Home Entertainment/Gaming PC

[Paisan]

It will be a mix of actual DVD's and downloaded movies. You're right, I do need a storage drive, which is something I overlooked in my original list. I should probably also add a good CD/DVD R as well.

As for the raptor. I intend to put my OS and games on that drive.

 

[Bot2011]

No i would suggest raid 0, as raid 1 is only really needed in situations where data is really important., such as businesses.

I don't have a business but I just had my drive crash and lost alot of information. Partly my fault because I did not backup as often as I should have. Nonetheless, anything I do on my pc is import and I would want the security of having a permanent backup (for those times I get busy and forget) as opposed to having a bit more speed but if 1 drive fails I lose all the information

When dealing with RAID it depends on if they want speed or security. Personally, I would always chose the security over the speed. But that's me.

 

[Paisan]

good point on the raid. I have a seperate computer (laptop) with an external hard drive I use as a backup for all business stuff.

 

[Bot2011]

It will be a mix of actual DVD's and downloaded movies. You're right, I do need a storage drive, which is something I overlooked in my original list. I should probably also add a good CD/DVD R as well.

As for the raptor. I intend to put my OS and games on that drive.

Not worth the money. Especially when you can get 2 drives for the price of 1 raptor and have twice the storage with very good speeds (if you RAID the drives).

 

[lancec2c30]

Now as for data storage, new games are increasing becoming 8 gigs after install. If you plan to use the PC as a media center also, then that is ~5 gigs per standard def. movie.

If you want the performance of a 10k rpm drive and need the storage then using the Raptor as your operating and game install drive, and purchasing a 320gig or 500gig hard drive as a slave would be best.

The 680i really isn't a bad board, when it first came out a lot of people used it and if you can get a deal on it in a bundle it would be great.

For the money, the 640mb of the 8800gts is worth it. Especially if you decide to buy a new plasma or lcd tv and want to play on it.

Like stated above, G. Skill memory is a great deal. 2 gigs is the standard right now for gaming.

Since you are buying the 8 series video card Windows Vista is what you are going to want. XP does not support dx10, that would be the main reason for building a new pc right now .

 

[Paisan]

I will be running Vista as my main OS. I have run dual-boot machines before and am considering doing it again, but not so sure it is worth the hassle since I am not a hacker, heh.

I do understand why so many people here support the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R, but I am baffled why there is so little support for the 680i mobo's. The latest generation seems to be pretty solid and the ease of OC'ing is a huge draw for me. Still on the fence with this one, but am making most of the other changes mentioned so far.

I am going to keep the raptor and add the 320gig hd as a storage slave and will add another eventually for backup purposes...on that note, other than the 16mb cache is there a reason everyone leans toward Seagate over WD?

 

[bobby8890]

Ok so im new to this forum and i dont know how to post so i made it a reply, sorry. My question is that i am trying to build a great gaming computer for under 600 dollars i think ive found all of my parts but im confused on things like motherboards cpus sound cards and graphic cards. can anyone help me find ones that will play games like fear, doom 3, farcry and other graphic demanding games for cheap? what i found was.....

GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $99.99

Foxconn 8500GT-256 GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $74.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail - $79.99

M-AUDIO Revolution 5.1 5.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface High-Definition Sound Card - Retail - $67.99

 

[Paisan]

Ok so im new to this forum and i dont know how to post so i made it a reply, sorry. My question is that i am trying to build a great gaming computer for under 600 dollars i think ive found all of my parts but im confused on things like motherboards cpus sound cards and graphic cards. can anyone help me find ones that will play games like fear, doom 3, farcry and other graphic demanding games for cheap? what i found was.....

GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $99.99

Foxconn 8500GT-256 GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $74.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail - $79.99

M-AUDIO Revolution 5.1 5.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface High-Definition Sound Card - Retail - $67.99

Oh man, you just contaminated my thread, lol.

Go to the category you want to post in (this one for instance) and then click the button near the bottom of the page Create New Thread.

It is my first day here and even I figured that much out, hehe.

Good luck.

 

[Vaanish]

Ok so im new to this forum and i dont know how to post so i made it a reply, sorry. My question is that i am trying to build a great gaming computer for under 600 dollars i think ive found all of my parts but im confused on things like motherboards cpus sound cards and graphic cards. can anyone help me find ones that will play games like fear, doom 3, farcry and other graphic demanding games for cheap? what i found was.....

GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $99.99

Foxconn 8500GT-256 GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $74.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+(65W) Windsor 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail - $79.99

M-AUDIO Revolution 5.1 5.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface High-Definition Sound Card - Retail - $67.99

*THREADJACKAGE*

 

[Bot2011]

If you are going to run Vista than you want to up from 2gb to 4gb of RAM.

I think the main reason for the huge support for the DS3R is simply the proven overclocks that this mobo has provided and the ability to upgrade to the Penryn chips when they are released. Top that with the very reasonable price and it makes for a highly recommended product. The 680i have just not been solid performers in the past and people are skeptical. Not to mention the price is steep.

I can respect you wanting the Raptor. As long as you are happy with it and it does what you want than everything else is butter. Seagate has the 5 year warranty which is a major factor over the WD and they seem to be better quality but the final decision lies with your personal preference.