I want a new computer but I'm at a loss where to go...

[Byrns]

I'd be willing to help you select components to have built into a system by Memory Express.

Just a few questions:

1) What size monitor are you planning using with this?
2) What games do you like to play? Lots of FPS or more real time strategy, or MMOs?

To start I would suggest:

Intel Q6600 (Quad Core)
2 Gigs of RAM (Brand not so important but Kingston is reliable name)
Seagate SATA Hard Drive (best warranty)
Motherboard Asus P5K-SE
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card (or if you're rich get the 8800 GTX)
DVD Burner (Doesn't matter)
Choose any case you like (better to get one without a power supply)
Corsair or Enermax Power Supply (500w+)

[worth]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

see this is the stuff I'm less sure about - is e-GeForce related Nvidia G-force, or is this a knock off of sorts... would a guy run into issues because its not the name brand model?

EVGA is a company licensed to produce NVIDIA video cards. Just like ASUS MSI etc.

EVGA is a great company and they also have the step up program whereby you can upgrade your video card within 90 days of purchase for something better if something new is released.

[photon]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

see this is the stuff I'm less sure about - is e-GeForce related Nvidia G-force, or is this a knock off of sorts... would a guy run into issues because its not the name brand model?

nVidia doesn't sell their own video cards anymore, they just make the chips and (I believe) manufacture the boards and stuff. Then different companies make different packages, include different stuff and market them at their own prices. So getting one like eVga is perfectly fine.

[LockedOut]

Originally Posted by photon

Hard Drives 1 :Seagate 750GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ, 16MB Cache 1

$249.95

I'd go with a 500 GB hard drive. It's the best value right now. They've been on sale at NCIX for $100. Knocks $150 off the total.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

see this is the stuff I'm less sure about - is e-GeForce related Nvidia G-force, or is this a knock off of sorts... would a guy run into issues because its not the name brand model?

Companies lie N-Vidia or ATI (well, now AMD) only produce a few early lines of cards. After that they sell the chips and chipsets to other companies like eVGA, MSI, Sapphire, Asus, etc who will build and sell 90% of the video cards.


Edit: eVGA is known for their Limited Lifetime Warranty on their retail parts.

[worth]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I've had luck looking up the price at Memory Express, then going accross the road (well, actually it is kitty corner) to OEM Depot. The guy working there is always assembling a new system. Say to him, "This is what I was looking for, and will you beat Memory Express' price?"

Yeah, OEM depot is a good place to go if they have what your looking for. I dunno about their warranty though. That place is kind of shady.

[photon]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the price drop.. you can get the quad core processors for $300 bux now!

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by worth

This is essentially my PC, whish is a little over your price range, but NCIX usually has weekly specials and stuff so you can get a lot of things cheaper than they are listed here.

And for $2000 you can get a really good rig.

Nice system. I typed up my response without even looking at what you got

[photon]

Corsair PS's are really nice, as are Seanix. I don't mind Enermax, but I've never had one from them that I was happy with how quiet it was (I'm a quiet PC freak).

If you want a super nice case, check out the Antec P182. Freaking huge though.

[TheDragon]

If you know a person from the US whom you can trust enough to get a Falcon Northwest rig built and shipped to their address - they're pretty rocking. www.falcon-nw.com I don't think they ship to Canada, but I could be wrong. As far as I remember, they don't.

http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ also has some pretty good deals here and there. If anything, it'll give you an idea of what kind of computer you want, along with a ballpark figure as what you're going to spend.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Byrns

Intel Q6600 (Quad Core)
2 Gigs of RAM (Brand not so important but Kingston is reliable name)
Seagate SATA Hard Drive (best warranty)
Motherboard Asus P5K-SE
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640mb Video card (or if you're rich get the 8800 GTX)
DVD Burner (Doesn't matter)
Choose any case you like (better to get one without a power supply)
Corsair or Enermax Power Supply (500w+)

This is close to the setup I just got (P5K Wifi, 4GB RAM, Raptor 150/Seagate 500's) and my two cents are:

The 640mb version of the 8800GTS doesn't show a lot of difference from the 320mb version as in many review on the web. Get the 320mb Superclocked for less $ and it is a heck of a performer.

Get a decent heatsink and RAM and the 2.4 Q6600 overclocks to 3.01 Ghz without breaking a sweat (on 4 modules no less). Benches are showing 25-30% increases on this simple tweak.

I second the Corsair PS - awesome modular cables and extremely quiet. I'm now a silent PC freak and my new rig is wayyyy quieter than the old system with some attention to fans and PS.

[MaDMaN_26]

Thanks guys... I think this helps - I got reading that Sharky Extreme guide and that looks interesting...

I think it comes down to me getting a better handle on the coponents as well... like not knowing that Nvidia doesn't make cards and who Ge-Force is, also understanding things like what exactly the Dual core and quad processors are and how they differ from what I have (an older pentium) - they still say they are only 2.4 or 3 ghz but are some how waaaay faster....

I noticed in worth and photons setups no sound card... could that not create a bottle neck of sorts in a gaming system??

@Byrns - monitors - nto sure , not even sure I'd want dual... maybe just a wide screen - 23ish inch... had not really decided... also I play any of those games... FPS or strategy are up my ally, I bought D&D online but my pc could not run it... so a MMORPG is not out of the question either...

[worth]

with quad core and the way onboard sound is these days, i don't really think you need a sound card unless you have some sort of $5,000 audio setup. I'm not using one in my setup, but if I find that i'm losing fps in games then i'll go out and get one, but i don't think that will be the case.

I would go with something like what Byrns said. That would turn out a great gaming rig in your price range.

Also on the 640 vs 320, i think that comes into play if your going to game at really high resolutions. if your getting a 23" it's probably going to be 1920x1200, so I would want a 640mb card for that.

[photon]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

also understanding things like what exactly the Dual core and quad processors are and how they differ from what I have (an older pentium) - they still say they are only 2.4 or 3 ghz but are some how waaaay faster....

Dual core and quad core just means there's multiple processors in the system all running at the indicated speed. So in theory it should be faster because there's more processors to process the instructions that are the software.

In practice it's another one of those "it depends" answers. Most software does not take any advantage of multiple cores right now, especially games. Check out some reviews on the Q6600 (anandtech is a good site), and you'll see that some benchmarks are almost the same for a dual core and a quad core Intel system of the same GHz rating. So if gaming (not media encoding and stuff like that) is the primary use, you probably won't see much difference from a quad core over a dual core, in fact you could get a faster GHz dual core and see better performance in games.

All that said, going forward more and more games are going to take advantage of the multiple core systems, so it does "future proof" you to some extent.

I noticed in worth and photons setups no sound card... could that not create a bottle neck of sorts in a gaming system??

Only because I was pretty sure the motherboard came with an onboard sound. The sound quality on those onboard ones can be pretty bad sometimes though, so another $100 bux for a decent sound card would probably be a good idea. Gamers tend to buy Creative Labs stuff, but it's a love-hate relationship (good cards, HORRIBLE drivers).

And a good soundcard can actually improve your game performance, though usually only by a few percentage points.

@Byrns - monitors - nto sure , not even sure I'd want dual... maybe just a wide screen - 23ish inch... had not really decided... also I play any of those games... FPS or strategy are up my ally, I bought D&D online but my pc could not run it... so a MMORPG is not out of the question either...

I really like the 20" 2007FPW from Dell, good gaming monitor for a good price with a nice resolution (1680 x 1050). I like widescreen for my non-work computer, good for gaming and movies.

[photon]

Originally Posted by worth

Also on the 640 vs 320, i think that comes into play if your going to game at really high resolutions. if your getting a 23" it's probably going to be 1920x1200, so I would want a 640mb card for that.

Agreed, I just upgraded from a 1680x1050 monitor, and my 7900GTO was sufficient to drive almost every game full screen at full detail.

[Burninator]

I am thinking of building a computer in the near future, this thread will come in handy. But for now I think I am just going to upgrade my 19" CRT. What does everyone think of this monitor?

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9996&SID=

[MaDMaN_26]

@ burninator - I think I too will use this thread to get opinions on different componnets as I start to decide what to go with...

I'm curious as well, does the monitor have a big impact on performance or is it a purely visual thing?

[flamesftw]

Originally Posted by Burninator

I am thinking of building a computer in the near future, this thread will come in handy. But for now I think I am just going to upgrade my 19" CRT. What does everyone think of this monitor?

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=9996&SID=

I just purchased that monitor actually, and it is fantasic. I have my old samsung 930BF running beside it and the 226BW is clearly superior in every aspect.

The only issue you may run into with the 226bw is which panel you get. There are 3 different panels used and there is a chance you could get a poor "C" panel which tends to have some bleeding issues and some also have a blue tint to them. Having said that i think it is mostly just the usual overreacting by someone who happened to get a bad "C" panel so i wouldn't stress out about it

[photon]

Monitor doesn't impact performance per say, but it does impact how you see the games a lot.

Many of the "gaming" LCD's out there use 6-bit panels, meaning they only display 6 bits of colour depth rather than 8 bits, and they dither to get the rest.. basically doesn't look as nice IMO.

Different panels use different technology as well, and some inherently look better than others. And of course screen makers don't share this info very easily, so it can be tough to find a truely good monitor.

Mind you maybe I'm just too picky. 90% of people would probably never know the difference.

For the 226BW, it looks like it's good for gaming, but it's colour accuracy isn't the best.. but that's not usually a problem for most people (ie not doing graphics work on it).

From a review:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/oth..._12.html#sect0

[Cliche]

Originally Posted by worth

Yeah, OEM depot is a good place to go if they have what your looking for. I dunno about their warranty though. That place is kind of shady.

OEM Depot is toast. They went back to ottawa/ontario. Both stores in Calgary are shuttered(They had their going out of biz sales last december)

Also, according to reports on the net, there have been problems with the 8800GTS 320MB version (although problems exist for all cards at varying levels) most notably the problem reported @ the Inquirer(YMMV) with no possible fix for possible texture thrashing until september.