Curse

Snograt · Jan 13, 2008, 07:36 PM // 19:36

I'm speccing a new rig for my cousin and fellow mid-life-crisis born-again gamer.

Money (almost) no object, but we just need a kick-ass gaming rig without unnecessary fripperies such as water cooling and neon intestines.

Intel and nVidia seem to be a given, so let's start at the top.

Processor - we're liking the Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Extreme QX6850 - seems to be the latest and fastestest.

Mobo - bit of a struggle with this one, but I think the SLI nForce 680i SLI (C55XE) fits the bill.

Memory - if the above two get the nod, then I'd guess DDR3 rated at 1333? (Damn, you'd think they could add another 4 MHz

) - from a reputable supplier; I see the name Corsair bandied about a lot. Oh, and am I right in thinking 2GB is the only viable option - 4GB sounds better but is pointless without a 64bit OS (which is pointless to a gamer)?

Graphics - Heh, over-the-top, but we're looking at a pair of 8800Ultras ^^. Anyone with an intimate knowledge of nVidia's roadmap happen to know if anything even more zoomy is likely within 2 months?

Sound - now this IS a pain. Is there any point in a soundcard since Vista killed the DirectSound API? I just love the Creative xFi, but is there a point?

Hard drives - we disagree here (cos he's a noob). I say get a pair of 150GB Raptors in RAID0 with a great big 1TB third drive for storage - he says he doesn't need much storage cos he never filled his 300GB after 2 years :/

Opticals - for the sake of future-proofing (an oxymoron in the world of computers, but anyway...) should we plump for a Blu-Ray R/W/RW multi-format jobbie with a fast DVD reader as main?

Finally, suggest a nice case for it all. Something like a nice Coolermaster jobbie with a shedload of fans but yet doesn't sound like a jet fighter taking off.

Oh, and I guess a humungous 1100W power supply would probably be wise ^^

Oops - forgot to mention - we're UK, so prices in £ if you please (we've already looked at systems for around £3500 - you can pretty much double that for the equivalent in US$ so you can get an idea of what we're looking at)

Thanks in advance for the masses of helpful replies

Why_Me · Jan 13, 2008, 07:48 PM // 19:48

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/...force_9800gx2/
I'd wait before getting the ultras

Snograt · Jan 13, 2008, 08:08 PM // 20:08

Ooh yum - that's a good start. Potential quad-GPU goodness to go with the quad cores ^^

volsung · Jan 13, 2008, 08:14 PM // 20:14

as you say your in the uk, thought maybe this link maybe of some intrest to you.

http://www.beastcomputers.co.uk/

Malice Black · Jan 13, 2008, 09:11 PM // 21:11

Just spec one here, they'll even build it for you.

http://overclockers.co.uk/

Snograt · Jan 13, 2008, 10:19 PM // 22:19

/slaps head - how could I forget about Overclockers?

Thanks, Mal ( and Volsung

)

Still looking for opinions and comments though ^^

Malice Black · Jan 13, 2008, 11:55 PM // 23:55

I run dual 8800 ultra's, and to be fair it's just plain overkill.

8800gtx
4gb ram
couple 150GB raptors
600+ PSU
decent tower

I had a look at that Beast site, and it's a rip off. Could build that 3000k machine for less then half.

Snograt · Jan 14, 2008, 12:20 AM // 00:20

4GB? Was I wrong about that, then?

I run dual GTX's, and THAT's overkill - still waiting for nVidia drivers that are anywhere near complete. Rubbish pop-ups and texture oddities in GW.

Oh, Vista doesn't help, but I see it as a soon-to-be-necessary evil.

Malice Black · Jan 14, 2008, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Vista can make use of the extra. Just think of it as an extra large paging file.

Nothing wrong with Vista. Ignore all the negative people. Most people bad mouth MS because its the cool thing to do in geek land

Snograt · Jan 14, 2008, 12:20 PM // 12:20

Sigh - been to overclockers, and I can't see any option for system building - just off the shelf systems and components. o_O

Quaker · Jan 14, 2008, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Sound - now this IS a pain. Is there any point in a soundcard since Vista killed the DirectSound API? I just love the Creative xFi, but is there a point?

Many new games do all their sound mixing in software, so it is doubly hard to say if a soundcard is necessary any more. Most new motherboards have good sound on-board too. But on the otherhand, why not......

Quote:

Hard drives - we disagree here (cos he's a noob). I say get a pair of 150GB Raptors in RAID0 with a great big 1TB third drive for storage - he says he doesn't need much storage cos he never filled his 300GB after 2 years :/

My personal opinion is that a RAID0 falls into the "unnecessary fripperies" category. The small (and mostly unnoticeable) improvement in drive speed is outweighed by the cost (it would cost much less to get 1 300gig) and the risk factor of having things striped over 2 drives. Just get SATA drives for speed.
On the other hand, it makes much more sense to have your storage on a RAID1 for security.
Currently, I run an 80gig SATA drive partitioned into a 20gig (OS) and a 60gig (games, apps) and two 160gig SATAs in RAID1 for storage (mp3s, mpgs, etc.)
I will shortly be upgrading these to a 160gig and 2x500gig.
(As a side note - I was recently digitizing Hi8 videos at 720x480 directly onto the RAID1, so hd speed is not a big factor.)

Quote:

Opticals - for the sake of future-proofing (an oxymoron in the world of computers, but anyway...) should we plump for a Blu-Ray R/W/RW multi-format jobbie with a fast DVD reader as main?

Unless you actually have a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player and plan to use the burner now, I would just get a Multi-format DL Lightscribe DVD burner and hold off on the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD until the format war shakes out and the drives become cheaper.

Quote:

Oh, and I guess a humungous 110W power supply would probably be wise ^^

110watts - is that a laptop power supply?

Btw, as far as the cpu, mobo and RAM are concerned, I plan to upgrade mine in a while - after AMD & Intel's new processors have been out for a while and things have settled a bit. I've been looking at pretty much the same as what you have, although quad cores are probably overkill. I have to force my Guild Wars to run on one core anyway, to keep it from crashing.
Edit: SLI = fripperies too.

Malice Black · Jan 14, 2008, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Give em a ring. The service cost £200+ I think.

Snograt · Jan 14, 2008, 05:12 PM // 17:12

Thanks again Mal - and thanks too, Quaker, lot of insights there. Cough - yes, 1100W :/

Oh, and for the record, I have a pair of 500GBs, non-RAIDed

Snograt · Jan 15, 2008, 11:03 AM // 11:03

Hehe - just as a test, I specced a comp at overclockers with top-of-the-range everything.

£4500 - approx $9000.

Er, lol?

xb0vv · Jan 15, 2008, 11:35 AM // 11:35

pcoption.co.uk have the new amd quad core procssor

Snograt · Jan 15, 2008, 12:36 PM // 12:36

Off topic (but then it's MY topic

) but I did a little price comparison to see if rip-off Britain is still as bad as it was.

Current exchange rate - 1 US$ = 0.510568774 UK£

2 identical Dell XPS 2010 Laptops, one from dell.com, one from their UK site.

UK Dell - £2400

US Dell - $3800 = £1940.

So that's a "yes" then.

Josh · Jan 15, 2008, 01:21 PM // 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Off topic (but then it's MY topic

) but I did a little price comparison to see if rip-off Britain is still as bad as it was.

Current exchange rate - 1 US$ = 0.510568774 UK£

2 identical Dell XPS 2010 Laptops, one from dell.com, one from their UK site.

UK Dell - £2400

US Dell - $3800 = £1940.

So that's a "yes" then.

Your forgetting we have 18.5% VAT to pay, and the price difference is almost exactly that - a few quid off.

Take off VAT and it pretty much is £1900 range.

Snograt · Jan 15, 2008, 01:55 PM // 13:55

You forgetting sales tax?

To quoute wikipedia:
0-9.75% in state & local sales tax (not VAT); typically around 8.5%, but up to 16.75% when including other taxes

TreeDude · Jan 16, 2008, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Getting the latest and greatest is such a waste. You could easily knock 30% off the price of a top rig by just going a step blow the top components. Get 2 8800GTs and Q6600. The performance difference would be small compared to the price difference. Get DDR2 1066 instead of DDR3 1333. DDR2 and DDR3 are pretty much the same when their clock speeds are matched.

Don't waste money on top of the line. Unless your stupid rich, in which case go right ahead.

Quaker · Jan 16, 2008, 08:54 PM // 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

UK Dell - £2400

US Dell - $3800 = £1940.

Did you consider shipping? (Especially if you ship a dell from the US to the UK

) But, I really mean, whether shipping was included in one price or the other ... or both... or neither.