Gaming Rig Advice - Also First Time Build

[samstar1412]

ok I dont know if this is the right place to post this and redirect me if its not, but I am looking to build a mid level gaming rig now i have picked out some rough specs that i will post here and hopefully somebody could please give me some advice on what to change or keep etc..

So far i got something like this:

Case: Thermaltake V9
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P, Gigabyte GA EP45-DS3, Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4P, ASUS P5Q-PRO: Undecided most likely one of the 4-Advice?
CPU: Intel Q6600, Q9400 or Q9550
Memory: 4-6gb DDR2/Undecided-Advice?
Graphics: ATI Radeon 2gb HD4870x2
Sound: Undecided-Advice?
PSU: Corsair HX750w or HX1000w

Keep in mind I want there to be upgrade potential such as i want to be able to run 2 graphics cards in the future, possibly water cooling, Maybe overclocking the CPU or upgrading when I have enough $$ and a new model i want is out, etc...

 

[grouchpunk08]

On your memory- Id say go for the 6 gigs if you can afford it, and ddr2 is just fine. I put in a good word for Corsair. Ive used their ram in past machines and it gets the job done. And, are you against Nvidia cards? what made you choose ATI? I'm not criticizing, although I do tend to prefer Nvidia personally. I'm just curious as to how other people make the decision between ATI and Nvidia.
Also, my roommate has this mobo ASUS P5Q-PRO and he is happy with it, and from what he has and what you are planning on having it would leave room fro upgrades in the future. But im not an expert on mobos. So if someone else suggests otherwise with some experience, listen to them lol And if you really want upgrading and SLI/Crossfire options in the future, and you can afford it, I'd go with the 1000 watt PSU that you have specified. SLI and Crossfire really take up the wattage. But yeah only if you can afford all that at the moment.

 

[Captain Zero]

Looks good so far, you'll get fantastic performance out of a build like that. I'd also recommend Corsair for the RAM. The ASUS P5Q is also a good performer. The PSU's you've selected are quite robust and unless you plan to expand significantly, it's overkill. 750-850 would be a good range with plenty of room for expansion. Liquid cooling is not for the feint of heart, be sure to *carefully* research these components. I'm using Swiftech blocks on the CPU/Northbridge and am happy with their performance. I have some build logs if you're interested. Good luck.

 

[samstar1412]

@grouchpunk08
Thanks for the input and I was actually heading towards the Asus P5Q-PRO as i have read quite a few reviews on them and they seem like an excellent deal. And about the nvidia vs ati thing, I really dont know I just want the ati hd4870x2 for its shear power in a single card.

@Captain Zero
Also thanks for the input, Looks like I'll be heading for corsair ram since you have both suggested it. And the liquid cooling would be part of a future upgrade. Also i would like to see your build logs if thats ok?

Also does anyone have an opinion of either of the CPUs I posted?

 

[grouchpunk08]

Also does anyone have an opinion of either of the CPUs I posted?

Well the Q9550 has a 12MB cache, and that one is the best CPU you've got listed. Again, if you can afford it, Id say go with that one. But they are all core 2 quads, and are all beast. If you wanna save a few bucks, you could go for the Q9400, because you wouldn't really notice that much of a difference between the 2.66 on the Q9400 and the 2.86 on the Q9550. If you can afford it and you must have the best, get the Q9550. But if you wanna save a bit and can compromise you can get the Q9400, as there wouldn't be a terrible amount of noticable difference. I mean heck, your rig would still be crazy beast if you got the Q6600 with its 2.4 GHZ. It basically comes down to whether or not you want to spare .2 or .4 ghz. There wouldnt be a terribly noticable difference, except maybe between the 2.4 and the 2.8. Id say youd be safe in the middle if you didnt wanna shell out for the 2.8 Q9550. But for future proofing, the q9550 would be the way to go.

 

[grouchpunk08]

Also for your sound card, check out the sound blaster X-FI series. They are really good sound cards, and, you may want to double check, but I'm almost certain they are compatible with the asus mobo your thinking about getting

 

[samstar1412]

Once again thanks for the input, I will check out that sound card. If I can get the funds for the Q9550 and the rest of the "better" parts I listed I will get them but being 15 and jobless it may be a while, so far im expecting to start the build by about mid december to late december. So far i dont think $300australian is going to go to far, that will get me the thermaltake case and the motherboard if im lucky depends what kinda deals I can find I spose. Im going to need roughly $1500+aus for the best parts I listed

 

[grouchpunk08]

Once again thanks for the input, I will check out that sound card. If I can get the funds for the Q9550 and the rest of the "better" parts I listed I will get them but being 15 and jobless it may be a while, so far im expecting to start the build by about mid december to late december. So far i dont think $300australian is going to go to far, that will get me the thermaltake case and the motherboard if im lucky depends what kinda deals I can find I spose. Im going to need roughly $1500+aus for the best parts I listed

Yeah man keep an eye out for those deals and sales. Oh, and this is from experience, squeeze every penny you can from your parents by doing chores and whatnot. And hey, see if the neighbors need their grass cut or anything like that that you can do to earn a few more bucks. Every little bit helps. And while this is a little more hasty, try a yard sale to get rid of a few things you dont need anymore lol. And remember to SAVE SAVE SAVE. every time you wanna buy something, just think about the EPIC gaming you will be able to do on that machine. THEN remember the PRICETAG lol. You wont wanna buy whatever it was anymore, as youll wanna be that much closer to your epic gaming rig.

 

[samstar1412]

Well I would really like to be able to play GTA IV on higher graphics, as my Laptop doesnt really cut it for GTA IV it does surprisingly well but its still not good enough .
Believe me every chance i get to make a little more $$ I will take, I am already negotiating with my parents to see if they will get me some of the parts for my birthday or give me a little extra money than usual, but you know fair is fair so if I have to do a little extra chores then so be it. It will be all worth it in the end, just to see something i built for less $2000 put $3000+ systems to shame

 

[smarteyeball]

@grouchpunk08
Thanks for the input and I was actually heading towards the Asus P5Q-PRO

Then stick with 4GB. 6GB takes it out of dual synchronous mode and into asynchronous mode which is slower. It's also easier to overclock with only 4GB.

All those CPU's are good. They all overclock really well, so stock clock speed shouldn't be a huge factor in your decision.

The Corsair HX1000 is a great PSU, but a 750w-850w would be perfect for a single 4870x2.

 

[grouchpunk08]

Well I would really like to be able to play GTA IV on higher graphics, as my Laptop doesnt really cut it for GTA IV it does surprisingly well but its still not good enough .
Believe me every chance i get to make a little more $$ I will take, I am already negotiating with my parents to see if they will get me some of the parts for my birthday or give me a little extra money than usual, but you know fair is fair so if I have to do a little extra chores then so be it. It will be all worth it in the end, just to see something i built for less $2000 put $3000+ systems to shame

Yeah man building high end is cheaper than buying it. And its a lot more satisfying knowing you did it all, putting it together and whatnot.

 

[samstar1412]

Then stick with 4GB. 6GB takes it out of dual synchronous mode and into asynchronous mode which is slower. It's also easier to overclock with only 4GB.

All those CPU's are good. They all overclock really well, so stock clock speed shouldn't be a huge factor in your decision.

The Corsair HX1000 is a great PSU, but a 750w-850w would be perfect for a single 4870x2.

What if i was to go with 8gb instead?

Yeah man building high end is cheaper than buying it. And its a lot more satisfying knowing you did it all, putting it together and whatnot.

A lot cheaper some alienwares are like $10,000+ and the're not even close to being worth $5,000

 

[smarteyeball]

What if i was to go with 8gb instead?

It depends. 8GB will run in dual synchronous but may not run at it's full rated speed. Then again, others have no problems.

For example I have 8GB of 1100mhz ram, but I simply cant get it to run stable past 896mhz at stock timings. With only 4GB installed, it will run at 1150mhz with lower timing.

But in real world usgae, the difference in speed is not noticeable, however it was slightly noticeable with only 6GB installed.

The majority of the time, especially in games, 8GB is overkill. But you notice the benefits elsewhere. But for budget considerations, 4GB is perfectly fine.

 

[samstar1412]

Thank you for verifying that for me, if i do get 4gb there is always room for more if i ever need it since the board has 4 ram slots. Also what speed ram would you recommend if I was to overclock the CPU to say around 3.2-3.4ghz? Links would be appreciated thanks.

 

[smarteyeball]

For some headroom, I'd go for 1066mhz RAM. Ideally, whatever 1066 ram you choose, make sure it has a CAS latency of at least 5-5-5-15. preferably at 1.8 volts

Just a couple:

Corsair Dominator Black
Corsair DDR2 XMS2 PC2 8500 Memory Kit Review :: Introduction :: Motherboards.org

G.Skill PI
G.Skill Pi DDR2 PC2-8800 4GB - Introduction - DriverHeaven.net

I'd steer away from Kingston Hyper-X though. I couldn't get my board to post with Kingston.

 

[Captain Zero]

@Captain Zero
Also i would like to see your build logs if thats ok?

Here's one that's basically what you're going for. My current workhorse.

 

[brayway]

LOL i just built the cheapest gaming rig i could get im also a 15 YR old but do have a job but get crap money so this is what i got wen i pulled a 100 bux out of my paents
E1400
2GB Kingston HyperX 1066 RAM
250GB seagate barauda
Asus P5KPL/1600
NVIDIA 9800GT 512MB DDR3 (like the best part of my system )
i just cant get the RAM to run at the 1066 cause my CPU's FSB is 800

 

[samstar1412]

For some headroom, I'd go for 1066mhz RAM. Ideally, whatever 1066 ram you choose, make sure it has a CAS latency of at least 5-5-5-15. preferably at 1.8 volts

Just a couple:

Corsair Dominator Black
Corsair DDR2 XMS2 PC2 8500 Memory Kit Review :: Introduction :: Motherboards.org

G.Skill PI
G.Skill Pi DDR2 PC2-8800 4GB - Introduction - DriverHeaven.net

I'd steer away from Kingston Hyper-X though. I couldn't get my board to post with Kingston.

Thanks for the links and for the tips on r.

Here's one that's basically what you're going for. My current workhorse.

I read through that whole thread, it sure is a excellent build. I see you had a few dramas with the water cooling thats why i'll leave that for an upgrade in the future, other than that i bet its an amazing pc. Also are you running 2 HD4870x2's in that beast?

LOL i just built the cheapest gaming rig i could get im also a 15 YR old but do have a job but get crap money so this is what i got wen i pulled a 100 bux out of my paents
E1400
2GB Kingston HyperX 1066 RAM
250GB seagate barauda
Asus P5KPL/1600
NVIDIA 9800GT 512MB DDR3 (like the best part of my system )
i just cant get the RAM to run at the 1066 cause my CPU's FSB is 800

Nice budget system for sure, if i dont get enough funds for my build i may go for a dual core but i'll be heading for an e8400 i hear you can overclock em to 4.0ghz on stock cooling and voltages . Also if i have to cheap out more i'll get a 1gb HD4870 instead of the 2gb HD4870x2 that will save me another couple a hundred.

 

[brayway]

yea, that dual core was an emergency one lol
it only Cost me $59AU from Umart
i was going to use my P4 but then i found out that it wasnt compatable with the new Mobo so i had to get an emergency one, and that was the cheapest i could get LOLs only 512MB cache
but it is better than the P5
(that is now a css server )

 

[samstar1412]

yea, that dual core was an emergency one lol
it only Cost me $59AU from Umart
i was going to use my P4 but then i found out that it wasnt compatable with the new Mobo so i had to get an emergency one, and that was the cheapest i could get LOLs only 512MB cache
but it is better than the P5
(that is now a css server )

Haha the q9550 i want has a 12mb cache the q6600 is my emergency (the e8400 is the same price but its dual not quad), and the 1gb HD4870 is my emergency graphics coz thats about half the price of the 2gb HD4870x2. I also have several backup motherboards, so if i went with all my backups its still about $900-1000au though