request for a new gaming computer

[divinewind88]

hello. I would like to get my hands on a new gaming computer that is capable of playing heavy performance games like crysis, call of duty etc without any lags. however, being the amateur that i am, i am really not sure what to choose from the vast selection of components. can you guys throw something together for me? my budget would be around $1000.

thanks.

[divinewind88]

hello. i would like to get my hands on a new gaming pc that is capable of playing heavy performance games like crysis, call of duty etc smoothly. it doesnt has to be the BEST of the BEST. however, being the amateur that i am, i am not sure where to start. there seems to be many factors to consider and i do not know what to choose from the vast selection of components.

can someone out there help throw something together for me? thanks. my budget would be around $1000++

[aaron23smith]

hi divinewind88,
your best bet from my(and many others) point of view would to be to build a pc from scratch. this can seem daunting at first, but its not as hard as it looks, and its not as hard to break things as you might think.
when i built my computer i saved around $400 and this allowed me to get better parts with the leftover money.
www.tigerdirect.com does great deals.

if you dont want to do it yourself, you can always get a friend to help or find a shop where they can help you design and build the pc.

i have a post/thread on this site that details the computer im just building. its going to be really fast and only costs $800

hope this helps, aaron

[Ajmukon]

www.newegg.com also has some great deals.

put together a list : (with links)

a 45nm intel processor
A supported mother board (x38?)
an 8800 GT minimum for games
--(anything LESS and gaming abilities drop fast)
----ATI right now suck for gaming- unless you go for the 3870 (Good price/performance ratio)

HDD: any Size SATA drive.
RAM: DDR2 800 minimum

[aaron23smith]

ajmukon are you crazy
read divinewinds comments properly. he said he only wants to spend 1000++
what you have said comes to about 2500++
(45nm pros $1099 by itself)

[mjc]

hello. I would like to get my hands on a new gaming computer that is capable of playing heavy performance games like crysis, call of duty etc without any lags.

No...not crazy.

It is just very difficult to nearly impossible to meet the criteria for the machine without a larger budget.

[Ajmukon]

right- i forgot about the price...
but i will not deter from 8800GT 512 MB as a minimum for playing games...
but a nice 150.00 CPU, with a decent motherboard... (100.00) a PSU (50-100), RAM (50) VISTA 64 BIT (150-200) [OEM] a HD (50 bucks and can be upgraded if needed) thats what... 600? plus 400 to buy a video card- DO NOT SKIMP ON THE VIDEO CARD!!!
there is your 1,000

but this computer will not play Crysis on good settings...
for that... see above...

[divinewind88]

erm can you guys give more specified details?

i dunno wat a 45nm intel processor is? I know its a CPU but i cant find its model.

what is a 8800 GT?

and whats an ATI?

as for the budget.. i will see what i can do.

[divinewind88]

All right. I did some of my own research on trusty Google.

For the video card, I will use GF8800 GTS 512mb DDR3 since you guys said its the bare minimum.

For the processors, I am not sure which I should choose from the following three:

INTEL Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
INTEL Core 2 Duo E6850 3GHz/1333MHz FSB
INTEL Core 2 Duo E6700 2.67GHz (How come this is more expensive than the other two?)

Does the above processors come with heatsink and fan? Are there any stark differences between 45nm and 65nm? What about 90nm :D

Anyway, what are the main differences (I can see the different value for GHz value~) between quad and dual cores? If it suffice I don't mind just getting the dual core.

For the motherboard, I can't seem to find the MSI X38 diamond model at my local stores. I guess its probably still a new product to Singapore. Any other recommendations?

Do I need any particular type of sound cards?

For HDD, I currently have two; a 80GB one and a 20GB one. Is it enough or should I get a 100+GB one and replace it with the 20GB one?

Any recommendations for RAM? Must I get 4GB worth of RAM? DDR1 or DDR2?

Thanks!

[Ajmukon]

:Intel Quad Core Q6600
:Any mother board that supports the Q6600 (the MSI x38 is only a type- other companies make the x38- it is an intel standard)
:Video card: good
:HDD- are they SATA? if not- consider replacing them
:Sound card- you can get by with onboard video- if you had a higher budget- i would get a sound card

:4GB DDR2 (and VISTA home premium 64 BIT!!!)

----------------------------------------------------
as for the differences...
Quad core has 4 independent processors on the chip-- it is four separate CPUs
dual core has 2 CPUs


For RAM- i recommend DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

[divinewind88]

I found this ASUS P5E WS Professional (Intel X38) DDR2 which is Q6600 compatible and it is also compatible with future 45nm processors. Should I get this as a insurance in case I want to upgrade my processor in the future?
Otherwise I would choose ASUS Maximus Extreme (Intel X38) DDR3.

I think my HDD are all NTFS. Should I get two seperate HDD or should I just get one?

I heard that Vista is not fully configured for gaming yet and that its best to stick to XP2 at the moment. What do you think?

[mjc]

I heard that Vista is not fully configured for gaming yet and that its best to stick to XP2 at the moment. What do you think?

If you want to play something like Crysis in all its glory then Vista is the only way to go...

[Ajmukon]

Get the
"ASUS P5E WS Professional (Intel X38) DDR2 which is Q6600 "
DDR3 is not ready yet for the big time and it is very expensive ($200.00 a pop)

[divinewind88]

alright please help me check if theres anything wrong with my choice of systems.

Processors:
INTEL Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz

Video Card:
GF8800 GTS 512MB DDR3

Mainboard:
ASUS P5E WS Professional (Intel X38) DDR2

RAM:
OCZ Platinum 2GBX DDR2 Dual Channel 4GB Kit (PC2-6400) 2x2GB

HDD:
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P120 160GB (8MB) SATA-II

DVD R/W:
LG GSA-H55N Double Layer 20x (Internal/Box/Black) DVD±RW/DVD-RAM Writer

MICROSOFT Windows VISTA (Home Premium) OEM. For the 64 bit is it some kind of configuration?

[Ajmukon]

looks good!
tell us when you get it up and running!

[divinewind88]

so erm... about the windows vista 64 bit. is it a specific version of windows vista or i just need to configure it once i get it up and running?

[divinewind88]

can I play 32bit games on windows vista 64bit?

[Ajmukon]

1) it is a specific version. You need to buy the copy that says "VISTA 64 Bit" or buy VISTA and call microsoft and ask them to give you 64-bit edition...
2) Yes, but you cannot play 8-bit games...

[saphalline]

Yes, but you cannot play 8-bit games...You can play whatever the heck you want! It's just that old DOS games don't work on modern operating systems without a VM or emulator.


Vista 64-bit is very important for the latest games and technologies. The biggest glaring feature that I tell everyone is the fact that Vista 64-bit supports at least 8GB of RAM! :eek: Vista 32-bit only supports 3GB. :rolleyes: This is becoming important right now since RAM is so darn cheap that 4GB is well within reach for a mid-range budget. Just think how limiting Vista 32-bit will be in 2 years!