tunx said:
hi guys
planning to buy /assemble a gaming pc for myself in the coming week and so far i have the following config decided ..
my budget is around 50-55k at the moment and just wanted yr inputs ...
here goes :
most important ATI RADEON X1950 PRO 512mb
2.66G intel core 2 duo processor
1 GB ram , preferrably 800 mhz
motherboard ... a little confused .. 2 options INTEL D975XBX / X2
or ASUS P5W DH both r compatible with ATI CROSSFIRE
monitor ... falt panel 17" .. need some suggestions with prices ..
hard disk 160 GB
DVD WRITER DUAL LAYER 16X
dont want to spend too much on the keyboard and mouse right now , may be next month
and another big doubt .. cabinet and PSU ... hoping to find a 1000W one to support the above .. suggestions with approx prices would be a great help
speakers not an issue right now , will use old ones for now !
any advice / inputs will be highly appreciated
any idea about the price of the 17"TFT and 1GB RAM 800 FSB ????
so , a lot of compromises will have to be done , i guess , any suggestions where i can save , except the GPU
Suggesstions :-
[1] Dont go for Core2Duo E6700. Go for Core 2 Duo E6300 or E6400 .
[2] Dont go for 1GB @800 MHz go for 2*512 @ 667 MHz .(preferably Transcend or Kingston @ rs 6200)
[3] U dont need 1000 watts !? GO FOR Zebronics ZEB 730
watts@6700 or
* Cooler Master i Green 500 watts @6900 . IN fact u CAN EASILY DO with Power Safe 500watts @2000.
*The 1st 2 r more than nuf for server/xtreme gaming rigs while the latter is enuf for mid range gaming rig.
*So save some money there .Just for info - Antec Neo HE 550 watts is Rs 8550 .
So go for Cooler Master iGreen 500 watts - its ideal for high-end gamin rigs or servers utilisin multi drives or a multi-GPU set up like SLI/CROSSFIRE . Its a gr8 long term investment . ALso more wattage doesnt mean more elec bills The system consumes only as much power as the sum total of components .
[4] CABINET - 3 CHOICES -
(a) generic vip/iball/zebronics@ 1200 + PSUs mentioned above.
(b) MY PICK :- Zebronics Antibiotic @ 2150 (gaming case with funky looks , 3 LED fans , transparent side panel , front audio n usb ports, LCD display- temp/clock/HDD activity/threshhold temp alarm ) + PSU s above - as the 400watt psu with it isnt suitable for mid/high end GPU.
(c) Gigabyte Triton @ 2900 (all aluminium body , 2 120 mm fans ) + PSU s above .
[5] 17' Flat CRT - LG Flatron E700SH @6100 better performance than
* Samsung Syncmaster 798MB+ @6400 or Samsung SyncMaster 793S CRT .
* 17' LCD - BenQ FP71G+S @10750 > Samsung SyncMaster 740N @ 11250.
* BenQ better b'coz (same performance but) has DVI video input which
Samsung(slightlyBetter brightness,contrast) lacks n is also cheaper .
REASONS for [1] n [2] :-
[1] For gaming GPU is more imp than CPU . Also d info below is very pertinent
( quotin from CHIP Nov 06,page 66) " D C2D s hav gained popularity among enthusiasts b'cz of amazing ability to overclock. The E6300 can EASILY o/c from 1.833 GHz to a STABLE 2.800 GHz WITHOUT ANY INCREASE in d voltage of the core , USING STANDARD AIR COOLING solns. When sent to a bench mark race after being overclocked to 2.8 GHz its speed nearly matches tht of Intels 5 times more xpensive C2D Extreme Edition X6800.
SO GO FOR E6300 / E64OO N O/C THEM TO 2.8 GHz
( see below ).
[2]
(quotin frm DIGIT Nov 06 Page 74) "Intel Processors (prescott/D/C2D) r basically memory bandwidth{MHz} sensitive due to their architectures.So LOOK for memory with HIGHER SPEEDS rather than lower latencies .
So what wud b A GOOD MEMORY for C2D ? Practically a processor cant demand more data from memory than what its FSB bandwidth allows . This holds true for Intel processors only. FIGURATIVELY for an FSB of 1066 MHz , the bandwidth wud be [1066*32 bits]/8 =4264 MBps. If we consider tht memory shud be twice as fast (due to latencies involved ) , DDR2 667 wud offer a bandwidth of {667*64}/8 = 5336 MBps .In case of dual channel this wud be {5336*2 = 10672 MBps } , or roughly two n a half times higher than the FSB bandwidth . FASTER MEMORY IS AVAILABLE (DDR2 800/1000 MHz)
but it seems all that additional bandwidth IS NOT DOING MUCH MORE EXCEPT COSTING MORE . We recommend u stick with DDR2 667 MHZ for now FOR ANY INTEL BASED RIG , go for MORE memory , but NOT FASTER memory , if u need more performance.Opt for HIGHER SPEEDS ONLY if u plan to DO A LOT OF AGGRESSIVE O/C ng - say 3.2 GHz & above for core 2 duo processors ."
SO U can easily save quite a few bucks here n utilise the money better (say) on k/b mouse
