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Build me a gaming PC, too

My 2005 Alienware Aurora 5500 is just too outdated for me (inb4alienwareh8).

I'm willing to spend...well, I can probably convince myself of anything up to about $1500, but something under $1000 would be nice. I've already got a sound card, speakers (& amp), mouse, keyboard, monitor, a 700w power supply, 820 gigs of external drive space & a 150gb Raptor that might still be of use. The case for this thing is nice, & it's got a liquid cooling system in it, though I have no clue as to whether that's something I can utilize or not.

If a decent blu ray drive can be got for under $100 or so, that'd be nice, but otherwise, I'd rather just put that into a normal player. The more expandability, the better, especially when it comes to hard drives.

Also of note: if it's not much more, I'd rather not have to build it...too lazy & not quite good enough at this stuff to get the setup done smoothly. So what should I get?

damn you, PKC.

edit: oh, 2+ monitor output would be awesome, and hdmi a must.

Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous My 2005 Alienware Aurora 5500 is just too outdated for me (inb4alienwareh8). I'm willing to spend...well, I can probably convince myself of anything up to about $1500, but something under $1000 would be nice. I've already got a sound card, speakers (& amp), mouse, keyboard, monitor, a 700w power supply, 820 gigs of external drive space & a 150gb Raptor that might still be of use. The case for this thing is nice, & it's got a liquid cooling system in it, though I have no clue as to whether that's something I can utilize or not. If a decent blu ray drive can be got for under $100 or so, that'd be nice, but otherwise, I'd rather just put that into a normal player. The more expandability, the better, especially when it comes to hard drives. Also of note: if it's not much more, I'd rather not have to build it...too lazy & not quite good enough at this stuff to get the setup done smoothly. So what should I get? damn you, PKC. edit: oh, 2+ monitor output would be awesome, and hdmi a must.

LOL. for that kind of money, given you already have heaps of components, you can buy an absolute ninja! FYI all modern video cards come with 2 outputs and HDMI

all i can really say is stick with intel and nvidia imo. sites like anandtech.com is where i get all my info when shopping.

if you dont want to put it together yourself you'll need to go to a local dealer and pay them to do it for you.

Re: Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

well, do any have 3 or 4 outputs (even if it's just interoperable hdmi & other stuff)

also, I have no problem physically putting the hardware together. it's the installation/setup nonsense I suck at. do people do that freelance?

Re: Re: Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous well, do any have 3 or 4 outputs (even if it's just interoperable hdmi & other stuff)

sorry man, i can really only advise you if you're looking at 2 year hardware and what the fuck does 'interoperable' mean re vid cards? ha.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous also, I have no problem physically putting the hardware together. it's the installation/setup nonsense I suck at. do people do that freelance?

ha, im totally the other way round yeah, there'd definitely be someone local if you live anywhere near other people.

...

the last time i checked, the q6600 was the bang/buck quad core. i would go for something that is easily overclocked. my 2.4 dual has been at 3.2 since feb 07, and have had zero issues with it. its as fast as the top of the line dual cores released at the time, but half the price

im not sure that quads are worth the money, check anandtech.com and see what they think. my board is two years old and supports quad CPUs, so i can upgrade cheaply at some time in the future when quads are supported fully.

but like i said, im out of the loop

interoperable means it can output digital & analog at the same time (comes up with A/V equipment all the time...I know that stuff much better...say, with some cable boxes here, you can output HDMI & component simultaneously from one box, but from others, it's either/or).

Well, at least within an hour of a lot of people. I can put anything together, but I f*cking hate drivers.

thank you for your out-of-date-as-mine expertise. Maybe you could recommend [me] some AGP cards as well, while you're at it.

Why can't you just swap out some components? All you need is a new mobo/cpu/ram.

Pull out your stuff and replace it with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819115041

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813128358

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820227289

Great mobo + ram + newest quad core processor.

Overclock it to 4ghz and throw in a pair of $100 9800GT's.

Total upgrade cost = $700 after rebates
Performance = Godlike

I want more ram, though. I hear you can even get 16 gigs now or is that not true?

also, the cooling system looks like it is running tubes of liquid straight to the processor. I'm afraid to mess with it and am fairly intimidated by its mere presence.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous I want more ram, though. I hear you can even get 16 gigs now or is that not true?

yeah the mobo I posted supports 16 gigs, but honestly WTF...Why would you need more than 4GB? lol

You tell me...and PKC, apparently.

Here's 8GB. Take it and be happy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820231151

aren't there different qualities of ram, though? I remember some number rating from when I looked at this pc...like 2:3:3 or something...latency, iirc. how much of a difference does that make?

16gb can only be used in 64bit windows though yeah? do/will you run that? if we're talking about games, i'll stick with 32bit but that might just be the conservative techy in me

I have no idea. I am on xp. lol.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous aren't there different qualities of ram, though? I remember some number rating from when I looked at this pc...like 2:3:3 or something...latency, iirc. how much of a difference does that make?

in my experience latency makes fuck all difference. certainly not the $100s differences you see in prices. you would always buy sticks of the same latency of course, whichever ones you buy.

also remember that ram latency has an effect on how much you overclock your cpu. im not sure how exactly it relates though. just that there's some kind of bell-curve relationship between latency and ram mhz as you increase the mhz.

They have different timings. 5-5-5-15 4-4-4-12, etc. Lower (tighter) is better...It tends to move data around a little faster. Tight timings can help if you are trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out of it but honestly it's not a big deal. I have done benchmarks on my machine with timings at 5-5-5-15 and 4-4-4-10 and the performance difference was negligible.

What matters most is the speed (mhz) the ram runs out. The standard today is DDR2 800mhz and that is perfectly fast for most people.
They make DDR2 that goes up to 1333mhz and are even selling DDR3 memory now..but that is totally unnecessary since most CPU's and mobos don't even go fast enough to take advantage of it...so it's a waste of $$. For the next 3-4 years, stick with ram that's DDR2 1066mhz or 1333mhz. Ram that speed will be perfectly fast for any game.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous I have no idea. I am on xp. lol.

well, i know in order to get to get 4gb running in xp you need xp 64.

dont understand the technical details, just know that 32 xp has a limit of 2gb of ram it can use. im not sure if vista is a little different or not, but fuck vista anyway.

if this machine is just for gaming then i really dont think you need more than 4gb.

I thought the theoretical limit was 3gb?

4 is ideal as there's background processes that take up RAM too but it's not essential. This is for Vista though, not XP.

Re: Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN sites like anandtech.com is where i get all my info when shopping.

Good choice. Add www.guru3d.com into that equation and you can keep up with all the info pretty easily

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz I thought the theoretical limit was 3gb? 4 is ideal as there's background processes that take up RAM too but it's not essential. This is for Vista though, not XP.

I believe its 3.2 to 3.5

However in vista (64), 32 bit programs can only use 2 gig.

Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous My 2005 Alienware Aurora 5500 is just too outdated for me (inb4alienwareh8). I'm willing to spend...well, I can probably convince myself of anything up to about $1500, but something under $1000 would be nice. I've already got a sound card, speakers (& amp), mouse, keyboard, monitor, a 700w power supply, 820 gigs of external drive space & a 150gb Raptor that might still be of use. The case for this thing is nice, & it's got a liquid cooling system in it, though I have no clue as to whether that's something I can utilize or not. If a decent blu ray drive can be got for under $100 or so, that'd be nice, but otherwise, I'd rather just put that into a normal player. The more expandability, the better, especially when it comes to hard drives. Also of note: if it's not much more, I'd rather not have to build it...too lazy & not quite good enough at this stuff to get the setup done smoothly. So what should I get? damn you, PKC. edit: oh, 2+ monitor output would be awesome, and hdmi a must.

I got a blu ray drive for that price, but you're going to want a widescreen monitor that does at least 1080p.

Re: Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by Zild I got a blu ray drive for that price, but you're going to want a widescreen monitor that does at least 1080p.

already got this:

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...d=LS26TDNSUV/ZA

Re: Re: Re: Build me a gaming PC, too

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous already got this: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...d=LS26TDNSUV/ZA

You're all set then any more questions about computers? I just put a new one together so I'm fairly up to date with new hardware. Oh yeah and if you are running XP you can only use I think 3.5 gb of that. So I would go with 4gb.

Absolutely no need to go to 64 bit, unless you really want more RAM, but will you see a performance difference...maybe slight, and in most cases, none.

What are you building the computer for? High-end gaming rig, or multimedia centre.

I was not aware that all modern cards came with HDMI. Most of the high end ones last time I checked, did not, but rather only had two DVI ports, and rely on a DVI to HDMI dongle.

Also, yeah, forget the AGP architecture. You really want to start from the core here, with a new MOBO, video card, and CPU.

Do you want to keep your current case? It may be easier for you to just get a new case. If you decide that you want to keep this case, you will have to first drain all the coolant in your system. Even then, you'll have some spillage probably, but no big deal if you're careful. I doubt you will be able to use the liquid cooling system, as it will probably not be compatible with a new motherboard and cpu. Like I said, IMO it is a better option to keep your current PC for whatever multimedia etc you use it for, and build a new tower from the money you have.

Stolen from www.tomshardware.com

$500 Entry-Level System Components
Component Model Price (U.S.D.)
CPU Intel Pentium E2180 $70
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper TX2 $30
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L $85
RAM Wintec AMPO PC2-6400 2x1GB $35
Graphics PNY VCG88512GXEB-FLB GeForce 8800 GT 512MB $110
Hard Drives Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400620AS 400GB $65
Sound Integrated 8-Channel HD Audio $0
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking $0
Case Antec NSK4480B $80
Power Earthwatts 380W Included w/Case $0
Optical Lite-On 20X DVD�R SATA Model iHAS120-04 $24
Total Price $499


$1,500 Mainstream System Components
Component Model Price (USD)
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $185
CPU Cooler Swiftech H20-220 $140
Motherboard DFI Lanparty X38 $175
RAM Patriot Viper 2x 2GB DDR2-800 Model PVS24G6400LLK $88
Graphics 2x ASUS Radeon 4850 TOP $360
Hard Drives 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500 GB ST3500630AS (1.0 TB total) $140
Sound Integrated $0
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking $0
Case CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 $180
Power CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W $130
Optical LITE-ON 20X DVD�R SATA Model iHAS120-04 $24
Total Price $1,422

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