Building in a month! Feedback wanted :)

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 02-01-2006 at 00:10.*

no need for it

RTSAnime · 01-30-2006, 15:33 | posts: 876 | Location: USA

No its not unlocked out of the box, but I think it has like a 99% unlock ratio. you will probably want to go 2gigs of ram right away. Also 80 gig is kinda small seeing as games are upwards of 3 gigs each now (UT2k4 + bonus backs + mods = 7.96GB). Also I would reccomend a better PSU. Go with Antec, OCZ, Enermax or Thermaltake.

Edit: Even without the changes this comp will have no issues with CS:Source, FYI

DrFreeze · 01-30-2006, 15:35 | posts: 4,850 | Location: holland

looks cool

what i would change:
- a 17" tft instead of a 19" (to lower the overal price a bit)
- get a 3500 or 3700 instead of the 3200
- try and get a SLI mobo, just in case
- switch the radeon for either a 6800GS, or if you can afford it, a 7800GT

also, if you want to run 2GB, then running 4x512 sticks might lower your ram speed to 333 mhz (only one DFI mobo can pull of 4 dual sided sticks at 400) so i would advise going with 1x1gb now, and picking up the second stick asap, else youll need to buy 2x1gb later on and dump 2 512 sticks

just a suggestion

overall you have a very nice rig there, and i dont know how the budget works out for you, but i would change the things i listed if possible

RTSAnime · 01-30-2006, 15:41 | posts: 876 | Location: USA

Also I forgot that you may not want a widescreen LCD just yet. Not too many games support its resolutions natively and you are going to have to ini and reg hack most of them. and even after that some games will still stretch sideways and look fat.

rox1co · 01-30-2006, 15:44 | posts: 50 | Location: Houston

Quote:

Also 80 gig is kinda small seeing as games are upwards of 3 gigs each now (UT2k4 + bonus backs + mods = 7.96GB).

i'll only be playing CS:S and BF2, UT2k4 is too fast pace for me

Quote:

Also I would reccomend a better PSU. Go with Antec, OCZ, Enermax or Thermaltake.

dang i already changed my PSU to that one, i'll look though

Quote:

Edit: Even without the changes this comp will have no issues with CS:Source, FYI

that's all i care about

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 01-30-2006 at 15:55.*

Quote:

- a 17" tft instead of a 19" (to lower the overal price a bit)

i'm getting rid of my TV and using my PC for everything!

Quote:

- get a 3500 or 3700 instead of the 3200

i was reading comparisons b/w the 3200+ (venice) and 3700+ (san diego) and the performance increase wasn't much? would you say if i upgraded to a 7800GT would my 3200+ bottleneck my Video Card? or even a X1800XL which i might get in the future

Quote:

- switch the radeon for either a 6800GS, or if you can afford it, a 7800GT

ATI <3 but i would be up for a 7800GT maybe in the future, but most likely the X1800XL if i ever need it

Quote:

also, if you want to run 2GB, then running 4x512 sticks might lower your ram speed to 333 mhz (only one DFI mobo can pull of 4 dual sided sticks at 400) so i would advise going with 1x1gb now, and picking up the second stick asap, else youll need to buy 2x1gb later on and dump 2 512 sticks

aight i'll check that out

i found: <$170
Rosewill
Gigaram
G.Skill

Quote:

overall you have a very nice rig there, and i dont know how the budget works out for you, but i would change the things i listed if possible

i wanna keep it under $1000, i know i already went over so blah

rox1co · 01-30-2006, 15:50 | posts: 50 | Location: Houston

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTSAnime

Also I forgot that you may not want a widescreen LCD just yet. Not too many games support its resolutions natively and you are going to have to ini and reg hack most of them. and even after that some games will still stretch sideways and look fat.

a guy with that monitor told me it looks bad ass

and CS:S and BF2 supports WideScreen

i'll ask him for some pictures, lol

Pabl0z · 01-30-2006, 16:10 | posts: 65 | Location: Finland

Believe me... GeForce is so much better for fps-games than Radeon's.
My old ti4200 gives 40% more frames in counter-strike 1.6 than my friends 9600XT which is about 40% better than my card in other games.
I suggest you get the 6800GS.

RTSAnime · 01-30-2006, 16:14 | posts: 876 | Location: USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by rox1co

a guy with that monitor told me it looks bad ass

and CS:S and BF2 supports WideScreen

i'll ask him for some pictures, lol

CS:Source does. BF2 only requires some command line options.

Gromuhl'Djun · *Last edited by Gromuhl'Djun; 01-30-2006 at 16:23.*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pabl0z

Believe me... GeForce is so much better for fps-games than Radeon's.
My old ti4200 gives 40% more frames in counter-strike 1.6 than my friends 9600XT which is about 40% better than my card in other games.
I suggest you get the 6800GS.

Not in CS:source it won't. There the 9600XT is much faster. Nvidia's cards up to the 6800 vs x850 generation are faster in doom3 based games though and on par or maybe a little slower in some other games.

The 80GB is very little. If you play BF2 an CS:source you'll probably install mods etc. and those can take up a lot of space. If these are the ONLY games you'll EVER play on this pc, it will be more than enough. But with my 360GB; Photoshop, Office, Games, Movies, Music....it's enough now, but when I only had 120GB I had trouble managing all that stuff.

RTSAnime · 01-30-2006, 16:22 | posts: 876 | Location: USA

To get BF2 in widescreen change the shortcut to

"C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx XXXX +szy XXX

and replace the X's with the appropriate resolution. If you do get the monitor then your shortcut would look like

"C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1440 +szy 900

rox1co · 01-30-2006, 16:51 | posts: 50 | Location: Houston

i'm thinking of upping a little

$215 AMD 3700+ San Diego
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ctCode=80719-5

If i were to keep my current 3200+ (Venice) to save some money would it bottleneck my 7800GT?

$359 EVGA 7800GT + SLI MOBO
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=322728

i would still run CS:S very smoothly wouldn't it? despite that HL2 Engine favors ATI

rox1co · 01-30-2006, 17:06 | posts: 50 | Location: Houston

wow i just upped all my stuff and i'm way over my limit

DrFreeze · 01-30-2006, 21:37 | posts: 4,850 | Location: holland

props on ditching the TV, im considering getting a TV card myself etc..

anyway, i suggested the 7800GT mainly cus i am a bit of a nvboy

anyway, its sweet rig either way you turn it, and my suggestion were based on myself, didnt know your background plans

and the budget, could you stand to simply buy everything now except the vga and use a 6200 for a while?(or whatever you use now) and then upgrade later? it isnt as efficient, but if the money is really tight now, it might be a way out

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 02-03-2006 at 05:21.*

no need for this thread

delete please

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 02-03-2006 at 05:20.*

no need for this thread

delete please

adam watts · 01-31-2006, 02:33 | posts: 696 | Location: Redmond

Quote:

Originally Posted by rox1co

i'll only be playing CS:S and BF2, UT2k4 is too fast pace for me

dang i already changed my PSU to that one, i'll look though

that's all i care about

I have 2 Aspire PSU's and they are very stable and I'm very happy with thier products. Just because it isn't like a thermaltake doesn't mean its not good.

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 02-03-2006 at 05:20.*

no need for this thread

delete please

rox1co · *Last edited by rox1co; 02-03-2006 at 05:20.*

no need for this thread

delete please

Nicksterr · 01-31-2006, 04:10 | posts: 595 | Location: Hoover, AL

Cool, get an Enermax 500w or 620w Liberty PSU. They are very nice and their performance is top-notch.