Help me build my new system :)

**PizzaSHARK!** · 06-11-08, 03:59 PM

As I mentioned in my post in the 2142 forums, I'm gonna be building a new rig soon since my old one's on the way out. I flipped through the most recent PC Gamer for an idea of where to start, and how much it'd cost me, and I've managed to piece together a system on NewEgg for under $500 - including shipping. I doubt it'll run a system-hog like Crysis at high settings, but if it can run Crysis at medium or even low settings, then it can definitely run BioShock just fine

At any rate, I can't seem to find my shared wishlist to just post (could be that it takes some time for new ones to be posted), so I guess I'll just link the components I've been looking at individually. I haven't been keeping up on PC tech, but I checked system spec tabs to make sure what I was tossing into my cart/wishlist would actually fit with the rest, and I don't think there are any issues. The PCG suggested an nVidia 8600 GT, but I'm not familiar with nVidia manufacturers; I use a Radeon from Sapphire in my old box, and I've never once had issues with it, so I went with a Radeon HD 2600XT with the same amount of memory and same price range (and it's actually a smidgeon cheaper.) I'll have to look for benchmarks to compare to the two cards to make sure it's a good choice. If not, then I'll need suggestions as to which manufacturers for nVidia cards are good. I'm aiming for a pricetag under $600 - including shipping - so right now this fits the bill. I'm somewhat under, however, so I think I may try and squeeze in a decent-quality sound card with the extra I have.

EDIT 6-12-2008: Wishlist can now be found here.

Case: Antec NSK4480B /w 380W PSU Comes with a PSU, shipping is relatively cheap, and it's gotten good reviews. Current rig's case is an Antec, never had issues with it. Have had issues with Antec PSUs, but that's what warranties are for.

Motherboard: ASUS M2N-MX SE Plus Closest thing to the M2N-MX listed in the mag. Mag listed an AMD processor (doubt I could swing Intel with my price range), and this is an AMD board.

Processor: AMD Athlon64 X2 6400+ Windsor 2.4GHz Could not find an Athlon64 4200+ like the mag listed, but this seems to be better and it's only about $10 more. Correct socket (AM2) for the motherboard, and if it's much better for only a teeny bit more, who's gonna complain?

Memory: Mushkin 2GB DDR2 1066 Mag wants 1GB of Corsair, but I can get another gig for only about $20 more in either case, and the Corsair is about $10 more than the Mushkin. I use Mushkin in the current computer, and I've used the same 512MB stick for almost six years now; I can safely say I trust Mushkin, while I cannot say the same for Corsair. Oh, and the Mushkin comes with 3DMark2008 for free. Win.

Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB CrossFire ready Reasons for going with an ATi board are listed above. Good user reviews for this board, slightly cheaper than a comparable nVidia board, and Sapphire is the brand of the board I've been abusing for about six years now.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200rpm SATA Mag recommends Western Digital, but I hate WD and wouldn't force them on a cow. All of the WD drives I've had have broken much too soon (warranties don't cover the pain of having to replace lost data), while I've had no problems with Seagate drives. Plus the Seagate is cheaper. I'll be carrying over one of my old drives, not sure if it's SATA or not - if it isn't, I guess I'll have to find an IDE drive.

Optical Drive: Lite-On 20X DVD+R Satisfies any needs for a DVD/CD burner, and it's cheap. Will probably carry over one of the old optical drives as well.

And that's basically it for now. Right now I primarily need to make sure everything's going to work (naturally I'll be bugging other friends as well as TTP about this) and that I won't be missing any critical components when I buy it and start putting it together. Any recommendations for additional fans and such would be greatly appreciated, especially if you think I'll need some.

EDIT: Should probably mention I'm planning on making the jump to Vista with this rig, hence the 2GB starting out. I'll probably just pick up a cheap OEM copy from NewEgg.

**ic0n** · 06-11-08, 04:54 PM

If you are going to go the AMD route the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ black edition cost 20 bucks more but can be overclocked to 3.2 (on air)simply by changing the multiplier (since its unlocked). They can be pushed further, but that takes some trial and error. For 20 bucks more its a pretty decent jump over the 4600+.

**scuba_steve** · 06-12-08, 10:41 PM

Generally you dont need a sound card nowadays. Most motherboards have high quality onboard sound

**PizzaSHARK!** · 06-13-08, 10:08 AM

Closest I can get to the 5000+ you mentioned is a 5600+, which is about $105 compared to about $56. We'll have to see if I can swing it.

About Vista; what version should I be looking at? Looks like an OEM version of Ultimate will run me around $180 (ouch), while the home versions would save me about $100-$115 (still a ridiculous amount of money.) Or should I just find a "borrowed" copy of XP and just avoid the whole damn thing?

**SapiensErus** · 06-13-08, 10:33 AM

I am using Vista on all my machines (except my VMWare box) with great success, especially the gaming rig. I am using Ultimate 64 (retail), but only because I have a few pals at MS; I would never have forked out that much cash. Home premium should work fine for your needs. If you want to use 4Gb RAM you might wanna get a 64 bit version. I think when you buy one it comes with both.. at least mine did. The OEM might not be so cool to you.

Also with Vista you get DX10 support, and the other indexing, search, protection, error-reporting and eye candy that comes along with it.

On the other hand XP is tried and true and will work great.

A note, my gaming rig is an AM2 and I have the 5600+. Runs great, games look just like they do on my roomates E6850. We are kinda hitting a point where overall processor speed is not as important as the GPU for gaming.

Another note: Maybe consider an AM2+ Solution to be "future proof?" I know all the currently produced AM2+ chips will run on AM2 and not lose TOO much functionality. But the generation that is about to occur (the B3 Phenom I believe) is not intended to be compatible in a regular AM2.

Also, while you may not *need* a soundcard, in my experience, certain games (like the BF series) run MUCH better with a separate sound card. Integrated sound eats up CPU cycles to do it's work and can interfere with the game.

**PizzaSHARK!** · 06-13-08, 02:12 PM

IRS website estimates my check will be $600, so hopefully it'll be the full $600. I think I'm just going to stick with what I've got now, though I'm gonna watch processor prices and see if I can't get a cheap upgrade before I buy everything. I could spend all $600 and get everything all at once, but I'd rather keep the $100-odd leftover and just sit on it for later.

I'll probably stick with XP for now, since I can get it for cheap/free, and it's tried-and-true, as you said. Flipping through HardOCP, they said that DX10 actually hurt performance on several games without really making the visuals any better (Call of Juarez was an exception, and I'd imagine Crysis is as well.)

I couldn't find a benchmark comparison between a 2600XT and 8600 GT, but I was able to find a comparison between a 2900XT and 8800 GTS and GTX at HardOCP - and using BioShock, no less! The end result is that the 2900 XT sucked ass at DX10 for some reason (possibly fixed by now, since that comparison was made up in October of last year), but kicks the shit out of both nVidia boards at DX9. Ultimately, though, there's no major difference - the results are similar enough that you'd probably want to go with what's cheapest and/or most compatible. I imagine I can just hack off a few fancy frills and FPS for my 2600XT. At any rate, my monitor's native resolution is 1152x960 (I think; one step up from 1024x768 for fullscreen resolutions), and if I can run my games at high-medium to high settings and maintain a good framerate (35+), I'll be happy.