Looking to build a new gaming rig without breaking the bank

[Auspice]

I haven't upgraded my PC in about 2 years so I think it's fine time to gut this bitch and build a new one. I'm looking to keep it under or around $1000.

I think I'm a little behind on the times since my current rig has a MSI P4N motherboard, 3.0 P4, a Nvidia 6600GT, and 2 gigs of DDR2(667mhz) RAM so if there's been some amazing advancements or glaring mistakes in what I have picked out please lemme know. If possible, I'd like to keep my current 400w Enermax PSU and maybe the 6600GT(since the only game I play is XI).

Anyway, all I really have picked out is the motherboard; I think.

MSI P35 Platinum Combo http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813130141

Seems to be a sweet future proof motherboard. The major reason for my upgrade is that my current motherboard doesn't support dual core or faster DDR2 RAM speeds. Doesn't sound like DDR3 is worth getting at this point so I'll probably stick with DDR2.

Bottom line is that I want a computer that can dual box XI comfortably on high resolutions while still being able to browse the web and listen to music, I just don't think my current CPU and motherboard can handle that.

[shinoniken]

Ok, I might cut this short, I'm on lunch, but here goes.

That's a pretty good mobo to start with, you'll probably want to stick 4gb of ram in there, I'm assuming you want DDR2 1066. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145197 for 4gb of corsair 1066. You could get the same amount of DDR2 800 for a bit less, its up to you on that.
Processor, the new intel dual cores are great, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115036 for a little less than 300, and a good performance/cost ratio with these.
As far as HDDs go, for a 1k computer, you'll probably be going with round 500gb sata2, 7200rpm. These are pretty run of the mill. If you want to spend a little more, Raptors/Raptor X are way faster, especially in a RAID0 setup.
Raptor X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... raptor%2bx
Cheap 500gb: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136073
Video card, your mobo doesn't support PCIe 2.0, so GeForce 8800 would be a great choice. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130317
You could easily run all that on a 650W psu, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153034 and still have some room to upgrade later. Gogo SLI.

Sorry it's quick and crappy, but I'm out of time. Post back with opinions, I can switch some shit around.

[Shuemue]

Never been a fan of MSI stuff, I've taken too many dead MSI parts out of machines when doing repair jobs.

Also, whilst it's slightly slower, the E8400 gives pretty nice bang for your buck, it's the CPU I'd pick personally.

[jkim1162]

e8400 definitely. It is pretty much the best price/performance chip on the market for dual cores.

What OS will you be using? If it isn't a 64-bit OS, you are better off just getting 2GB of RAM for now, since getting 4GB will be waste of money because you won't be able to utilize all 4GB in a 32-bit OS. However, you can actually use the RAM you have now and run it linked and synced with the e8400.

To be honest though, if all you are going to do is 2box FFXI, browse websites, and listen to music, all you really need to do is upgrade the CPU and the motherboard(make sure it supports 45nm CPU if you get the e8400) while re-using all your old parts.

It would be much easier to help if you plan on doing more with your PC.

P.S. If you plan to go SLi later on, you won't be able to unless you get an nvidia based motherboard.

[Shuemue]

I'd argue against butchering a working machine in this day and age. It works and really you won't save a vast amount of cash. I'd prefer to have a spare box for tinkering/emergencies/linux/whatever

[shinoniken]

I would also avoid the msi mobo, personally I stick to asus/gigabyte, and the occasional eVGA. If you're planning to SLI eventually, make sure you get a compatible mobo as well. As far as the ram, I see no reason to not run a 64 bit OS with a new computer. I run XP 64 bit for gaming and love it, personally.

[Auspice]

I'm willing to give another motherboard a shot, I just picked MSI since I've been using them for almost a decade and haven't had any problems. Is there an ASUS that supports DDR2/3 and PCI2.0(since that seems to be better, right?)?

I figured I'd do an entire upgrade since I can't salvage much from my old computer, especially the RAM which is PC2700 DDR2 which as I understand it is the slowest and crappiest DDR2 lol

Would it be worth getting a quad core over a dual core? I thought I remember reading that XI doesn't get any performance boost from DC/QC, that still ring true?

Also, I was hoping to keep XP since Vista seems like a complete piece of shit so I guess that limits me to 2gigs of RAM.

Thanks for all the input so far!

Ninja edit: Also, I've never set up my HDDs in a RAID0, if I did that it would probably be for my OS/system drive, correct? It'd be pointless for an archival hard drive to be a RAID. The last time I looked into a RAID array was back in 2002 and there didn't seem much of a point back then so forgive me if I'm wrong.

[shinoniken]

Yes, there are plenty of ASUS that do just that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 813131247R is an open box for pretty cheap, DDR2 1066 standard with 2 PCIe 2.0 slots. Not the best mobo, but it'll do the job, and it's cheap. Out of box isn't always recommended, especially if you suck at finding the drivers yourself. Of course this means you'll need to supply most of your own cables.
It still holds that FFXI doesn't get ANY performance boost from multi-cores. SE just won't add the support, for whatever reason.
If you do a RAID0, it will certainly increase your speeds. Yes, you put your OS and essentials on the RAID drives. It's certainly not necessary, but it's especially nice when you really wanna squeeze that much more out of your computer.
Yes, vista still blows. But there is always XP 64 bit OS, like I said. The support for it now is way better than it was a year ago, it's all the not suck that is XP, with all the benefits of a 64 bit OS. In my opinion, M$ should have stuck with supporting XP and XP 64 bit, Vista was absolutely not necessary.

[Olo401]

Mini-Bump here.. I'm also looking to build a new system, though I'm looking at a AMD-based setup. Here's what I've picked out so far:

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4600 or 5000, either will do.
Motherboard: I've got a bunch of choices in mind, but this one seems like the best choice for the money. I don't see myself needing the SLI anytime soon, but the vidcard I want is SLI-based so I figured why not go for it.
HDD: I checked out the 500 gigger you linked to and it had a couple bad reviews, so I dug around and came up with this one as an alternative.

The only other things I'll need are a spiffy new case, a 600W power supply, a couple sticks of DD2-800 dual channel, and a new wifi card. I can bring the rest over from my current machine.

[Shuemue]

I'm looking at a AMD-based setup.

Why?

[Olo401]

I'm looking at a AMD-based setup.

Why?

Because I prefer AMD to Intel.

Edit: And it's a fuckload cheaper.

[Shuemue]

Fuckload cheaper because they're a fuckload worse at the moment.

[Olo401]

Fuckload cheaper because they're a fuckload worse at the moment.

OK now if you could explain that, maybe I'd reconsider. It's been my understanding and experience that AMD's processors are a better product. I've also been using one now for about 4 years and it's fantastic.

[Shuemue]

The majority of Intel core 2's and quads are just that much better. Again, I maintain that for a mid-range gaming machine, much like the 8800GT in terms of video cards, the E8400 gives you the best bang for your buck. Do a search on tomshardware and other hardware review sites, you'll find that while the top end AMD chips win some of the tests, one the ones that matter to a gamer, the E8400 is a peach.

edit: I like your choice of video card, I've had good experiences with XFX in the past.

[Olo401]

Ok lemme see here.. I dug up some of the links and stuff you posted in other threads on the E8400 and it looks good to me.. now I just have to figure out if it's in my budget or not. To be perfectly honest I'm not a hardcore gamer outside of FFXI, and I'm ridiculously tight with money. I don't need that much machine.

[Shuemue]

It's a 3-4 year CPU easily, it'll be a good while before it needs upgrading. If it really is outside your budget, there are other options, don't scrimp on other parts, a PC must be balanced, only as fast as its slowest part and so on.

[Olo401]

Damn.. I found this MB/CPU combo that would be PERFECT.. except the page says it's no longer available.

I'm callin' these mofos to find out why.

Edit: How's this one look? I wasn't really looking into a quad-core setup but that's not a bad price for the money...

[levish]

If all you are doing is ffxi then upgrading will make little to no difference, high traffic areas will still suck and everything else will be fine.

Granted I'm oversimplifying a bit but you still won't get 30fps in Whitegate AH with a e8400 and 8800GTS or whatever at high res no matter what you get.

Do a OS reinstall on whatever you have and you'll have 80% of the benefit (for ffxi at least) on your old system.

[Auspice]

Granted I'm oversimplifying a bit but you still won't get 30fps in Whitegate AH with a e8400 and 8800GTS or whatever at high res no matter what you get.

If I can get that in Dragon's Aery with 1300x1300 3d resolution I'd be a happy little fucker. That's pretty much the goal, hopefully it won't cost a fortune. :/

EDIT: Since I've got dual monitors would it be better to use SLi over a single more powerful video card? I know XI doesn't utilize SLi much like multi cores.

[Olo401]

If all you are doing is ffxi then upgrading will make little to no difference, high traffic areas will still suck and everything else will be fine.

Granted I'm oversimplifying a bit but you still won't get 30fps in Whitegate AH with a e8400 and 8800GTS or whatever at high res no matter what you get.

Do a OS reinstall on whatever you have and you'll have 80% of the benefit (for ffxi at least) on your old system.

Heh.. I don't think anything short of a complete recoding of the game is gonna make the framerate in Whitegate any better.

BTW I called Tiger and asked em' about that package deal and they say it's in stock.. They must've revived it between the time i left work and got home.