So, I've already decided on what case & drives I want for the gaming pc I still haven't bought. What I need:

motherboard
cpu
power supply
memory
video card

budget is roughly $800, but flexible. planning on using it for games & Live. it'll be hooked up to 1-2 large monitors (1920) or a 50" plasma.

some notes:
-my sound card is firewire
-I'll only be using 1 optical drive
-I'll have 1-2 internal sata drives, plus 2 external ones
-noise & size may be issues. it's going in an htpc case


What should I buy?

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its almost 3 years to the day since ive been out of the loop. just wanted to mention that if you end up with 2 monitors you're gonna want to spend most of that $800 on your vid card.

HTPC case = low profile card? If so that limits your options. You can still get a powerful gaming card but it will cost about 50% more than a full size equivalent.

quote:

Originally posted by Capitalizt HTPC case = low profile card? If so that limits your options. You can still get a powerful gaming card but it will cost about 50% more than a full size equivalent.

From what I think I've found, it doesn't have to be "low-profile," it just can't be super-enormous.

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What do you mean by 'super enormous'?

If you want to drive a 50' plasma at full resolution, or two large monitors, forget an HTPC case. You will want (read: need) a fairly robust cpu (and most normal heatsinks plus fans have space constraints) plust a good mid-to-upper range video card. None of the current ones will really fit into an HTPC case. Personally its just not worth your money. I would just get a normal mid tower case, something very quiet, and then just place it discreetly in a room.

Also, are you planing to game on the 50' plasma? In my experience, gaming with wireless peripherals, ala Bluetooth, is not very responsive at all.

quote:

Originally posted by zokissima What do you mean by 'super enormous'? If you want to drive a 50' plasma at full resolution, or two large monitors, forget an HTPC case. You will want (read: need) a fairly robust cpu (and most normal heatsinks plus fans have space constraints) plust a good mid-to-upper range video card. None of the current ones will really fit into an HTPC case. Personally its just not worth your money. I would just get a normal mid tower case, something very quiet, and then just place it discreetly in a room. Also, are you planing to game on the 50' plasma? In my experience, gaming with wireless peripherals, ala Bluetooth, is not very responsive at all.

It's a pretty big HTPC case:

http://usa.luxa2.com/products/enclo...ro/gallery.html

[I would have posted it before, but last time I did, everybody ignored the actual questions I had]

I probably will game on the plasma from time to time. I use a wired keyboard & bluetooth mouse right now with no issues (I have a long extension cord for the keyboard).

The reason for the HTPC case is that I have the PC in the same room as my HT equipment & will have all of it rackmounted in two very nice a/v cabinets. The HTPC case would free up even more space, cut down on cable lengths, & just look much cooler.

So, if I do need a "fairly robust cpu" and "mid-to-upper range video card," what would you recommend and can it be done, with a psu, mobo, & memory, for $800, or am I looking at more to do what I want?

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> S u s h i p u n k . P h o t o g r a p h y <

If I were building a new PC today, I'd get these parts..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813128358
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820148249
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-037-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16817702010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814125294

A bit less than $800, but honestly I don't think you will need anything more. Install the newest video drivers and overclock the CPU 10-15% (pretty much guaranteed with that mobo) and you will be golden for 5 years of gaming.

Last edited by Capitalizt on Jan-18-2010 at 05:58

quote:

Originally posted by zokissima Also, are you planing to game on the 50' plasma? In my experience, gaming with wireless peripherals, ala Bluetooth, is not very responsive at all.

that's because bluetooth is shit. wireless logitech is win.

i know that some of the newer 5 series ATI cards have built in support for doing multiple monitor gaming/desktops. wont be cheap and i have always used nvidia but i would check that out if it interests you.

with your case you should be able to put just about anything you want innit, just make sure you have airflow|

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quote:

Originally posted by Capitalizt If I were building a new PC today, I'd get these parts.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813128358 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820148249 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-037-_-Product http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16817702010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814125294 A bit less than $800, but honestly I don't think you will need anything more. Install the newest video drivers and overclock the CPU 10-15% (pretty much guaranteed with that mobo) and you will be golden for 5 years of gaming.

Thanks a lot for the help.

-long post warning-

There are two major issues I have with my current setup:
-major slowdowns with any multi-tasking
-sound card gets overloaded unless I put ridiculous buffers on it...I'm talking 768+ lately, or else it locks up, mainly when I have multiple audio tracks going at once & start sending a lot of midi commands to it (seems to have started since I got that apc40--like the pc can't handle syncing all that info and running Live at once)

Are those caused by the processor or memory?

Going one more step with that, if I went to a Quad-Core of some sort (i7 or not), what would that change in price & performance? I'm just a little surprised, since I was looking at much beefier equipment and don't really want to run into the same situation I'm in again soon.

I know I'll have to and want to upgrade at some point, so the motherboard is pretty important to me. I'd rather spend $1000 now and be able to upgrade in 1-2 years than spend $700-$800 and wind up in a position to spend another $800 if I want to upgrade. That's the problem with what I have now--it's an outdated socket type & the mobo only has AGP, so I'm SOL on upgrading the two components that are making it obsolete.

You're at $670 with all of that stuff, so since I can spend more, I'm just wondering what I'm sacrificing. It's an indulgence, to begin with, so if another $300-$400 is going to make the difference between very good and awesome, I may go for it.

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From everything I've found, that video card is the way to go, hands-down.

What about this, though, for the rest?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813128423
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820145259
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819115202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16817139011

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> S u s h i p u n k . P h o t o g r a p h y <

I don't know too much about the new stuff out there, but you are not going to need anywhere near 800 watts of power. Around 600 should be more than enough for you.

and correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 3 sticks of ram more for i7 processors? does it make any difference for other processors? I thought I read something like that somewhere...

the motherboard capitalizt recommended should be enough to last you quite a few years without needing to upgrade the whole system. I feel like you're paying a lot more for stuff that won't justify the improvement of performance.

edit: remember with pc crap there's a huge curve when it comes to pricing. you could get crap almost just as good for almost half the price if you don't buy things that just came out.