Building a gaming rig...Suggestions??

[faraaz]

Hey All,

I'm building a gaming rig which I will be purchasing in about a month's time probly, so I thought I should start looking at what I should be getting.

I've got a budget of 60 - 70 K for my tower, I'll be picking up the proper hi-funda monitor and peripherals later and just use second hand ones I have lying around for now.

Please, keep in mind that I dont have much of an idea regarding specific hardware (motherboard chipsets etc) so I'd appreciate it if you could be detailed with your replies!!

So yeah...what config should I get?

[john_the_ultimate]

What are the stuffs that u already have and want to use?

[Aniruddh]

there are loads of thing which shud b cleared b4 v suggest..1-u gonna overclock?2-wat r da thins which u hav it wid u?...etc etc!!

[Edburg]

First for a gaming PC a great graphic card is a must -I suggerst a Geforce 8800GTX costing about 35000 i think - its direct X 10 card and powerful in D9 also

Then a Processor -currently best is Intel; Core 2 Duo
Depending on your budget choose 1.8 GHz to even 2.93 GHz or even Core 2 Quad -i dont know if its available

No matter what core 2 you buy remember to buy a third party air cooler or liquid cooler to further overclock the Pro ( no matter how power ful pro is we always want even more power from it)

Then for mobo choose an extremely overclocking mobo with SLI ready incase you want to add another GPU
I suggest a nForce 600 series(dont know if available in india)

Dont forget to buy a high end SMPS (>450 W for 1 GPU or >600 W for 2 GPU)

then choose 2GB of quality RaM (local wont overclock well)

Harddisk is upto you

[Aniruddh]

@Edburg dun mind but he wanna gaming pc within 60-70k but wat u hav suggested is almost 1LAKH RIG or may b more then that wait lets check ur confi
1-8800GTX=36k
2-C2D E6300=9k
3-2GB DDR2 RAM lets take 667MHz=12k
4-nForce 600 series,or sum SLI MOBO as per u(it wont b less then 15grand 4 sure)=15k
5-With 8800GTX 450w psu is not enough,550 bare minimum-ANTEC HE550=7k,skyhawk 640w=5k
6-HARDDISK???-160GB=3.5k
7-MONITOR???-SAMSUNG LCD 17" N740=10.5
8-UPS???Numeric 600VA=2k,APC 650=2.5k
9-SPEAKERS???-decent 5.1/2/1=5k/3k
10-CABINET??Zebronic Jamaica-3.5k
11-DVD-RW??OR DVD-ROM??OR COMBO??OR CD-RW=???
12-MOUSE??KB??...LOGITECH OPTI MOUSE+MM KB=800rs

ALL THIS WILL GO BEYOND 1LAKH I HAV NOT CALCULATED AS I M NOT GUD AT IT BUT I M SURE IT WILL B WAY ABOVE IS BUDGET.

:-HERE GOES THE 70K CONFI:-
1-C2D E6400-11k
2-MSI P965 NEO OR GIGABYTE 965P S3-(MY CHOICE)=6.5k(BOTH)
3-1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM=6k
4-250GB SEAGATE/HITACHI SATA2 HDD=4k
5-ATP3 SPEAKERS-2.7k
6-UPS-Numeric 600VA=1.9k,APC 650VA=2.5k
7-Zebronic Jaimaica CABBY+Skyhawk 630 psu=8k
8-ASUS DVD-RW=2.2k
9-LOGITECH OPTI MOUSE+MM KB=.7k
10-Samsung LCD 17" 740 Monitor-10.5k
11-GET A 7600GS(6k) FOR NOW later sell it of when u get 8series,as nvidia is suppose to launch 7 DX10 card so u can choose then and by that time price will b stabilised...rite now its 2 expensive and only 2 model soo quite a lot for doz cards..but no doubt they r MONSTERS,especially 8800GTX

ABOVE CONFIG SHUD CUM ARND 60K!! CHEERS

[Ch@0s]

^^@edburg: Your suggestion is so lame... an 8800GTX is CPU limited on even a 3GHz core cpu forget a 1.86GHz. Hell my X1900 is cpu limited with my cpu at stock. The config anirudh suggested is good. Better stick with that. However he doesn't want a display so chuck that 17" out of the config.

[Aniruddh]

if he dun want monitor then he can make few changes in the above confi suggested by me.
1-C2D E6600=16k
0R
2-MOBO-Gigabyte 965P DS3,ASUS P5B or P5B DLX with wifi etc dunno the exact model number=12k(not sure)
OR
3-2GB RAM
OR
4-MX5021 SPEAKERS (wow i wud hav gone for this,its juz awesome)=7-8k
OR
5-ELSE KEEP THE MONEY WITH YOU DUN SPEND IN ANY OF THE ABOVE 4 OPTIONS AND GET A GUD DX10 CARD LATER.
CHEER!!

[faraaz]

Sorry I have not mentioned those things in my post guys...I'm not too good at this...

@John the ultimate: I already have keyboard, mouse and monitor...I will just be buying the tower for now. When I have saved up enough, I'll be buying a 32" widescreen LCD Monitor later on.

@Aniruddh: No, I will not be overclocking...I have had bad experiences with overclocking in the past. I will also NOT be using SLI as IMO its a waste of money most of the time. I mean, half the games I play dont even support SLI!

ALSO @Aniruddh: Hey, thanks for that config man! Its not exactly what I had in mind for the budget...but it definitely gives me a framework to work with! Now its just a matter of customising it, depending on how much I can afford!

Hmm...
I'm definitely going to buy a DX10 card...but I don't know if I should pick up the 8800 GTX...I mean, that card is WAY too big for most cabinets...and I want to wait till they shift the card to the 65 nm process...that way the board size will be the same as the GTS (IIRC) version...maybe in the meanwhile, I'll pick up a cheap 5K video card?? Like a 6600 GTX or something I dunno...

Oh and definitely, I'm going to need ATLEAST a 550 W powersupply...because the monitor I'm going to get is MASSIVE and its going to need a lot of power...as is the video card. I'll probably get a 3rd party cooling system installed as well, and uh...yeah..all in all, the power I will need is going to need a 550 W power supply at the least.

PS: I'm based in Bangalore. Can anyone recommend some good dealers for me to get this system assembled from? I'm not too good when it comes to assembling systems personally....
__________

Originally Posted by Aniruddh

:-HERE GOES THE 70K CONFI:-
1-C2D E6400-11k
2-MSI P965 NEO OR GIGABYTE 965P S3-(MY CHOICE)=6.5k(BOTH)
3-1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM=6k
4-250GB SEAGATE/HITACHI SATA2 HDD=4k
5-ATP3 SPEAKERS-2.7k
6-UPS-Numeric 600VA=1.9k,APC 650VA=2.5k
7-Zebronic Jaimaica CABBY+Skyhawk 630 psu=8k
8-ASUS DVD-RW=2.2k
9-LOGITECH OPTI MOUSE+MM KB=.7k
10-Samsung LCD 17" 740 Monitor-10.5k
11-GET A 7600GS(6k) FOR NOW later sell it of when u get 8series,as nvidia is suppose to launch 7 DX10 card so u can choose then and by that time price will b stabilised...rite now its 2 expensive and only 2 model soo quite a lot for doz cards..but no doubt they r MONSTERS,especially 8800GTX

From that config, I will be taking out the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse...that frees up 10.5+0.7+2.7 K which is... ~14 K. I definitely want atleast 2 GB minimum DDR2 RAM so an extra 6K for that? And with the remaining leftover...E6600 C2D 2.4 GHz which leaves me 2 K to play around with...

Oh and WTF?!? 7600 GS for 6 K?? How many MB does it have?? I didn't think cards were THAT cheap in India...

[Ch@0s]

7600GS is closer to 5 grand now and not 6.

[faraaz]

MERA BHARAT MAHAAN!

Cards cost like 30% more here in Sydney...

PS: @Chaos: Dude, your sig says C2D E6600 @ 3.6...did you overclock your CPU from the 2.4 GHz stock version??

PPS: @Aniruddh: What's so special about the second, more expensive set of mobos you posted? Should I be buying them instead?

[vinyas]

Originally Posted by faraaz

MERA BHARAT MAHAAN!

Cards cost like 30% more here in Sydney...

PS: @Chaos: Dude, your sig says C2D E6600 @ 3.6...did you overclock your CPU from the 2.4 GHz stock version??

PPS: @Aniruddh: What's so special about the second, more expensive set of mobos you posted? Should I be buying them instead?

@faraaz ... Chaos had Indeed Oc his Rig ... & its Giving a Damn Impressive Performace 24 * 7 ... i know that for sure

[Aniruddh]

@Faraaz well if u can then go for any of the 1 mobo frm der...bcoz they r damn gud CHAOS is also using the same mobo u can ask him bout the performance etc etc.

[akshayt]

Intel C2D E6400 -10k+, get a E6300 for saving money
Asus P5B / P5B E -8k+, get Gigabyte S3 965 for saving money
2 X 1GB DDR2 533/667 Transcend -10k+
Seagate 250GB SATA II -4k
Jamica cabinet -3k, generic cabinet if you wanna save some money

Either get a 7900GT now around 17k and then upgrade again in mid 2007 for Dx 10 after selling the card, this way you save on the PSU as well. 8800GTS/GTX is almost out of reach in just 70k!

[Aniruddh]

i dont think it will be a wise decision going for 17k card at the moment and selling it for almost half a price or may b less in 4-6 months.better get urself a low/medium end card for few months and then get a gud DX10 card.

[Ch@0s]

Originally Posted by faraaz

MERA BHARAT MAHAAN!

Cards cost like 30% more here in Sydney...

PS: @Chaos: Dude, your sig says C2D E6600 @ 3.6...did you overclock your CPU from the 2.4 GHz stock version??

PPS: @Aniruddh: What's so special about the second, more expensive set of mobos you posted? Should I be buying them instead?

Yup overclocked to 3.6GHz from stock 2.4GHz. Its running at that 24/7 @1.475V in bios (1.40-1.41 real). Can't be happier with the cpu and mobo. Awesome performance at decent temps. My load temps with the TAT stress test is 53-54 and in normal apps it never breaks 50 degrees with aftermarket cooling. If you can afford it, get the P5B Deluxe... don't think twice about it .

[faraaz]

I can definitely afford it...I'll just have to save for a bit longer!

Ah well...long term benefits must be given priority I think!

As for the video card, I agree with Aniruddh, doesn't make sense to spend a bomb now and again for a DX10 card...besides, 6800 GT or 7600 GS or whatever is the lower-mid solution for gaming should keep me up till the full G80 range of cards are released by NVIDIA...that, plus ATi's R650 range of cards is due out soon too and we know what that means...PRICE WARS!! :evillol:

[akshayt]

it makes a lot of sense to spend 17k now on a video card. irrespective of whatever you spend on a graphic card(usually 25-35k) you will need to upgrade to an equally expensive solution in at the very most a year.

[faraaz]

@Akshayt: If I was only purchasing a video card and not a full desktop, I would have to agree with you...but see, here's the issue.

At the moment, within my budget, if I spend a lot on a video card which I use only as a stop-gap, I'll have to sacrifice on other components...like maybe 1 GB RAM instead of 2 or whatever...

But if I buy a cheaper card, I use that money on other things and end up getting an overall better system when I save up again and spend later...or something...

It sounds confusing to me only, so sorry if it doesnt make sense to you too! Aaaaanyway...I just want to say thanks to all you punters here! This was fixed quickly!

[Aniruddh]

Faraaz wat u r sayin is makin loads of sense..and wat akshayat is sayin is very much lame..dunno wat he is thinking..nywayz Faraaz betta do wat u have decided that is a betta decision.CHEERS