:Renegade: Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Hey, Ive been planning to build a mid-range - high end, gaming rig for the past few months, It will be mainly used for gaming, some photoshopping, some heavy programming and general tasks... Heres what Ive had in mind: CASE: Antec 900 - Ive heard excellent things about this case, "windtunnel" comes to mind! MOBO: Asus p5q pro - seems to be a solid, value for money mainboard, supports xfire. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=352394 CPU: Intel core 2 duo E8400 - excellent value for money with great overclocking potential, I was tempted by a Q6600 but as far as im aware quad core technology isnt reaching its full potential yet, sticking with a dual core seems to be the better option. RAM: OCZ Reaper PC 8500 4GB - seems like a good option http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=349998 HDD: Samsung 1TB Sata2 - seems like good value for money, unsure of the reliability of samsung drives? http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=343055 DVD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Smith Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Have you considered a Phenom II X2 550? It provides approximately the same gaming performance but for an insanely more affordable price. There is also the Phenom II X3 720 which will pwn the E8400 in every multithreaded application That's all I have to say, everything looks good! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocre Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 ^^ +1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeWee90 Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 I don't know about the AMD CPUs, but that memory won't leave you disappointed! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
:Renegade: Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the comments and Tbh I haven't considered AMD, Right now im looking at the AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and it does look impressive (and €21/31$ cheaper!), what would be the pros/cons of this vs the e8400 and could you recommend a good mobo? What do you guys think of the samsung hdd? Maybe spend the extra bucks to get a WD or Seagate? do you think that PSU could handle two 4890's in xfire for future upgrades? or should i go for a 4850 x2 or gtx275? edit { Based on this review, would an OC'ed e8400 not perform much better than an OC'ed PhenomIIx3 720BE? http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware...3_720be/15.html } Edited June 17, 2009 by :Renegade: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fight Game Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 (edited) pretty much comes down to whether or not the program you are using can utilize more than 1 or 2 cores (or if you are running multiple programs at the same time). If so, then the amd choice. If not then the intel choice. as far as the hdd, brand doesn't matter much, but I would recommend getting as much cache as possible (32mb) Edited June 17, 2009 by Fight Game Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
:Renegade: Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 yeah looking at reviews they seem to be a pretty even match. Judging by reviews I think an E8400 @ 4GHz will outperform an OC'ed 720BE on 90% of tasks... However the 720BE may offer better future-proofing... Its a tough one lol... yeah the HDD i chose has a 32mb cache, but ive heard some problems with samsung HDD's reliability... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgv115 Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 the triple core will last you longer. The performance ain't bad either. The Intel can just overclock like mad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
:Renegade: Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Not to mention socket 775 is being phased out, AM3 looks to be around for a while... Afaik, OC'ing on air, E8400 = 4GHz+, Phenom II X3 720 = 3.7GHz+ Im thinking a Phenom II X3 720 on an Asus M4A78T-E with 4gb OCZ reaper PC3-10666? 2 mobo options i see: Asus M4A78T-E http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=43439...led#ProductTabs OR Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=431468 Both ddr3, socket AM3.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott.w.polk Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Personally, I would recommend putting in 2 smaller HDDs in RAID 0 (striping), like 2 300GB 10000RPM WD VelociRaptors, to keep your games on. This cuts down on access time tremendously. Single 1TB drives are built more for storage rather than intense file access. You may not think it makes much of a difference, but it does. Both mobos you picked have support for RAID 0 (striping). You can then buy another internal or external 1TB drive for storing all the other junk on. This is just my opinion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulktreg Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Personally, I would recommend putting in 2 smaller HDDs in RAID 0 (striping), like 2 300GB 10000RPM WD VelociRaptors, to keep your games on. This cuts down on access time tremendously. Single 1TB drives are built more for storage rather than intense file access. You may not think it makes much of a difference, but it does. Both mobos you picked have support for RAID 0 (striping). You can then buy another internal or external 1TB drive for storing all the other junk on. This is just my opinion. The raptors are over-rated in my opinion and when cost is considered they just aren't worth it especially when compared with some of the 7200RPM 32MB cache hard drives that are now available. I don't think access time will be cut tremendously, a better word is perhaps a modest increase. Cheers Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
:Renegade: Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 thanks for the suggestion scott, but im not sure the 10krpm raptors would give a big enough performance increase for the money. A single 300GB raptor = Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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