Hi, I'm making a new machine for UT3 and I'd like to get some feedback as to my choices. I'm not a complete noob when it comes to putting together computers, but no pro obviously. I already had some help from UT forums, but I wanted to get some more professional advice before I buy everything. My budget is fairly high, but I dont want to be paying $200 for 3% performance increase. Here's what I came up with so far.
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail $299.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail $299.99
COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $239.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX - Retail $148.00
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $194.99
SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $319.99
BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSOCE GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $399.99
ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and 14X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model DRW-1814BLT - Retail $35.99
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM - OEM $18.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate DVD - Retail $339.99
Unreal Tournament 3 - Retail $59.99
Subtotal: $2,357.90
Already bought:
Antec Neo550, Logitech G15, Logitech G5
I figured I might as well go with striker MB and 8800 GTS for now. Then at some point when 9x come out I can just buy two of those and do SLI. Running one card on SLI mb is not going to mess anything up right?
I'm pretty undecided on the case. My house is pretty hot around summer so good cooling is important for me. Would be great to hear some suggestions on this. CoolerMaster one I have up there seemed pretty good. I suppose you cant really be 100% sure until you try it with cases. Only issue I can think of right now is that it only comes with 2 Fans, which means I would have to buy several more?
Is buying another raptor to do raid0 worth it?
When it comes to a monitor I really want top performance. I care very little for saving money when it comes to this part. I decided to go with a widescreen 22"(1680x1050), seems like a perfect fit since I currently use 19" regular. Somebody suggested buying a 24" for 1920x1200 to be able to play hd in native res. I'm worried about 24" not being able to perform as well as a 22", not to mention possibly being too big.
Couple people mentioned power supply not being able to handle my system. I think it's enough for current setup, no? Cutting it too close? But I guess I will have to upgrade once I go SLI? Or should I just buy more powerful one right now?
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard - Retail $299.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail $299.99
COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $239.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX - Retail $148.00
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $194.99
SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $319.99
BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSOCE GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $399.99
ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and 14X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model DRW-1814BLT - Retail $35.99
ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM - OEM $18.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate DVD - Retail $339.99
Unreal Tournament 3 - Retail $59.99
Subtotal: $2,357.90
Already bought:
Antec Neo550, Logitech G15, Logitech G5
I figured I might as well go with striker MB and 8800 GTS for now. Then at some point when 9x come out I can just buy two of those and do SLI. Running one card on SLI mb is not going to mess anything up right?
I'm pretty undecided on the case. My house is pretty hot around summer so good cooling is important for me. Would be great to hear some suggestions on this. CoolerMaster one I have up there seemed pretty good. I suppose you cant really be 100% sure until you try it with cases. Only issue I can think of right now is that it only comes with 2 Fans, which means I would have to buy several more?
Is buying another raptor to do raid0 worth it?
When it comes to a monitor I really want top performance. I care very little for saving money when it comes to this part. I decided to go with a widescreen 22"(1680x1050), seems like a perfect fit since I currently use 19" regular. Somebody suggested buying a 24" for 1920x1200 to be able to play hd in native res. I'm worried about 24" not being able to perform as well as a 22", not to mention possibly being too big.
Couple people mentioned power supply not being able to handle my system. I think it's enough for current setup, no? Cutting it too close? But I guess I will have to upgrade once I go SLI? Or should I just buy more powerful one right now?