# Help with building a gaming comp



## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

Good day

Note to moderators: If I've placed this incorrectly I apologize

I decided that my old computer just cant cut it anymore and now I want an immense gaming system.

Problem...

I aint got the foggiest. I didnt keep upto date with the new kids on the block and now I'm just baffled.

So any of you brainiacs in amazing gaming computers out there, can you lend me a hand?

(If the components are from ebuyer.com then its much sweeter)

I'm looking for a system that can utterly thrash current games and thrash games in the near future.

In short I'm looking for the ultimate gaming rig

I've been advised to get a Nvidia 280 in SLI, so having 2 of them or something like that.

I also would like 8GB of RAM if not more XD

My main gaming genre is RTS... And I build -A LOT- of units so i need a good processor and RAM.

But that aint for me to comment on what components as I said I aint got a clue lol.

So if any of you out there can help me out here

Can you find me and link me to the components to an immensely powerful, utterly amazing, totally powerful thrashing computer for games
Games like Command and Conquer, Dawn of War, RTS' of the sort that are from Ebuyer.com?

If theres an amazing case to go with it too that just makes the deal sweeter.

Dont worry about my budget, just find me the parts please lol xD

Any help here is muchly appreciated, with advice coming from my friends and other sources I thought I'd turn to the largest community of brainiacs and experts in this area.

Much thanks

Ruzzy

Edit: A few more bits added lol


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are you sold on the SLI set up? You may want to have a read through this first, I'm not sold on SLI or Crossfire I fell you get the same performance from a good big single card for a lot less cost and hassle. Second problem is for SLI you need a Nvidia chipset and right now they are just plain buggy picky about memory and hard to configure successfully.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=761


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

Case:Antec 900
Processor: intel core 2 quad Q9650 3.0 ghz Socket 775
Mother Board: EVGA 132-ck-nf79 nforce 790i ultra sli 
RAM: G-skill 2x 2GB 240 pin DDR3 1600(not even vista will pick up 8 GB of Ram, You can but you will be wasting your money, this RAM is so fast, you will start up crysis in around 30 seconds)
Video card: SLI Nvidia 280 (optional x 2)
Sound card: Creative sound blaster (any sound card)
HD: Primary Velociraptor 10000 RPM 300 GB (western digital)
HD: Secondary ANYTHING SAT(BUT KEEP THE os AND GAMES ON THE VELOCIRAPTOR TO KEEP GAMING ULTRA FAST)
Power Supply:ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1100 1100W ATX12V (will power everything garunteed
Cooling: Thermaltake CL-W0175 Water Cooler(Water cooling, if you want fan and eatsink cooling go with the Thermaltake CL-P0401 110mm Full-Range Fan CPU Cooler, your choice)

OS: XP PRO SP3 64bit


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Zombeat did just post one hellva spec !


although I would have to say the ATI 4870 X2 would be far better value !

and forget the SLI


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

Thanks for the advice, but that sounds like its going to cost a hell of a lot of money

I'll think about it :]

I was looking through PC Gamer mags and I saw this

------

Gamer Inifity SLI KO

6MB Cache, 1333Mhz FSB E8300 2.67Ghz
EVGA nForce 780i-SLI Chipset MB w/ Dual 16x PCI-E
Vista
OCZ 4GB PC-6400 DDR2-800 Dual Channel Memory
500GB 7200PRM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache Ultra Fast HD
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB Video
18x Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive & 16x DVD-ROM
High-Def 7.1 Surround Sound
22" Wide Screen Colour TFT Active Matrix LCD monitor
Logitech Keyboard and optical mouse
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/images/cs/cosmos_s/01_170x150.jpg thats the case
12-in-One Media Reader
Hiper Type-M SLI /CrossfireX Ready 630Watt PSU
802.11G Wireless PCI Network Adaptor

£1265

and my friend picked a few bits out too

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148503
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146062
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146751

any thoughts on teh system and the pieces?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

cost alot of money ???????????????????/ you lost me >>>>> :wink:


you were originally talking about *"I've been advised to get a Nvidia 280 in SLI, so having 2 of them or something like that."*
thats $1000.00 dollars in video cards ??????????? :laugh:


the spec you posted last is decent ....but I would avoid nvidia chipsets like the plague ..... they are far tooooo buggy 

better off to get P35 chipset is ULTRA stable and easy to set-up or if you have to have the newer stuff ...... P45 chipset board

the 9800 GX2 is decent ..... but two ati 4850's will stomp it.


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

if you want you games to boot and load fast, definityly get a velociraptor 10000 RPM drive, it can boot anything up so quick


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

oh and vista si not a stable OS, XP is the way to go for gaming


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I have drives that are 15,000 RPM SCSI drives on a PCI express SCSI controller ....... they are faster than regular sata drives but its NOT a breath taking improvement ...... I highly doubt neither is the Velocity raptor !

the velocity raptor is therotical speed of 300mb/s and the SCSI drive is 320mb/s

they boot faster and load programs faster = YES but you are going to pay dearly for that speed improvement ......would I advise the average gamer to spend that kind of money = HELL NO *not a good performance to cost ratio*
if you *only* want to focus on performance ....... then you bet * get to spending !*
BTW: the SCSI is still faster and doesnt use the CPU a fraction of what the Sata drive does !


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

you mean the ribbon cables?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

Linderman; with that previous system i sent i found a Processor i think is good now so it stands at

Processor:
6MB Cache 1333MhZ FSB Quad Q9300 2.50GhZ

Mobo:
EVGA nForce 780i-SLI Chipset MB w/ Dual 16x PCI-E

RAM:
OCZ 4096MB PC-6400 DDR2-800 Dual Channel Memory

HDD:
500GB 7200RPM SATA-II 3.0GB/s 16MB Cache Ultra Fast HD

Optical Drive:
18x Dual layer DVD+/-RW Drive & 16x DVD ROM

Sound:
7.1 High-Def Surround Sound

VDU:
24" LCD Monitor widescreen 1920x1200 400cd/m2 10000:1 5 ms DVI/VGA

Logitech Keyboard mouse,

nice case with a 600 Watt PSU

12-in-One Media Reader

Hiper Type-M SLI CrossfireX Ready 630Watt PSU

802.11G Wireless PCI Network adaptor

that as it stands at the moment without the Nvidia graphics card wwill be about £1345, 

so you recommend getting 2 ATI 4850's? would it be compatible with the current setup and is there sufficient power?
is this the legendary card your on about? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147245

Oh and I have my XP Disk loitering around somewhere so if i bought this package from the magazine then i'll reformat and put XP on it if i buy bits seperately ill put XP on it, uses less power so i get more out of my hardware

Thank you

---
Edit: explaining about the OS, and added the card link


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

Actually, Ignore the last post, very sorry about this but I think I've got the system, I'd just like someone to eye it over to see if the PSU is good enough and if its all compatible etc etc

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5Ghz (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141517)

Motherboard
XFX nForce 780i 3 way SLI Socket 775 ATX motherboard (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139340)

Graphics
2x ATI 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual HDTV DVI (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147245)

HDD
West. Digi. 500GB SATA-II 7,200RPM 8MB Cache HDD (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124741)

PSU
Xilence 800W Gaming Edition 13.5cm Fan 4x PCI-E SLI comp. (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147887)

RAM
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800Mhz/PC2-6400 memory Gold Dual Channel Unbuffered (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146049)

Optical Drive
Pioneer 20x DVD-RW Dual Layer IDE (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136445)

Sound Card
Creative Soundblaster Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channel Surround (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129740)

Case
Antec Nine Hundred 900 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268)

Monitor
24" 1920x1200 10,000/1 5ms DVI/VGA (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145011)

Wireless Keyboard + Mouse (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133289)

total (not inc Keyboard+mouse as they aint necessary)

£1089

Think thats any good?


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

Ruzzy said:


> Actually, Ignore the last post, very sorry about this but I think I've got the system, I'd just like someone to eye it over to see if the PSU is good enough and if its all compatible etc etc
> 
> Processor
> Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5Ghz (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141517)
> ...



i think that will be a pretty screamin system, but i am not sure that psu will run all that stuff, you might need a 1000 W one to keep it stable


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

Cool, just to get this straight the processor is technically 10GhZ split inot 4 2.5Ghz nodes, and if one node needs more than 2.5Ghz it can dip into other nodes and get the rest of the power needed?

i think im pretty sold on the system, i keep getting told 800W is overkill, but i just want to be safe, dont want to spend that and not have enough power xD

1000W then http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135194 like this?

thanks a lot


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## Toucan Sam (Jul 5, 2008)

Ruzzy said:


> Cool, just to get this straight the processor is technically 10GhZ split inot 4 2.5Ghz nodes, and if one node needs more than 2.5Ghz it can dip into other nodes and get the rest of the power needed?


Don't I wish that were the case, but no. Two cores are two cores when it comes to gaming. If you want other things running in the background while gaming, which i don't really know why, then you're good. But no, it's not really a 10ghz processor. If it were, they'd call it a 10ghz processor :grin:. Two or three cores will be wasted while gaming (most likely two in the recent future - when games use 4 cores that system will be in a museum somewhere)


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

ah right... so that processor aint actually any good for gaming?. oh... thats not what i wanted to hear xD 
can you recommend a socket 775 decnet processor for me then thats good for gaming?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

E8400 is a hellva value so is the E8500


if you have the budget then get what will be the last king of socket 775 ....... the E8600


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140428
??


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054&Tpk=Intel E8600


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

there is a rather large $75.00 price increase to get the E8600 cant really say thats worth it ..... but if you want the "best" ..........



it will overclock to 4.0ghz without increasing the cpu voltage !


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

ahh so thats the one, i dont think Ebuyer stocks that... and i cant really order from an american website is the E8500 no good?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

well i might just stick to the E8500, i cant find the E8600, i mean hving to go to another website in america for 0.17Ghz?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

by the way, Linderman, will the Xilence 800W cut it with the componants? or should i get like a hi-power value 1000W PSU?


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

i dont know if anyone said anything but i noticed on your current specs that you are going to a nvida chipset mobo and you have listed 2 ati 4850.
you can run one ati 4850 but not 2. you need 2 nvida cards to run SLI. Or go with an ATI mobo (better for gaming) with crossfire to put in 2 ATI gpu's


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

shotgn said:


> i dont know if anyone said anything but i noticed on your current specs that you are going to a nvida chipset mobo and you have listed 2 ati 4850.
> you can run one ati 4850 but not 2. you need 2 nvida cards to run SLI. Or go with an ATI mobo (better for gaming) with crossfire to put in 2 ATI gpu's


that seems logical to me


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I would not advise getting a SLI board ...... those chipsets are wayyyyyyy to buggy

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 or Asus P5K-E


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

PSU = OCZ 800 watt or Corsair 750-TX or Coolermaster Real Power Pro 750 watt


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

hey linderman, are you sure those PSU 's can support all that? that is alot of hardware to support and it might not be able to handle it


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

i went to my local comp shop today and looked at one their prefab systems they got there, has a nice graphics card in (cant remember the exact thing) but its basically my system ive designed (with your help) just there gunna see if they can get me a E8600 processor and their gunna bench mark test 2 Crossfired ATI 4850's against this one card in the computer xD

this is really complicated xD


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

you should find out the video card in the other comp and tell us, we'll let you know if its good or not


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

it may be complictaed but we will always be here to help : )


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

*Thanks ZomB *


you caught me napping .....>>>>>> you need a 1000 watt power supply ...... In that range the only ones I would consider would be

Seasonic 900

Thermaltake Toguhpower 1000 watt

Corsair 1000 watt 

PC power and Cooling 


and they WONT be cheap ! but they will pull the wagon


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3186&p=2


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

WAIT ONE Minute


in my haste of checking / I pulled down the wrong drop box 

the ATI 4850 uses about the same power as the 9800GTX 

use this link to check ....... but dont make the same mistake I did and drop down the box for THREE cards ...... which is TRI-SLI

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

the 750 watt units I posted above Will work well



However I must admit; when and "if" I add a second 4850 ...... I will grab the Seasonic 900 watt or Corsair 1000 watt


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

oh, well if your sure then i guess its right. : )


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Zombeast said:


> oh, well if your sure then i guess its right. : )






I didnt put the wings on flys !! ray:ray::laugh:




I have adopted a new philisophy; your power supply should be closey equal value of your video cards


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

lol, when did you get on the hardware team?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

yeah i think the other card was a 9800GTX that was already SLI'd up :] there benchmark testing crossfired 4850's against the 9800GTX or GT7 its one of them 2


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

fall of 2005


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

how did you get on it, did you apply somewhere?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

hmm? what you mean fall of 2005?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

the Hardware manager sends an invitation to those general members they feel are knowledgeable; friendly etc when an opening exists.


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

you mentioned linderman that if you crossfired you would get a 1000w. wouldnt a corsair 750w power all that?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Yes it would power it ..... but IMHO it would be under stress after one year of use ...... why risk almost $400.00 worth of video cards to save another $100.00 on power supply

I am very careful to monitor the heat that emits from a PSU when under load ...... I dont accept exaust air thats any more than "warm" ........ I have seen customers systems that felt like hair dryers when gaming on them ! that aint good


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

you must remember ....... 25%% of the size of an electrical unit should NEVER be used ..... that's an electrical engineering LAW

then as a PSU ages ..... (capicator aging) it will put out less juice as the unit gets older ..... especially tru if case cooling is not excellent 

the hotter the box the shorter the life span of ALL computer parts ....... so those guys like love whisper quite systems .......... your putting hard miles on your parts


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

linderman said:


> Yes it would power it ..... but IMHO it would be under stress after one year of use ...... why risk almost $400.00 worth of video cards to save another $100.00 on power supply
> 
> I am very careful to monitor the heat that emits from a PSU when under load ...... I dont accept exaust air thats any more than "warm" ........ I have seen customers systems that felt like hair dryers when gaming on them ! that aint good


well thats good to know..... i plan on crossfiring later on, ill plan on upgrading psu then, thanks


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

so actually getting a quiet system is a bad idea?


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

so actually getting a quiet system is a bad idea?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

quiet and high performance ........ are what dreams are made of ..........


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I would deliberatley set out to wrecklessly accept noisey parts (like cheap fans and cheap power supplies )


but I wouldnt try to mess around with turning down the rpm's on my case fans either ...... nor would I try to slow down my cpu fan !


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## Ruzzy (Oct 14, 2005)

ahh, well the case ima get i got advised to get the side fan, teh 2 front fans, cpu fan and top 200mm fan all pulling air in with a higher speed fan at the back blowing out, the fan at the back has a setting so you dont have to do anything unnatural xD


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

your case and plans have coverd all the bases !


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

linderman said:


> the Hardware manager sends an invitation to those general members they feel are knowledgeable; friendly etc when an opening exists.


is there a spot open?


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