Looking for Second Opinion on Custom-Built Rig

[Cunjo]

I know a guy who runs a computer shop in the neighborhood, and he says he's willing to cut me a special deal on hardware and not charge anything for assembly. I'm looking for a good gaming rig that can get excellent framerates in highest settings in games like Half Life 2, Doom 3 and Vendetta Online. I plan on installing Windoes XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux and dual-booting it. I trust the guy to give me a good deal, but as with any major purchasing decision, I'd like a second opinion anyway from other people who have experience with the components.

Spec:

MGE Red Dragon ATX Chassis with Carrying Handle, Firewire and 2x USB
Gigabyte SLI Motherboard with Hi-Def Audio, Firewire and 6x USB
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core CPU
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT Overclocked Edition GPU
2x 1GB DDR2 DRAM (2GB RAM)
2x 250GB HDD (500GB Storage)
DVD±RW/CD-RW Combo Drive
17" Flat Panel LCD Monitor

Price: $1,195 after tax

Think that sounds like a good deal?

I'm not entirely sure what kind of performance to expect out of a 4200+ AMD or an overclocked GeForce 7600... in fact I'd never even heard of a 7600 GT Overclocked Edition before today. Is it any good?

I've also been wondering about what the performance benefit would be of using the SLI for another GeForce card. I have my doubts that it would be worth the extra $200 of a second GPU.

 

[cementshoes]

For a rig to do what you want you should be looking at spending about 1500. And a 7600 won't do what you want. I don't really like AMD so I don't know much about them, but that MoBo seems really generic. It doesn't really make sense to me.

 

[lazer_viking]

yea thats definatly not a good deal.
i built a lot better machine for you on newegg thats only a few hundred more, and TONS better.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...stNumber=4184014&WishListTitle=list+for+cunjo
if you're getting a new computer, DDR2 is the way to go. DDR1 is un-upgradable as they do not make anything for it anymore.
7600 also is not good.
i would recommend to you an 8800 GTS if you want to spend the money on it. trust me, if you can do it, it's totally worth it.
these parts do not come assembled though.

 

[Cunjo]

yea thats definatly not a good deal.
i built a lot better machine for you on newegg thats only a few hundred more, and TONS better.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...stNumber=4184014&WishListTitle=list+for+cunjo
if you're getting a new computer, DDR2 is the way to go. DDR1 is un-upgradable as they do not make anything for it anymore.
7600 also is not good.
i would recommend to you an 8800 GTS if you want to spend the money on it. trust me, if you can do it, it's totally worth it.
these parts do not come assembled though.

Considering that I haven't built a computer before and don't have the time to spend assembling it or the budget to risk damaging the parts if I do it wrong, what do you recommend?

Oh, and I want AMD, not Intel....

EDIT: Also, that site looks great, but isn't it going to cost me a metric assload in shipping?

EDIT2: Christ... do they not MAKE light up cases in colors other than that annoying blue anymore??

 

[Trotter]

You can't beat NewEgg for price.

The guy may actually be offerieng you a good deal based on his prices, but you can do better.

A 7600 is a good card, but it is also an older card now. AMD is srill a decent processor, even if the Core 2 Duos are faster right now.

If you go AMD, go for AM2. Socket 939 is dead, and AM2 uses DDR2 instead of DDR.

While the 8800s are new big thing, the 7900s are still powerful. A 7900GS would do you good. A GT or 7950 would be even better. You can look for the GPU comparison sticky to see what the ATI equivelent is.

In the end it is your choice, but building your own is actually simple... and we're here to help you through it.

 

[jonny_uk]

yeah you wont run Half life 2 or Doom 3 on max settings with a 7600 im afraid, look at getting at least a 7950GT or as said above get an 8800 series card if you can afford it, that will play anything on max settings with very high frame rates

 

[Cunjo]

Thanks Trotter...

I'm kinda lost here... what's a good AMD processor and MoBo? I've been looking through NewEgg and can't find much to help me. As far as Intel, if that's the best price for power, I'd be willing to go with that, but from what I understand that multitasking and efficiency is better with AMD, and while I don't have any immediate plans to overclock, I want something I could potentially do that to in case I chose to go that route. Besides, I like their company business model better.

Also, isn't a Pentium D faster than a Core 2 Duo? I've seen them listed at 3.4GHz+, and that Core 2 on the list is only 2.1GHz, where each individual core is slower than the P4 I have in this 3-yr-old crappy laptop. I'm not looking for bleeding-edge bank-breaking speed, but I definately want something that will put my current system to shame.

Any way I could get a rundown on the affordable end of high-speed CPUs?

I found this GPU, which looks **** sexy: Newegg.com - EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
So I think I'll go with that... here's the list so far...
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...istNumber=6009168&WishListTitle=Cunjo+(Intel)

The ASUS Mobo on that list also looks kinda iffy (is there one with more PCI Express slots?), and the reviews on the Western Digital drive aren't too compelling... something about them breaking. Is that generally a good brand or can you recommend something better?

Finally, any idea where I can get a Black ATX Computer case with RED fan lights? Not that I dislike the color blue, but I'm appalled by the popularity of those vision-wrecking high-energy lights in darkened computer rooms. At least red doesn't ruin my night vision if I glance at it, and I kinda like the color better anyway - it runs well with my software scheme (that I'm not about to let go).

Sorry about the long, question-packed post guys... hope to hear back soon!

EDIT: This says Crossfire - does that mean it won't work with NVIDIA/SLI?:
Newegg.com - ABIT AW9D-MAX LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

[Ronnie]

that board will work with both ati and nvidia cards, but if you want sli on it you will have to use hacked drivers

go with the MSI 650i motherboard it cheaper and performs great
also western digital is a great brand alot of people prefer seagate but the same people usually tell you western digital is second in performance

just buy a black case and then buy some thermaltake red led fans tor eplace the blue ones

 

[veg1992]

that pc can be bult for like 600$, if ur too lazy to make it ur self, just wtb the system here to TF, and ask for the specific parts, maybe some1 will be generous enough to buy the parts assemble it and sell it to u (maybe for an assembly fee), or buy a second-hand one

 

[Sora]

Exactly...I cold build a similar very similar to that for $650-700 and it would have better parts.