Perfect Gaming Desktop?
- Thread starter solrepiri
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Hang on. You have a budget of $2100. Go with an AMD AM3 or Intel i7 set up. Then at least 3/4GB 1600Mhz RAM depending on which platform you go with then you need at least a HD 5870 graphics card. Add a 650W PSU and that's better start than an old LGA775 rig.
The HD5870 pwns the GTX 280. If you want an nVidia card then go with the GTX 460 at least.
4GB is fine with dual channel AMD and Socket 1156 Intel platforms. If you go with the Socket 1366 i7's then you'll need triple channel 3GB or 6GB RAM.
What is a dual channel AMD? How can I tell if it is a dual channel and is it better than other, in other words should I get a dual channel over something else?
Ok I'm thing the HD 5870 with a Dual-Channel DDR2-800 on AMD Athlon 64 X2 AM2 with 4 GB RAM
Ok I'm thing the HD 5870 with a Dual-Channel DDR2-800 on AMD Athlon 64 X2 AM2 with 4 GB RAM
Grantofhell
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Personally, I'd be building a rig on the P55 chipset. X58, and Hxx are not cost-effective right now.
I7-860 (1156)
Evga P55 SLI
4GB OCZ PC3-12800
SLI GTX 465's (some 1GB models can have their SPU's unlocked to 448 (14SM total count)
Corsair HX/TX 850
And a MT/FT case of choice.
EDIT: And since the QPI is in place on the P55, you could even go with PC3-14400 or PC3-16000 and OC it up. But I imagine with the right PC3-12800, it could OC up to 2000MHz.
Ok, so I can clear some things up for you: You're most likely talking about a dual core AMD processor - Otherwise seen as an "x2" processor. No to be confused with "P(henom)II" which is the processors "family". Anyways, to build a good rig for gaming these days, and to remain future-proof, it's always a good idea to start with at least a quad core. Which for AMD would be seen as an "x4"
I suppose another misconception I should clear up is clockspeed.
Clockspeed is important, but should not be the primary determining factor. Look at the number of physical cores, and the number of hyperthreads (for Intel) For instance, the I7 (1156 and 1366) have 4 physical cores, but each core is hyperthreaded which means the core can do approximately double the workload. So, in the OS, the workload monitor (Task Manager for Windows) will show 8 cores doing work.
But even more important than cores is socket type. Right now, there are four big players in sockets.
AM3 (PhenomII x2, PhenomII x4, PhenomII x6) - AMD
LGA775 (Core2, Pentium Dual, Celeron Dual and a few others) - Intel
LGA1156 (Core i3, Core i5, and Corei7 (8xx)) - Intel
LGA1366 which is strictly Corei7 9xx for the moment - Intel
Socket type can give you an idea of recent the technology is. Unfortunately, it takes a little background knowledge to fully understand why each socket is different and why it is better for certain things over others.
There are several aspects of processors that are very important (though minuscule) to watch for and pick carefully. There are actually almost too many to explain in one post.
I7-860 (1156)
Evga P55 SLI
4GB OCZ PC3-12800
SLI GTX 465's (some 1GB models can have their SPU's unlocked to 448 (14SM total count)
Corsair HX/TX 850
And a MT/FT case of choice.
EDIT: And since the QPI is in place on the P55, you could even go with PC3-14400 or PC3-16000 and OC it up. But I imagine with the right PC3-12800, it could OC up to 2000MHz.
Ok, so I can clear some things up for you: You're most likely talking about a dual core AMD processor - Otherwise seen as an "x2" processor. No to be confused with "P(henom)II" which is the processors "family". Anyways, to build a good rig for gaming these days, and to remain future-proof, it's always a good idea to start with at least a quad core. Which for AMD would be seen as an "x4"
I suppose another misconception I should clear up is clockspeed.
Clockspeed is important, but should not be the primary determining factor. Look at the number of physical cores, and the number of hyperthreads (for Intel) For instance, the I7 (1156 and 1366) have 4 physical cores, but each core is hyperthreaded which means the core can do approximately double the workload. So, in the OS, the workload monitor (Task Manager for Windows) will show 8 cores doing work.
But even more important than cores is socket type. Right now, there are four big players in sockets.
AM3 (PhenomII x2, PhenomII x4, PhenomII x6) - AMD
LGA775 (Core2, Pentium Dual, Celeron Dual and a few others) - Intel
LGA1156 (Core i3, Core i5, and Corei7 (8xx)) - Intel
LGA1366 which is strictly Corei7 9xx for the moment - Intel
Socket type can give you an idea of recent the technology is. Unfortunately, it takes a little background knowledge to fully understand why each socket is different and why it is better for certain things over others.
There are several aspects of processors that are very important (though minuscule) to watch for and pick carefully. There are actually almost too many to explain in one post.
That's my bad gamma, sorry. What I meant was 4GB RAM, 2X2GB, is fine for the AMD and Socket 1156 platforms with 'their' dual channel arrangement.
Good stuff Grantofhell although I feel that the 1366 i7 is still a bargain for the performance you get.
Heres one that you can look at,Its $2,046.88 (without shipping).Throw in the 5970 because its a gaming rig.You could drop the 5970 and get the 5870 so that you can have a SSD for your OS.If you dont really care for boot time nor response time than forget the SSD and get the 5970.
CPU/Motherboard-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.470501)
Case/OS-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-119-230)
CPU Cooler-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057)
Memory-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145284) Make just for AMD Black edition
PSU-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171049)
Harddrive-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533)
Video Card-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150460)
DVD/CD Burner-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135209)
Thermal Paste-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007) Never use the paste that comes with CPU cooler it sucks.
hope this helps.This would be one bad a$$ computer.
CPU/Motherboard-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.470501)
Case/OS-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-119-230)
CPU Cooler-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057)
Memory-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145284) Make just for AMD Black edition
PSU-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171049)
Harddrive-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533)
Video Card-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150460)
DVD/CD Burner-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135209)
Thermal Paste-(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007) Never use the paste that comes with CPU cooler it sucks.
hope this helps.This would be one bad a$$ computer.
I wouldnt recommend gtx 465s as they're weaker than the 460 1GB's and they cant be unlocked anymore (PNY didnt laser cut the disabled dies and they finally caught on).
So i put a list together for you that I feel would give you more performance than a single 5970.
Core i7-930
ASUS P6X58D-E
G-Skill Pi (really low timings and voltages)
2x MSI GTX 470s in SLI
3x 500GB WD caviar blacks in RAID 5 (you can get larger sizes for a few more bucks but I wouldnt recommend it because then you'd have multiple platters which would be slower)
Antec TPQ 1000W PSU
Silverstone FT02
LG DVD burner
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
The total for all of that would be $2044 before shipping. I based a lot of those parts on personal experience (the hard drives and motherboard mainly). The other build with the 5970 was also pretty good except that you'd have to do some price cuts to include windows in that cost.
The processor comes with a basic heatsink but I'd recommend buying one thats a bit better. The Hyper N520 is a very good one for the price (dont buy from newegg though as its overpriced there. If you want to go for a really good one then get the corsair H50. If theres a microcenter near where you live then get the i7 from there as its cheaper (if they have the i7-920 in stock then get it and save $100)
So i put a list together for you that I feel would give you more performance than a single 5970.
Core i7-930
ASUS P6X58D-E
G-Skill Pi (really low timings and voltages)
2x MSI GTX 470s in SLI
3x 500GB WD caviar blacks in RAID 5 (you can get larger sizes for a few more bucks but I wouldnt recommend it because then you'd have multiple platters which would be slower)
Antec TPQ 1000W PSU
Silverstone FT02
LG DVD burner
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
The total for all of that would be $2044 before shipping. I based a lot of those parts on personal experience (the hard drives and motherboard mainly). The other build with the 5970 was also pretty good except that you'd have to do some price cuts to include windows in that cost.
The processor comes with a basic heatsink but I'd recommend buying one thats a bit better. The Hyper N520 is a very good one for the price (dont buy from newegg though as its overpriced there. If you want to go for a really good one then get the corsair H50. If theres a microcenter near where you live then get the i7 from there as its cheaper (if they have the i7-920 in stock then get it and save $100)
