Proposed Gaming PC (budget 1500) Including new 7800gt

everything looks really good, EXCEPT:
1) that is WAY too much money for 1 GB of RAM, you can buy 2 GB for that price. if you want to go with high performance RAM, im sure you can find some sticks that are just as good for around under $200.
2) ive heard that the 36GB Raptor is slower than the 74GB.. personally i would just go with one of those new 16mb cache hard drives instead, as raptors are too expensive.
 
erorr404 said:
everything looks really good, EXCEPT:
1) that is WAY too much money for 1 GB of RAM, you can buy 2 GB for that price. if you want to go with high performance RAM, im sure you can find some sticks that are just as good for around under $200.
2) ive heard that the 36GB Raptor is slower than the 74GB.. personally i would just go with one of those new 16mb cache hard drives instead, as raptors are too expensive.
Click to expand...

qft.

you can get 2 sticks of samsung 1gb 3200 ddr for like 80 each.. got mine running @ 2.5-3-3-7

don't get a 36 raptor, not that great
 
mjz_5 said:
qft.

you can get 2 sticks of samsung 1gb 3200 ddr for like 80 each.. got mine running @ 2.5-3-3-7

don't get a 36 raptor, not that great
Click to expand...

A 10,000 RPM hd wont speed up boot time? And I prefer ram with a cas latency of 2. Ill try to find some cheaper.

edit: Hows this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146890

edit 2: Hmm.. With this and the 74gb raptor I got rid of, I managed to save 50 bucks. I could probably upgrade to a 7800GTX and make my list only approx 10 bucks more.

edit 3: Better yet, with this, I can make my list just about the same price. Decisions decisions.
 
dude, if your gonna build a new PC, you should build it with 2 gigs of ram... although i only played the demo for a few hours, BattleField 2 supposedly runs nicer with 2 GB of ram
 
DEATH TO TEH FLOPP1E!!1oneoneoneone

Save 10$ plus get a better dvd burner imo AND get Nero with it since the retail is $3 more than the oem... great deal.
NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - Retail - $46.99

And you are *so* killing me with that Raptor drive and an 80GB. Trying to shave off a second from your boot time is not worth it to have a TINY 36GB 10Krpm drive (That 80GB drive aint that big either). Take it from me... I have just over 2TB of space. The space *will* get used. Now then, ya got 150$ there for hard drives...

Western Digital Caviar SE 300GB 7200RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM - $149.00 +$25 rebate
 
Dude, you can get the GeForce 7800 GT OC 256MB PCI-E $331 at Dell Home.
 
paintb4707 said:
And I prefer ram with a cas latency of 2.
Click to expand...
you won't notice any difference between CAS 2, 2.5, or even 3. if you are so intent on getting high performance RAM though, make sure to look into Crucial Ballistix. OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, and Crucial are all great companies (Patriot too i think, havent heard much about them).

1GB will not be enough anymore either. there are already games out that lag with 1GB on high settings (BF2, FEAR). for me, BF2 with 1GB was unplayable, but i recommend you buy a 1GB stick and and see for yourself, then get a second stick if its not enough. whatever you do though, i recommend you buy 1x1GB stick instead of 2x512MB, because if you decide to upgrade, you might have trouble running 3 or more sticks [although i think the revE cores don't take a performance hit from 4 sticks and can run 2x512MB + 1x1GB in dual channel, not sure].
 
ya, cas 2 and 2.5 are almost exactly the same. And he was talking about 1GB sticks, if you find 1GB sticks that do cas 2, they'll cost you at least 50% more than Value cas 2.5/3 sticks.
And 1GB isn't enough anymore, especially the money you're spending. Get 2 of these sticks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146545
They should tighten up to at least 2.5 something at stock, and 3-3-3 isn't bad. 2GB AND it's only like $10 more than the XMS crap you're getting right now. XMS sucks btw. Overpriced.

Why do you have two mice? The 518 is enough. And get a NEC 3540A burner, they're cheaper and NEC is #1.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047
^that or the retail one listed earlier
And if you want to burn anything w/o making an image on your HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131410
Lite-On black DVD-Rom combo drive $26 (or so).

And O.M.G. don't get that Raptor. It isn't even a real raptor, it's slower than some 7K drives. The 74GB one is actually faster, even if it doesn't seem like it. So drop the raptors. Period. They have no place in a $1500 budget build. And don't get HDDs from newegg at all, they ship them in bubblewrap, which is not recommended by any major HDD manufac. Don't take a risk. Get this:
Maxtor 200GB 7K rpm 16mb cache for $96 @ ZipZoomFly. This is a VERY good deal, and you'll save a lot of money by combining those drives into this one. The 16mb make it the fastest 7K drive around, probably even faster than the raptor. With games taking up 4+ GB minimum nowadays, you'll need it. There's also this 250gb version that's a liiitle more cost effective (but you probably want to save everywhere you can so that you can get a 7800GTX):
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100718-5

Also, you are going to be starved for watts with that PSU. Don't get me wrong, SEasonic is THE company to use for a PSU, but you will want to get the S12-500. Here it is for $105 (great deal huh? $6 for 70 watts):
http://www.case-mod.com/store/seaso...-500-watt-atx-power-supply-p-1579.html?src=fr

And here's an eVGA 7800GTX for $500 with Battlefield 2 (yay, you will need your 2GB of ram for this), a lifetime warrenty, and the "step-up" program (within 90 days you can return your card and get full credit ($500 in this case) towards a trade-in for a better card.

And so, that's about the same amount. If you want to save about $16-20 on the ram, here's some similar stuff (only diff is it won't OC as high):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146190

Good luck!
----------------

O, and this is the most you should be paying for 1GB (512x2) of ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146532
Crucial Value 512mb, $46. VERY good OCs.
 
You can save quite a bit by buying the BFG 7800GT on Dell Home for $331.

Also go with 74gb raptor (faster)
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Everything is being put into deep consideration and Ill post back with any changes. :D

Rune75 said:
DEATH TO TEH FLOPP1E!!1oneoneoneone
Click to expand...
Floppies are only 10 bucks. Some hardware only come with drivers on a floppy unfortunatley. I rather buy a floppy now then have to buy it later and have to wait 3 or 4 days just to install it.

Russ said:
Why do you have two mice?
Click to expand...
I dont have two mice? I have a logitech keyboard and logitech MX510

Russ said:
Also, you are going to be starved for watts with that PSU. Don't get me wrong, SEasonic is THE company to use for a PSU, but you will want to get the S12-500. Here it is for $105 (great deal huh? $6 for 70 watts):
Click to expand...
According to this article, I should be fine with the 420w. Especially considering the 80% eff.

Rune75 said:
And you are *so* killing me with that Raptor drive and an 80GB. Trying to shave off a second from your boot time is not worth it to have a TINY 36GB 10Krpm drive (That 80GB drive aint that big either). Take it from me... I have just over 2TB of space. The space *will* get used. Now then, ya got 150$ there for hard drives...]
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Im not a big downloader so I should be fine with the 80gb. I might ugprade to something slightly bigger because no more raptor but by the time I fill that I can always add another.

And, I was always told dual channel was the best way to go because its faster than single sticks. But, you guys are probably right about getting a single stick because my mobo does support 4 gigs if I ever do need it. I guess buying dual 1gig would be a waste because If I ever did need 4gigs of ram I would have to throw out the 2 512s

Also, regarding OCing, as I stated above I havent even built a PC before yet so I think OCing is out of my league for awhile. I wouldnt want to rely on buying cheaper hardware and hope to OC it eventually for better performance.

edit: LG dvd burner removed and replaced with NIC burner suggested by you guys above -$10 :D

edit 2: 36gb Raptor removed

edit 3: I think you guys are going to hate me for this but I cant help it :p ram
 
Don't go for Raptors, they suck!

Honestly they are LOUD and most computers should have ample space (80 GB)

Consider a Samsung SP 160 GB for the same price!
 
Get an 80 gig Raptor. Quieter and cooler than the original 36 gig variants, you will definitely notice faster load/access times if you're a gamer. I love mine.
 
if u purchase an eVGA card directly from eVGA.com, you get a free SLI motherboard
 
The 16MB Maxtor drives outperform the 36GB Raptor. Yes the WD360GD has a high spindle speed and low seek time, but it lacks density and firmware strategy. A 3GB game installation takes up 10% of a WD360GD but only 1% of a 300GB drive. Since seeks are made over a shorter area, a 7200RPM drive's seeks are a lot closer to a 10K drive than they look on paper. However, you only realize this advantage on bigger (200GB+) drives, so buy the biggest one you can afford, performance will increase accordingly. Maxtor's DM10 drives with 16MB buffer fit nicley here, and are priced to move. If you want a quieter drive that is able to leverage these advantages, check out the WD2500KS which packs a 16MB buffer as well. Samsung makes the quietest HDDs you can buy, but bring up the rear in performance.
 
Craftish said:
Get an 80 gig Raptor. Quieter and cooler than the original 36 gig variants, you will definitely notice faster load/access times if you're a gamer. I love mine.
Click to expand...
Hi, ya, um, so.... Where do you buy your 80GB Raptor? Curious.
 
The others are right... Raptors are HOT and quite loud. I seriously suggest getting a fan for the HD itself if you do get a Raptor.

DougLite's [H]ard|Forum [H]ard|Drive buying guide
Performance: Western Digital Raptor, WD740GD, 10K SATA 73GB
Pros: Fastest SATA drive available, excellent 5 year warranty. This drive is likely to retain the SATA performance crown for the foreseeable future, as other makers are reluctant to put their high profit enterpise SCSI sales at risk to make a competitor to the Raptor, and WD has no need to improve a product with no competition.
Cons: ~4x the cost per gigabyte of consumer drives, louder than most all 7200 RPM drives, limited capacity of 73GB.
Click to expand...

Some noticeably absent drives, and why they didn't make the list:
WD360GD, 10K SATA 36GB: The 73GB Raptor's little brother is significantly slower (often merely equal to much cheaper per GB 7200RPM drives) and has only half the capacity, at a much higher cost per GB. To be avoided.
Click to expand...
 
Although the WD740GD has a deep SCSI-like rumble when seeking that makes it far from a 'quiet' drive, its power consumption and heat output is actually on a similar level to 7200RPM drives. In fact, the Maxtor 16MB drives pull more power than WD740GD. This is by far the biggest weakness of Maxtor drives in general - they pull more power than any comparable drive. Maxtor's three platter MLIII pulls more power than a Hitachi 7K400 with five platters :eek:

Both the WD2500KS and Samsung drives I mentioned earlier have best in class power and thermal performance.
 
Ok well, I decided to remove the raptor completley from my list. Does anyone have any oppinions about the new ram I chose?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227210

edit: Removed 7800GT upgraded to 7800GTX :D :D Although, this always happens on newegg for some reason and appearantly something went missing because my subtotal is alot lower then expected. Unless something dropped in price somewhere but usually the case is an item disappeared from the wishlist. If anyone notices what it is please tell me, otherwise ill post back when I find out.

edit: Well I really dont see anything missing. The new subtotal is $1,473.32 If you ask me, WOW what an amazing pc for 1500 bucks. AMD 64 3500, nvida 7800GTX, 2 gigs ram, and an SLI mobo for room in the future. Hot damn.

edit: Hell yeah! Subtotal = $1,453.32 when loaded into cart because the mobo has a combo rebate with the cpu. Total including shipping is $1,511.78. This is definitley one hot computer for the price.

edit: I realized you guys above were having debates between HDs. Maybe you guys can suggest me a better one for atleast the same price or cheaper?

edit: And one last question, do you guys think this will be cool enough (temp wise)? If you noticed, I picked 3 additional dinky 80mm fans. TBH, I picked them for the UV because I plan to buy some UV green cable management wrappings and a UV neon light to go with it in the near future after building this.
 
As far as the [H]ard drive knowledge goes, I bown down to DougLite's beefy brain. He was talkin about the Western Digital WD2500KS would be a great pick... I want to try one of WD's 16MB cache drives bad...
Info:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $ $122.00
Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: Supports SATA2 Fast, Cool, and Quiet
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 Years
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701
 
paintb4707 said:
Hmm, I think Ive seen quieter 120mms than that. Let me take a look.
Click to expand...
Quieter, for sure... but I was limiting my search to "120mm and blue LED" to fit yer lighting scheme

EDIT: I see no reason why your case should get overly hot
 
Rune75 said:
As far as the [H]ard drive knowledge goes, I bown down to DougLite's beefy brain. He was talkin about the Western Digital WD2500KS would be a great pick... I want to try one of WD's 16MB cache drives bad...
Info:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $ $122.00
Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: Supports SATA2 Fast, Cool, and Quiet
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 Years
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701
Click to expand...

That would push me 70 bucks over my current total. Way over 1500 :(
 
paintb4707 said:
That would push me 70 bucks over my current total. Way over 1500 :(
Click to expand...
I dont see how... earlier you had a budget of about 150$ for hard drives (the Raptor and the 80GB)... the WD2500KS is 30$ under that

EDIT: Oh, other things got changed... ok
 
Big Fat Duck said:
you are getting a GTX with a 3500+? do you know how cpu limited that will be?
Click to expand...
huh? You need to speak stupid terms to me because Im still fairly new in the hardware department. I understand alot of games stress the cpu more than the gpu but an amd 64 3500 should be ample for BF2 or any of the latest games... Plus, I really cant afford a higher cpu considering anything more would be roughly 100 bucks more just for 200mhz... And please dont suggest OEM becase for some odd reason, newegg sells OEM cpus for more than retail.
 
Ignore him he doenst know what hes talking about. Paintb4707 ur alot more on the money then he is. Your not gonna be CPU limited by a 3500+. Probably not even a 3200+. If your looking to play games the GTX is gonna be taking the brunt of the work load. And you will have a better gaining experience on a 3500+ and a 7800 GTX then on a 4000+ with a 6800GT. Im geusstamating here but if ur looking to game stick with ur GTX. Actually u might wanna consider a GT they come in about 100 bucks cheeper and not much slower at all.
 
paintb4707 said:
You keep directing me to a 7800 GT but I said I wanted to upgrade to the GTX. :confused:
Click to expand...
Sorry, that is what is in the thread title... Proposed Gaming PC (budget 1500) Including new 7800gt
Guess that keeps sticking in my mind.
 
Rune75 said:
Sorry, that is what is in the thread title... Proposed Gaming PC (budget 1500) Including new 7800gt
Guess that keeps sticking in my mind.
Click to expand...
Sorry for that. I edited the title. ;) And thanks solo16. Does anyone else have any suggestions for this build? I think this is one [h]ot pc for 1500 bucks, but Im sure it can be better.
 
Looks good. Ill probably buy a similar one in a few days. Only things worth considering are.

1. Getting the Asus Premium rather then deluxe as the heatpipe is just so sexy and quiter. Thats like another 20 bucks
2. Or get A DFI Ultra D for like 30 bucks less Since ur only getting the seasonic 430 watt and not the 500 I assume like me you have 0 interest in SLI.

DFI is supposed to be a solid board and will save u some money.


Only other change im might make on your build is get the 7800GT and put the extra 100 into getting a sexier case. I like the Lianli PC60 Plus though all retailers seem to be jacking the price up on it lately. Funny really when it first came out it was like 105.
 
erorr404 said:
everything looks really good, EXCEPT:
1) that is WAY too much money for 1 GB of RAM, you can buy 2 GB for that price. if you want to go with high performance RAM, im sure you can find some sticks that are just as good for around under $200.
2) ive heard that the 36GB Raptor is slower than the 74GB.. personally i would just go with one of those new 16mb cache hard drives instead, as raptors are too expensive.
Click to expand...

The 36G Raptor does not compare to it's big brother. I agree with the 16mb cache HDD idea and also the RAM.
 
solo16 said:
Looks good. Ill probably buy a similar one in a few days. Only things worth considering are.

1. Getting the Asus Premium rather then deluxe as the heatpipe is just so sexy and quiter. Thats like another 20 bucks
2. Or get A DFI Ultra D for like 30 bucks less Since ur only getting the seasonic 430 watt and not the 500 I assume like me you have 0 interest in SLI.

DFI is supposed to be a solid board and will save u some money.


Only other change im might make on your build is get the 7800GT and put the extra 100 into getting a sexier case. I like the Lianli PC60 Plus though all retailers seem to be jacking the price up on it lately. Funny really when it first came out it was like 105.
Click to expand...

I heard alot of issues with that heatpipe actually. I think the problem was with only lian-li cases or anything that holds the mobo upside down. The heatpipe supposedly runs the board a lot hotter if it is held a different way. If I find where I read this Ill post back with it. And regarding the DFI board, I believe those are geared towards OCing. Im not really prepared to OC anything quite yet. And I am interested in SLI actually, otherwise it would be a waste of money. I put this list together withonly expansion in mind. If I eventually get some extra money I may throw in another 7800gtx in there. However, that does put that 500w psu into consideration. If I did want another 7800gtx I migth have to buy a whole new psu to go with it. I wouldnt like that very much. Then again, im not sure... SeaSonic is the ONLY manufacturer with 80% eff. Thats a BIG advantage over most psus with higher watts.
 
They were newegg reviews.

This board runs hot upside down!
I checked out some forums about this board, and found out why it runs hot. With an upside down insatallation, like in a Lian Li V2000A that I use, the chipset heat pipe does not work well- therefore the 50C motherboard temps, compared to 35C for the CPU. Fortunately, I also have an A8N-SLI Deluxe with the chipset heatsink/fan, and it runs much cooler (I'll use the Premium in a conventional case). So, a word of caution- don't buy this board if you have or plan to buy a case with the upside down layout! Get the Deluxe instead.
Click to expand...

Great Board, but it sure is hot...
This is the board to get if you want to run two 2-slot video cards in SLI mode. The only problem I have is that the board is very hot, whether under load or not. The cpu is cool (normally 35C at idle), but the board is always around 50C. I wonder if it's because I'm running two video cards? Other than that, it went together well and runs great with the FX55 San Diego.
Click to expand...

edit: And damn man, that pc60 is fugly. If I was rich and famous I would probably go for the PC-V2000A. Or better yet, if I knew a dime worth of watercooling I would no doubt get this
 
get the eVGA 7800GTX and you can get your motherboard FREE, then you can put that money to use for something else.
 
About the only way to make room for a nicer [H]ard|Drive in the budget is to step down to the 3200+ Venice. If you don't mind overclocking, that is what I'd do. IMO, the step up between an 80GB/8MB drive and a 250GB/16MB drive is much bigger than 3200+ to 3500+, but I care about storage performance more than most people ;) If you do decide to do this, my money is on WD2500KS as the best pick for you. Either way, WD's drives have improved quite a bit in recent months, and you won't be disappointed.
 
Ultra Wide said:
get the eVGA 7800GTX and you can get your motherboard FREE, then you can put that money to use for something else.
Click to expand...
dude give a link
 
erf said:
dude give a link
Click to expand...
I believe hes talking about this one here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130234

But that mobo looks real iffy... Anyone know anything about it?

edit: It doesnt look like it even has any sata150 inputs.

edit: Hey guys check this out! XFX has a combo special with the 3500. The deal is it subtracts 50 bucks off the cpu. And the XFX is only 60 bucks more than the albatron. I can get the most expensive and most OCed 7800GTX on newegg for only 10 bucks more.

edit again: Well, regarding the edit above, appearantly 2 combos dont work simultaneously. The mobo and cpu is supposed to be a -$20 combo but I guess that doesnt add up with the GPU combo. So realistically, that puts me 30 bucks over my current total when loaded into the cart. Damn, I was so excited too :( :( Would it be worth it to look for cheaper ram or should I just go with my original setup?

edit: I cant really find worthwhile 2.5 cas latency dual channel 2gb. TBH I really dont want ram with a cas latency of 3. I think im leaning towards my original setup with the albatron. Any suggestions?
 
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