DDR2 Gaming rig...

cupidstunt

cupidstunt

cupidstunt

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Hi all.

First time in here, hope you can give me a moment of your time.

Been `speccing` a DDR3 based machine for some while, then realised I dont think that I need one yet, so back to DDR2. (maybe late next year)

Here`s what I`ve chosen for a gaming rig to hopefully play most of the current crop af games. Please feel free to point out the errors of my build (never built one before).
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Asus Crosshair II Formula nForce 780a SLI (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £154.99
(£182.11) £154.99
(£182.11)
Arctic Cooling Freezer XTREME CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/AM2+/AM2/939) £27.99
(£32.89) £27.99
(£32.89)
Leadtek GeForce 8800 GT ZL OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £79.99
(£93.99) £159.98
(£187.98)
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 1200W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant PSU £149.99
(£176.24) £149.99
(£176.24)
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Supplied with Airflow Fan (TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF) £89.99
(£105.74) £179.98
(£211.48)
Sub Total : £732.92
Shipping cost based on delivery to Credit/debit card billing address, WR135HH with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £130.00
Total : £872.87

Just done a copy `n` paste hope this works.

I know the PSU is way over the top, but as they are quite expensive I thought I`d just get on with it for future proofing.
So do you think this would all run together nicely, and be up to running the modern games ( COD4, Crysis, etc.)

Many thanks in advance.
 
For 800 odd quid you would be better off getting a Core 2 Duo system with either a 4850 or 4870

Asus P5Q Pro
Core 2 Duo E8400
 
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Yeah phaded is right really.

You should also drop the 2 8800's and get a single 4870, also the PSU is way over the top, a 600W will be plenty fine.

I'd also drop one of the ram's and just stick with 4gb it will be plenty.

I'm not sure if you need them, but you also hadn't budgeted for an OS or a case, just to let you know incase you forgot.

Also if it's just for gaming I'd opt for a sound card too as onboard sound just isn't good enough for pure gaming I'd say.
 
Also there is NO WAY your going to need a 1200W PSU for that system. More like 450-500w, although for 2 cards there wouldn't be any harm in going for a 620W corsair ;)

Core 2 Duo + P45 board would be the best route.
 
Cheers guys.
Phaded. Core 2 was my first choice, but....I thought AMD was the gamers preferred choice.

Persia. OS ive got, case ive got, and xfi . One stick of RAM dropped. You reckon one 4870 will beat 2 8800`s. fair enough, I will check them out.

Thanks for replies guys. :)
 
Bengaboy.
Definitly go down the C2D route and also...claimed... ? eh, `claimed`

fobose. prob` just use PSU ive already got, its around 600.
 
Really tired of people saying "claimed", do they like to search for the word "claimed" and see that their user name pops up the most? Seems like one of those immature things to say but perhaps I am wrong.
 
The rig I've just finished speccing is £850 and imo the best gaming and value for money rig I could have done, been trying to put it together for almost 2 weeks now, and this is what we finally came up with (read a bit into the thread to find the setup I finally settled on).

Of course, this is just my opinion, and might not be to your tastes, but at least you can see what someone else with roughly the same price range will be doing.

Not offended if you don't like the spec at all! Just thought you could use it for reference :)

newbe5
 
Hi newbe5.
I was reading your thread about an hour or two ago, glad you got it sorted. Pretty much what I had in mind apart from ATI GPU and Mobo, for some reason I dismised ATI and went straight for nVidea.
Have you got it running yet, whats it like.

fobose....... I take it if I were to put the word `pointless` in here, then I could search it out later. Hhhmmm, idle hands and all that. No offence Bengaboy.
 
I'm not going to be buying everything for probably about a week yet, just got to get the money sorted, but I don't think I'm going to change the setup much, unless the prices change dramatically on OC.

I was also going to go for nVidia, I never even entertained the idea if an ATI card. First, I was going for the 9800GX2, then I changed my mind for the GTX 280, but then I found the Tom's Hardware review (I think that's the right one) of the 4870 x2 I changed my mind completely. AFAIK the 4870 x2 is the fastest card in the world at the moment (although it isn't single GPU, but I don't really care, as long as it's the best :P). So I did an about-face and decided to spend the extra cash on the ATI card.

I have an x1920pro at the moment, and had an x1800xt before that, and have never had a problem with either card, so I have no issue sticking with ATI. On the flipside, my brother has a 1980GX2 and he absolutely loves it (and rightly so, it is also awesome).

So it comes down to either preference, or budget. I personally couldn't see any reason not to go for the 4870 x2 as long as I could fit it into my budget (which I managed to), so that's what I settled on.

Hope that helps!
 
Yes they're very good, but if you were to go for a high end quad I'd definitely suggest the 9550 over the 9650. The small clock speed difference just isn't worth the extra 140 quid.

Are you planning to overclock?

Edit: Although for gaming purposes I'd rather save the money and get a C2D and overclock, you can get one to over 4Ghz if you know what you're doing.
 
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Just a quick note, the 4870 x2 is a hugely powerful card, but if you only have a small(ish) monitor then you might not notice much if any difference than if you were playing with a cheaper card. I have a 24" screen that runs natively at 1920x1200, so I would receive the benefit. But from what I've read, you might not see much gain if you are playing on a res that's considerably smaller than that. Then again, you would be futureproofing the system, incase you did get a larger monitor further down the line.
 
Good one guys, Core 2 duo Q6600 it is. Aswell as the ATI 4870X2. Gaming speed is what its all about.
Havent quite decided on which Mobo yet or RAM. Going to read through your thread again newbe5. Interesting review link, I can see why you changed your mind.
 
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