Spec me a 1.5K Gaming Rig

XtAsY

XtAsY

XtAsY

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Chelmsford, Essex
Ok, so I have decided to go socket 939 instead of waiting for AM2. Will probably upgrade to AM2 next year. Anyways, I want a rig with a budget of £1500, for gaming and for using 3D applications ( a dual core processor is a must for quick render times) I also want a DFI motherboard, no arguments :D I dont need any storage exceeding 500 GB. I like the sound of SLI.. but I will probably will start with one card first and add another later. All help much appreciated :)

Kind Regards

XtAsY
 
Monstermunch said:
It would help to let us know exactly what to include, TFT, Mouse & KB, PSU, Case etc.
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Indeed it would! Silly me :p OK then, I dont need a keyboard, mouse , monitor or case. However I will need a new PSU and of course all the other components. Thanks
 
XtAsY said:
Indeed it would! Silly me :p OK then, I dont need a keyboard, mouse , monitor or case. However I will need a new PSU and of course all the other components. Thanks
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Okay, here is what I would go for. IMO sli is a waste of money, you're better off getting a single good card.

CP-148-AM AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-148-AM)
£299.95 £299.95
HS-008-VP VapoChill Micro Ultra Low Noise (Socket 754/939/940) (06-L-0018) (HS-008-VP)
£29.95 £29.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£84.95 £84.95
MY-008-GS G.Skill 2GB DDR HZ PC4000 (2x1GB) CAS3 Dual Channel Kit (F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ) (MY-008-GS)
£129.95 £129.95
GX-048-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-HT)
£309.95 £309.95
HD-046-WD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
£64.25 £64.25
HD-007-WD Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB WD360GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-007-WD)
£63.95 £63.95
CD-024-NE NEC ND4550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-024-NE)
£25.50 £25.50
CA-002-SS Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-002-SS)
£79.95 £79.95
Subtotal £1,088.40
VAT £190.47
Total £1,278.87

£220 under budget too :D
 
you could own with 1500 just for the main bits :p

check out the prebuilt options..

not unless your like everyone and enjoys building it from scratch.

but with that much money you have to get.

x2 4400 and an x1900...and whatever else you want. soundblaster X FI too.
 
Thanks for speccing that rig for me Monstermunch. Will the opteron processor be OK for games do you think?

Lemonkettaz, I will deffinetly look into the AMD X2 4400+, I've had my eye on that for a long time, and since I do have the Gigaworks 7.1 speakers, I suppose it would make sense to get an X-FI card over my current Audigy 2 ZS, but that can always come later and I dont really wan to be over budget right now :rolleyes:

Also guys, please bare in mind I want to play UT2007 with good settings when it fianlly comes out. So if I really have to be pushed right up to my budget, then so be, just not over it ;)

Thanks for all the help so far
 
XtAsY said:
Thanks for speccing that rig for me Monstermunch. Will the opteron processor be OK for games do you think?

Lemonkettaz, I will deffinetly look into the AMD X2 4400+, I've had my eye on that for a long time, and since I do have the Gigaworks 7.1 speakers, I suppose it would make sense to get an X-FI card over my current Audigy 2 ZS, but that can always come later and I dont really wan to be over budget right now :rolleyes:

Also guys, please bare in mind I want to play UT2007 with good settings when it fianlly comes out. So if I really have to be pushed right up to my budget, then so be, just not over it ;)

Thanks for all the help so far
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The Opteron 170 is better than the X2 4400+. It has dual core and can be seriously overclocked (hence the price on the spec for the extra cooler) people on the forums are running the opti 170 at FX60 speeds and beyond. :D
 
Monstermunch said:
The Opteron 170 is better than the X2 4400+. It has dual core and can be seriously overclocked (hence the price on the spec for the extra cooler) people on the forums are running the opti 170 at FX60 speeds and beyond. :D
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I'm running an x2 3800 at 2.5. The current steppings of opteron make it pointless to buy over its athlon counterparts. The extra cache makes absolutely no difference. I reckon current x2s will clock better than their relevant opterons.
 
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i reckon its 6 and 2 3's ... maybe if your an overclocking fanatic... or want a few extra points in you 3D/PCMark scores...

the x2 4400 is cheaper than the oppy 170.

faster at stock speeds as well. it will clock to 2.5/2.6 or decent cooling and that is good to last ... especially if your upgrading next year too...it will last further than that to be honest.
 
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With a case you are still about £250 under budget. In my opinion, you are better off just saving the £250 instead of getting a better processor. It will clock high anyway, and if you over-do it and it dies in a year, you've saved enough money to buy a second :p
 
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Right guys, thanks for all the help. I just want to make it clear, I am not an overclocking fanatic. I dont mind bumping an X2 4400+ up 200MHz to 4800+ speeds, but I dont really want to do anything more extravagant than that. As for the opteron, it sounds cool and all.. and will probably be the better processor for my 3D work that I do.. but I have a feeling the X2 4400+ may be the better processor for me overall. If I was going to OC that opteron seriously to the proclaimed FX 60 speeds, I would most likely need water cooling would I not? The phase change heatsink/fan combo probably wont be enough surely? And watercooling would be an added expense and I could just spend more dosh on better hardware.
 
Overclocking the 170 to FX 60 speeds is seriously easy, it goes higher than them for me using the stock cooler. Water cooling certainly isn't remotely needed! Certainly, you would be the most unlucky person on the planet if you didn't reach 4400+ speeds without a jot of thought or effort. It really is a very good processor for the money.

However, the 4400+ is essentially the same, all things considered, so it doesn't really matter which you go for.
 
How about I go for the DFI Crossfire motherboard, an X1900 XT-X, and an X2 4400+? Do you think this is a good decision?
 
Townlea said:
Change the X2 4400 to an opteron 170 :)
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Current stepping opties aren't great, and the extra cache makes no difference. If anything, swap the 4400x2 to a 3800x2, put some decent RAM in, and OC it to 4800x2 speeds
 
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