Motherboard VGA combo: BIOSTAR I945PCOMBVGA1 T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Motherboard/VGA Combo

CPU: Intel Pentium D 925 Presler 3.0GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80553925

Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR8002GK

HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

After adding the case, media drive, and power supply, the final price is $772.91 with $120 in mail in rebates(which usually dont work anyway)


Its my first build, am i missing anything? I'm kinda on a budget, i'd like to keep it under $800

The motherboard and proc wouldn't be my first choices, but if your not planing on playing Crysis/Oblivion, you should be ok. You'll need a video card/s too. Be sure to pick up some extra 80mm or 120mm case fans, as there is usually only one or two in a standard case.

(Edit for poor spelling)

The case has three, should that be okay? I was actually trying to create a setup that would be able to play things like crysis lol. Any suggestions on what i should look for?

I've attended school for computers, and can repair almost anything about them, but when it comes to piecing new stuff together, i'm completely new at this.

Well, if you want to play Crysis with any sort of decent visuals your going to need a GeForce 8800 at least, if not two. It really depends on your budget. How much are you willing to spend?

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
Well, if you want to play Crysis with any sort of decent visuals your going to need a GeForce 8800 at least, if not two. It really depends on your budget. How much are you willing to spend?

willing to spend about $800. Anything on my list that is overkill? What kind of setup would you suggest? I have always been told that if its going to be a gaming rig, that i should consider the AMD over Intel. Should i switch over?

No, I don't see anything that's overkill. I wouldn't run anything less then 4GB of RAM in a gaming rig. If you want to go Intel, I would recommend the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0. (775); for AMD, Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX. Both utilize SLI and decent RAID. Buy an El Cheapo case for now, with enough fans, a dremmel, and a drill, you can make anything work. As far as processors go, I have had great experiences with both the FX74's and The Core2 Quad Kentsfield. (6600s?)
And for video, I would go NVidia all the way. (right now)I just paid for a pair of 8800GTX's and am getting ready to drop 'em in my new rig.

in january (or shortly into 1st quarter) the quad core AMD Phenom FX will be out, and should rape faces.
this will initally fit the AM2/AM2+ motherboards, with a specific Dual L (1207FX) chip coming out shortly there after for all you dual quad core fans out there. (socket will be called the FASN8 then)

as far as video cards go i run crysis just fine @ 1600x1200 with a single BFG 8600GTS OC, granted it dosent have the graphics cranked but i can play the game well.
besides, with SLI and graphic cards the price they are droping right now i wouldnt touch an 8800. this market and the whole DX10 HDCP issue will get sorted out this year. the upcoming Nvidia G92 will sport Direct3d 10.1 support and Shader Model 4.1, plus it will be smaller and more powerful then the 8800 currently is.

if i were building a system now id go with an AM2+ board and a middle of the road processor. get a good middle video card (with the ability to put a second one in later) DEFINATLY 4Gb of good DDR2 (preferably in a 2 x 2048 configuration so you can add more later) then save for a G92 and a Phenom FX.

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
No, I don't see anything that's overkill. I wouldn't run anything less then 4GB of RAM in a gaming rig. If you want to go Intel, I would recommend the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0. (775); for AMD, Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX. Both utilize SLI and decent RAID. Buy an El Cheapo case for now, with enough fans, a dremmel, and a drill, you can make anything work. As far as processors go, I have had great experiences with both the FX74's and The Core2 Quad Kentsfield. (6600s?) And for video, I would go NVidia all the way. (right now)I just paid for a pair of 8800GTX's and am getting ready to drop 'em in my new rig.

You bought a PAIR of these cards? They're $500 each. I dont want to play crisis that bad. Are there any video cards that will do the job, for under $250? lol

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03
You bought a PAIR of these cards? They're $500 each. I dont want to play crisis that bad. Are there any video cards that will do the job, for under $250? lol

yes
i play crysis all day long on one 8600 gts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143108
$217 each

Originally posted by foggy45

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03 You bought a PAIR of these cards? They're $500 each. I dont want to play crisis that bad. Are there any video cards that will do the job, for under $250? lol

yes i play crysis all day long on one 8600 gts http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143108 $217 each

Nice, thanks. So it looks like crisis is the top of the line game right now? About how much can i expect to spend, to build a computer that can handle something like this?

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03

Originally posted by foggy45

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03 You bought a PAIR of these cards? They're $500 each. I dont want to play crisis that bad. Are there any video cards that will do the job, for under $250? lol

yes i play crysis all day long on one 8600 gts http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143108 $217 each

Nice, thanks. So it looks like crisis is the top of the line game right now? About how much can i expect to spend, to build a computer that can handle something like this?

Crysis is top of the line. My new build is gonna consist of the following: (im listing the important things)

pentium e6750 Conroe core 2.66ghz 1333mHz bus speed proc
geforce 8800gt card
mobo is sli capable
500gb hdd


To me processor speed is everything. The e6750 will handle nearly anything you throw at it, and it's a decent price. I pick out a good proc, and then build around that.

what about something like this.. for now.. it's under 200.. until the price on the 8800's come down?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130291

Time to raise this thread from the grave.


Tax returns are here... and i think I have come to a decision. Correct me if I made any mistakes....

Motherboard: MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD

Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 Agena 2.2GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD9500WCGDBOX -

Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT OC

Then i'll be getting 4gb of ram from best buy(i get amazing discounts on it), power supply, case, media drive, and HD are taken care of.

Does everything look like a decent setup? Also will a 700Watt power supply be efficient enough?

you dont want a phenom right now, id wait till they release the gen 2 versions and hopefully break the 3GHx barrier.
the AMD 5000 ($99 from new egg) is a failed phenom processor cut in half. the multiplier is unlocked so people are overclocking them to 3.2GHz no problem.
if your not wanting to overclock then the AMD 6400 can be had for $150 and is already clocked to 3.2 GHz Both of these out perform the current Phenoms.
these will both be awsome till AMD fixes the Phenoms and releases the v.2 in early Q3 this year.
which at that point you can just drop in the new phenom and crank it up.

i know you said you get a good discount from memory but i thought id mention that the Corsair 4Gb (2 x 2048) matched pairs are going for $100 right now

if your planning SLI, YOU DO NOT WANT THAT MOTHERBOARD its an ATI X-Fire board and NOT SLI compatable
most of the current AM2+ PCI-E 2.0 boards out there are X-fire boards
for motherboard if you want the best upgrade path avaliable then id wait about a month when ASUS releases there new AM2+ board that has HT 3.0, triple SLI, PCI-e 2.0, supports HDMI and HCCP, and a much better northbridge then anything out there right now.
the Nvidia chipset is the 780a and the ASUS board is the M3N-HT Deluxe.
Good article on the new board: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080107-nvidia-unveils-hybrid-sli-geforce-9600-gt.html



as far as power goes, you can get away with 700 for right now but if you go with SLI or even a bigger video card then you will need AT LEAST a Kilowatt power supply

Well i am looking for a good, quick board, and processor combo, that will be able to play crysis, multitask like a fiend, and just a good combo all around, for under $400. What do you suggest?

As for ram, i get each 2gb stick of kingston 5300 for $32.00 each.

Wait and save your money. Like what Foggy had previously stated, you'll want to steer clear from the Phenom for the time being. If you want to play Crysis with any sort of decent framerate, You're going to need at least a Dual Core set up running a pair of 8600's (at least) in an SLI.
So I would recommend buying your mobo and proc now, which will set you back $400-600. (for a decent setup)Then continue to buy pieces as you have the cash.

I can play crysis with medium settings, good resolution, and decent framerates quite well, and the system I built is 3 years old (minus the video card).

amd 4000+ at 2.2ghz, 1 gig of ram (yea, 1 gig),win xp, a 440 watt powersupply (sometimes it does freeze up or crash, might be due to ps, but this literally happens once or twice a month of that), and a new 8600 GTS i got for 50 bucks from a guy at work.

Call Of Duty 4 is the game i play the most, i play that on my maxiumum resolution with plenty of crap turned on and still get 60-100 fps in it. Be wary of the "you need AT LEAST this expensive ass part" suggestions. Like oen guy said, build something that can be upgraded, but will do the job you want right now.

Cliff notes: by cheap computer now and save your yen for summer time for best gear.


the big thing you need to think about is . . .
Do you want SLI?
Do you want it now?

if you dont want SLI and you want it now
MB Biostar TA770 $79
Proc: AMD 5000+ Black Edition $99
VC: XFX 8800GT 512 $229

PROS: Black editions are just Phenoms that didnt pass testing so they are only dual core.
they can be overclocked very easily and are stable at 3.2GHz
MB is new-gen compatable, pci 2.o and all that

CONS: no possibility for SLI upgrade as it only has one pci 2.0 slot, but then again you can always slam a better single card in there anyways


if you want SLI and you want it now . . .
your stuck with last years models and technology
they will still support a Phenom later but future upgradability may be hampered by lack of features.
OR
you can change to an Intel board and get SLI now, however $$$$ will kill you. as quad core chips alone can hit $1400


If you want to run Crysis with all features on high . . . your budget isnt gonna do it.
if you want to play it at usable framerates and mdeium settings then truly anything made in the last 18 months can do it.

the Phenom thing wont be settled with GOOD chips till around christmas season and the new stuff from Nvidia hasent even hit the market to be geek tested yet. hell it might not even be worth it.

Is SLI really that necessary? I figure one 8800gt oc would be find right now. Honestly... I'll probably buy crysis to play with it for a few weeks. Then after that, i just want something that runs really fast, and i can surf the internet, while burning a dvd, while playing sims, while downloading porn. lol. Basically im tired of having a slow ass computer.

SLI really isnt that nessassary for normal gaming, as SLI alone dosent increase frame rates.

huh?!? what!?!?

yeah i said it. the two video cards you just droped dime on may process light speed but if your CPU cant get the info there and the memory dosent have the headroom for the information then the GPU sits there idle waiting for information to render.
in high end gaming, yes it makes a difference.
example: the Intel Quad core extreme ($1400 @ 3.2GHz) can litterly spray information out to be processed and having 3 Video cards SLI'ed takes full use of this information.
so if you have 5-8 grand to plop down then sweet!
SLI is best if you can afford to get BOTH cards right off the bat.

i've had 3 systems capable of SLI and have yet to buy a second video card. why? because i bought the best card at the time and had the intention of getting another one, however things come up and the next time i got to it the next gen card was out and it was a waste to get a second Ultra card of the previous cycle.

if you get the system above it will be plenty fast and capable of at least 24 months of cycles before you may want to upgrade. and at around $270 for the system your looking at about $10 a month.

and who knows AMD may get there act together and at christmas you get to drop a 3.5GHz Phenom FX into your machine, or a brand new Nvidia 9800 GTX Ultra and your only out ~$300 now

ALWAYS consider upgrade potential when settling on gear

thanks for everyones help... i really appreciate it. one last thing though. is it worth it to go for a 64 bit operating system for 8 gigs of ram? or is 4 gigs on a 32 enough?

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03
thanks for everyones help... i really appreciate it. one last thing though. is it worth it to go for a 64 bit operating system for 8 gigs of ram? or is 4 gigs on a 32 enough?

if you want an xp-64 OS i will sell you mine cheap!! lol
trust me you dont want that headache! the 64 bit xp dosent have code support for 8 or 16 bit legacy applications and drivers i.e Printers and some obscure drivers.

ive even had trouble finding some 32 bit drivers for more everyday things.
no id stick to XP-32 for now and then maybe think about Vista later this year if you want 8 gig of ram.

would 4 gigs be more than enough to multi task quite a bit?

yeah 4 gigs would be fine.
for multitasking with 4 gigs i'd be more worried about my processor keeping up then my memory headroom.

id get my 4 gigs of memory in 2 sticks though (2 x 2048) so if you jump to vista you can easily add another 4 gigs

today at work I picked up two 2gb sticks of ram, a 700watt power supply, and an nvidia 8500gt video card, all for $220.LOL the total came out to over $750 until they applied my discount

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03
today at work I picked up two 2gb sticks of ram, a 700watt power supply, and an nvidia 8500gt video card, all for $220.LOL the total came out to over $750 until they applied my discount

$750 for just that? Where do you live, in the wastes of Siberia? ;)

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31

Originally posted by Nine5eclipse03 today at work I picked up two 2gb sticks of ram, a 700watt power supply, and an nvidia 8500gt video card, all for $220.LOL the total came out to over $750 until they applied my discount

$750 for just that? Where do you live, in the wastes of Siberia? ;)

I worknat best buy, everything is overpriced LOL. Originally, the power supply was 175, the video card, $195, and each 2gb stick was 199.

Tell me you didnt get the Fatal1ty edition 8500gt that best buy has? O.o

lol all that and you didnt even get an 8800gt?
i'd return it and at least get one of those, the 8500 core sucks to overclock and is already bout 8 months out of cycle. (the 8800gt is the newest G92 core GTX/Ultra that has been declocked)

Originally posted by foggy45
Tell me you didnt get the Fatal1ty edition 8500gt that best buy has? O.o lol all that and you didnt even get an 8800gt? i'd return it and at least get one of those, the 8500 core sucks to overclock and is already bout 8 months out of cycle. (the 8800gt is the newest G92 core GTX/Ultra that has been declocked)

nope, just the gt. I just took your idea to get something that can be upgraded. I'll probably get the 8800gt when I get my settlement

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor

ASUS M2N-E AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard Retail

2 x Kingston Technology - 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Desktop Memory

BFG - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT OC Graphics Card

Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium

Rocketfish™ - 700-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B

COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler

RAIDMAX Ninja ATX-918WBP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


Total Price: $949.30

the vista choice is intresting, but eh have fun

put it all together and let it run constantly for a week 24/7 to let the parts burn in and for the thermal paste to fully form.

in that time i should have the overclocking specs for the processor done and ready to go for ya.

Originally posted by foggy45
the vista choice is intresting, but eh have fun put it all together and let it run constantly for a week 24/7 to let the parts burn in and for the thermal paste to fully form. in that time i should have the overclocking specs for the processor done and ready to go for ya.

Youll have to give me a tutorial on that, they didnt teach me how to overclock in school, lol.

the overclocking is done in the bios by playing with the "Multiplier" and core voltage settings.
umm. . . .http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/ try there for a good OC forum

and your core has been verified stable to 3.7GHz on Air cooling and 4.0GHz on Dry Ice systems (there is an Unverified 6GHz Liquid nitrogen cooled cpu running around)

Originally posted by foggy45
the overclocking is done in the bios by playing with the "Multiplier" and core voltage settings. umm. . . .http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/ try there for a good OC forum and your core has been verified stable to 3.7GHz on Air cooling and 4.0GHz on Dry Ice systems (there is an Unverified 6GHz Liquid nitrogen cooled cpu running around)

so would you say I got a decent setup? Also, can I run 8gb ram since I went with vista? Or is it 64bit only?

yes you can run 8Gb now
and yes you have a decent setup to start overclocking.
the processor will do it, however in the end it will come down to how well the MB plays along.

we did some testing last night with your processor and we got it to 3.4GHz before it shut down.
3.3 had higher temps then we wanted so we left it at 3.2 to burn in for a while to test stability.
with some tweeking of the Vcore settings and memory timings we might be able to go higher.
its a little more difficult relying on air cooling though, but its cheeper to play around with.

using a water set up with a refrigerated resivore would be the best for the money (short of phase-change, and dry ice setups)

BTW grab the latest issue of MaximumPC and check out the article on OC'ing your 8800GT

Originally posted by foggy45
yes you can run 8Gb now and yes you have a decent setup to start overclocking. the processor will do it, however in the end it will come down to how well the MB plays along. we did some testing last night with your processor and we got it to 3.4GHz before it shut down. 3.3 had higher temps then we wanted so we left it at 3.2 to burn in for a while to test stability. with some tweeking of the Vcore settings and memory timings we might be able to go higher. its a little more difficult relying on air cooling though, but its cheeper to play around with. using a water set up with a refrigerated resivore would be the best for the money (short of phase-change, and dry ice setups) BTW grab the latest issue of MaximumPC and check out the article on OC'ing your 8800GT

I honestly have no experience with overclocking, will the 3.2 perform quite a bit faster than the 2.6?

Okay, got everything put together last night. It was successful! I haven't overclocked yet. I'll go ahead and let it run constant for a week or so like you explained. I did install crysis, and with my setup, i was able to play single player mode on "Very High" quality, with absolutely no lag. Looks amazing on my 56" tv lol.

So i should wait a week before messing with the processor right? And what about the video card?

Originally posted by cc8balla
My new build is gonna consist of the following: (im listing the important things) pentium e6750 Conroe core 2.66ghz 1333mHz bus speed proc geforce 8800gt card mobo is sli capable 500gb hdd

I had to lol at this one. I even feel old in computers. My last build was close to top of the line at the time;
Pentium 2 (what was it, 333mhz?)
Had a big harddrive (like around 1gig!)
I put some extra ram in there (I believe it was 256k, lol)
I can't even remember what vid card was in there.
Not to be forgotten, the fast 56k modem, OOOOO!

Couldn't even give away that dinosaur now, haha.

Originally posted by bullettdsm
OOOOO! Couldn't even give away that dinosaur now, haha.

Sure you can. And you can breathe new life into it buy using linux instead of winblows. ;)

If you don't know much about OC'ing I wouldn't play with your CPU's voltage settings much.

let the whole rig run for a week so everything sets up right and you know you dont have any stability issues to begin with.

OC'ing is just like turboing an eclipse. lots of ways to get there, but there is no set "step a, step b, etc.
and just like here, your gonna have to read up on it if your gonna do it right.

That's very true. Plus every mobo/cpu/ram combo will work together differently. A piece of advice for ya, my man: Even if no one else will touch it, Ghost your system as soon as you are done with your initial setup.

Edit - Off-topic, but these new 45nm Core 2's are awesome!

Originally posted by Fallen4ng31
Edit - Off-topic, but these new 45nm Core 2's are awesome!

Horray! i want to spend 900-1500 on a single chip! :scratch
yeah they might be sweet but Jesus an intel system is pricy!

one of my friends who does chip arcitecture for AMD sez that we should expect great things for the Gen3 Phenoms that will be out for christmas.

it always happens: intel releases somthing wicked and smacks AMD, 6 months later AMD releases somthing killer that hangs with intel and is adaptable with more systems.
i HATE how almost everything in intel requires a new Motherboard for every new idea they have.
AMD? you can drop almost anything into an AM2+ board! single core athalon's to duals to quads!

i can build you a plug and play, built AMD system for $700. its expandable, overclockable, and fast enough to do what you want at excelent frame rates. and you dont have to worry about whats being developed for tomorrow since it will ALL drop right in to what you have now.
can it do Crysis @ 90Fps with settings on Ultra? no. but are those fps and resolution worth the $4k pricetag? nah

Originally posted by foggy45
Horray! i want to spend 900-1500 on a single chip! :scratch

I only spent $240 on the CPU :shrug


edit: Because I can't format a message properly.

lol oops i though you were talking about the core 2 Extremes