Gaming Rig Suggestions

[ariesram74]

I thought I posted this yesterday but haven't seen it. I apologize if this is redundant. I need a gaming rig that can handle MMO's. I play WoW (OK don't need much for WoW), want to play Age of Conan, in the future Warhammer, the occasional FPS. My budget is 20,000 - 25,000 give or take. I don't need a monitor or any peripherals.

Just give me brand names and models:

Processor: speed, AMD or Intel, FSB speed?

MOBO: I realy don't have the patience researching this...

RAM: what speed? how much RAM?

Graphics card: I can't decide... i know I need 512mb RAM but am not sure about the difference between the models.

Hard drives: I really need two - one for the OS and the other for storage. SHould I bother with WD Raptor?

Case: ?

PSU: 450 - 550w should be fine - models?

heat sink fan - I do not have AC where my computer is - maybe should move it? Use stock Intel heat sink?

Thanks!

[phazey]

Ram: at least 2GB

GFX: any branded GeForce 8800GTS

If you're going to use Windows XP, consider slipstreaming it with the drivers integrated into the install, i did this last week and was able to bump up my gfx settings a few notches - a very noticeable speed increase.

[Wolfie]

CPU: Any dual core (or quad core if you have the budget) - anything from 2.4ghz upwards

MB: Anything that will support the CPU you buy, supports 4+Gb of ram and has space for a double size GFX card (PCI-e) - dual PCI-e slots (for SLI) would be a good investment and help 'future proof' your rig.

RAM: At least 2GB, although 3 or 4GB is prefered - you will notice the difference

HDD: You don't really need two, and Raptors whilst nice and fast are a little overkill in my opinion. A 7200 1TB drive would suffice.

PSU: I'd go for a 550w or higher, the newer GFX cards are power hungry and for a decent gaming rig you need to have plenty of power

Heatsink: I bought a gigabyte one simply because the stock one didnt quite fit as comfy as i would have liked, however since installing it i have noticed a good drop in CPU temp - so defiantely worth it and not expensive!

Case: Anything that is big enough to comfortably fit two double sized GFX cards, also something with good fans - i bought a thermaltake case but it was expensive, but in my opinion worth every satang!

GFX: I left this to last as i am biased a little. the 8800GTS are nice cards, but if i were you i would stretch the budget and get yourself a 9800GX2 - some may claim its a little over kill, but in order to 'future proof' your rig, getting one of these now will keep your machine running at high gfx settings with the option of putting in a second GX2 later (with SLI) when the GFX requirements increase. They are quite spendy right now (18-20k baht) so that puts a lot of people off. 2x 8800GTS cards are also an option, but why drive a Fiat when a Ferrari is available?

But this rig is much more expensive than your budget will allow

/Edit: Send me a PM when you have AoC, i have a guild running on the Oceanic tagged server (Gwahlur) and im trying to get the Thailand gamers who are playing this game on the same server.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Wolfie

[stumonster]

I thought I posted this yesterday but haven't seen it. I apologize if this is redundant. I need a gaming rig that can handle MMO's. I play WoW (OK don't need much for WoW), want to play Age of Conan, in the future Warhammer, the occasional FPS. My budget is 20,000 - 25,000 give or take. I don't need a monitor or any peripherals.

Just give me brand names and models:

Processor: speed, AMD or Intel, FSB speed?

Intel E7200

MOBO: I realy don't have the patience researching this...

Asus

RAM: what speed? how much RAM?

2gig minimum - probably 667 DDR

Graphics card: I can't decide... i know I need 512mb RAM but am not sure about the difference between the models.

8600GT DDR3

Hard drives: I really need two - one for the OS and the other for storage. SHould I bother with WD Raptor?

2 x 320 gig SATA seagate

Case: ?

Coolermaster

PSU: 450 - 550w should be fine - models?

Delux

heat sink fan - I do not have AC where my computer is - maybe should move it? Use stock Intel heat sink?

Thanks!

aftermarket cooler ( I have an Asus unit but there are others - look at the reviews on newegg for the models available here ) and at least 2 x 120mm fans flushing air from the front out the rear of the case.

this should get you in the 20-25K range

www.hwinter.com or co.th is the Hardware House website , it should give you a good indication of prices and what is available around pantip etc

[dave_boo]

Lots of good answers so far. However, I'd not go with the 88xx series, but rather the 9600GT. Essentially the same speed (the lack of bandwidth will hurt you if you're playing at 25x16), and it has HDCP and full offloading of HD content decoding. Of course XP for the win as far as OS is concerned.

I'll chime in that 2GB is plenty of RAM for XP; make sure that you buy good branded RAM, low latencies the better.

The Intel lineup is extremely strong right now, but if you do a $ to performance comparison, to fit in your budget, you'd be better off getting an AMD. The new HE models are also very nice, in fact sporting one of the lowest energy consumption of all current models. Be warned though, due to AMD's memory controller being on die, you might not see the RAM running at the speed you expect it to--not that it matters since this design is actually superior to Intel's in the bandwidth deparment.

I'm also partial to Asus, but have to admit that I'm pleasently surprised as to the quality of Asrock. In fact my wife's machine is running one right now. Also, I always recommend to stay away from Gigabyte; if you think Thai's dropping support for vehicles in the dealership as soon as the model is discontinued, you'd really fume at Gigabyte.

Current areal densities have allowed even 7200RPM drives to eclipse the once untouchable Raptor. I wouldn't recommend going with two drives of the same size if you just want to install your OS on one and media on the other. A smaller cheap drive and a larger storage drive would seem to be more the ticket.

A case is highly subjective; as long as it offers proper cooling. The models I would recomment would be outisde your budget (think Lian-Li or Silverstone), but whatever you do, don't get a mid-tower cheapie. This will allow hot air to build up and that's not good for your computer's internals. If you do decide to go with an off-brand cheapie, look at your current PSU. Is it going to support your new motherboard? I.E., is it going to have the necessary secondary power cable (4-6 pin). Is it going to have the 6 pin power cable for your videocard? Or conversely, are you buying a case/psu with the proper power leads? Or are you going to have to purchase a new PSU? If you do, Delux isn't bad and it should fit in your budget.

[cali]

I know a Thai family who bought one of those cheap, generic cases you see everywhere. They run it in an environment with no air conditioning. Despite not having any fast or high heat components inside, after a finite amount of time it shuts down due to overheating. They solved this by taking off the side cover and pointing a room fan at it! It still has some stability issues I suspect are due to the cheap power supply. The case and power supply are often the forgotten components of a system build. If you wish to have a stable system get a well designed one instead of just a check box item.

By the way, the new raptor has been announced months ago. It is 300GB and 10K RPM found here. The interesting thing about it is it is now in a 2.5" laptop form factor, though also perfectly suitable on the desktop. But I dislike multiple hard drive configs since they carry about every disadvantage. So I would rather pay about half the price of the new raptor to get a terabyte drive.

Edited June 4, 2008 by cali

[ariesram74]

OK so AMD processor - more bang for the buck - maybe 5000 series

9600GT 512

2 GB RAM - low latencies - what does that mean? What numbers am I looking for? Was planning on OCZ Platinum 4 GB

I was gonna go for a Centurion tower, a decent PSU of about 500w, and a heat sink

I need two hard disks for music production - need to write to a separate drive - I can live with Seagate Barracuda - one small one big

Win XP

with a DVD burner

hopefully all that can be achieved within 25,000THB

Lots of good answers so far. However, I'd not go with the 88xx series, but rather the 9600GT. Essentially the same speed (the lack of bandwidth will hurt you if you're playing at 25x16), and it has HDCP and full offloading of HD content decoding. Of course XP for the win as far as OS is concerned.

I'll chime in that 2GB is plenty of RAM for XP; make sure that you buy good branded RAM, low latencies the better.

The Intel lineup is extremely strong right now, but if you do a $ to performance comparison, to fit in your budget, you'd be better off getting an AMD. The new HE models are also very nice, in fact sporting one of the lowest energy consumption of all current models. Be warned though, due to AMD's memory controller being on die, you might not see the RAM running at the speed you expect it to--not that it matters since this design is actually superior to Intel's in the bandwidth deparment.

I'm also partial to Asus, but have to admit that I'm pleasently surprised as to the quality of Asrock. In fact my wife's machine is running one right now. Also, I always recommend to stay away from Gigabyte; if you think Thai's dropping support for vehicles in the dealership as soon as the model is discontinued, you'd really fume at Gigabyte.

Current areal densities have allowed even 7200RPM drives to eclipse the once untouchable Raptor. I wouldn't recommend going with two drives of the same size if you just want to install your OS on one and media on the other. A smaller cheap drive and a larger storage drive would seem to be more the ticket.

A case is highly subjective; as long as it offers proper cooling. The models I would recomment would be outisde your budget (think Lian-Li or Silverstone), but whatever you do, don't get a mid-tower cheapie. This will allow hot air to build up and that's not good for your computer's internals. If you do decide to go with an off-brand cheapie, look at your current PSU. Is it going to support your new motherboard? I.E., is it going to have the necessary secondary power cable (4-6 pin). Is it going to have the 6 pin power cable for your videocard? Or conversely, are you buying a case/psu with the proper power leads? Or are you going to have to purchase a new PSU? If you do, Delux isn't bad and it should fit in your budget.

[Wolfie]

OK so AMD processor - more bang for the buck - maybe 5000 series

Personally i'd stick with Intel right now, they are ahead of AMD in the CPU race currently, prices should be similar

9600GT 512

Reasonable card, yes.

2 GB RAM - low latencies - what does that mean? What numbers am I looking for? Was planning on OCZ Platinum 4 GB

I'd go with 3GB if your going for a 32bit operating system or 4gb for a 64bit. For the price of RAM right now its going to cost you an extra 800-1000b per gb

Win XP

Go Vista, Go 64bit, Go SP1 - you wont be disappointed.

hopefully all that can be achieved within 25,000THB

Hopefully

[JSixpack]

I wouldn't recommend going with two drives of the same size if you just want to install your OS on one and media on the other. A smaller cheap drive and a larger storage drive would seem to be more the ticket.

No, not a good idea because then you have buy yet another drive to backup the larger storage drive. And even if you do that, if you're like most people you'll forget or neglect to backup regularly.

I say buy two large drives, put everything on the system drive, then backup everything to the other on a regular schedule, preferably automatically. Don't bother with partitioning, either, because it doesn't really buy you anything these days with XP, gives you the illusion of security, and generally adds a layer of inconvenience. If the sys partition goes out, almost certainly the drive has failed anyway, and you have your backup on the other drive. But this is a religious issue with many (esp. those still in Win98 mentality), so I'll say no more.

[ariesram74]

I like Vista but am not too sure about Vista Ultimate 64-bit. There are two parts to the concern: a) is it worth the extra money to have Vista Ultimate and am I going to have problems finding drivers and installing software with 64-bit.

So I am thinking of using either XP Home Edition or Vista Home Premium. Here's what I have put together lately and remember I want to stick to a 25,000THB budget give or take (probably take...) Let me know what you think - if you can help me shave off some baht so I can get closer to 25,000 that would be sweet.

processor Athlon X2 4800+ 2.5ghz 3250

motherboard Asus P5K-SE 3290

GPU Palit GF9600GT 512mb

4890

memory 3GB (undecided on brand)

3000

Hard drive

Seagate Barracuda 500GB

3590

DVD

1090

case Coolermaster Centurion 1990

PSU Silencer 500ATX 500w

2990

cooling OCZ Vendetta2 CPU Cooler 1490

OS XP Home Edition

3390

OK so AMD processor - more bang for the buck - maybe 5000 series

Personally i'd stick with Intel right now, they are ahead of AMD in the CPU race currently, prices should be similar

9600GT 512

Reasonable card, yes.

2 GB RAM - low latencies - what does that mean? What numbers am I looking for? Was planning on OCZ Platinum 4 GB

I'd go with 3GB if your going for a 32bit operating system or 4gb for a 64bit. For the price of RAM right now its going to cost you an extra 800-1000b per gb

Win XP

Go Vista, Go 64bit, Go SP1 - you wont be disappointed.

hopefully all that can be achieved within 25,000THB

Hopefully

[ariesram74]

I am only pricing for one drive however in the future i need two because some software I plan to use requires an extra drive to write to. I already have a 100GB external drive that I use with my laptop.

I wouldn't recommend going with two drives of the same size if you just want to install your OS on one and media on the other. A smaller cheap drive and a larger storage drive would seem to be more the ticket.

No, not a good idea because then you have buy yet another drive to backup the larger storage drive. And even if you do that, if you're like most people you'll forget or neglect to backup regularly.

I say buy two large drives, put everything on the system drive, then backup everything to the other on a regular schedule, preferably automatically. Don't bother with partitioning, either, because it doesn't really buy you anything these days with XP, gives you the illusion of security, and generally adds a layer of inconvenience. If the sys partition goes out, almost certainly the drive has failed anyway, and you have your backup on the other drive. But this is a religious issue with many (esp. those still in Win98 mentality), so I'll say no more.

[Wolfie]

A 64bit OS will give you access to 4+ GB ram. I had no problem with any 64bit drivers - i think the driver 'problem' is pretty much gone, as the hardware vendors seem to have caught up with Vista. The debate between Home Premium and Ultimate is still on going, so far i cant see any real need to have Vista Ultimate over Vista Home Prem

Edited June 5, 2008 by Wolfie

[ballbreaker]

I think setting a 25k limit on cost when building a game PC will hurt you in the long run.

[dave_boo]

I wouldn't recommend going with two drives of the same size if you just want to install your OS on one and media on the other. A smaller cheap drive and a larger storage drive would seem to be more the ticket.

No, not a good idea because then you have buy yet another drive to backup the larger storage drive. And even if you do that, if you're like most people you'll forget or neglect to backup regularly.

I say buy two large drives, put everything on the system drive, then backup everything to the other on a regular schedule, preferably automatically. Don't bother with partitioning, either, because it doesn't really buy you anything these days with XP, gives you the illusion of security, and generally adds a layer of inconvenience. If the sys partition goes out, almost certainly the drive has failed anyway, and you have your backup on the other drive. But this is a religious issue with many (esp. those still in Win98 mentality), so I'll say no more.

That is a problem isn't it? The whole backing up part. Since he didn't mention it, I assumed he wasn't interested in it . None the less, once his media drive gets full, he's going to be looking at an external since his OS is installed on a similar sized one to the one he is going to be backing up.

[sniffdog]

So after all this advice from different angles ..... do you really know what to buy? Furthermore, as said, f you're going for a gaming rig, try to save some more money .... 20-25,000 won't get you much.

A graphics card which will run most of the newer games comfortably, takes up most (if not all) of your budget!

[ariesram74]

LOL - yes I came to the conclusion 25,000 would not cut it especially with something I am going to use every day for projects, games, etc. I have had to admit I have cut corners in some of the specs I have come up with. So I am gonna allow for 5000 to 10000. I don't like being limited with what I can and don't want to have to upgrade anytime soon. I specced but really this computer is going to have to handle music and video editing as well. Oh yeah, should I get a 64 bit OS? Let me know if those prices look too high or too low - I am going by the Busitek site just cause it's an easy reference.

I came up with this:

processor Core2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz / LGA775 Quad-Core / 1066 MHz / 8MB / 65nm 7490

motherboard ASUS P5K-SE 3290 GPU Palit GF9600GT Sonic "G94" 512MB DDR3 5400

memory Corsair TWINX XMS2 2GB 800MHz (1GBx2) 5-5-5-12 2390 Hard drive WD Caviar SE16 WD2500AAKS 250GB SATA-II 16MB NCQ (High performance) 1990

DVD LG GH20LS10 20X, SATA-Interface, LightScribe 1090 case COOLERMASTER ELITE 330 Medium Tower Case 1390

PSU PC Power and Cooling Silencer 500ATX 2990 cooling stock intel 0

OS Vista Home Premium 4590

30620

Glancing over my list, I would probably go for 64-bit and 4GB of RAM. I'd also drop the WD and add two Segates.

So after all this advice from different angles ..... do you really know what to buy? Furthermore, as said, f you're going for a gaming rig, try to save some more money .... 20-25,000 won't get you much.

A graphics card which will run most of the newer games comfortably, takes up most (if not all) of your budget!

[cali]

In about 2 weeks AMD will roll out a brand new line of graphics cards with simultaneous retail shelf availability. These will be the first DX11 cards and are built on AMD's new R800 chip architecture. The new cards are expected to rewrite todays price/performance levels and send prices of todays ATI and Nvidia cards down.

[DragonQuest]

guys i have a 3 year old laptop, should i trade it in at pantip to upgrade to a desktop? im also in the market for a new gaming PC for MMORPH.

[ariesram74]

What are the specs on your laptop?

My laptop wouldn't sell for more than 15,000 - 20,000 THB - and it's only a year old. I think I am just going to keep it for when I travel.

guys i have a 3 year old laptop, should i trade it in at pantip to upgrade to a desktop? im also in the market for a new gaming PC for MMORPH.

[DragonQuest]

1.73 GHz 15.4 WXGA 1280x800 DVD-RW 128 NVIDIA Sony Vaio

so u think i should keep the laptop and just buy a desktop? im thinking they might give me anymore from 10-25k max for it as well lol

Edited June 9, 2008 by DragonQuest

[ariesram74]

At this exact moment when I am trying to get the microphone on my laptop to work and it won't - it used to work - I am thinking of getting a Mac because I am sick of troubleshooting PC's.

Dragonquest - if you can afford to hold onto your laptop I would - and save up for a desktop. Mobility is nice - with 128 VRAM you can still play some older games. It's not worth selling for 10,000 but 25,000 is more than half a new gaming rig. i figure I'll spend between 30,000 and 35,000 for my new rig not including a monitor which I already have. Check out what I am currently thinking of getting.

processor Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz 7350

motherboard ASUS P5K-SE 3290 GPU Palit GF9600GT Sonic "G94" 512MB DDR3 5400

memory Corsair TWINX XMS2 2GB 800MHz (1GBx2) 5-5-5-12 2390 Hard drive C: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 2590

Hard drive D: WD Caviar SE16 WD2500AAKS 250GB SATA-II 16MB NCQ (High performance) 1990 DVD LG GH20LS10 20X, SATA-Interface, LightScribe 1090 case COOLERMASTER ELITE 330 Medium Tower Case 1390

PSU PC Power and Cooling Silencer 500ATX 2990 cooling Zalman CNPS8700 LED 1790

OS Vista Home Premium 32 bit 4590 34860

In order to save some money I could go with a weaker processor and ditch the second hard drive but thats about it. Considering that a dual 2.4GHz is the minimum for top end games now i would be reluctant to go with anything elss that a 3GHz for future proofing.

1.73 GHz 15.4 WXGA 1280x800 DVD-RW 128 NVIDIA Sony Vaio

so u think i should keep the laptop and just buy a desktop? im thinking they might give me anymore from 10-25k max for it as well lol

[Hyoga]

Sorry to ninja this thread.

Work this work? as in FSB, performance compatibility w\between the hardwares.

Asus Rampage Formula X48

OCZ Reaper Edition DDR2 Dual Channel 2GB Kit (PC2-8500/1066MHz) 2x1GB

INTEL Core2 Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz)

intended to get those when I visit Singapore.

/cheers

[ariesram74]

Are parts cheaper in Singapore? No idea if that would work but it would be supremo.

Sorry to ninja this thread.

Work this work? as in FSB, performance compatibility w\between the hardwares.

Asus Rampage Formula X48

OCZ Reaper Edition DDR2 Dual Channel 2GB Kit (PC2-8500/1066MHz) 2x1GB

INTEL Core2 Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz)

intended to get those when I visit Singapore.

/cheers

[Hyoga]

Are parts cheaper in Singapore? No idea if that would work but it would be supremo.

Sorry to ninja this thread.

Work this work? as in FSB, performance compatibility w\between the hardwares.

Asus Rampage Formula X48

OCZ Reaper Edition DDR2 Dual Channel 2GB Kit (PC2-8500/1066MHz) 2x1GB

INTEL Core2 Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz)

intended to get those when I visit Singapore.

/cheers

yeah. I can't confirm anything about prices in Pantip.

but there is a 5-10% difference between prices of Singapore's Sim Lim Square and BKK's Seri Centre (near where I am staying now).

[DragonQuest]

Aries, Im actually an Aries myself lol, Im thinking of getting what your getting , maby we can get a discount at the same shop if we buy together in bulk?