely opt for the intel quad core, maybe the next model up. Might as well go for Q6700, not a huge price increase and little extra speed if affordable seems the smart move. First piece of the puzzle in place.

Suggestions on motherboards to go with the CPU? Bearing in mind I have no plans to use WIFI, so having that onboard isn't really needed. Much prefer old fashioned wired networking.

With regard to the graphics card, any particular brand of nvidia cards to look for? Like with ATI I always went with Sapphire.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

buy the case and psu as seperate items,psu's supplied with cases are usually low quality
if you are running 1 card look at the 650w corsair quality range of psu's this will allow enough headroom to go up to 2 of these cards as their power draw is only midrange


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## Jeremymtz (Apr 21, 2008)

Whats the price in USD?

I will post a budget system shortly.


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Its around $1400 USD. ($1368.33)

All help appreciated thank you.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

1,367.82 Usd
the trouble is you will not find usa prices in the uk,your in the same boat we are 
pay through the nose for everything


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## Jeremymtz (Apr 21, 2008)

This should give you an idea of a 700-900 budget computer. The case is rather expensive but so are the others. Really the only place you can save some cash is with ...Case,Cpu.Everything else costs about the same.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Processor-Wolfdale-3.0Ghz-$200
(Best CPU for gaming atm in my own opinion of course)

0EVGA nForce 650i Ultra Motherboard - T1 Version-$70
(Has only one slot for graphics card-Older motherboard)

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card - 320MB GDDR3-$120
(I know there are better cards it just takes time to find em)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB Hard Drive -$73

Corsair TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz-$70

Lite-On LH-20A1S SuperAllwrite -$35

Antec Nine Hundred _ $120

oolerMaster Real Power Pro 650-Watt -$120


total-$865


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## Jeremymtz (Apr 21, 2008)

Some shops send international packages.

I could be wrong...Couldn't he just order from a UK based company?

Anyways your budget in our currency would equal more of a mid-high range gaming rig. The Motherboard can be upgraded so it features 2.0 PCI-E slots and probally SLI capability.

The video card can be made into a better series card with 512mb featuring 2.0


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

I'll check out that Intel CPU, see what sort of price it goes for over here. Also, the board would have to have SLI capability, won't get 2 graphics card from the outset, but would like the option for future upgrades.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-E8400
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/04/07/intel_core_2_duo_e8500_e8400_and_e8200/1
http://computers.pricegrabber.co.uk/processors-retail-box/m/61279089/
fry's outpost ships internationally


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Thanks for links.

Any reason why I should opt for dual core over quad? I see the dual runs at 3 ghz whereas the same price bracket quads run about 2.4 ghz. Which is going to be best for running games?


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

An update on where I am so far on choosing parts.

CPU - Currently opting for Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, can't see any huge benefit gamingwise for jumping on the quadcore wagon... Plus 3.0ghz before overclocking is enticing.

Mobo - Asus P5N-E, seems perfect for my needs and budget.

RAM - 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400.


So far so good, yes?

Current stumbling block in my build plans is the graphics card. Have decided to go for a 1GB 9600GT but am lost when it comes to picking the right brand...

Gainward 9600GT - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=808009

XFX 9600GT - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=797757

Palit/XVision 9600GT - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=798306


XFX is most expensive and seems to have the lowest specs. Gainward and Palit seem to match up roughly the same and Palit is cheaper... Am leaning towards Gainward as I had at least heard of them... Any other brands I should look into or is one of these the way to go? Perhaps theres something wrong with 9600GT that I'm missing... Any suggestions welcome, want to get this build right. :smile:


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

there is not much around at present to utilise the 4 cores and you don't get 4x 2.4ghz
my compter i use mainly for surfing and i find that the prescott 3.2 was faster than the current 6750 i am using


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## krisb (Apr 24, 2008)

nice choices so far. I have the Palit 9600 GT Sonic 1 GB and it (or acually they as i have 2) are amazing. They are running Crysis at ultra high settings with no problem at all. They have more output options then any other card....and motherboard for that matter. Even has the option of running sound through the card for the HDMI output. Very good choice and the prices are good too.


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Thats good to know, as I would eventually be running 2 cards.

Have done a bit of reading and some sources suggest that an 8800GT would be better than 9600GT. Kind of thrown a spanner in my plans which were unfolding nicely. Comparison over on Tom's Hardware has the 8800 outperforming the 9600 in all the game tests. Started leaning toward that now even though its a generation behind. Looks like I'd need a pricey 9800 to match it in the current gen.

New card up for consideration is XFX 8800 GT - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=794150

There are other brands but XFX seem to be highly thought of so seemed a good choice.


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

the 8800GT is a really solid card, I own one and it rips through all the games I currently play with max settings.Guild Wars, Sins of a Solar Empire, Assassin's Creed. 

The cards do differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. You may notice slightly faster clock speeds in BFG cards compared to eVGA and XFX...although all BFG is doing is slightly overclocking the card and charging extra money for it. To sum it up, XFX and eVGA are both solid choices.

my specs

Processor: Intel e8400
Motherboard: GA-P35-D3SL
Ram: 2x2GB Mushkin PC6400
Vid: eVGA 8800GT
700W OCZ GamexStream PSU.


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Great, its good to hear reports of similar specs to my planned system running current games so well.

eVGA is more expensive than XFX, so I think I'll go with XFX, spare £30 can go toward Vista.

I see you're running a 700W PSU... I was looking at a 650W Coolermaster as it seemed to be about the price I'd want to pay. Do you think that will be sufficient for running two 8800 SLI in the future? This is the PSU I am looking at buying http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116522. Someone suggested Corsair but they're rather pricey.

I have lots of questions I know, just keen to do a good job on picking the right parts for my needs.


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

I would recommend 700W and up for running dual cards of that caliber.

I just ran newegg's power supply calculator and it came up with a minimum 669W. Thats with a dual core CPU, 2x8800GTS (they didn't have 8800GT's in the list so this is probably the closest thing in terms of power consumption) 4Gb ram, 2 CD/DVD drives, and 2 internal hard drives.

you may want to wait until someone with a bit more experience with SLI replies.

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/71/88062081ls8.jpg


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

that model coolermaster is not a good idea
don't scimp on the power supply cut back on something else


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

It's a good job I asked then, thank you. Future crisis averted.

Shall have a look whats available in 700-750w, maybe go for one of the Corsairs I deemed to pricey, more efficient PSU, more efficient PC.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

look at the efficiecy rateing look for 80%


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Looking at this corsair 750w, more expensive than I planned but I underestimated the importance of the PSU.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=684732

Specs read it maintains 80% efficiency even at 100% load. Seems like the sort of thing I'd need. Could you guys look at the specs and see if its suitable for an SLI system.

In other news, Sound Card I picked is X-Fi Xtreme Gamer http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=503577

Says theres a fully Vista compliant Music version... will this gamer one work fine with Vista? No mention of vista compliance in the specs.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

psu no problem here gives the specs discription better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair+750w
from what i have read with the xifi you need to selective on which drivers you install


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

That is a good description indeed and has clinched the deal, I shall definitely opt for that PSU.

Had a look over on the creative driver downloads and there are both vista 32 and vista 64 drivers for the x-fi xtreme gamer, so no worries there.

This brings me to something I've been wondering about, I shall have to buy Vista, I am clueless as to whether I need the 32 bit or 64 bit version, how will I know which one to pick?

Some questions answered and I return with more, sorry.:tongue:


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

for gameing i think the 32x


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

good point Dai....the PSU is most definitely the last thing you want to skimp on....I suggest you take a look at this PSU guide here


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## IanUK (May 8, 2008)

Link to PSU guide didn't work, but I managed to find what you meant via the stickies so thanks, lots of detailed info there for me to study up on.

So 32 bit for a gaming platform, one less thing to think about then.

Thanks for all the help so far, sure I'll be back to this thread soon with more questions. In no hurry to build this system, shall take my time and make sure I pick the right parts.


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Sorry about that, here is the correct link.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html


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