Hi fella's. I've been out of the pc hardware circles for a fairly long time, and things seem to have come a long way since I installed my last video card. To give you some idea about how long ago this was... it was a voodoo.
I've been using macs now for a good seven or eight years, so haven't had to dabble with internal components for at least that length of time. If ever I had the itch to shoot some Germans, I just whacked whatever incarnation of windows was the most stable at the time onto my imacs through bootcamp, and all was swell. For what little gaming I have been doing recently, this has been perfect. However, I've been following BioWare's new Star Wars MMO project quite closely for a couple of years now, and decided to put together a machine for when it finally comes out between now and next summer.
I will still be running my 24"iMac, so decided that the less garish looking the final pc build, the better (So no alien cases or any of that nonsense). Having looked around online a bit, the cases shuttle have to offer seem perfect -- however, I understand that they can be somewhat limiting in terms of not only space, but power and cooling.
That aside, I was wondering if it is possible to put together a relatively *awesome* gaming rig built from a shuttle barebones system, that I can spend the next few months putting together as the paychecks keep coming in, while avoiding the above issues.
This is where you guys come in; I'm completely clueless. I feel comfortable enough putting the thing together, but I really have no clue when it comes to things like motherboards. I was hoping that if I list what I want in the system, someone smarter than me might be able to tell me A) if it will fit B) whether I'm going to be over the power limits C) if my whole house is going to burst into a shuttle fuelled inferno and D) exactly what components I should shop for, prices, and comparisons (based on +/- a few $$ and the benefits etc).
So what I had in mind was something along these lines:
Motherboard that supports lower to mid-end quad core cpu's (if performance is negligible, high end dual cores)
CPU based on the specification of the best option for motherboard. Preferably a low to mid-end quad core which will provide some longevity.
At least a 1gb GFX card (and whatever else I would need with it, 3d card or whatever is the bee's knee's atm to help take the load off the gfx)
A solid state drive (I don't even care if it is as small as 64gb, I only intend on installing star wars the old republic and perhaps something like mass effect 2/3 when it comes out. I have my iMac for everything else)
Whatever ram is the Rogers Todger these days.
Finally, whatever I am missing above that is an absolute must for a gaming machine.
I understand that most 'gamers' would use a shuttle pc as a doorstop before they think about using it to play games on, but I'd rather discuss the possibility of making the above happen, without explosions, than why I should just buy a full size deck. What can I say, I played a Gnome in wow.
I'd really appreciate the help, and would have course use ocuk wherever possible for my component needs!
I've been using macs now for a good seven or eight years, so haven't had to dabble with internal components for at least that length of time. If ever I had the itch to shoot some Germans, I just whacked whatever incarnation of windows was the most stable at the time onto my imacs through bootcamp, and all was swell. For what little gaming I have been doing recently, this has been perfect. However, I've been following BioWare's new Star Wars MMO project quite closely for a couple of years now, and decided to put together a machine for when it finally comes out between now and next summer.
I will still be running my 24"iMac, so decided that the less garish looking the final pc build, the better (So no alien cases or any of that nonsense). Having looked around online a bit, the cases shuttle have to offer seem perfect -- however, I understand that they can be somewhat limiting in terms of not only space, but power and cooling.
That aside, I was wondering if it is possible to put together a relatively *awesome* gaming rig built from a shuttle barebones system, that I can spend the next few months putting together as the paychecks keep coming in, while avoiding the above issues.
This is where you guys come in; I'm completely clueless. I feel comfortable enough putting the thing together, but I really have no clue when it comes to things like motherboards. I was hoping that if I list what I want in the system, someone smarter than me might be able to tell me A) if it will fit B) whether I'm going to be over the power limits C) if my whole house is going to burst into a shuttle fuelled inferno and D) exactly what components I should shop for, prices, and comparisons (based on +/- a few $$ and the benefits etc).
So what I had in mind was something along these lines:
Motherboard that supports lower to mid-end quad core cpu's (if performance is negligible, high end dual cores)
CPU based on the specification of the best option for motherboard. Preferably a low to mid-end quad core which will provide some longevity.
At least a 1gb GFX card (and whatever else I would need with it, 3d card or whatever is the bee's knee's atm to help take the load off the gfx)
A solid state drive (I don't even care if it is as small as 64gb, I only intend on installing star wars the old republic and perhaps something like mass effect 2/3 when it comes out. I have my iMac for everything else)
Whatever ram is the Rogers Todger these days.
Finally, whatever I am missing above that is an absolute must for a gaming machine.
I understand that most 'gamers' would use a shuttle pc as a doorstop before they think about using it to play games on, but I'd rather discuss the possibility of making the above happen, without explosions, than why I should just buy a full size deck. What can I say, I played a Gnome in wow.
I'd really appreciate the help, and would have course use ocuk wherever possible for my component needs!
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(nVidia are not as good as they sue to be I would go for ATI).
. It's got some quite favourable reviews
