considering a new pc build.. specifically a gaming rig

[Titan Moist]

im after building a budget PC dedicated to gaming.
i dont want OTT because i cant afford it.

what i want is a decent solid rig that can handle games well.
specifically right now i play daoc, the sysyem needss to ideally be able to duel log 2 accs and be able to stick one toon to another

currently i cant do this.. it lags like hel and toons loose stick all the time

im not sure of spec i want throw some suggestions at me please.

only things im bothered about is running on a 64 system, using HT or dual core and a decent ammount of ra and a good pow source

suggestions please

im aiming around £500-£700

thanks for advice

 

[Boni]

You dont even need that good a machine to run.

A very cost effective PC I built 6 months ago is something like:-

Slot A mobo.
1GB ram
Athlon XP3200
Geforce 4ti or old ATI card.

That will do all you require, stick 2 accounts, alt-tab quickly and not lag if setup correctly. Though you will have problems still getting XP3200s and old gfx cards youll have lots of change left.

If you want a set up a stage up from that than can play more modern games then:

PCIE mobo.
2GB ram
Core Duo (any)
Geforce7 or equivalent ATI

Anything in between doesnt make much sense to me, as your not really getting much more bang for your buck.

400W+ PSU in both cases, nice brand.

 

[bader]

CPU : Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2,93GHz

Mainboard : Intel Desktop Board D975XBX

Video : MSI RX1950XTX VT2D512E PCIe, ATI Radeon X1950XTX

memory : 2048Mb DDR2 667MHz Dual-Channel

HD : Hitachi 320Gb 16Mb 7200rpm SATA2

pow source : Tagan TG580-U15


well balanced extreme machine not sure about the prices

 

[Naffets]

CPU : Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2,93GHz

Mainboard : Intel Desktop Board D975XBX

Video : MSI RX1950XTX VT2D512E PCIe, ATI Radeon X1950XTX

memory : 2048Mb DDR2 667MHz Dual-Channel

HD : Hitachi 320Gb 16Mb 7200rpm SATA2

pow source : Tagan TG580-U15


well balanced extreme machine not sure about the prices

dude read the original post.

X6800 alone exceeds the cost

 

[bader]

well balanced extreme machine not sure about the prices

i rest my case..

But mabe you can fill in the prices !

 

[Cromcruaich]

You dont even need that good a machine to run.

A very cost effective PC I built 6 months ago is something like:-

Slot A mobo.
1GB ram
Athlon XP3200
Geforce 4ti or old ATI card.

That will do all you require, stick 2 accounts, alt-tab quickly and not lag if setup correctly. Though you will have problems still getting XP3200s and old gfx cards youll have lots of change left.

If you want a set up a stage up from that than can play more modern games then:

PCIE mobo.
2GB ram
Core Duo (any)
Geforce7 or equivalent ATI

Anything in between doesnt make much sense to me, as your not really getting much more bang for your buck.

400W+ PSU in both cases, nice brand.

Boni's post is good advice. Only thing i'd do differently is on the first one, where i'd pick up a cheap gcard from ebay. Geforce 5950's go for peanuts (i got one for gf for about £20), and for a little more you get into Radeon 9800 XT's, then at the 60 - 80 quid mark you get the very respectable 6800's,X800's.

 

[Ballard]

i rest my case..

But mabe you can fill in the prices !

CPU = 700 pound alone. Pointless advice even with the disclaimer.

Daoc is not a massive resource drain on a modern PC. Something similar to Boni's spec would be ideal especially if you already have a monitor, then for 500-700 you should be able to do a bit better than that.

Here is one potential cheap but fast system ...

- £71 - ThermalTake Tsunami Silver Aluminum (VA3000SNA) c/w 2x case fans +USB2 +Firewire NO PSU
- £136.53 - GF 7900GS SLI 256MB DDR3, PCI-E, Dual DVI, HDTV Out, Retail
- £54.39 - AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3500 Retail Boxed inc Fan, Socket AM2, 940 PIN (3yr Manufacturers Warranty) (CPUAM2A3500)
- £87.60 - Abit KN9 SLI, Nvidia MCP55P, M2 Skt 940, 2000FSB, PCI-E x 2, SATA 3G RAID, HD 8ch Audio, Dual GB LAN, USB2, Firewire, ATX
- £78.99 - Geil® Ultra DDR2 1.0GB PC6400 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 512mb) 800MHz (4-4-4-12) with Aluminium heat spreader (MEMGEIVD2U641G) £78.99
- £43.70 250 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Cache oem (HAR250MAXST7216)
- £48.00 Antec NeoHE 430W Modular ATX2.0 PSU 80mm low speed/noise fan (PSUANTNEO43)

For £520.21 inluding VAT

upgrade to dual core for an extra £70.

£ 129.12 - AMD AM2 Athlon 64 Dual Core 4200 Retail Box inc Fan, Socket AM2, 940 PIN, (3yr Manufacturers Warranty)

The top system would be able to play all the latest games and dual log daoc no problemo but if you really want dual core then go for it.

THe mobo has 4 spaces for ram so you could easily upgrade to 2gb aswell.

I can personally vouch for the HD and PSU.

 

[prodical]

HD : Hitachi 320Gb 16Mb 7200rpm SATA2

use a raptor hd instead 160G/b 10,000rpm...etc , and mirror two if you build extreme pc for this cost tbh

 

[confused]

use a raptor hd instead 160G/b 10,000rpm...etc , and mirror two if you build extreme pc for this cost tbh

raptors are £165 each for the 150gb model

I can personally vouch for the HD and PSU.

I can vouch that the HD is crap... bought two of them at the beginning of the year, for two completely separate machines, and both died within 8 months

REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
HD-078-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE)
£62.99 £62.99
CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)
£99.99 £99.99
MB-064-GI Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-064-GI)
£54.99 £54.99
MY-066-CS Corsair 1GB DDR2 Value Select PC4200 Dual Channel Kit (2x512MB) (VS1GBKIT533D2) (MY-066-CS)
£74.99 £74.99
GX-053-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO)
£144.99 £144.99
CA-054-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.99 £48.99
CA-026-EN Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-026-EN)
£41.99 £41.99
Subtotal £528.93
VAT £92.57
Total £621.50

conroe, x1900xt and everything in a PC-7

 

[Darzil]

use a raptor hd instead 160G/b 10,000rpm...etc , and mirror two if you build extreme pc for this cost tbh

You make an extreme pc by RAID 0, not RAID 1. RAID 1 just makes the data safer, really. RAID 0 increases read performance greatly, especially on data seeks, so great for small files like DAoC texture loading. Don't store data on RAID 0, though!

Darzil

 

[Saggy]

You make an extreme pc by RAID 0, not RAID 1. RAID 1 just makes the data safer, really. RAID 0 increases read performance greatly, especially on data seeks, so great for small files like DAoC texture loading. Don't store data on RAID 0, though!

Darzil

The difference in reading performance between RAID 0 and RAID 1 is next to nothing when using two HHDs. RAID 0 does write twice as fast as RAID 1 though.

 

[Bluejawa]

need 965 to run dual core

 

[Ballard]

I can vouch that the HD is crap... bought two of them at the beginning of the year, for two completely separate machines, and both died within 8 months

MB-064-GI Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-064-GI)
£54.99 £54.99

Trade the mobo for something else it is a piece of crap. 800FSB is the max reference speed out of the 945PL chipset, as well as that particular mobo not being SLI and 'only just supporting conroes. Dont skimp on the motherboard an extra 20 pound will buy alot more future support.

Also you will need a heat sink and fan in your config as that version of the 6300 does not include anything like that hence why it is cheaper.

As for for the HD you must be doing something wrong with your harddrives or been incredabily unlucky to lose two like that, Even the worst HD should be far more robust than that. I wouldnt recommend the diamondmax plus10 as the best HD on the market but it is more reliable than most HD's (typically has lower average surface temperature than any brand except the big WD's).

Still it is a good spec and should have very good performance for the amount of money it costs.