Needed! Best gaming rig for around 2K

[UnknownSoldier]

I have 2 k to play with!!!! Tell me, am I spending wisely for kick a** gaming rig????
Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811144135

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813138272

Graphics card (x2) http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814141032

PS: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817148026

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103546

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820220079

HDD (x2): http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822144701

Moniter: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16824112176

DVD&Combo drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106256
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106992



Is this the best 2K can buy? If not, PLEASSSSEEEEEE tell me a better route for a better rig. Thanks

[ddragon625]

Definitely NOT the best $2K can buy. I am currently building with a $1200-$1500 budget and my built looks to be a lot more powerful than the one you are proposing. Here are a few suggestions for spending the $2K on quality parts:

1) CPU: Get a Core 2 Duo E6600 (or better, if you want. The E6600 is the best price/performance ratio in the Core 2 Duo lineup though and easily overclockable to be better than the top of the line AMD dual core CPU. Even without overclocking it is still a beast). Around $369 on newegg right now but is miles better than the AMD 4400+. If you want a quality dual core CPU for gaming, this is the one to go with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

2) Video Card: With $2K, at the very least get 2 of the Geforce 7900GT. Or go up a step to Radeon X1900XT. If you're getting the 7900GT, make sure you get the latest N584 model that fixes a lot of the artifacting problems, etc...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130033

3) System Memory: Get 2X1 Gigs of the Corsair brand memory since it's one of the most reliable brands in terms of quality. Also, for a Core 2 Duo CPU, definitely go with the DDR2 PC-6400 ram. For a $2K system, I would go with at least the 4-4-4-12 Timing. However, if you have money leftover, do better with the 3-4-3-9 timing.

4-4-4-12 timing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145038
3-4-3-9 timing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145035

4) Get a quality case and a quality power supply separately for such a powerful system since most built-in power supplies in cases are crap. For the power supply, if you're going to run 2 video cards get at least 550W, most likely higher as in greater than 600W just in case. Antec is a great brand for both the case and power supply. Make sure you have proper cooling.

[UnknownSoldier]

One question. I really want to run two graph cards for the best video possible! Will the mobo, processor, and cards be compatible with each other to run two vid cards. The processor is a 775 and my original mobo was 939. And processor doesn't mention anything about being SL ready. Can u recommend a mobo that would be compatible and collaberate on the processor not being SL ready. Thanks

[Alaron]

Biostar is not known for quality. I would switch it out with an Asus. The A8N32-SLI is an excllent choice that will be fine with your 4400+ and SLI'd video cards.

The CPU has nothing to do with SLI, no worries.

I would also upgrade that video card to the 7900GT or even 7900GTX. Not only is the 7600 the budget series, but the GS is the slower version of the card. For your budget, the 7900 series would be a better choice, especially for gaming.

Along with SLI, you need an SLI-certified power supply. Aspire power supplies are junk. Check the list: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizon..._powersupplies depending on if you choose the GT or GTX.

[Mr.Ferrari]

So would you like to go with amd or intel?

If going core 2 duo, I suggest corsairs xms ddr2 800 but, the one with the 5-5-5-12 timings. Lower latencies do not have an effect on core 2 duo and your just wasteing your money.

If you really want sli go with amd. Intel does not have a proper sli supporting chipset yet. But beware, if you go amd. You will be spending twice the price on the proc then needed with a core 2 duo and you will still have lower performance. Currently intel chipsets are only compatible with crossfire, ati's version of nvidia's sli.

If you do want nvidia, I really suggest you get one 7950GX2 instead of two 7900gt's. It will beat it in performance, run cooler, take less power and take up only one slot. You dont need a special psu to power it. I however suggest the Antec Truepower III, Seasonic, Fsp blue storm, or tagan U22 unit's as great choices.

[Maqqie]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari If you really want sli go with amd. Intel does not have a proper sli supporting chipset yet. But beware, if you go amd. You will be spending twice the price on the proc then needed with a core 2 duo and you will still have lower performance. Currently intel chipsets are only compatible with crossfire, ati's version of nvidia's sli.

So Intel chipsets can only run ATi cards in Crossfire? or single ATi cards? (can they run single Nvidia cards?)

[Mr.Ferrari]

975X chipsets can run crossfire, single ati cards, and single nvidia cards, even Nvidia sli with hacked drivers.

Btw the intel 570 (asus p5nSLI) has come out on ewiz.com for 112 bucks. Beware it is a barebones version and there has been no tests to be seen yet. And if have no clue on whether it supports full x8 or x16 sli.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-P5NSLI

[PnyK1d]

Originally Posted by Alaron The CPU has nothing to do with SLI, no worries.

correct me if im wrong, but i think the cpu is "BIG" deal if your going SLI. I run a 3500+ and have my 7900gt in sli. and from what iv'e read on the net, my 3500+ is bottlenecking my SLI set up royally, i run css vid stress test, on a single card, settings maxed out 4x aa, 16xaf and i get 120fps, i stick a second card in, enable sli, have the sli rendering in afr2 and get 98-97fps. even though the human eye cant see past 60 fps, its the preformance you expect when you pay $$$.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Very true. But, I think what he meant was theres no sli requirement for the cpu to be compatible.

And besides, to see benefits of sli, you need 1680x10 res or higher. Otherwise its a waste/performance hit. So thats another factor.

[Alaron]

Mr Ferrari has it correct. There is no "required" CPU for SLI. Thats all. Anyong planning on SLI can hopefully also afford a powerful CPU.

[Freefall]

You could always go quad-SLI I haven't looked into enough to know about it, but I imagine one of the 7950 x 2 cards would be sufficient:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130023

[Mr.Ferrari]

Quad sli is a joke at the moment. Bad drivers, compatibilty issues, bad chipset support give it very very bad results. Besides youll need to spend around 1-2k on a monitor in which you will actually see benefits, same goes for the cpu.

I think reasonably, theres no reason to have more then a single gx2. Just my opinion. Of course, if you have alot of extra $$ laying around (i know i dont), then it would certainly be a nice novelty item.

[PnyK1d]

sorry guys for my misunderstanding

[Spirit]

I don't know much about the 7950, but doesn't 1x 7950 = 2x 7900GT? If so, you could always do that.
I agree the Core 2 Duo is the way to go. I can't wait to see how well my Core 2 Duo will work, should be better than my old Athlon XP :P

[Mr.Ferrari]

Thats right spirit, and it runs cooler, guzzles less juice, and takes up a single slot .

[Maqqie]

I think the GX2s get beaten when running on low resolution by two 7900GTs, but the results are very different once you scale up the resolution above 1024x768.