Building a Gaming Computer

[Darksaber11]

Okay. I've had a desktop for a few years now. About a year ago it mostly stopped working. Shortly after that, I purchased an ACER laptop, so I never got around to fixing my old desktop.

This fall I will be going to a major LAN party. For my group of friends this is a huge deal, one of them is even flying back from Europe on leave to attend. This year I plan to have a sweet machien to game with.

Currently these are the parts I am looking at:

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813186059

CPU:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...details.asp?EdpNo=1526470&Sku=CP1-A64-3800X E

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145450

Hard Drive: (I already own this, It was going to be an upgrade for the old comp)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144391

Graphics Card:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814122244

Case: (I'm not decided on the color, but I like the model)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811144105

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817148008

CD/DVD Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135063

Keyboard/Mouse:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16823126152

I would really appreciate if someone who knows something about hardware could look this over for me. I know a good bit myself, but I'm not an expert on compatability and that's really my biggest worry about putting this thing together.

Apart from that, if anyone has any suggestions of better deals and such I'd like to hear about it. I'm trying to stay under $1000 and still build a respectable computer, not the easiest thing I know.

One last question I have is about the processor. It seems to me that Dual-Core is the way of the future, but at the same time I know it isn't the way of the preasent. Am I better off buying a faster Single-Core CPU for this computer and waiting to see if the market moves more towards supporting Dual-Core?

 

[korrupt]

seems like a good and solid system.

It may be good for you to buy a "gaming keyboard" though since it will be mainly used for gaming I asume. something like a "LASER Wolverine Deluxe FPS Gaming Keyboard".

Good luck, hope you kick ***

Regards,

Korrupt

 

[CrossFire851]

Conroe https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic51984.html wich is comming out at the end of this month is suppose to beat AMD in performance. If you wait you will be one happy camper. The 3800 X2 overclocks nicely, espially the newer models (better stepping). I have mine at 2.63GHz from 2.01GHz (Mine only Pass Super PI at those speeds, but mine is an old model). Lovely cpu.

But if you can't wait get that CPU. Best Bang for your buck.

I like the ram you got, but todays newier games need 2gbs like BF2. If you can't dishout more cash, I would recommend getting 2Gbs of Corsair Value Select.

 

[vnf4ultra]

You can get the 3800+ x2 for about $20 less at newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562
I also would suggest getting a better known brand for your power supply, like an antec 500W.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

 

[DonNagual]

I'll second vnf4ultra's point on the power supply. Aspire.... flashy pretty lights designed to distract you from the smell of smoke coming from your system..... scary.

 

[Eddie_42]

im a big fan of thermaltake power supplys. The egg had some pretty nice ones and well under $100.

I also point out the proc is cheaper at the egg. Tigerdirect is usually overpriced.

 

[Darksaber11]

Thanks to everybody who's posted so far. Can I get some more opinions on the RAM? I've been told that 1GB should handle most everything if the rest of the system is solid, but if you all think otherwise...

For reference I want to be able to play any of these games on full graphics or near that.

Star Wars Battlefront 2
Oblivion
Warcraft III (no matter how many units are on screen)
UT04
DOOM 3

That's actually all of the really graphics-intense games we play right now, we mostly go for clasics like StarCraft, AVP2 Primal Hunt, Postal 2, etc.

I'm also a big fan of listening to music while I game, part of the reason I thought Dual-Core might be a good idea is so I can run iTunes while palying any of the above games.

Thanks again for the help everybody.

 

[Tedster]

1gb should be plenty.

Before installing: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic47210.html

 

[Eddie_42]

i concure. With a dual core proc. there really isnt a need for more then 1GB ram. RAM is usually a cheaper way to get a slight improvment in performance, as opposed to buy a new proc.

Kingston Hyper-X and corsair XMS are both affordable and from what i heard scream. get the low latency of 2.5 or even 2 if you can. If you want premium stuff i'd go for crucial. but i dont really think its worth the money unless your some kind of professional.

And, feel free to correct me if im wrong on this, but get 2 512MB sticks so you can run dual channel. Just helps squeeze the RAM a little more.

 

[Darksaber11]

And, feel free to correct me if im wrong on this, but get 2 512MB sticks so you can run dual channel. Just helps squeeze the RAM a little more.

Do you have any helpful links about dual channel, I've heard people mention it before, but I have no idea of what it means.

 

[Eddie_42]

heres a good article about dual channel ram. Its a bit old (2003) but the idea is still the same.

http://www.kingston.com/newtech/MKF_520DDRwhitepaper.pdf

its a PDF file

 

[Darksaber11]

Okay, I've found a new case.

Here is is

It's about the same price I would have been paying for the case + power supply before, but it's a much higher quality case, besides I'm probably saving money on shipping by having one item vs having two. If anyone has any additional feedback about it I'd apreciate it, but from the Newegg reviews this looks like the best option.

I'm still a little worried about the processor right now. Can somebody tell me straight up if I'm going to get the preformance I want, using this processor (use the link in vnf4ultra's post since I'll be buying from Newegg) with the rest of the components I have listed.

 

[Eddie_42]

There is nothing wrong with the X2 3800. That would be a dream processor. You possed the question about it being too futuristic (sp), it is true that multi core is the way of the future and most of the available games are not multi threaded; however the achituecure is built in a newer faster manner the would blow away the single core. Its simialar to upgrading from a Athlon XP, to the 64 bit; even in 32bit mode, it blows away the XP's. Same story with going from 64 to X2 or FX.

If you get every component as stated above, you should be able to run Oblivion and BF2 simultaniously to two screens while listening to music!!