# Gaming PC



## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

Hi all,

I registered last night and have had a little read around some of the other topics but have decided maybe it is best to just go and ask the question.

I am wanting to build a Gaming PC which will be able to run all the newest games on high settings - ( If this is possible )

I have someone who will help me put it all toghether and I have some knowledge but I'm going round in circles in terms of motherboards and trying to understand things like difference in RAM and PSU's.

So please help.. as requested here are answers to questions:

Budget: How much money are you willing to spend on the new build?

£1000-2000 lower the better obviously but certain things I will pay more for if it's worth it

Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want?
No not really, quality is important though.

Multitasking: Will you be multitasking with this computer and if so, how much?

I'm not entirely sure what this means but I ussually alt-tab in games if possible to use msn and the internet but really thats about it.

Gaming: Will you be gaming and if so, how much and how new are the games?

As stated before I will be, I play a few older games but thats because my PC can't run the newest games. I am looking to have something that will run the likes of Crysis but I ussually play RTS Command and Conquer games and Supreme commander. ( I'm not sure but requiresments between RTS and FPS are a bit different)?
Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding?

No

Overclocking: Do you plan on overclocking and if so, how much?
Myself no but should it be worth doing, again I know someone who can help here.

Storage: How much storage will you need and what will you be storing?

I think 500GB will be more than enough.

Legacy Support: Will you need support for older hardware like parallel, serial, or PS/2 devices?

No

Operating System: Do you want Windows XP or Vista, or Linux compatibility?

Only Windows Vista 64 bit supports more than 2GB ram?

Case: Do you want help selecting a case and if so, how big do you want it?

Yes, fairly big as it gets hot in my room so I am concerned about cooling/Airflow.

Accessories: Do you want a keyboard, mouse, or other items included?

I will need a new Keyboard but my mouse is quite new so I won't be changing it.

Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have?

No

Monitor: If you want a monitor, what size do you want and should it be widescreen?

Yeh I was wondering what people think, I'd like to get a decent quality 22" or 24" monitor. Is 24 worth the extra cash?


Stores: Do you have any online stores that you prefer to purchase from?

Not really

Location: What country do you live in? 

England

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Will budge on some things but this is my ideal.

I await your help ray:

Thanks


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## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

I asked the same question somewhere else and these are the specs I was told. It should be able to run Crysis on High and pretty much max out almost every other game. This is just for the computer I don't know about the monitor.
CPU Intel E8400
GPU HD 4850
Motherboard Intel P45
PSU Corsair 650w
RAM 4gb
HDD SATA 250GB+ 7200RPM
DVD 20x DVD±R Burner
Case ATX Midi Tower Computer Case
OS Vista 64 bit


I just bought all these from Newegg.com and the total was about $950.

The keyboard I got with it was this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823107120

It's only 7 bucks and got really good customer reviews.


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## XZanE (Nov 20, 2004)

thats what i got told also. i opted for a bigger hd though.
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB PCIe Video Card w/ HDMI, DVI
INTEL Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHZ 1333MHz (775) CPU 6M cache
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L P45 D2/ PCIe/ S2/ RAID/ 1394 (775)
Corsair TX-650 Modular Power Supply w/ Cable Management
Corsair 2G DDR2 800 TWIN2X 2048-6400C4 Kit (4-4-4-12)(RAM)
Corsair 2G DDR2 800 TWIN2X 2048-6400C4 Kit (4-4-4-12)(RAM)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 64bit DVD Edition (OEM)
Samsung 2253LW 21.6" 2ms LCD Monitor w/ High Gloss Black
Pioneer 20x DVD+/-R/RW DL burner (115D)(Black OEM) w s/ware
Antec P182 Performance one Black ATX Tower(No PSU)(wanted a bigger case)

$1,543.00Aud.


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

Thanks guys I read both your topics but, I'm from the UK which is mainly the reason for the new topic also you'll notice my budget is slightly higher. Shipment costs from newegg to UK? I think a UK site might be better..?

I was looking at the E8500 also for processor it's maybe £10-15 more expensive?

Also I was wondering if NVIDIA have a similar card I heard they work better with Intel but I'm not sure on this.

Thanks for your response's though.


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## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

What I've heard is that the HD 4850 is by far the best choice at the price it is at. You have to spend a lot more in order to have just a little bit of improvement.

And I am sure there are similar sites do newegg in the UK. Don't know any personally though.


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## XZanE (Nov 20, 2004)

the card ur talking about is probly this 9800GTX+... its in about the same range as the HD4870... but for bang for buck i have been told teh HD4850 is the best for the exta 100 buck you spend you don't get that much back from it. not sure on the prosseser for uk you might want to look at www.pcworld.co.uk not sure on priceing since they are in pounds not aud. hope this helps you a little.


(my price range is the same as yours... and my total in AUD is 1500... which i thought was really good)


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

you guys are on the right track !

any of those video cards will please you for sure 9800 GTX+ / ati 4850 / ati 4870

E8400 or E8500 for sure !!!!!

Motherboards .............. stick to Asus or Gigabyte 

the asus boards are P5Q-deluxe P5Q -Pro

Gigabyte = GA-EP45-DS4P or GA-EP45-DS3R




look on maplin.com or ebuyer.com


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## Toucan Sam (Jul 5, 2008)

XZanE said:


> the card ur talking about is probly this 9800GTX+... its in about the same range as the HD4870


The 9800 gtx+ is in the same price range as the 48*5*0


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## mlabre20 (Jul 11, 2008)

You could actually probably do really good buying these things on ebay.co.uk. It would be good prices too.


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## Desertfish (Jul 31, 2008)

Here's my pick of suppliers I usually use in the UK:

scan.co.uk
ebuyer.co.uk
cclonline.com
eclipsecomputers.com
aria.co.uk
overclock.co.uk

Considering that your budget and the fact that you want to user your rig for gaming, I would stick 2 graphics cards in there. In that case, cross-firing 2 HD4850's would be your best option because Intel motherboard chipsets at the moment provide a lot better support for ATI's crossfire that Nvidia's SLi.

If you're going the route of SLI/Crossfire, read the motherboard specs properly before you buy and make sure you get yourself a board with 2 PCI-E x16 slots. Most do 1 slot at x16 and the second slot at x8 or x4.

As for RAM; for gaming, 2GB of ram should be more than enough because most of the load is carried by the GPU anyway.

Cheers:
Chris


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## XZanE (Nov 20, 2004)

which borad has the two pci-e x16?


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

Desertfish said:


> Here's my pick of suppliers I usually use in the UK:
> 
> scan.co.uk
> ebuyer.co.uk
> ...


Cheers Chris,

I hadn't heard of most of those so I'll have a look when I'm home from work.

I'll have a look into SLi/Crossfire I wasn't really considering it. How long before they support SLi better do you think?

I think I'll be going 4GB for sure, Vista takes up 2GB of Ram just to run the thing correctly lol (noticed you use XP)

Thanks a lot for advice on mother board to I didn't know this!

Cheers


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> you guys are on the right track !
> 
> any of those video cards will please you for sure 9800 GTX+ / ati 4850 / ati 4870
> 
> ...



Thanks for motherboard advice, just wondering are these good boards for SLi / Crossfire if I do go down that route?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

they will be crossxfire boards .......... I havent seen a SLI board worthy of owning the last two years of maybe more .............. I avoid the 680 /750 / 780 / 790 chipsets like the plague........ they are rather buggy and poor overclockers


when you realize very few gaming software titles are optimized for SLI it doesnt take long to realize thats a wasted effort 

especially now; when you can buy an extrememly high performance single video cards that were selling for $600 & $700 bucks .... can now be had for $300.00 now that ATI and Nvidia are battling for dominance.

that gave SLI and Crossfire a shot in the foot !


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> they will be crossxfire boards .......... I havent seen a SLI board worthy of owning the last two years of maybe more .............. I avoid the 680 /750 / 780 / 790 chipsets like the plague........ they are rather buggy and poor overclockers
> 
> 
> when you realize very few gaming software titles are optimized for SLI it doesnt take long to realize thats a wasted effort
> ...


GTX 280 or SLI two 9800's? (or Crossfire ATI equivalent - as recommended) I'd read that SLI/Crossfire wasn't as good as using 1 very good card is this true for a gaming PC?

Just want a few opinions as this is probably the biggest thing I'm stuck on now some motherboards and sites have been suggested.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

YES thats correct


one high end card will outperform most SLI set-ups simply because the Game itself is not engineered to fully use the capabilities of SLI


I would suggest the 9800GTX PLUS (9800 GTX+) or the ATI 4850 $200.00

if you really want to get froggy .......... ATI 4870 $300.00


I would NOT suggest the GTX 280 too much money compared to the almost equal ATI 4870


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> YES thats correct
> 
> 
> one high end card will outperform most SLI set-ups simply because the Game itself is not engineered to fully use the capabilities of SLI
> ...


Ok, thanks for the help mate much appreciated!

although.. can you suggest a good motherboard for the ATI card or does it not matter? I had been looking down the NVIDIA route previously you see.

If it does matter... and I upgrade is it likely to be a pain if I go back to NVIDIA?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

doesnt matter which card you buy when you are only running ONE video card


you dont have to worry about SLI boards or choosing a crossfire board unless you know you will be running two video cards in the future

as far as boards go 


I still prefer the Intel P35 chipsets as offered by 

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 or cheaper = GA-EP35-DS3L

Asus P5K-E


but if you want something closer to "just" released


Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4P or GA-EP45-DSR

Asus = P5Q- Pro LGA775 or P5Q-Deluxe


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> doesnt matter which card you buy when you are only running ONE video card
> 
> 
> you dont have to worry about SLI boards or choosing a crossfire board unless you know you will be running two video cards in the future
> ...


The Asus boards i can find with P5Q are only sold in chipset P45? Just because I can't find any P5Q with p35 chipset.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

the PDQ sereis is P45 chipst


The P35 chipset boards are P5K


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> the PDQ sereis is P45 chipst
> 
> 
> The P35 chipset boards are P5K



*GFX Card*

Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
_
* £119.64 _

*CPU*

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor

_* £133.95 _

*PSU*

Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail
_
* £60.24_
*
Memory*

Corsair 2G DDR2 800 TWIN2X 2048-6400C4 Kit

_* £49.99_

Corsair 2G DDR2 800 TWIN2X 2048-6400C4 Kit

_* £49.99_

*Operating System*

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 64bit DVD Edition (OEM)

_* £52.59_

*Monitor*

Samsung SM223BW 21.6" TFT Monitor Widescreen 1680x1050 3000:1 300 cd/m2 5ms VGA/DVI-D Glossy black 3 Years Onsite Warranty

_* £163.33_

*DVD RW*

Pioneer 20x DVD+/-R/RW DL burner (115D)(Black OEM)

_* £17.49_

*Case*

Casecom KB-7720BK ATX Midi Tower Case 

_* £10.99_

*Hard Drive*

Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM

_* £46.97_

Prices/Products - Ebuyer.com

total is £790 ish


Anyone see any flaws/improvements with this build? - It's largely based on what's above in topic but I couldn't find some things.

(thanks for clearing that up linderman with chipsets)


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

looks like you have it all to me ??????? as soon as you pick a motherboard of course ! :tongue:


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

linderman said:


> looks like you have it all to me ??????? as soon as you pick a motherboard of course ! :tongue:


*Mother board*

- Asus P5Q PRO P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

* £84.01 (EBuyer.com)


Opps i wrote it down on a note pad document and missed it off it was at the top aswell lol!


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

well done


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## XZanE (Nov 20, 2004)

that looks really really close to what i have very nice... I wish mine was only going to cost that much lol.. in aud its 1500 lol..


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## Confused-Novice (Jul 30, 2008)

XZanE said:


> that looks really really close to what i have very nice... I wish mine was only going to cost that much lol.. in aud its 1500 lol..


Live rates at 2008.08.02 23:16:16 UTC
790.00 GBP

=

1,559.51 USD
United Kingdom Pounds United States Dollars
1 GBP = 1.97406 USD 1 USD = 0.506571 GBP

Live rates at 2008.08.02 23:19:16 UTC
790.00 GBP

=

1,673.77 AUD
United Kingdom Pounds Australia Dollars
1 GBP = 2.11870 AUD 1 AUD = 0.471988 GBP

lol..


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