Building New PC

ZranX

ZranX

ZranX

Associate
Joined
20 Jul 2008
Posts
5
Now that I've finished university and finally starting to earn my own money, will be buying a new pc soon. Currently I have a P4 3.2 GHz, 1GB Ram, x800pro. It was good when I first got it 4 years ago but these days its slacking big time, getting as low as 8 fps in World of Warcraft at 1024 resolution, a game which modern PCs seem to destroy. I've decided on the following spec so far:

pclist29july2008cs6.jpg


I'm missing RAM, Motherboard and PSU with Crossfire support for the 2 4850s as well as enough connections and power to power upto 4 HDs+ which I intend to buy in the future once the first 2 are filled up, as well extra possible cooling options for the processor. I could use some advise on this. I'm planning on picking up 2 22" Samsung screens to go with it. Is this spec good enough to play games like Crysis, COD4 etc at the 1640x1280 max screen resolution with top settings at above 30 fps+?

Not after speakers at this time, will get myself some headphones, so no need to recommend any. If theres any components you think could be replaced with better alternatives for similar money let me know. I'd say for now the max budget is £1500 without the screens.
 
If you're getting headphones, there's really no need for a separate sound card. On board is fine, save yourself £61 right there. Especially if you get a decent mobo with decent onboard 7.1. Will let other advise on the mobo as i tend to stick to the P35 chipset from Gigabyte as they overclock like a dream. But there's plenty of newer stuff out there now.
Are you raiding your hdd's? If so, i'd be tempted to get 1Tb drives, per/gb they are cheaper....and faster.
Tuniq towers are good for cooling your cpu too.
PSU? >650w modular. I use Corsair and they are great.

Hope this helps some. :)

edit: don't forget your ram. 4gb seeing as you is going for 64-bit os. Highest speed thats compatible with your mobo, easier for oc'ing.
 
Yeah probably am going to RAID 0 the hard drives, as for the speakers I do intend to buy some eventually just for now, they not a necessity. My goal is to basically have 1 22" screen as the main PC screen for all the internet browsing, PC games playing and so on, and to have a 22" tv/pc screen as secondary so I can watch movies on it while working/coding or hook the old PS2 to it, or to just generally watch TV while on the PC.

I was reading that the HD4850 have surround sound support built in, does that mean that if I hook it up to the TV through S-Video or SCART, that it will have audio too? Sorry if it sounds like a stupid question, I am simply unimformed about it.

And yeah was looking for 4 GB Ram as I read in many places it makes the PC run like a dream these days.
 
4gb for 64-bit os yes, but 32-bit will only utilise between 2-3Gb.
As for your hook up the 2nd 22", you'll need a tv-card....to watch tv, but not necessary for watching dvd's etc.
S-video IIRC only serves up video to your output device not audio. You'd use your speakers for that. If you shop smart and get a screen with hdmi AND a mobo with hdmi then i think that would solve your probs. But tbh Zranx wait for more advice on this as i'm not too clued up on audio/video configs myself.
 
Was generally thinking that the TV would probably be hooked up to a digital box or have it built in, so that side of things shouldn't be an issue, shouldn't need a tv card. The hope is, if I want to watch tv or have 2nd PC display it should simply be a case of changing the channel.

I wish I kept upto date on all the latest technologies, was a time where if I had the money I would know exactly what to buy right away, many years ago.
 
ZranX said:
Still looking for PSU, Motherboard and Ram recommendations.
Click to expand...

Corsair PSUs are very good however some may argue that their RMA service is poor, as you have to send it to Holland and shipping can be expensive.

As for the CPU, as you are a gamer, have a look at the e8500 or wait until the e8600, which will be released soon and will be clocked at 3.3ghz.

Also, look at the ASUS Xonar sound cards as they are much better in Vista than Creative.
 
Last edited:
here is my take on what you should do - based on your current list

oem soundcard if you really must have a soundcard

also why have you got a gaming mouse with an ergo keyboard

wavy keyboards are terrible for gaming with
 
Motherboard... if you are looking at crossfire then X38/48 board... if not then P45 Asus are my personal choice... In regards to RAM with a Q9450 you probably dont need anything better than good 6400... the GeIL is nice for the price atm... and PSU well any 700ish watt will be more than enough corsair or seasonic
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom