Gaming Rig - Advice Needed

jamieh

Hi all,

I'm going to buy a gaming pc from ebay. Have monitor, OS, etc already so just need a box.

Budget is around €600. Have been looking at a few on ebay.

What do ye think of this one:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/QUAD-CORE-14-4Ghz-8GB-Memory-2-x-9500GT-2GB-SLI-GFX_W0QQitemZ170319419718QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_DesktopPCs?hash=item170319419718&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1300|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1309|301:1|293:1|294:50

Is this the best I could get for around 600?

Solitaire

Don't touch it with a bargepole.

Crap mobo, crap HDD, crap and bizarre graphics configuration, crap (for gaming) CPU, overkill RAM (don't ask). And I really like how they decided to use the mobo's Hypertransport speed as the CPU speed. And then multiplied it by 4. Really inspiring confidence not.

AlmightyCushion

What solataire said. It sounds brilliant with it's 14.4Ghz processor, 8GBs ram and 2GBs graphics but it's just shíte. The processor is decent but everything else lets it down. Despite have 2GBs graphics memory the cards are complete crap (graphics memory isn't everything).

You can spend your money much better.

CPU - q6600 - About €180
Graphics - Ati 4830 - about €100
Memory - Cheap decent corsair 4GB kit - about €50
Motherboard - Cheap decent Gigabyte motherboard - about €60
Case - Antec 300 - About €60
PSU - Corsair 450w - About €60
Hard drive - Samsung spinpoint - About €80
Optical drive - Anything -About €20.

Those prices are just estimates so they might be a bit high/low but it'll be in and around that. That will be a much better pc than the ebay one. Add in delivery and it'll still be cheaper than the piece of crap above.

jamieh

Thanks for the replies lads.....would have bought it if it wasn't for ye!

How about this one: http://cgi.ebay.ie/CORE2QUAD-Q6600-500GB-2X-SLI-9600GT-1024MB-4GB-DDR2_W0QQitemZ120367833660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_DesktopPCs?hash=item120367833660&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1300|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308|301:1|293:1|294:50

Or am I better off buying seperate components?

PogMoThoin

Stay ta fcuk away from Ebay, You'll get nothing of quality there

jamieh

Right lads...just went onto dabs there. Would love to get this ordered today but need to get advice before I do!

Dabs value midi case (with 600w psu) - 30
Gigabyte GF 9600GT - 125
Kingston 4gb ram - 50
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 - 225
Gigabyte S775 MOBO - 60
Samsung 1TB - 80
DVD Drive - 20
Soundblaster Card - 25

Total: €640

OR....I just found this on adverts: http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=109437&cat=8
How does that sound? Am I missing anything? Should I get a cheaper CPU and better graphics??

TerrorFirmer

jamieh wrote: »

Dabs value midi case (with 600w psu) - 30 Absolute crap, you cannot skimp on PSU, wouldn't recommend it for case either, but thats not as important. PSU should be a decent 400W+ model, such as Corsair, OCZ, etc. Those Dabs Value PSUs are absolute crap. Noisy, grossly inefficient, underpowered, unstable, so on. You should be looking to spend at least about 100 on the case/psu
Gigabyte GF 9600GT - 125 In that price range, 4850 is a much better choice.
Kingston 4gb ram - 50 Hard to tell from generic description, can get decent quality OCZ or Corsair ram for that price though too.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 - 225 Pointless waste of money, go for E8500 or Q6600.
Gigabyte S775 MOBO - 60 More details needed, sure its fine, good brand.
Samsung 1TB - 80 Good choice.
DVD Drive - 20 Sure that's fine, make sure its Sata and not IDE for easier cabling.
Soundblaster Card - 25 At this stage stick with onboard sound over an ancient soundblaster, or get an X-fi for a few quid more (except the Xtreme Audio)

Total: €640

Example: 598 euro.

jamieh

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Example: 598 euro.

Thanks a mill for your reply TerrorFirmer...

I actually ordered it already:

Antec Three Hundred Black 140mm Fan (Without PSU)

Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA2 32MB 7200RPM

Asus P5QL PRO, P43, Socket-775, DDR2, ATX, GbLAN, ICH10, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Socket LGA775, 8MB, BOXED w/fan

Crucial DDR2 BallistiX PC6400 4GB CL4 Kit w/two BallistiX 2048MB's, E.P.P

Gainward GeForce GTS 250 1GB PhysX PCI-Express 2.0, GDDR3, DVI, HDMI, HDCP, Graphics Plus, CUDA, 3D Stereo

Corsair Powersupply 450W, 120mm Vifte

Came to around 700.

What do u reckon?

Solitaire

You didn't put any prices down :P

It all seems pretty solid, but I hope you didn't pay over the odds for the GTX250 as they tend to be pricier than the HD4850, which is just as good.

The Q6600 is a great CPU but being a quad it only tends to flex its muscles outside of games :rolleyes: You'll be glad you bought it if you want to run GTAIV or something with a similar engine, as they (and they alone) eat dualies for breakfast. Plus if you suddenly need more power on one or two cores the Q6600 is a good and stable overclocker, so unless you suddenly need 3.7GHz+ per core for some inexplicable reason you're well futureproofed in the CPU department

The VX450 is a great PSU but with a quad CPU to power you don't have acres of overhead. If you need to upgrade your graphics at some point in the future you may wind up needing a slightly bigger PSU in the worst case scenario.

My biggest gripe is the Crucial RAM - I just don't trust the DDR2 Ballistix anymore after that epic bad batch a while back.

jamieh

Solitaire wrote: »

You didn't put any prices down :P

It all seems pretty solid, but I hope you didn't pay over the odds for the GTX250 as they tend to be pricier than the HD4850, which is just as good.

The Q6600 is a great CPU but being a quad it only tends to flex its muscles outside of games :rolleyes: You'll be glad you bought it if you want to run GTAIV or something with a similar engine, as they (and they alone) eat dualies for breakfast. Plus if you suddenly need more power on one or two cores the Q6600 is a good and stable overclocker, so unless you suddenly need 3.7GHz+ per core for some inexplicable reason you're well futureproofed in the CPU department

The VX450 is a great PSU but with a quad CPU to power you don't have acres of overhead. If you need to upgrade your graphics at some point in the future you may wind up needing a slightly bigger PSU in the worst case scenario.

My biggest gripe is the Crucial RAM - I just don't trust the DDR2 Ballistix anymore after that epic bad batch a while back.

Hey,

Thanks for the reply.

The graphics card came in at €153.

I had originally gone for Crucial RAM, but changed it a few mintues ago to OCZ Ram. It's meant to be better. It was €64.

The whole thing came in at €750 in the end.

I've never installed a cpu before so a bit nervous about that

Effluo

ahhhh you really should have waited a couple hours extra...

jamieh

Effluo wrote: »

ahhhh you really should have waited a couple hours extra...

Why's that??

I can cancel the komplett order ....if I get a quick reply!!

Effluo

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Box 6144Kb, LGA775, 64bit 140,73 €
Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L ,Intel P43, ATX, PCI-Express 69,32 €
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Sockel 775 14,08 €
4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
Antec Three Hundred, ATX, ohne Netzteil 54,15 €
Corsair TX650W 650 Watt 83,21 €
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 117,39 €
Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 32MB SATA II 73,76 €
Samsung SH-223F bare schwarz DVD±RW (±R DL) 25,68 €

incl. VAT and excl. shipping costs
665,06 €

Shipping is €30 euro and assembly is €20

€715 altogether with another 4 gigs of ram
If you want a chilly pc then i'd recommend(purely cause everyone else does)
A few of these fans!
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=10323&agid=42

They are like £7 on overclockers.co.uk and only €2.8 here! They look class with the Antec too!
That power supply will also give you more options to upgrade or indeed you could just get a 4870 with it right now.
For some reason however hardwareversand.de don't let you put one in this build???
It all fits! I have pretty much the same thing beside me here!

sdanseo

Q6600 is 2.4GhZ so ****e for games which don't recognise multiple cores.

PogMoThoin

sdonn wrote: »

Q6600 is 2.4GhZ so ****e for games which don't recognise multiple cores.

I've a Q6600 at 3.2Ghz 24/7, best of both worlds

TerrorFirmer

sdonn wrote: »

Q6600 is 2.4GhZ so ****e for games which don't recognise multiple cores.

Thats a bit exaggerated. COD4 and World at War, two of the most popular shooters out there, work fantastic on the Q6600 at stock with a decent card- and neither take advantage of multiple cores past a frame or two either. In fact in COD5 tests the Q6600 is significantly faster then the older E6850 at 3Ghz.

Effluo

Why isn't everyone just getting the Q6700 when it's at such a discount price? Why are people getting the Q6600 when the Q6700 is cheaper???

I just don't understand it!

jamieh

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Thats a bit exaggerated. COD4 and World at War, two of the most popular shooters out there, work fantastic on the Q6600 at stock with a decent card- and neither take advantage of multiple cores past a frame or two either. In fact in COD5 tests the Q6600 is significantly faster then the older E6850 at 3Ghz.

I'm just reading about the Q6600 online and seemingly it can be overclocked to 3ghz very easily. Some people call it a "free" overclock as its so easy to do and it the standard heatsink will work fine at 3Ghz.

Would I be able to overclock to 3ghz with the motherboard I've bought or am I better off leaving things as they are?

I've never overclocked before - is it just a matter of changing settings in the bios?

Effluo

Effluo wrote: »

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Box 6144Kb, LGA775, 64bit 140,73 €
Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L ,Intel P43, ATX, PCI-Express 69,32 €
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro Sockel 775 14,08 €
4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
Antec Three Hundred, ATX, ohne Netzteil 54,15 €
Corsair TX650W 650 Watt 83,21 €
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 117,39 €
Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 32MB SATA II 73,76 €
Samsung SH-223F bare schwarz DVD±RW (±R DL) 25,68 €

incl. VAT and excl. shipping costs
665,06 €

Shipping is €30 euro and assembly is €20

€715 altogether with another 4 gigs of ram
If you want a chilly pc then i'd recommend(purely cause everyone else does)
A few of these fans!
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=10323&agid=42

They are like £7 on overclockers.co.uk and only €2.8 here! They look class with the Antec too!
That power supply will also give you more options to upgrade or indeed you could just get a 4870 with it right now.
For some reason however hardwareversand.de don't let you put one in this build???
It all fits! I have pretty much the same thing beside me here!

Also you said you have a OS already. If it's not a 64 bit OS then it will only use/recognise 3.25 gigs of ram. Keep that in mind

Solitaire

Effluo wrote:

4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
4096MB DDR2 Corsair Twin2X CL5, PC6400/800 43,37 €
Antec Three Hundred, ATX, ohne Netzteil 54,15 €
Corsair TX650W 650 Watt 83,21 €
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 117,39 €

Agrred with the case and graphics. Why 8GB RAM though? Would it really help that much (plus the OP would need a 64bit OS)?? And the PSU is good, but the EarthWatts 650 is often cheaper on HWVS which makes it exceptional value and a serious contender for the Corsair.

jamieh wrote:

I'm just reading about the Q6600 online and seemingly it can be overclocked to 3ghz very easily. Some people call it a "free" overclock as its so easy to do and it the standard heatsink will work fine at 3Ghz.

The Q6600 wants to run in a system with a base clock speed of 266MHz (aka FSB1066) which makes the CPU run at the stock 2.4GHz. If you force it to run on a 333MHz base clock (aka FSB1333) by selecting that in the BIOS instead the CPU is forced to run at 3GHz. Because there are other CPUs that need FSB1333 to run at their stock speed all modern LGA775 motherboards will support FSB800/1066/1333 so no worries there.

And there are two slight issues with the Q6700: Yes, it's much cheaper, but being in tray form it has eff-all warranty and no cooler either (you'd have to buy one separately) And second, trying the "n00b OC" on it yields a speed of 3.33GHz (@ FSB1333) which requires a bit more than a box cooler anyway, as well as more than a minimal chance that at that speed the stock voltage ainm't gonna be enough to get it running stable and you'd have to muck about in the BIOS upping the CPU voltage (the Q6600 might play dead the same way but its far less likely)

To the OP: If you're brave enough, go for the tray Q6700. If you don't want the increased risk of added hassle stick with the boxed (not tray!) Q6600.

PogMoThoin

Solitaire wrote: »

The Q6600 wants to run in a system with a base clock speed of 266MHz (aka FSB1066) which makes the CPU run at the stock 2.4GHz. If you force it to run on a 333MHz base clock (aka FSB1333) by selecting that in the BIOS instead the CPU is forced to run at 3GHz. Because there are other CPUs that need FSB1333 to run at their stock speed all modern LGA775 motherboards will support FSB800/1066/1333 so no worries there.

And there are two slight issues with the Q6700: Yes, it's much cheaper, but being in tray form it has eff-all warranty and no cooler either (you'd have to buy one separately) And second, trying the "n00b OC" on it yields a speed of 3.33GHz (@ FSB1333) which requires a bit more than a box cooler anyway, as well as more than a minimal chance that at that speed the stock voltage ainm't gonna be enough to get it running stable and you'd have to muck about in the BIOS upping the CPU voltage (the Q6600 might play dead the same way but its far less likely)

To the OP: If you're brave enough, go for the tray Q6700. If you don't want the increased risk of added hassle stick with the boxed (not tray!) Q6600.

:rolleyes: BS, there's no advantage goin for a Q6600 and there's no risk in buying a Q6700. Q6600 would be pointless if You don't overclock, and You've only mentioned You'd like to try overclocking, but have no experience, chances are You'll run this pc at stock for most of the time, therefore I'd go for the Q6700 as its clocked higher at stock and is much cheaper.

The stock cooler You get with a Q6600 isn't much cop and You'd be better off buying a better one for either quad. A Q6700 will overclock just as high as a Q6600, either should get to 3Ghz with little or no voltage increases as they're are both G0's and both will hit 3.2Ghz+ with a little voltage tinkering and the right case and cooling.

Effluo

Solitaire wrote: »

Agrred with the case and graphics. Why 8GB RAM though? Would it really help that much (plus the OP would need a 64bit OS)?? And the PSU is good, but the EarthWatts 650 is often cheaper on HWVS which makes it exceptional value and a serious contender for the Corsair.

(about the ram)
I was just showing him what he could get for more or less the same price.
I know next to nothing about the performance increase due to increased ram and that or indeed power supplies...

I was acting only on what others have advised me on in the past.

Cheers on the info on the Q6700. (i have one so i'll look a bit more into it)

Solitaire

PogMo Thoin wrote:

BS, there's no advantage goin for a Q6600 and there's no risk in buying a Q6700

Er, Pog, the cheapie Q6700 is OEM, which means no warranty. I was just mentioning advantages and disadvantages, I wasn't leaning toward the Q6600 personally.

sdanseo

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Thats a bit exaggerated. COD4 and World at War, two of the most popular shooters out there, work fantastic on the Q6600 at stock with a decent card- and neither take advantage of multiple cores past a frame or two either. In fact in COD5 tests the Q6600 is significantly faster then the older E6850 at 3Ghz.

Really? All the stuff at the time I bought this proc was pointing towards the E6850 - I'm a simmer so FS2004/FSX, and I was told most other games of the time (Sept '07 when I put this rig together) utilise just the one core.

*goes off to find a Q6600 to test :P

TerrorFirmer

I'm not saying that's the same for every game but in general the Q6600 is fine for the vast majority of games at stock speeds, and a few hundred mhz overclock is straight forward, quick, and fine for the stock cooler. Yes, in something like Crysis at full whack you'd be throttled by lower clocked cpu's but overall its not a huge deal...dont forget q6600 as well has 2x4mb l2.

also no need guys to be calling 'bs' on someones opinion....relax!