Thread: Time For A New Rig

Do not buy pre-built, even an Alienware.

Yes, it will be easy to set up....but, you will regret it later.

Originally Posted by Guyver

Do not buy pre-built, even an Alienware.

Yes, it will be easy to set up....but, you will regret it later.

Why?

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

What are the current specs for your current rig?

Just pulled up the invoice, I built the one I have now 5-24-2007 with some upgrades along the way.

PSU - Thermaltake 850w
MOBO - Abit IN9 32X-MAX 680i
PSU - Core 2 Duo 6850
Sound Card - Creative X-Fi FAtality
Memory - 4gig (1gigX4) Crucial Ballistic DDR2-800
GPU - Radeon HD5750
Monitor - 27" Samsung

Should cover the majors.

Could probably just use the same sound card. If you're deadset though and building, go with Asus or HT omega.

Went to sleep after my last post <yawn> ... just woke up.

Looks like a solid build, you are pretty set on the big CPU eh? i5 is still mind blowingly fast, the i7 is honestly a bit big for your GPU's. That is to say your GPU's will be your bottleneck with that CPU (even as big as they are). Not that it will create problems, but it is seriously beefy on the CPU end (means the option for a bigger GPU in a few years maybe).

I noticed you did not list a PSU; I highly recommend NOT using your old PSU. Your old PSU was driving a gaming rig for a loooong time and it's caps have surely deteriorated to a point. So it is not providing the juice it lists and further it is likely unstable on it's voltages. To make matters worse it could just pop at any moment; and your system is riding on it.

I recommend a new PSU to go in your new rig. Look for 80 PLUS (higher is better, bronze, gold, etc.), single rail, good reviews, trusted name. Stable power means lower power use and a cooler running PSU which means longevity. Anymore the PSU is one of the expensive parts of my systems. There are all sorts of problems that can arise from unstable voltages, and o0ften they are hard to track back to the PSU; so start right.

Also, any of these 200+ dollar mobos you are looking at will have beautiful on-board sound and you can ditch a sound card (the new CPU's are more than powerful enough to crunch your game and your audio as well as a ton of other stuff, gone are the days when processing audio in a game would slow down a CPU)


Cases... meh, can't say much, my beast is in a 30 dollar case and I love it! I buy cheap but picky in this case...

Originally Posted by Nuckle

The case I selected has a 1000w gold PSU already installed.

I chose the larger CPU so that in a year or two I can replace my two GPU's and see a benefit.

Ah, now I get it. 1000w is plenty more than you need so it should be solid for a few years and have more than enough headroom to dump in a big 'ol GPU or two down the road... .


With an SSD and a new CPU this new beasty will blow your old one out of the water in terms of being "snappy" ... but the games are going to be mind blowing in comparison.

What about spending another $100 for dual 570's vs. the 560ti's?

What would be better?

16gigs of 1600 2gX8
8gigs of 2133 2gX4

Mobo has 8 slots and will run quad channel.