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Advice on building a gaming PC

Sorry Pete

Sorry Pete

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It's been 4 years since I last built a system but I was wondering what your thoughts are on this spec:

Core 2 Quad Q9550
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo mobo with 1333 FSB
Asus 9800GT 1GB PCI-e, HDMI out
generic 4GB DDR2 - 667 ram
2 x 500GB Samsung Spinpoint HDD's in RAID 1 (mirroring)
24 inch Iiyama Prolite E2407HDS 2ms
Antec Sonata III case (500W psu)

I know C2Quad and the LGA775 socket are going out of fashion with the new i-5,7 Cores but the price of mobos for the i-7 socket puts me off.
Am I also right in thinking that 32bit O/S's won't recognise more that 4GB of ram?
I don't overclock, looking for quietness, high performance and at least 4year future-proof.

God, I am NOT a nerd. But it's still pretty nerdy. Maybe I am a nerd :(
 
Sounds ok
You are right about 32 bits recognising 4gb or less- need 64 bit to go higher
There are bundle deals on Core i5/7 processor/fan/mobo combined which are more economical, if you are interested
Do you need raid 1? Might be better with a 1tb drive(not a lot more expensive) and an external drive for back up as this will be safer & can be completely isolated from system
 
Thanks for the reply.

I hadn't thought about the i-7/5 bundles so will look into it.

[I'm not crazily IT savy, but thought RAID1 was pretty safe; what would cause/are the chances that both hdd's in RAID1 will be wiped-out in one system?] - edit - Just wiki'd and see the point of going external:thumb:

I have an external enclosure, so that won't be a problem, just thought that for convenience RAID1 is a safe bet.

Cheers
 
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After I bought my Dell XPS system, I was told xp pro didn't use the extra ram above 2gb, was I misled?
 
If you want future-proofing go with more RAM (6GB) and a 64bit Operating System
If you wait a few weeks you can have Windows 7 or get Vista64 now with an upgrade deal. (Don't bother with Ultimate though). I would also go for the i7 (but then it's not my money :))
 
Buy yourself a copy of Custom PC mag.

Each month they set out the bits required to construct each of a basic, OK, decent and utterly bonkers gaming rig. Changes from month to month as new bits/prices change.

Might want to consider a Radeon 4870 based graphics card, 1Gb or a 2X version. Cracking devices.
 
Sorry Pete said:
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo mobo with 1333 FSB
generic 4GB DDR2 - 667 ram
Click to expand...

The RAM looks a bit slow relative to the board. Here's list of compatible RAM from Crucial:

Computer memory upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard from Crucial.com

This 1066 looks better at £71:

4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard, CT973408 from Crucial.com

The 667 is only a little cheaper at £62 for 4 GB

2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard, CT973415 from Crucial.com

I hope my links are correct. Please double check before buying.
 
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Satch said:
Buy yourself a copy of Custom PC mag.

Each month they set out the bits required to construct each of a basic, OK, decent and utterly bonkers gaming rig. Changes from month to month as new bits/prices change.

Might want to consider a Radeon 4870 based graphics card, 1Gb or a 2X version. Cracking devices.
Click to expand...

You know, I think I might just do that. Things have become more complicated since I put together my current machine. The 4870 is rated highly in video benchmarks so I'll look into that too. I've always used Nvidea. They say it's the way it's meant to be played. :) Are there any inherent differences between Nvidea and Radeon other than brand preference?

wemorgan said:
The RAM looks a bit slow relative to the board. Here's list of compatible RAM from Crucial:

Computer memory upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard from Crucial.com

This 1066 looks better at £71:

4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard, CT973408 from Crucial.com

The 667 is only a little cheaper at £62 for 4 GB

2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 upgrades for ASUS P5Q PRO Turbo Motherboard, CT973415 from Crucial.com

The hope my links are correct. Please double check before buying.
Click to expand...

Okay. I did a little reading on RAM, and this is what I found(post #3) re: memory and why I don't [think] I need anything above 667. The Q9550 has a 1333 FSB.
I'm not looking to overclock. I don't know how building a pc has turned me into such a geek. Or is it the other way round?
 
RAM speed seems far too slow. Should be atleast 1066Mhz, its cheap enough nowadays.
 
A couple of pointers I would suggest worth taking into consideration.

Go for a BFG graphics card as they will give you a 10 year warranty in the UK and have some very impressive factory overclocked cards. I would say something like this:

BFG GTS250 OC 1GB GDDR3 Dual DVI PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card Including World Of Warcraft 30 Day Full Game Trial While Stocks Last - Ebuyer

Also for a gaming PC its worth getting a good CPU cooler even if you wont be overclocking as the stock Intel ones are complete rubbish. I would recommend Zalman CPU coolers specifically the below model for your motherboard chipset:

Zalman CNPS9900-LED CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/775/1366) [CNPS9900-LED] Cooling CPU Coolers

As others have already mentioned get better RAM like the Crucial Ballistix range or Kingston HyperX. Generic 667MHz would bottleneck the system. 800MHz would be a better choice.
 
Hi, What is your budget, required OS and preferred game type?
 
Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. I picked-up copies of custompc and pcformat, and it looks like I'd be better off going for an i7 920 cpu. The HD4770 is also in contention, and a Zalman cnps 10x cooler look good.

I was hoping to spend £800, but it's looking more likely to hit £1K. I just don't want to get too carried away! I'll post a revised system when I'm done reading-up on what's on offer.

I play mostly fps, but would like to flight sim x on high settings:)
I'll also be looking to put windows 7 on when it releases.
 
Baron_Samedi said:
Cool, leave that with me...

Do you have a monitor, power supply , keyboard and mouse you can reuse?
Click to expand...

I'm going to reuse my psu- Seasonic G12 430W, nice and quiet, and my mouse, a Logitech G7 wireless, which they no longer make; very precise and comfortable.

Monitor wise, I'll be getting an Iiyama 24".

It seems as if it's the right time to upgrade as my Hdd gave up the ghost Wed. I thought the pc was slow to load and access, which prompted me to spec this upgrade. Do you reckon that's fair? 4.5 year old Samsung spinpoint. It just didn't boot when I went to turn it on Wed am. No untoward noise, but not seen in bios. Good thing I've got the external backup.

Anyway still reading specs, definitely going i7 920.
 
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