review

[id10x]

hi .. i made a project to a new gaming system few months ago and now i think
i can get it but i want to make sure if the parts are still the best in market


1 _ Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 = 250$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

2_ ASUS P5K-E mb = 140 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225

3 _ CORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) ram = 124 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145176

4_ Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB Hard Drive = 175 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136011

5_ OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply = 125 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002

am going maximum on this one coz i had lots of psu problems on my current sys
better be safe than sorry ..

6_ and the hardest choice was the vga it will be the

GeForce 8800GT xfx at 230 $

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150253

- so i have a monitor and cd player and a floppy and ill get a cheap nice looking
case for a 50 $

.................................................................................................... ...........


total cost 1094 $

is this system is still the latest in the market or we see newer stuff ?? thanks

[id10x]

or should i get this : its cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150314


is it g92 built ?

[shadowpr]

What is your budget?

The e8500 is probably best bang for buck now.

Asus p5q motherboard

Would get a seagate 7200.11 500gb sata hard rive instead.

Would look at the 4870 video cards.

And for a case, look at the antec 300.

[id10x]

i have included my budget and cost in the post thats about 1100 $

and i think ill stay with nvidia

[Force Flow]

What games will you be playing?

If you really want to go with nvidia, look at the 9800GTX+, or the higher end cards: the 260 and the 280 (pricey, though).

The performance of the ati 4870 beats out everything except the 280.

[id10x]

the 280 / 260 ? what ae these ??

the ati is expensive i see the 9800 gtx + at 200 $ ati at 290 $

[Turbo91Bird]

The 4870 is 260.00 on newegg

[id10x]

still too much i would take that xfx gtx+ at 200$ anytime

[Turbo91Bird]

Originally Posted by id10x still too much i would take that xfx gtx+ at 200$ anytime

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121258

249.99 after mail-in-rebate. Just seems like for the price difference, you get a lot more. (230 vs. 249). I would just come up with 20 bucks extra for the huge difference in performance.

[Turbo91Bird]

Oops, just read that you found it for 200. Either way, 50 bucks more would be worth it to me for how much better the 4870 is compared to the gtx. That price jump is nothing for video cards. Ha. You want to make sure you do it right the first time. Save you from upgrading earlier in the future.

[id10x]

that is a 199 $ so 50 $ is a lot


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150314

plus i used geforce all my life and am not familiar with ati family ...

since when ati owned geforce high end cards so badly lol ?

they always creep miles behind them

[Turbo91Bird]

heh, it has been going on for a little while now. Things have reversed. AMD was better then Intel in performance and now Intel is better than AMD. ATI is top dog now too. Though AMD has price on their side for their chips (still way cheap) and Nvidia still makes a great card.

Yeah, I would go with that card if your looking to save every penny you can. Good luck with your build.

BTW: I wouldn't get that raptor drive. Especially if your trying to save money. It is 1.5Gb/s transfer. Get something in the 3.0Gb/s. I just bought this Seagate drive for 75 bucks shipped. 500GB, 32MB Cache, 7200rpm, 3.0Gb/s SATA. It is better than that particular raptor and a lot cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

Save yourself some more dough this way too.

[id10x]

yes am trying to stay inside the 1000 $ cause its all i have ready for now
it can be up to 1100 but not more .. thank you

[Turbo91Bird]

The more I look at your build the more I want to change it. Haha.

Get an ASUS P5Q Pro board. It is the same price as the board you picked out but better.

Change your ram to this. DDR2-1066 memory, 2GB (2 x 1GB) and only 44.99 shipped vs. your 100 dollar ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231144

You don't need 4GB of memory. And when you do, it will be a long ways down the road and you will already be working on completely new build, ha. Plus you need Vista 64 to even register the full 4GB.

And go with this PSU instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341001

You won't have any issues between the 600W and the 700W. So you save some more money there.

Also, I don't know if you have a MicroCenter where you live, but they have their E8400's (E0 Stepping, which is the best) for 149.99 right now. Great deal.

[Turbo91Bird]

Originally Posted by id10x yes am trying to stay inside the 1000 $ cause its all i have ready for now it can be up to 1100 but not more .. thank you

Right but I am saying this cheaper hard drive I linked to you is better and faster (for what you do) than that more expensive old raptor one you are buying.

[id10x]

the problem is i live in egypt and am not gonna buy via new egg

i must take what i find here and i see the price range for ati us too big up to
500$ if i dont find that card u showed

but the 9800gtx+ price range is a lot cheaper , u get it ?

[Turbo91Bird]

I am not talking about the graphics card. I am talking about all of your other stuff.

[id10x]

Originally Posted by Turbo91Bird Oops, just read that you found it for 200. Either way, 50 bucks more would be worth it to me for how much better the 4870 is compared to the gtx. That price jump is nothing for video cards. Ha. You want to make sure you do it right the first time. Save you from upgrading earlier in the future.

i was commenting on this reply cause i didnt see it before

as for the hd i already added the seagate u showed to my list ..

[Turbo91Bird]

Ah ok.

I would seriously look into that motherboard and the memory too. No way are you going to use 4GB and you have to have Vista 64 to even register 4 gigs. Plus that P5Q Pro is a newer and better mobo for the same price.

[Force Flow]

I just built the tower in my sig for about $1,050 including shipping.

Take a look at the ati 4850 video cards. They're a bit less expensive than the 4870. There's only about a 20% difference in processing power between the two.

[id10x]

oh well the pro mother board looks good but i want the 4 gig ram because
lots of games now are asking for a 2 gig ram as min and 3 as recommended so
who knows what they will ask for later

i dont have info about vista but surly i will use vista on my new system for direct x 10

what is vista 64 ? is it different from the normal vista ? and what is the problem
in using it to register the ram ? thank you ...

[Force Flow]

vista 64 is a 64-bit Operating System, instead of 32-bit.

32-bit OSes will only read up to 3.5GB of RAM. 64-bit OSes will read the full 4GB. But...you have some lack of driver support with 64-bit, and not all 32-bit software will run under a 64-bit OS (not to mention, that compounds to the existing quirkiness of vista)

Either way, it's prudent to get a 2x2GB matched pair. Turbo91Bird: since the price of RAM is so cheap now, we've been recommending going this route for a while now because you often get a better deal this way (cheap, you max out what you can use, and you get a matched pair)


As for DX10...there's really only some subtle differences between that and DX9. If you prefer XP and DX10 is the only deciding factor, I'd stick with XP. Not worth the hassle, IMHO.


Missed this question from earlier...

the 280 / 260 ? what ae these ??

Those are two high-end nvidia video card models in the $300-500 range.

[Force Flow]

vista 64 is a 64-bit Operating System, instead of 32-bit.

32-bit OSes will only read up to 3.5GB of RAM. 64-bit OSes will read the full 4GB. But...you have some lack of driver support with 64-bit, and not all 32-bit software will run under a 64-bit OS (not to mention, that compounds to the existing quirkiness of vista)

Either way, it's prudent to get a 2x2GB matched pair. Turbo91Bird: since the price of RAM is so cheap now, we've been recommending going this route for a while now because you often get a better deal this way (cheap, you max out what you can use, and you get a matched pair)


As for DX10...there's really only some subtle differences between that and DX9. If you prefer XP and DX10 is the only deciding factor, I'd stick with XP. Not worth the hassle, IMHO.


Missed this question from earlier...

the 280 / 260 ? what ae these ??

Those are two high-end nvidia video card models in the $300-500 range.

[Katreat]

Originally Posted by Force Flow As for DX10...there's really only some subtle differences between that and DX9. If you prefer XP and DX10 is the only deciding factor, I'd stick with XP. Not worth the hassle, IMHO.

I would disagree with this view. Improvments in immage quality with DX10 might be subtle, but it is very noticable and for me provides a substatial improvment in game enjoyment. Vista has matured since release and I have experienced little if any hassle. If you play a lot of older games your experince might be different. But newer DX10 games, which were developed to run under Vista, have so far been hassle free for me. The way I see it why limit yourself. If you build the computer to enjoy the newest games then go for it and enjoy them to the fullest and that requires DX10.

As for 64 bit I just dont see the advantage at this time. I have freinds running it and they have not had any major issues but there is really no advantage to 64 bit for gaming at this time that I am aware of. It is actually a bit slower from all the reviews I have seen because of the time lost in converting 32 bit to 64 bit. So, until games start being written for 64 bit, or start demanding more than 3 Gb of ram, there is just no real reason to move to a 64 bit OS other than future proofing.

Kat

[Force Flow]

The only major visual difference between DX9 and DX10 on DX10-capable games that I've noticed were improvements with shadows (smoother, more dynamic, etc). That's not exactly worth $100-$300 to me for vista. I can live without seeing a pristine perfect silhouette of a bush or tree against a wall

[id10x]

humm .. once i get the hardware there is really no problem with the OS

i have xp already and i will get vista cd for free as a gift from the hardware shop

its its only a matter of minutes to install either one ..

ill stick to vista 32 in case i decided to go for vista

but one more thing please haw much ram can xp read ? 3.5 gig also ?

[Force Flow]

With any Windows 32-bit OS, you're limited to 3.5GB. With 64-bit, you would see it all.

But, it's actually not very much, so don't let that be your make-or-break decision on 32-bit vs 64-bit.

[id10x]

Originally Posted by Turbo91Bird Get an ASUS P5Q Pro board. It is the same price as the board you picked out but better.

u mean P5QL PRO ? i dont see a p5Q pro here

http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3#

[shadowpr]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

[id10x]

yes i know but why its not on the manufactures web? is it some kind of old
model ?