Good gaming rig?

T

TheYak

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2004
Messages
927
Reaction score
1
Location
Randburg, Gauteng
Hey guys. It's been a while :)

I'm sure this topic has been covered before, but considering how quick PCs become outdated (i.e. when you walk out the door with your new baby!), I thought I'd ask for some up-to-the-minute feedback.

I'm looking at buying a new gaming rig.

Now, before you guys throw the latest and greatest at me, I AM working on a budget here. Obviously I'd like something reasonably priced, but I'd like a machine that can play any current game comfortably.

I have a decent graphics card already (that I paid a bloody FORTUNE for *groan*), so I don't need that. It would be nice to have a new one, but I'm not forking out four grand for a graphics card a mere year after I got the last one!

So, I basically need a motherboard, CPU, memory, harddrive and, if the motherboard doesn't have a decent enough soundcard on it, that too.

That's it, I think? Am I missing something?

Cheers and thanks in advance.
 
What is your budget?
What is the graphics card do you already have? A good card won't cost you 4k... a 4870 goes for around R2300 nowadays.
Also, what monitor do you have?
 
We need your approximate budget. What GFX card do you have? Do you have a Power Supply? OK well I'm thinking P45 motherboard, 4gigs RAM and a Q8400/9400. That's if you wanna go Intel. If you wanna go AMD - Phenom II 940. If you wanna go big - Core i7. If you wanna go budget - get an Intel E5200 or Phenom II 720.
 
Weeeelll.. probably between R3000 and R3500. R4000 MAX.

I have an GeForce er... 9800, 9600... GT something odd? LOL! I can't even remember the model now! It's a 9000 series card though. It's a good card. Well, it was when I bought it a few months ago.

I have two monitors: an Acer 24" HD LCD and an HP 19" LCD.

As for the power supply: I'll be buying a new box, but I know which one I want already. That's if the stupid shop still has stock of it.

Thanks for the help so far, guys.
 
Gaming rig is about R9k +
MB + CPU + Ram must be bought at same time. (+- R4-5k) Remember you need a good base for a gaming pc, so get a decent MB!
Rest can be upgraded as needed.
Your graphics cars sound fine for now, Screens is good. If you buy a new box, check that it has a 400W or 450W psu, else buy a seperate 500W+ PSU.
 
Asus P5Q, Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8Ghz , 2 Gig RAM and 500 GB HD = R3612 Inc Vat, then you got the rest for a case + power supply.
 
For gaming on a budget the phenom2 720 is definitely the best choice. Paired with an asus 780g board and a 4gig kit of corsair ram and you're good to go.
 
Looking just a processors, and on your budget I would say stick to the top line of each technology, i.e. either the E5200, E7300, or Q8200. The small increase in processor speed within each processor series is not worth the price increase (e.g. E7300 2.66Ghz for R999 versus E8600 3.33Ghz for R2500 = 250% price increase for a 25% performance increase - real benefit in gaming will be far less).

R 589.00 Intel CPU E5200 Pentium Dual Core LGA775 2.50GHz 800Mhz FSB 2MB Cache
R 699.00 Intel CPU E5300 Pentium Dual Core LGA775 2.60GHz 800Mhz FSB 2MB Cache
R 799.00 Intel CPU E5400 Pentium Dual Core LGA775 2.70GHz 800Mhz FSB 2MB Cache
R 817.11 Intel CPU E6300 Pentium Dual Core LGA775 2.80GHz 1066Mhz FSB 2MB Cache


R 999.00 Intel CPU E7300 Core 2 Duo LGA775 2.66GHz 1066Mhz FSB 3MB Cache 45nm
R 1,123.59 Intel CPU E7400 Core 2 Duo LGA775 2.80GHz 1066Mhz FSB 3MB Cache 45nm
R 1,299.00 Intel CPU E7500 Core 2 Duo LGA775 2.93GHz 1066Mhz FSB 3Mb Cache 45nm
R 1,286.72 Intel CPU E7600 Core 2 Duo LGA775 3.06GHz 1066Mhz FSB 3Mb Cache 45nm
R 1,585.00 Intel CPU E8400 Core 2 Duo LGA775 3.00Ghz 1333MHz FSB 6MB Cache 45nm
R 1,775.00 Intel CPU E8500 Core 2 Duo LGA775 3.16Ghz 1333MHz FSB 6MB Cache 45nm
R 2,440.00 Intel CPU E8600 Core 2 Duo LGA775 3.33Ghz 1333MHz FSB 6MB Cache 45nm


1,585.00 Intel CPU Q8200 Core 2 Quad LGA775 2.33GHz 1333Mhz FSB 4MB Cache 45nm
1,775.00 Intel CPU Q8300 Core 2 Quad LGA775 2.50GHz 1333Mhz FSB 4MB Cache 45nm
1,898.87 Intel CPU Q8400 Core 2 Quad LGA775 2.66GHz 1333Mhz FSB 4MB Cache 45nm
2,085.00 Intel CPU Q9400 Core 2 Quad LGA775 2.66GHz 1333Mhz FSB 6MB Cache 45nm
2,465.41 Intel CPU Q9550 Core 2 Quad LGA775 2.83GHz 1333Mhz FSB 12MB Cache 45nm
2,986.04 Intel CPU Q9650 Core 2 Quad LGA775 3.00GHz 1333Mhz FSB 12MB Cache 45nm
7,999.00 Intel CPU QX9650 Core 2 Quad Extreme LGA775 3.00Ghz 1333Mhz FSB 12MB Cache 45nm
10,999.00 Intel CPU QX9770 Core 2 Quad Extreme LGA775 3.20Ghz 1600Mhz FSB 12MB Cache 45nm - No Fan
11,367.48 Intel CPU QX9775 Core 2 Quad Extreme LGA771 3.20Ghz 1600Mhz FSB 12MB Cache 45nm - No Fan


R 2,599.00 Intel CPU i7-920 Core i7 LGA1366 2.66GHz 4.8GT/s QPI 8Mb Cache 130W 45nm
R 5,059.00 Intel CPU i7-940 Core i7 LGA1366 2.93GHz 4.8GT/s QPI 8Mb Cache 130W 45nm
R 5,212.64 Intel CPU i7-950 Core i7 LGA1366 3.06GHz 4.8GT/s QPI 8Mb Cache 130W 45nm


R 9,399.00 Intel CPU i7-965 Core i7 LGA1366 3.20GHz 6.4GT/s QPI 8Mb Cache 130W 45nm
R 9,298.22 Intel CPU i7-975 Core i7 LGA1366 3.33GHz 6.4GT/s QPI 8Mb Cache 130W 45nm
 
Holy carp... but these things are expensive! Craaazy!

This is what I was looking at. I.e. a friend of mine sent it to me.

Asus M3N78-CM R 1,065.00
AMD Phenom 8650, 3.5MB, 2.3Ghz , L2 Triple Core , 2.7Ghz R 850.00
4GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix) R 500.00

I haven't been in the hardware arena for a long long long time, so I have no idea whether it's good or not. So I'm completely at you guys' mercy here.
 
How about this think:
Gigabyte EG31M-S2L - R650
Intel E5200 Processor -R680
4 gigs RAM - R500-600

Total - R1850 and it's still an awesome setup! The E5200 is such a great little CPU.
 
Synaesthesia said:
How about this think:
Gigabyte EG31M-S2L - R650
Intel E5200 Processor -R680
4 gigs RAM - R500-600

Total - R1850 and it's still an awesome setup! The E5200 is such a great little CPU.
Click to expand...

Yip, I have a similair setup, see my signature.
 
Exactly. I also have the same mobo. Works nicely, even overclocks well. You can put in a Quad core CPU for around R1500-R2000 if you want.
 
Fantastic! Can you guys tell me where I can get that motherboard? I would like to get exactly that, if everyone is so keen on it.

I'm in Randburg, Johannesburg.
 
TheYak said:
Fantastic! Can you guys tell me where I can get that motherboard? I would like to get exactly that, if everyone is so keen on it.

I'm in Randburg, Johannesburg.
Click to expand...

Well I got my second one from Sybaritic last week. http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=81_226&products_id=19238

There is also a ES2C version available wich lacks a few features. I don't think the GA-EG31M-S2L version is in production anymore, it was replaced with the updated S2 version if I'm not mistaken.

You could probably get it for cheaper somewhere else if you shop around.
 
Morning gents.

Thanks for all the feedback.

So, this is what I have so far:

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?products_id=19238
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?products_id=17039
http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?products_id=20081 x 2

I decided to get a new hard drive as well. Any suggestions? I was looking at the lists on Sybaritic, and this one looked good?

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=61_64&products_id=20709

If I get the things on this list, I'll have a good enough rig to last me for a while, right?
 
I just ordered the asus m4a yesterday from prophecy for under 1300.

I really don't suggest a dual core if it's gonna be a gaming pc. A phenom2 710 is very cheap now and definitely worth it.
 
Qwikslver said:
I just ordered the asus m4a yesterday from prophecy for under 1300.

I really don't suggest a dual core if it's gonna be a gaming pc. A phenom2 710 is very cheap now and definitely worth it.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... okay, what do you suggest I get then? I'm at you guys' mercy here, 'cos I have nooooo idea. I just have a budget and the need for a new pc :)
 
Ermm whats wrong with a dual core for gaming if I may ask? :confused:

They brilliant for gaming I think.
 
Yeah, the dual cores are cheap which allows you to put say R1000 more into the graphics card.

A dual core with a HD4850 will beat a Tri-core phenom with a HD4670 for gaming.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X