Uber Gaming Machine Suggestions

[Xepheus]

Hi all, I'm currently in the process of saving up to get myself one hell of a killer gaming computer. I'm looking to spend around £3500, and was looking at getting an Alienware.. but a lot of people have advised me against going for them, and to build one myself... so....

Now I could build one myself, and I have done this before, but this time I was looking for something I can just plug in and use (I'm feeling lazy). Plus, I'd rather go with a company who can provide me with tech support, etc.. (after all, when a techie such as myself gets a problem, you know it's gonna be a bitch of a problem, but the smaller stuff we know how to fix).

So, what I'm looking for, first of all, is suggestions for spec.. now it'll be at least 6 months before I get my computer, and I know that whatever is out now will be out of date by then, but if you can still make some suggestions, it would be handy for me to get up to date (I've not looked at specs in ages), and then help me stay up to date as the new technology comes out.

Second of all, I'd like you to make suggestions for companies that I could go to, to have it built. Alienware is one option, and if anyone here has an alienware, I'd love to hear about your machine, but if anyone else can suggest some companies/retailers, it would help me out a lot.




Anyway, thank you guys

 

[Dommers]

Overpriced + Crap support = Alienware

 

[Xepheus]

Overpriced + Crap support = Alienware

OK.. so suggestions?

 

[Jonty]

Hi Xepheus

Alienware aren't too bad, but probably don't deserve their price tag. Dell also do a gaming range (their 'XPS' series) but again they seem rather overpriced. Evesham, MESH, Novatech etc. all build systems so just have a look around and see what you'd like (not that I can vouch for them). Sadly many of the truly pro-gaming system builders are located in the US.

For £3500, though, you really could build yourself a good machine and still have change left. Support aside, once you've got the right components assembling things is a fairly easy task. The best components at the mo would look something like: Athlon FX-57 CPU, nForce 4 Ultra motherboard, 2x GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards, Creative X-Fi soundcard, xGB RAM, xxxGB HD, 16xDVD+/-RW drive etc. As ever there's always something faster around the corner, but you could easily build a system with your budget that should last two to three years quite easily.

Kind Regards

 

[TdC]

3.5k seems a bit steep though. I 'd warrant you could get a poota you'd love to hump -if it had such an interface- for much less imo.

 

[DaGaffer]

Absolutely no point in spending £3.5K. Get a top end shuttle and you'll be have a decent machine that's cool to boot

 

[Xepheus]

Thank you for the input Jonty... I started looking at Mesh computers last night (I have a couple of friends that have them), and they look OK, provided I can go in and make a few minor changes (such as more RAM, which isn't something I can currently do via the site).

I was taking a sideways glance at DELL, but I'm not yet sold on them.. I've not heard of NovaTech before, so that'll be worth a look at, however I'm going to stay FAR away from Evesham (or E-Sham as I call them), they're the gits that sold me my laptop, and I've had nothing but trouble with it.

 

[Jonty]

Hi Xepheus

I should just reitterate what others have said in that £3,500 is very steep for any system. At the mo the very fastest products carry with them an exorbitant price tag without much increase in performance. For example, the fastest Pentium chip (Pentium Extreme Edition 840) costs around £700 whereas a similar performing lesser chip can cost around £300. This sadly applies to many 'flagship' products, so often it makes sense to sacrifice a little performance and save a great deal of money (and it genuinely is a little performance, sometimes unnoticable unless benchmarking). Even with a fancy monitor (Dell do a 24" LCD which is arguably the finest around) you should be able to build an amazing system for around £2,500, if that.

Kind Regards

 

[Vae]

How about spending £2000-£2500 on a very good system (cutting edge not bleeding edge) and then using the remainder of the £3500 to upgrade it a year to 18 months later. You'll be a lot better off overall that way if you intend to spend £3500 say every 3 years.

 

[TdC]

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 (S939, 2,8Ghz, 1Mb, Boxed)					€ 1044,-
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe, nForce4 SLI (Sound, LAN, SATA II-RAID, 1394)		€ 139,75
1GB x 2 (2GB) PC3200 DDR, CL2 (Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2)		 	€ 294,96
XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3 (PCI-e, 2x DVI, ViVo) PV-T70F-UDF7		€ 499,95
XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3 (PCI-e, 2x DVI, ViVo) PV-T70F-UDF7		€ 499,95
Cooler Master Hyper 48 KHC-L91-U1 (Socket 478/754/775/939/940)			€ 37,-
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
NEC ND-3540 16x (Dual-layer, Black)		 				€ 39,20
NEC 16x48x, DV-5800D (Black)		 					€ 24,-
Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW (24", 16ms, D-sub/DVI-D)				€ 898,-
Cooler Master CM Stacker STC-T01 (E-ATX/BTX, No PSU, Black)		 	€ 133,50
OCZ PowerStream OCZ600ADJ, 600W (ATX)		 				€ 192,-
Logitech G7 Laser Mouse (USB)		 					€ 81,-
Zboard ZBD100 Gaming Keyboard (Basic Set)		 			€ 58,99
Zboard Gaming Keyboard Keyset (World of Warcraft)		 		€ 18,49

									total:	€ 4428,39
									
									total(GB): 3,025.30

I swear, I didn't hold back on a single thing. I would have though. Just depends how big I wanted my ePenis to be

 

[Hawkwind]

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 (S939, 2,8Ghz, 1Mb, Boxed)					€ 1044,-
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe, nForce4 SLI (Sound, LAN, SATA II-RAID, 1394)		€ 139,75
1GB x 2 (2GB) PC3200 DDR, CL2 (Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2)			 € 294,96
XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3 (PCI-e, 2x DVI, ViVo) PV-T70F-UDF7		€ 499,95
XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3 (PCI-e, 2x DVI, ViVo) PV-T70F-UDF7		€ 499,95
Cooler Master Hyper 48 KHC-L91-U1 (Socket 478/754/775/939/940)			€ 37,-
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS, 250GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB)		€ 116,90
NEC ND-3540 16x (Dual-layer, Black)						 € 39,20
NEC 16x48x, DV-5800D (Black)							 € 24,-
Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW (24", 16ms, D-sub/DVI-D)				€ 898,-
Cooler Master CM Stacker STC-T01 (E-ATX/BTX, No PSU, Black)			 € 133,50
OCZ PowerStream OCZ600ADJ, 600W (ATX)						 € 192,-
Logitech G7 Laser Mouse (USB)							 € 81,-
Zboard ZBD100 Gaming Keyboard (Basic Set)					 € 58,99
Zboard Gaming Keyboard Keyset (World of Warcraft)				 € 18,49
 
									total:	€ 4428,39
 
									total(GB): 3,025.30

I swear, I didn't hold back on a single thing. I would have though. Just depends how big I wanted my ePenis to be

I would be suprised if 600W PSU would do for that setup - especially if your stripping the drives as pairs. Mine is not too dislimilar ( Only 1 graphics card but 4 HDD 2 DVD R/W) and I had to install a 550W + 300W to get keep it all nice and smooth. Without the extra PSU I started to get warnings that the Graphics were stepping down because the card was not getting enough power. Now with the extra PSU I managed to cram in two more SATA drives.

 

[TdC]

yeah I was thinking about that. personally I wouldn't get 4 drives at all, but just 1. maybe 1+1 in a mirror if I'd be using my doze machine for anything other than games.

for such a setup I'd possibly get an extra psu just to power the gfx cards, so I'll edit the original post if I can

aaaaand..... I can't so, something like a nice zalman ~300W for the cards, and another, say, ~450W for the mobo, coolers, drives. if he's going to be trying to oc or has lots of USB devices other than the mouse/kbd then perhaps more,

 

[Hawkwind]

With that kind of budget I would build my own. That way you can pick exactly what your getting.

If you do build your own follow a few simple rules for an easy life:

• Which Processor? AMD rox imo and with 64 bit Windows they will kick Intel's (current crop) arse.
• Read up on your Mobo and get a good brand. http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/index.html
• Get the graphics Cards and Mobo from same brand - sometimes they tweak things to run a fraction faster. Asus do this a lot.
• Get matched batch HDD's in case you want to Raid Stripe them.
• Get matched pairs of RAM modules.
• Above all read up on what your buying.

Toms Hardware is a great resource but there are many others.

 

[Clown]

I swear, I didn't hold back on a single thing. I would have though. Just depends how big I wanted my ePenis to be

Could do with some PC5500 RAM, a couple 10k Raptors, watercooling, that 80 quid gamers keyboard thing, another Dell monitor, a projector.

Not holding back? My arse

 

[Xepheus]

OOOHHHHH!!! TdC, that's a nice looking system, not a bad price either... I'd not need quite that many HDDs (I've still got an old machine - which I built myself - as a network/storage server), but I'm no doubt sure that I can knock a couple of them off and use the money for something else (maybe 4GB RAM )

Where did you get it from?

I see that you have an FX57 processor? What do you think of it? Although, if I go down the route of building myself, then keeping some money aside to upgrade later, I'm still going to need a solid processor (as this is gonna be the last thing I look to upgrade) so was looking at getting the FX57 myself - but tbh, I don't really know anything about it, or what makes it so special compared to the other AMD64s... Also, is it better to go for one of these, rather than two standard ones?

Oh, while I'm at it, seeing that you said about water cooling... I'm looking for something to keep it very cool as I've had computers overhead in the past... in addition, I'll be looking for something that's quiet (damn fans keep me awake at night).

Anyway, cheers all, I'm now off to start another thread about monitors

 

[TdC]

well, actually I kinda pulled that system out of the air just for you.

personally I'd do the following:

• I'd not get a dedicated DVD drive and just use my DVD/CD burner for everything.
• I'd not get 4 disks but two, and I'd mirror those...safety first you know.
• I'd either get two 7800GT's, a single 7800GTX or that X800 ATi card
• in the last option you need either an SLI mobo or a non-sli for the last two
• cos you're not getting all those disks and the DVD drive you don't need a CM stacker and...
• ...you can prolly get away with a less powerful PSU too, think 450W or so
  
  and finally
• I'd also not get the Dell 24" even though it gives me wood, but an Iiyama 19, 20 or 21" tft that is fast <16ms and runs in 1600x1200 native

presto! another 1000 pounds saved, only to be converted into beer

 

[TdC]

oh, and about that extra gig's worth of ram...yeah, I'd get it. I'm going to as soon as I rob an old lady in the streets cos I'm poor atm


oh, just so you can compare:

tdc's current system:

• AMD 64 3200+ @ 2450MHz
• A8N-SLI deluxe
• XFT 7800GT in SLI (that means two of them)
• 1GB twinmos mem cas 2.5
• coolermaster hyper48
• WD 80gig PATA hdd with 8mb cache
• (I think it's a)NEC 107d DVD/CD burner
• Iiyama E481S/s 19" tft (8ms g2g)
• enermax bladibla blah with user-configurable fan PSU giving me 450W
• "borg cube" custom server case thing that's ages old
• that logitech laser mouse thing
• ye olde bash-proof keyboard

 

[yaruar]

all your machines make mine cry! *pats little athlon 2500 shuttle on the head* Maybe i should use my dual 2600 athlon as my desktop rather than server.....

I wouldn't go for a dell. I spend too much time dealing with them on a day to day basis and their machines aren't the best on the market.

 

[Sar]

Well I've just built myself the following:

Athlon 64 (3500+ at stock 2.2Ghz/200Mhz FSB)
1Gb DDR400
275Gb HDD (Samsung 200Gb, and IBM 75Gb)
Excalibur IceQ 128Mb Radeon 9800 Pro
Audigy 2 ZS
DVD/RW Drive
CD/DVD Combo CDRW Drive
Castek CK-10215A Case

The latter 3 components cannibalised from my previous system.

It gets over 20,000 in 3DMark 2001, and I'm happy enough with it.

Total cost?

£475.

Built in a few hours, and purring along nicely.

 

[Xepheus]

That's not a bad little system for the price.... but I'm very keen on going for the FX57, which alone costs more than your entire rig LOL

Can you play Doom 3 or Half-Life 2 on that machine? What does it run like? and at what rez, settings, etc?

 

[TdC]

aha Sar being wise as usual I'd say that system runs something like Doom3 reasonably well. in my book my previous system (2800barton/9700pro) ran D3 at "playable levels" ie 800x600 with all eye candy on low or off. Sar's will do much much better than that.

I would expect him to upgrade his gfx card at some point next year, by which time the bleeding edge cards of today will be much less expensive, and the cutting edge will be down right affordable. He'll prolly pick up a 6800GT or x800-esque card for around 100gbp (or less).

I'd warrant that nVidia and ATi hate people like Sar, because they're smart and sit just behind the wave of super-duper new cards picking off cards that were "the best" one chip generation ago. on the other hand they won't exactly love me either, because I buy a fast card once in a while and sit with it for like....frigging ever

I have a mate who compulsively gets teh very newest and bestist computer kit on release every time (he's a bit strange in the head). he's got stuff at home that he doesn't even use any more cos it's "old" and slow, like p4EE chips at 3.4GHz and stuff (I jest, but you get the idea). people like him are the ones the hardware vendors dream about at night, those hot sweaty dreams that I normally get about scandinavian ladies who play beach vollyball. and in the morning the vendors make a chip with full-speed l2 cache and sell it to my mate at twice the price of a standard model

ooh I really need more sleep! sorry for the ramble!

 

[.Wilier.]

A friend of mine just got one of these which he says absolutely rocks, although Id say its overpriced tbh, especially when you consider that its a base unit only.

 

[TdC]

you don't get a monitor with that do you?

 

[.Wilier.]

you don't get a monitor with that do you?

Nope, hense the "base unit only" bit, n00f

 

[TdC]

oh, d'oh. I blame lack of sleep

 

[Xepheus]

What I've started to worry about now is that I'll get myself caught up in all the buzz words of the moment (dual-core, SLI, FX57, etc..), but then get screwed over on some of the more suttle, yet still important, features, such as the type/speed of ram, the motherboard's chipset, etc..

As you might have seen in my other thread, I'm very worried about monitors (due to the fact I know nothing about flatpanel monitors) and being screwed over.

So I guess I'm looking around, trying to get myself up to date with the latest technology.

(I am a techie... just an out of date one )

 

[Xepheus]

A friend of mine just got one of these which he says absolutely rocks, although Id say its overpriced tbh, especially when you consider that its a base unit only.

I was looking at that system earlier today.. But it's WAY too expensive - and the fact that it doesn't have a monitor is an insult.. but nevermind

A friend of mine got a computer from them, he spec'd his computer on the alienware site, then gave it to chillblast who was able to match the spec, but at a reduced rate.

He said they're not the cheapest on the market, but they are very good, and his support has been first class (and as you know, it's the support that I don't mind paying a bit extra for).

(It's not fair, I want to buy one now - but I know at my current rate, I'll not have anywhere near enough until after xmas)

 

[Vae]

Xepheus - As you're not planning to buy until Xmas I think you've probably got enough of an idea for now about what you're looking at and when it gets close to actual purchase time you can revisit the thread and people can provide/comment on up to date equipment then.

 

[Xepheus]

Aye, that's true enough.. I'm just trying to get myself up to date with what's new on the market now... and then keep myself up to date with the new developments as they come along.

(You know, i'm looking forward to being able to play Battlefield 2 )

 

[Sar]

aha Sar being wise as usual I'd say that system runs something like Doom3 reasonably well. in my book my previous system (2800barton/9700pro) ran D3 at "playable levels" ie 800x600 with all eye candy on low or off. Sar's will do much much better than that.

I would expect him to upgrade his gfx card at some point next year, by which time the bleeding edge cards of today will be much less expensive, and the cutting edge will be down right affordable. He'll prolly pick up a 6800GT or x800-esque card for around 100gbp (or less).

I'd warrant that nVidia and ATi hate people like Sar, because they're smart and sit just behind the wave of super-duper new cards picking off cards that were "the best" one chip generation ago. on the other hand they won't exactly love me either, because I buy a fast card once in a while and sit with it for like....frigging ever

Haven't benched D3 on it yet, but Q3 knocks out over 540fps in demo "Four" with all the fancy gfx options on full.

And you're right TDC, I will be upgrading the gfx card sometime next year, as well as getting another 2x1Gb sticks to give me 3Gb total, which should see me along well until the next mass upgrade.

I may have to upgrade the mobo though, as AGP cards may be hard to come by at that stage, but luckily, unlike my last (P4) system, I can use all the other components (the P4 used RDRam, which was specific to the early P4 mobos/chipsets), thereby minimising any great further outlay.

And I used to get the latest GFX cards a few years ago, but now that I'm a married man that's all changed

My last gfx card before this Radeon was a GF3!

Just hope there's a decent AGP card out in about 9 months that is suitably more oomphed than the Radeon, because otherwise it'll be a mobo + gfx card purchase reqd.