Gaming rig advice

N

Natheya

Geek Trainee
Hello all,
Great site you have here I am glad I found it. I am building a new rig within the next month to replace my long outdated setup. Well actually the plan is to create a rig specifically for gaming and I will be using both computers hopefully on a single monitor with a KVM switch for now. Planning on a dual monitor setup and possibly a Crossfire configuration the start of next year. I also plan on overclocking in the nearer future. Would be my first attempt but seems easy enough.
So far here is what it looks like.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...312292&WishListTitle=My+Gaming+Intel+-+Radeon

I am a relative newbie to what's out there but I am attempting to do my homework. Any advice would be appreciated. Games I currently play are EQ2, BF2 and WoW. I plan on getting into Vanguard when its released and probably many other games once the rig is complete. So with the switch I imagine I do not need a monitor, mouse, keyboard or speakers as I already have those. I also have my copy of XP Pro which will hold me over until Vista. I would like to keep the cost near what it is now if possible. The price is somewhat flexible if there are parts that I simply must upgrade or switch out. How much should I spending on a KVM switch? Will my quality suffer horribly if I am not running at the ideal resolution? Any ideas on a good KVM? Also, is that PSU acceptable for a potential Crossfire system? Its only showing two +12V connections @ 18A and 20A. The MoBo I chose doesnt look suitable for a crossfire system but good ones seem pretty pricey and not sure if I will bother. More importantly, what is a good MoBo to overclock with? I am not sure what I should be looking for there.

Looking forward to your advice.
Thanks



Posting the basics of the system as Newegg somehow keeps butchering my wishlist.

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Computer Case - Retail at Newegg.com

MoBo - GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com

Vid Card - SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900XTX 100150L CrossFire Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com

PSU - HIPER HPU-4S580-MS 580W Power Supply - Retail at Newegg.com

KVM - LINKSKEY LKU-S02ASK Slim Palmtop USB Audio & Mic KVM Switch w/ Cables - Retail at Newegg.com

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail at Newegg.com

RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail at Newegg.com

HDD - Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail at Newegg.com

Heatsink - ZALMAN CNPS9500 LED 92mm 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan with Heatsink - Retail at Newegg.com

Updated HDD, RAM, Vidcard
 
Looks pretty good. I would go for a different hard drive, as Maxtor's quality control has been less than impressive as of late. Seagate, Western Digital or Samsung would be great choices.
 
yeah i'll agree with Big B, yeah your set for overclocking thats a good board. also will agree with him on the HDD thing
 
Made the final update to my list. Ordered all the parts yesterday. Already received half my order with the cheapest 3 days shipping.. Yes, Newegg shipping rocks. The pricing on some things are already lower since I ordered. Was odd because a few things were climbing right up until I ordered.. Except the CPU.. That went down like 5 or so. Newegg was constantly deleting stuff from my wishlist.. They need to fix that. :dry:

So I decided I was going to post the 3Dmark06 results of my new rig once its good to go.. I am hoping for Saturday. For the heck of it I will post the results of the current rig.. Yes I did download that monstrous half a gig file.. Took over an hour and a half..:O

Currently running a 2.53 ghz Northridge P4, X850XT PE Radeon and about 2.5ish ghz ram.. The MoBo is even more ancient than the CPU so I won't bother listing it..

Total score 2007 (maybe its an omen for next year? :P )
SM2 score 1109
CPU score 669

Very sad. I was getting .2 to .4 fps on the CPU tests. The Vcard intensive ones were ranging from 5fps to a playable 15fps... I am excited to see how my new rig does. Will keep you guys updated.
 
Its up and running and there is no smoke. :P Finished building and installing all the software and as I promised here is the results of the 3Dmark06 tests..

Total score 5772

SM2.0 2263
HDR/SM3.0 2557
CPU 1866
(nothing OC'd yet)

The CPU test was still pretty intensive on this rig. There were some different tests it didnt do last time on my other rig. Those were simply amazing to watch. This thing has potential. EQ2 runs pretty good. Still can't max out in populated areas without a big hit to FPS. Off to try more games! Thanks for the help guys.

Peace
 
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