Building a Gaming Rig

Grey410

Grey410

New Member
I am building my friend a gaming rig for his birthday. There are like 13 of his friends and family chipping in. So enough back story here's what I'm thinking of buying:
AMD X2 3800
ZALMAN FAN
ASUS A8N SLI
2 GIG Corsair MEM
320GB SATA II
EVGA 7900GT SUPERCLOCKED KO
X-FI Soundcard
DVD Burner
DVD Rom
20.1" Widescreen Mon

Runnig XP PRO SP2.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I've done a lot of research and I've overclocked my own rig. Mainly looking for thoughts on CPU/GPU.;)
 
for video card the X1800XT is alot better then the 7900GT (just because it has 512MB dedicated video memory, while the 7900GT has only 256MB....), if ur a rebate person, get this, if ur not, get this


everything else looks like a very good choice of options...

i see your getting another fan, are you going to overclock for him?
if you aren't then that fan really isn't necessary
 
Grey410 said:
I am building my friend a gaming rig for his birthday. There are like 13 of his friends and family chipping in. So enough back story here's what I'm thinking of buying:
AMD X2 3800
ZALMAN FAN
ASUS A8N SLI
2 GIG Corsair MEM
320GB SATA II
EVGA 7900GT SUPERCLOCKED KO
X-FI Soundcard
DVD Burner
DVD Rom
20.1" Widescreen Mon

Runnig XP PRO SP2.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I've done a lot of research and I've overclocked my own rig. Mainly looking for thoughts on CPU/GPU.;)
Click to expand...


unless he has really good speaker system, ditch the x-fi. Dont get the superclocked video card, it's not worth it IMO as you can just overclock it yourself. And what's your budget?
 
Budget

I think I will ditch the card and the X-fi card. My budget is basically $1800 but I have to include a new Monitor and I'm getting him a Wireless Keyboard and Mouse. We're thinking of going with a 20.1" Benq monitor which I've read good reviews on at Newegg. So which video card do you recommend? We're going all new for him. His old system is being donated to another friend who's not a serious gamer and will enjoy it. His old system is a P4 2.8GHZ HT, 6800GT AGP, 1.5GB RAM :)
 
Encore4More said:
for video card the X1800XT is alot better then the 7900GT (just because it has 512MB dedicated video memory, while the 7900GT has only 256MB....)
Click to expand...
Normally i would agree, but the KO is an extremely good card, it's overclocked like a beast.
 
So now I'm thinking....

I think I like the 3800 X2. What about SLI on 2 7600 GT's instead of 1 7900 GT? If I go ATI it won't allow him to SLI later without switching MOBO's.:confused:
 
Grey410 said:
I think I like the 3800 X2. What about SLI on 2 7600 GT's instead of 1 7900 GT? If I go ATI it won't allow him to SLI later without switching MOBO's.:confused:
Click to expand...

If you go ATI just get a crossfire motherboard and then you will be able to use 2 videocards when he wants to.
 
Crossfire....

Right but I don't really want a crossfire Mobo with the way it's using cables and all that.... Kinda early tech still.... :o
 
A wireless keyboard and mouse, might not really be good if he's a serious player, since it can bug the hell out of you if you have to be afraid about the battery. :P
 
Keyboard an Mouse

He's not that serious and neither am I. I used a wireless Kb an Mouse and I love them. Funny you mentioned that because yesterday my mouse was dying during some Raven Shield action. So now I'm leaning towards the 7900GT because he may go SLI on his own soon as he is getting a bonus from work. Or we may splurge and go with a 7900GTX. I'm liking the Aviivo reviews though. I'm having a tough time making up my mind. It's been a lot of fun doing this for him though. :D
 
yes stay with the 7900gtx do not get 2 7600gt every reveiw i rerad on new egg was good and they said they loved it but they are returning it for a 7900gtx or gt ko
 
Video Card

I am looking at either the EVGA 7900GT KO or the 7900 GTX. Do you think with Vista coming out it would be better to go more budget on the system and wait to buy a nice gpu until it supports DX10? Is vista not coming out until June of 07' though? Hmm decisions..decisions. Maximum PC just said that Avivo looks much better than the Nvidia cards. I figure an x1800XT would run most games 1280x1024 AAx4 AFx16 wouldn't it? That's most likely the resolution he will run. Also will that look odd on a 20.1" widescreen monitor? Thoughts? :confused:
 
Vista

Will be $229 to upgrade and $399 outright for the super uber p1mp version. I believe those are the prices I recall. I could be off on the outright price. :P
 
for video card the X1800XT is alot better then the 7900GT (just because it has 512MB dedicated video memory, while the 7900GT has only 256MB....), if ur a rebate person, get this, if ur not, get this
Click to expand...
Correction, the X1800XT is not as good as the 7900GT because we know the 7800GTX outpaces the X1800XT and the 7900GT is, for all intents and purposes, a 7800GTX equivalent

I doubt you will get that far with stock cooling...
Click to expand...
400MHz isnt that impossible on stock cooling ... the 512K chips dont heat up that much .. that and theres aftermarket cooling involved


Now a better question would be "whats your budget"
 
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