Looking for recommendation and suggestion for PC hardware

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and this is my first time ever posting. I am in the process of researching PC hardware to build a new performance based PC for gaming purposes. My preferred games of choice are combat flight simulators and first person shooter such as Call of Duty, Medal of Honor etc.

I am looking to spend some decent cash to build the right PC to sustain gaming OLD and NEW for the next few years.

The CORE hardware component I am considering right now is: Intel Core2 Quad, 4GB DDR2 RAM, nVidia SLI Ready Chipset, nVidia GeForce SLI Graphic w/512MB DDR RAM.

I am looking for suggestion and recommendation on which brand/model motherboard, graphic card brand, memory brand, processor heat sink, system chassis with minimum 1000W power supply, and best option to keep the system cool under high-performance, high-heat condition.

:-) Hopefully I am not asking for too much!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Vinh Le
San Jose, California...keep on gaming!:D

This and This.Angry_Bosmer

If you're looking for a Core 2 Quad, well my recommendation would have to go to the Q6700, but that's only because I have one and the prices have reduced drastically. For roughly $60 cheaper you can grab a Q6600 and be fine. I use both in two seperate PC's, they're both great processors.

Q6700: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115027

Q6600: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

For a video card I would recommend holding off for just a bit longer as the 9800GTX+ is set to release here soon and the price point will be around $230. Personally, I'm going to wait until July 8th and get an ATI 4870,which by the looks of it, will easily be more powerful and be just about $20 more than the 9800GTX+.

I don't know what your budget is but for a mother board I recommend this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141005

This motherboard(given that you stick with Nvidia) will last you a very long time. I've used it in several builds and have no issues with it at all.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

Great Power Supply. Once again, no troubles. 700W.

But I also take into concideration when purchasing Power Supplies if I plan on Upgrading in later years, so bigger may be better because you will not have to worry about replacing it later, for that I recommend:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256010

For your RAM I'd go with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

4GB of RAM, just take into concideration that you're going to need a 64bit OS to see it all.

[QUOTE="Angry_Bosmer"]This and This.achilles614

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Angry_Bosmer

Well, the 8800GTS 512MB is now seriously outclassed by the HD4850. The P5N-D runs hot, and limits SLI bandwidth to x8/x8, which does slightly affect performance on modern high-end cards. The Antec Nine Hundred case has its own problems, including the lack of a case speaker to troubleshoot problems via POST beep codes, poor cable routing options, somewhat cramped layout, and a basically proprietary 200mm fan that's hard to change. The GameXStream series is also somewhat unreliable, I've seen several users report them dying within a year, and they're also known to have ripple problems under heavy load. RAID 0 is also somewhat dangerous without a backup drive, I wouldn't use it unless you had a backup drive.

It's not a bad setup, but it could definitely use some improvement.

Thanks! O_Lineman17,

I'll take a closer look at your recommendation and decide if I want to stay on the nVidia path or wait for the new ATI.

Great inputs indeed! Vinh-

[QUOTE="Angry_Bosmer"]

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RayvinAzn

Well, the 8800GTS 512MB is now seriously outclassed by the HD4850. The P5N-D runs hot, and limits SLI bandwidth to x8/x8, which does slightly affect performance on modern high-end cards. The Antec Nine Hundred case has its own problems, including the lack of a case speaker to troubleshoot problems via POST beep codes, poor cable routing options, somewhat cramped layout, and a basically proprietary 200mm fan that's hard to change. The GameXStream series is also somewhat unreliable, I've seen several users report them dying within a year, and they're also known to have ripple problems under heavy load. RAID 0 is also somewhat dangerous without a backup drive, I wouldn't use it unless you had a backup drive.

It's not a bad setup, but it could definitely use some improvement.

Thats a old setup and I did say in the guide that I'm not using the series 4 until I find some benchmarks.