Extreme Gaming on a Budget $1500

F

fLiPaChu

Gawd
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
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Hey guys, i've been presented with a challenge by a friend: Build a "Dell-Killer" for $1500 cold ones. What I ask is only for your opinion on system parts, reflecting on this information:

-monitor is taken care of
-peripherals i.e. keyboards, mice, etc. already accounted for
-didn't really like this request but "It must be able to run D3 and future games pretty damn good!"
-overclocking to get past stock Dell speeds will be totally fine :). i.e. squeeze every last bit of juice for performance.
-AMD/INTEL (no preference now :D)
-it remains on AIR ;)

So i've thought about sticking with P4C's for now, considering staying with i865/875 chipset (which is where i could really save to make budget with mobo choices). Going with a gig of ram ~PC4000. Will take it to the next level with a 6800GT. HD space to 100+gigs... just a thoughts from me. Anyway, what can you come up with? (Remember, this has gotta kill a dell that's priced almost 1000 more haha). Thanks for your opinions.
 
first off, convince your friend Intell sucks ass (not really, but I hate them).
If by some miracle he goes Amd, get a 3500 (939), Abit AV8, 1 gig of 3200 LL, 6800 GT, and whatever the hell else you want.
If you go intel, I'd stick with a good o'l 2.8 or 3.0c cpu, and a nice IC7.
 
Epox EP-4PDA2 Rev2 $108
3.0c northwood $221
OCZ EL 2x512mb PC4000 $278
XFX Geforce 6800 GT $449
NEC 8x DVD burner $61
Audigy LS $58
Thermaltake Purepower 480w $63
Aspire X-Dreamer II $70
120gb Seagate SATA $93
Black Floppy $10
XP Home $90

Rings in at $1408, so if there's anything I missed, you've got the space to fill it in...
 
I dunno Y u want INtel cause AMD is best for gaming.

Anyways here a few suggestions:

1. Processor: P4 3.2C or 3.4C are both fast processors
2. ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo is a good setup
3. 6800GT is a excellent Gfx card. I suggest the BFG 6800GT OC cause its already overclocked and can go higher to 6800 Ultra speeds.
4. Zalman 7000CU (forgot full name) all copper heatsink is a very good cooler and can help u OC ur processor nicely. Or find some cheap Water cooling solution.
5. Corsair Memory is excellent. They have PC4000 ram but its like 250+. Try getting 3200 and OCing it.
6. HDs: WD Raptor 74GB 10,000rpm + WD Caviar SE 250GB. Raptor for OS & Games and the 250GB for storage.
 
iownyou14 said:
I dunno Y u want INtel cause AMD is best for gaming.

Anyways here a few suggestions:

1. Processor: P4 3.2C or 3.4C are both fast processors
2. ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo is a good setup
3. 6800GT is a excellent Gfx card. I suggest the BFG 6800GT OC cause its already overclocked and can go higher to 6800 Ultra speeds.
4. Zalman 7000CU (forgot full name) all copper heatsink is a very good cooler and can help u OC ur processor nicely. Or find some cheap Water cooling solution.
5. Corsair Memory is excellent. They have PC4000 ram but its like 250+. Try getting 3200 and OCing it.
6. HDs: WD Raptor 74GB 10,000rpm + WD Caviar SE 250GB. Raptor for OS & Games and the 250GB for storage.
Click to expand...

Same thing I would recommend except with a X800 XT instead :)
 
If you can get an A64 get it, but DO NOT get a Athlon XP. They dont compete with intel p4c's at stock speeds. Even overclocked, the intel wins by a mile. I would try to get a A64 system though..
 
ask him why he insists on intel, im sure you can come up with logical arguments for amd instead, unless he's just ignorant and blindly loyal to intel, in that case you'll never change his mind.
 
Xtasy0 said:
ask him why he insists on intel, im sure you can come up with logical arguments for amd instead, unless he's just ignorant and blindly loyal to intel, in that case you'll never change his mind.
Click to expand...


... Unless he's just ignorant and blindly loyal to AMD, in that case you'll never change his mind.


Seems like that applies to most AMD fans. (you?)
 
jen4950 said:
... Unless he's just ignorant and blindly loyal to AMD, in that case you'll never change his mind.


Seems like that applies to most AMD fans. (you?)
Click to expand...

uh, amd cpu's outperform intel's in gaming currently, he wants a gaming rig.

do i need to draw up illustrations?
 
Xtasy0 said:
uh, amd cpu's outperform intel's in gaming currently, he wants a gaming rig.

do i need to draw up illustrations?
Click to expand...


Do I need to get out the Lincoln Logs and build a fucking fort to get down to your level? I mean the Alamo is made out of mud and shit but I can get some Cat D-9's if I need it.

Really, If AMD will win the west and beat the best, I should just give up. :rolleyes: And so should the $8.049 BIL (2nd quarter!!!) Intel.
 
haha guys, keep the opinions on system parts coming, suggestions from both sides i guess would be fine. i'll do some brain-washing if i have to ;) , but i've gotta see some price points.

flip
 
Its so biased bencmarks dont matter that much if it runs it runs if it doesnt it doesnt and its only a few points differance and you'll never really notice a big differance and you can overclock an intel probably farther then the 64 bits.
 
The reason i said 6800GT instead of X800 XT because its cheaper and it can be overclocked to 6800 Ultra speeds. X800 XT is somewhat not available to us and is pretty expensive. He wants a comp under 1500.00 and the GT is a good video card for that range. Also, X800 Pro is also Very good but it has only 12 piplines (instead of 6800GT's 16) and in Doom3, the GT out performs it.

Also, AMD is the way to go. It will surely beat a Dell. Get a 3500+ or 3800+ w/ MSI K8N Neo2 Platnuim mobo. Good combo.
 
AMDXPCottonFire22 said:
Its so biased bencmarks dont matter that much if it runs it runs if it doesnt it doesnt and its only a few points differance and you'll never really notice a big differance and you can overclock an intel probably farther then the 64 bits.
Click to expand...

Heres the thing. Yes clock speeds of intel cpus are better and u over clock them, but the lower clock speeds of the AMDs can outperform the intel. Ppl say its because AMD chips are more efficient and thats y they say ie. 3000+ (which is equvilent to a Intel 3.0 cpu). So AMD has a 3800+ (which is equivilent to a Intel 3.8 and its cheaper AND can be OCed).
 
you realize that those two pieces of hardware eat up the budget like mad, right? (although i drool)

flip
 
I'd go with an A64, but in the case your friend wont go for the 64, I'd go with the setup so_cal_forever stated. Sounds rock solid. 10x better then Dell's generic brands :p
 
Okay, just for shits and giggles.. what mobo/mem would you pair up with this lucky find:

A64 3200+ Clawhammer CG Revision ADA3200AEP5AR 1MBCache

flip

EDIT: would that seriously kick the crap out of my current system?
 
I'm not sure what kind of RAM woudl go good with that, but I do think that most people will recoomend some Corsair XMS Low Latency stuff.

However, I DO think it will beat the hell out of what you have now, yes :p
 
rofl, and your mobo of choice? i've heard good things about the Chaintech VNF3-250, just.. $75 dollars actually seems a bit low lol. Any other suggestions, i hear that chip up there overclocks like mad.

flip
 
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

tell me if you think THAT is kicking the crap out of them...

What i would go with for that budget is:

Athlon64 754pin 3400+ 512kb cache
MSI Neo nforce3 250 chipset
geforce 6800GT
1 gig good corsair RAM
250gig (or 300) SATA maxtor hard drive with 16mb cache
Audigy2 ZS

whatever else you want


you're also better off getting the newcastle (512kb cache) than the clawhammer. The newcastles are all clocked 200mhz faster, and this more than makes up for losing 512kb cache. Also the newcastles overclock much better, and because of the onboard memory controller (something the p4 does NOT have and is very importatnt) dual channel memory, nor the extra cash help performance very much.
 
"holy crap" "whoa"

flip

how much are we talking here for the chip igni? and which newcastle do you suggest? (links appreciated :D )
 
I managed to get my rig for about 1600 bucks. Since you already have a monitor, you should be able to get a similar system for about 1400. I haven't built the thing yet, but I think it'll go a long way as far as gaming. See the specs below.
 
Heres my setup for u:

Case: Chenming Black Entry Level Server Case w/ Side Window - $55.00
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Socket 754) OEM - $295.00
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platnium w/ nForce 3 250GB - $126.00
Memory: Corsair XMS Series 1GB (2x512) DDR PC3200 - $228.00
Hard Drive: Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA 8MB Cache - $104.00
Video Card: eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT - $429.00
DVD/CDRW: Lite-On 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive Black - $42.99
DVD-RW: Lite-On 12X DVD±RW Drive Black w/ Software - $76.99
Floppy: Sony 3.5" Floppy Drive Black - $9.99
Heatsink: Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Copper CPU Cooler - $40.99

Total: $1439.96

All found @ www.Newegg.com
You might be able to find cheaper stuff @ other places. Check out www.Pricewatch.com and www.Froogle.com and search for the parts and prices.
 
iownyou14 said:
Heres my setup for u:

Case: Chenming Black Entry Level Server Case w/ Side Window - $55.00
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (Socket 754) OEM - $295.00
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platnium w/ nForce 3 250GB - $126.00
Memory: Corsair XMS Series 1GB (2x512) DDR PC3200 - $228.00
Hard Drive: Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA 8MB Cache - $104.00
Video Card: eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT - $429.00
DVD/CDRW: Lite-On 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive Black - $42.99
DVD-RW: Lite-On 12X DVD±RW Drive Black w/ Software - $76.99
Floppy: Sony 3.5" Floppy Drive Black - $9.99
Heatsink: Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Copper CPU Cooler - $40.99

Total: $1439.96

All found @ www.Newegg.com
You might be able to find cheaper stuff @ other places. Check out www.Pricewatch.com and www.Froogle.com and search for the parts and prices.
Click to expand...


creepy, i was oging to post a suggestion with the same proc, same board, same video card, and same ram....I was also going to suggest an Audigy 2....but then I remembed the Neo is Nforce, which has absolutly bitchin sound (and DD5.1)
 
U can get an Audigy 2 for about $81.00 extra. Also, i recomend looking @ pricewatch and froogle to find better prices from some stuff. Then it will surely be under $1500.00
 
that was a great build, gonna reference some of it :) thanks, keep em coming. i like to see variation.

flip
 
Viper87227 said:
I was also going to suggest an Audigy 2....but then I remembed the Neo is Nforce, which has absolutly bitchin sound (and DD5.1)
Click to expand...

umm no the neo has realtek onboard sound. Sound Storm isn't in the nforce 3 250gb chipset. I reccomend the Chaintech AV-710 for a sound card over the audigy. It sounds almost as nice as a m-audio 7.1 revolution and is only 24 bucks at compgeeks.com
 
Before this flame war gets any worse, let's look at it this way:

What do you get with a P4 Canterwood system? Great performance, decent price/performance ratio, but not much future-proofing.

What do you get with an AMD64 system? Great performance (or greater?), great price/performance ratio (up to around 3500+ anyways), and 64-bit capabilities.

I have a P4 system myself (see signature), and I just finished buiding an A64 3000+ system for a friend. Was the difference in performance phenomenal? No. Did his system, albeit mine having double the RAM, perform basic software/operating system functions faster, even after fully loading it? Yes. If I had the choice, would I give up my P4 for an A64 system? Yes, although I love my Asus board too much :p.
 
iownyou14 said:
I dunno Y u want INtel cause AMD is best for gaming.

Anyways here a few suggestions:

1. Processor: P4 3.2C or 3.4C are both fast processors
2. ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe mobo is a good setup
3. 6800GT is a excellent Gfx card. I suggest the BFG 6800GT OC cause its already overclocked and can go higher to 6800 Ultra speeds.
4. Zalman 7000CU (forgot full name) all copper heatsink is a very good cooler and can help u OC ur processor nicely. Or find some cheap Water cooling solution.
5. Corsair Memory is excellent. They have PC4000 ram but its like 250+. Try getting 3200 and OCing it.
6. HDs: WD Raptor 74GB 10,000rpm + WD Caviar SE 250GB. Raptor for OS & Games and the 250GB for storage.
Click to expand...
It really doesnt matter ehat brand you get, as long as its not PNY... they dont have a very great rep. Virtually all 6800GT's OC past 400Mhz so i dont think it matters what brand. I would personally look at BFG/EVGA/Leadtek
 
Uh, one thing you might have forgotten....
PSU?
The Chenming case has no PSU, the all-important part, with it's own section opn the forums!
To keep it cheap & simple, add a True 430 for $70, it should be plenty enough for that rig, or go up to a True 480 for $17.51 more if you really feel you need more :p
 
Liam said:
It really doesnt matter ehat brand you get, as long as its not PNY... they dont have a very great rep. Virtually all 6800GT's OC past 400Mhz so i dont think it matters what brand. I would personally look at BFG/EVGA/Leadtek
Click to expand...

I would say go with XFX. In all my past exerperiance with them, they OC great. My XFX 5900 got an extra 100mhz on the core, and 200mhz on ram.Ive heard alot of sucess stories with overclocking the XFX 6800GT...if you can find it for the right price, go with it....
 
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