Curse

Awakener · Apr 26, 2008, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Well, I have decided to buy myself a new computer, I live in AUS
and I wish to have a fairly powerful one that will last me a couple of years and be able to play future games on pretty high settings.

My budget is $3000 AUD,
I have looked around at Alienware, Dell XPS etc. and I found this sytem from an Aussie retailer
http://www.altech.com.au/nrg/NRGSpec...nado%20eXtreme

and was wondering if anyone could give me a review on this system or if anyone had any other ideas on a good gaming PC for me.

PS. I have ruled out building my own.

Lord Mythirion · Apr 26, 2008, 05:02 AM // 05:02

woooow. with that kind of cash, you can get a monster computer. do u already have monitor/mouse/keyboard?

Brianna · Apr 26, 2008, 05:09 AM // 05:09

That is a nice rig imo, the (G92) 8800 GTS's would suffice for quite some time.

I don't know if the money converter is right, but it says that 3,000$ AUS =
2,798.38 USD.

That is a lot of money.. wow, you could build the best computer out there for that much really.

wetsparks · Apr 26, 2008, 05:48 AM // 05:48

I know you say you ruled out building your own, but damn what a computer you could build with that much money if brianna's conversion is right. Other than that the computer looks good, just make sure that the ram is split into 2 x 1gb sticks and not 1 x 2gb stick, I can't really explain why it works, but it works better than way with a dual core processor.

Evil Genius · Apr 26, 2008, 06:51 AM // 06:51

Brianna's conversion is right. The Aussie dollar is very strong now against the US dollar, but that doesn't stop companies ripping us off.

The NRG computer you chose is very powerful. I did a check on the price compared to buying the components and assembling yourself (I know you ruled this out). Here were my results:

Intel E8500 = 388
Antec 900 = 166
2GB Corsair RAM = 110
790i Mobo = 350
2 8800GT = 233 * 2 = 466
Vista Home Premium = 135
750W PSU = 190
1TB HDD = 202

That comes to $2007. The components I looked are basically the same, but it didn't specify specifics such as brand of motherboard so there would be some variation. Nor does that figure include cooling components.

Basically it looks good: you will be paying a few hundred for build fee, warranty, tech support, over clocking of CPU etc. It is definitely a better buy than Alienware or Dell, and will handle anything.

Awakener · Apr 26, 2008, 07:06 AM // 07:06

Thankyou for all your replies,
I know many of you have said that building my own computer would get me top of the line but I am not very good with computer parts

Was also wondering would it be worth to try and get quad-core will a dualcore be enough for the longwhile?

Brianna · Apr 26, 2008, 07:09 AM // 07:09

I'd go with that Dual Core in my opinion, the E8500 is brand new I think, and it's really good too. Quad Core is kind of unnecessary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evil Genius

790i Mobo = 350

The spec sheet in the link said it had an 780i, so probably tack off about 100$ cause the 780i is 100$ less or so, unless that was just a typo.

Evil Genius · Apr 26, 2008, 07:24 AM // 07:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

I'd go with that Dual Core in my opinion, the E8500 is brand new I think, and it's really good too. Quad Core is kind of unnecessary.

The spec sheet in the link said it had an 780i, so probably tack off about 100$ cause the 780i is 100$ less or so, unless that was just a typo.

It was a typo. 780i motherboards range from $320 to $477, so $350 is about right in Australia.

Go with dual core: applications are not yet optimized for quad cores and the quads are more expensive (for the same clock speed). The E8500 is a very good processor, and factory overclocked to 4Ghz makes it even better,

Zamorakk · Apr 26, 2008, 08:39 AM // 08:39

I think its to expensive for that rig. When u make a custom one it costs less than 2k euros. And the Antec 900 is a very loud case, i love the P180 ;P With that budget u can buy a realy nice rig.
And go for a e8400, not the e8500 theres a 100 euros difference and the clocks are only 0.16Ghz different :P

I don't know how much this will cost in Australia, but its just an example that it's pretty expensive.

This is like 1100 euros, a calculator said it was like 2000 aus dollar.

Awakener · Apr 26, 2008, 08:51 AM // 08:51

Okay guys,
I need help, I have decided to try and find a website that allows me to put together my own rig,
would anyone be able to give me a layout of the best possible rig for my budget, ($3000AUD)

Kapral · Apr 26, 2008, 09:03 AM // 09:03

The Nvidia 9900 series is supposed to come out this summer I hear, so you might want to wait for that.

Evil Genius · Apr 26, 2008, 09:11 AM // 09:11

Since you have decided to shop around a bit more, wait till April 30 and buy a magazine called PC Powerplay. It is Australian and costs about $7. They will be reviewing 12 gaming rigs, and the results should assist in your decision.

Brianna · Apr 26, 2008, 09:15 AM // 09:15

http://www.techreport.com/ for all your part reviewing needs Imo.

Also I was thinking of mentioning the 9900's too, I'd wait until they came out, but if it can't wait then there's still other things. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=163160 I think these are the cards in the computer you posted.

what I would spec out for you would probably be similar to that computer that you showed us in the link, except with the Western Digital Raptor-X hard drives and a different computer case (Search online for cases that you like, imo).

Awakener · Apr 26, 2008, 09:16 AM // 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evil Genius

SNIP

Thanks, I'll look out for it

nebuchanezzar · Apr 26, 2008, 02:50 PM // 14:50

Since you are removing the options of building yourself then that PC is more than adequate. I myself always build my own PC's but then again, I work in IT and it's second nature to me.
The dual core vs quad still has me leaning towards simply dual core. To the best of my knowledge there are no programs the average player uses that are optimized for multiple cores. I myself set Affinity manually. Do a google search for dual core affinity. It can be set manually to always run certain programs on either core0 or core1(computers start counting at 0 so that translates to core 1 and 2 so don't let that confuse you).
I also personally don't favor SLi/Crossfire utilizing dual GPU's but they do offer a performance gain. In many cases though single card solutions exist that work quite well.
The term "future-proofing" is kind of a misnomer as no PC is really future proof for more than a 3ish year period and then most will be looking into a new PC more-so than upgrading.
The hard-drive set-up is almost perfect. RAID0 effectively makes your 2 hard drives function as one, with a better read and write speed. However, the downside is that if one drive fails then both are effected. Make sure to keep a good back-up system in place for that. Imaging software like Acronis or Norton Ghost work well. Myself personally, I run a small 40Gb IDE hard-drive with Windows and its basic apps on it and all my games, movies, etc on my large drives. That way if windows gets screwed I still have my data in place after a reformat/re-image.
Some things to consider. If you can settle for a single card GPU system you can run a lower Wattage PSU(Power Supply Unit) which save a few hundred dollars on another Graphics card and possibly another hundred on the PSU. If you want high quality sound you will need to buy a dedicated Sound Card. In that case you can look for a motherboard w/o the 7.1 onboard sound. I only have a sound card on my Home Theater PC in my living room myself though as onboard sound options are very good in most PCs and all of mine have S/PDIF(both the coaxial and digital outputs to run my stereo's). If you are using only headphones or a small PC speaker set those options are overkill as they are never utilized.
I will say again that the PC you are looking at is definitely top-notch. Buying a pre-built PC does disallow for a lot of the "nitpicking" that I myself do(or force my friends =] to do also) when building one.

my2cent · Apr 26, 2008, 02:57 PM // 14:57

i just reccently ordered a system for 2.5k AUD btw
these are just the highlights

2x en8800GTS in SLI
750i mobo
antec 900 case
4gig ram
3.0ghz core2
22inch LCD 2ms asus monitor
g15 refresh logitec keyboard
500gig 7200rpm hdd

cebalrai · Apr 27, 2008, 11:54 PM // 23:54

yeah I was gonna say, gotta have more than 2G ram...

Age · Apr 28, 2008, 12:56 AM // 00:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evil Genius

Since you have decided to shop around a bit more, wait till April 30 and buy a magazine called PC Powerplay. It is Australian and costs about $7. They will be reviewing 12 gaming rigs, and the results should assist in your decision.

That looks like another good game Age of Conan.