New gaming build parts list; case suggestions

[Force Flow]

My current gaming machine just isn't cutting it anymore, especially for newer generation games that aren't kind to older hardware (AMD 2500+ barton, Asus A7N8X, 1.5GB RAM, ATi Radeon 9800 Pro)

So, I've been looking at parts every once in a while for the past few months, and came up with this:

Asus P5Q
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131295

Intel C2D E8400 3GHz 6MB L2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

Kingston 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134641

SAPPHIRE 100243L Radeon HD 4870 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102748

Enlight Sniper 5606832 750W ATX12V / EPS12V PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817373008

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288


I'm going for the ati 4870 over the 4850 since I probably won't be building another gaming machine for another 6 years (which is about the age of the hardware in my gaming rig right now)


Also, any case suggestions? Case window and at least 4 internal drive bays preferred for around the $50 mark. I usually get cheap $25 cases and mod them a bit, but I'm looking for something a bit more robust this time around.

[edit]: The RAM is out of stock...here's pretty much the same thing:
Kingston 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134582

[Alaron]

Looks pretty good to me FF. I'd go with Corsair RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184 Kingston had some issues not too long ago.

[flanzig1]

I took a look at the $50 or less cases at Newegg and probably the best choices is the CoolerMaster brand.
Looks like most of the brands are 2nd tier. As for side windows, not that many and most seem to be gaudy,flashy design(can you say ugly).

[Force Flow]

Yeah, I thought Kingston only had those problems with DDR, which were addressed. Either way, that Corsair is a better deal with the rebate


As for cases, that was the same problem I was running into--a lot of gaudy designs.

I didn't like most of the coolermaster ones because they use that mesh in the front...it seems more like a dust magnet than for actually helping airflow.

[Force Flow]

Well, looks like I'm changing the vid card. I just saw a BFG 9800 GTX+ on newegg (Now I see why the 9800 GTX cards were mysteriously removed from newegg last week...)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143149

According to the comparative game benchmarks I looked at (FPS, not 3DMark scores), it did slightly better than the 4870, not to mention ran cooler, drew less power, and is about $85 cheaper. I think we have a new winner.

[shadowpr]

Interesting. Can you link those benchmarks. I'm confused as to who is the top dog right now.

[Force Flow]

Hmm...after digging up some more comparisons, I'm on the fence again. The 4870 is better in some places, and the 9800 GTX+ is better in others. Course, I'd never play the games at these insane resolutions--I've been sticking to 1280x1024. Most test beds are also running intel quads, not duos.

I'd prefer to go with nVidia if they offer a better bang-per-buck, as they've been making very good lines of cards the past few years now. ATi's 48xx line is the first line that's been able to compete with nvidia's current cards in a good while (and seem to be doing quite well holding their own)

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1297&pageID=5020

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=14351&page=1

http://www.custompc.co.uk/reviews/60...-9800-gtx.html

http://www.custompc.co.uk/reviews/60...n-hd-4870.html

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid...e=expert&pid=3

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=756&p=0

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/731/1/

There's not a lot of comparative reviews out there yet since it's so new, especially from the mainstream hardware sites.

[vtfanmv5]

tomshardware's review is pretty comprehensive: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0,1964-19.html

The 4870 beats the 9800 GTX+ by an average of 20-25%...granted, costs a bit more.

The 4850 actually only trails the 9800 GTX+ by an average of ~1% (and actually was at a big disadvantage in that review because it took a 0 score for GRID), and costs $20 or so less.

Seems to me that either of the 4800s are still the best choice at this point. Granted, they do draw a bit more power. Could even go with the 1GB 4850 if you don't want to spend for the 4870.

[mattaggie]

Take a look at InWin cases. They are a good middle ground case and actually come with power supplies that are on the good list.

[Force Flow]

huh...wonder why that review didn't come up when I searched tom's. Well, looks like it's back to the ATi 4870, then.


I have a few InWin cases at work. Honestly, for the price of $60-$75, they're not much better than the $25 cases I usually get.

[vtfanmv5]

That review is nearly impossible to find from Tom's website. I always have to google for it.

[Force Flow]

A couple more reviews from anadtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3340&p=1

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=1

[Force Flow]

For anyone interested, here's what the final specs were. This totaled about $1057. Some deals were better with zipzoomfly, some were better with newegg.

Asus P5Q Pro:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

Enlight 750W:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817373008

Raidmax case (I may end up doing a case mod to replace this later):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156139

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros

Intel C2D e8400:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros

2x Seagate 500GB 7200rpm 32MB cache:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros

HIS 4870:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros

Lite-on DVDRW 20x:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...dlist=celebros

[chuck4456]

You need a solid, reliable, single rail power supply, especially with a 4870.
These would be better choices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

Why have your new system crash 6 weeks from now?

[Force Flow]

I'm not sure what you mean. The PSU I had selected is a solid brand, is rated for 750W, and has the connectors I need.

A 610W PSU would not be powerful enough, and while a 650W would probably be fine, it would be borderline if I added a few more devices,fans,etc

[peter8d9]

You're going to be using the same CPU so I'll keep checking up on this thread for info.

[Force Flow]

I probably won't have it assembled for another week or so...the video card hasn't arrived yet, and the case came damaged.

[Force Flow]

Update: all the parts are now assembled and I gave this rig a dry run last night (without the case)

Here's a pic from the day before. Since the vid card hadn't arrived yet, I just tossed in an ancient PCI VGA junker card just to install windows and the like.

http://img522c.imageshack.us/img522/5796/1000537wr9.jpg


Anyway, with the 4870, I gave it a dry run with TF2. I cranked all the graphics settings as high as they would go, enabled 8xAA and 8xAF, and with the resolution at 1280x1024. That got me roughly 80-90FPS consistently throughout the game.

It was nice to see all the pretty pretty eye candy for once



One thing...the 4870 runs extremely hot. Even with HIS's cooling on it, both the vent and the area around the GPU were very hot to the touch (almost too hot to touch).

The card also bumped up the heat on the CPU by about 8'C at idle and about 15'C while gaming. However, this is without the airflow of a case. I'll see how it does when the parts sit in a case later.


Another thing I noticed was that the mic volume appears to be quite low, even with the volume turned up, and even with the mic boost enabled.

[shadowpr]

Wow. That card does sound like it runs hot.

I'm not sure, but I think some said you have to adjust the settings so the fan runs faster. Something like that.

But let us know if the case helps.

[Force Flow]

As it turned out, idle GPU temp was 72'C

I gave the fan fix a try, and it seems to have done the trick. I have mine set to 32%. Any higher, and I can hear it. I may bump it up some once it's in the case, though. Idle temp is around 43'C now.

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=456350

According to a few other sites, it looks like roughly 30-40% is suggested for a 4870, and 60% is suggested for a 4850 or 4750x2