I am looking to put together a new gaming rig for myself. I don't have a budget in mind just yet, but I do consider myself a hardcore gaming freak. It is important to me to make this computer last for the next 4 years at least being able to play the latest games that come out at a very high level.

I need help putting together my dream machine. Although I don't have a budget in mind, I don't have unlimited money either. Please don't list something that I don't really need like a quad core processor which I'll never use. High end video card is a MUST. It has to run on Vista of course. Try to list great products but not products I will never actually use. Hope this helps to set the parameters.

Who can build me a great machine that'll last me years?

BTW, I don't need a monitor.

Unfortunately, those two requirements are pretty much mutually exclusive, any games that come out in the next 4 years will most likely be multithreaded and benefit from extra cores. You'll also have to upgrade your video card at least once in 4 years, more likely twice, in order to play game on at least high settings.

From everything I've read, nothing is taking advantage of quad cores, nor will they for a long time. Dual core is what was being recommended and even that is barely being used.

As for the video card, I'll probably just get the best that;s available right now.

poo you gotta give us a price range to work with

insane people like me can put crazy stuff together

I share your enthusiasm and just built mine a few weeks ago it is awesome.

As a hard core gamer you would really appreciate it I am sure.
I will post some game fps and 3dmark scores for you to judge as well.
Every "GAMING" benchamrk out there shows the Quad core isnt the chip for gamers right now.
I went with the x6800.

You dont have to go that high, but I liek th eunlocked mulitplier, the cool temps and I run overclocked with stock voltage so just a change in th emath in the bios from 2.39 to 3.51 with a 1:1 ration and a 500 fsb, or a 2000 fsb effectively.

You can go with a 6700 in july and they are expected to drop in price towards the end of july.
After looking at all the benchkars and reviews, the 5500$ systems at ibuy or whatever I went with the following platform.

Asus p5k (p35 chipset)
intel dou core 2 Extreme x6800
4 x 1 gigs of crucial bal;listix pc8500
antec trio 650 power supply.
evga 8800gtx superclocked to 621/2000
thats the nuts and bolts of what runs my games.
I also grabbed an x-fi gamers card, 7.1 speakers, and I am running vista 64 ultimate

Now games
cs source, 1280x1024 highest settings in game, and in nvidia control panel everything cranked to highest quality, 100 fps min and above

fear again all these are everything cranked all the way up and either 1280x1024 or 1600x1200

fear lowest fps 85, average, 142, highest 421.

stalker hmm I will look again, over 100 though.

its this way with abotu every game i throw at it.

dx 10 lost planet demo was in the 40;s average.
3dmark scores:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2135491 11936 3dmark 06


http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=5385816 3dmark 03 42154 vista 64

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=3115269


So you can see what a less expensive chip, like the 6700 or 6600 will do and otherwise I think the board, memory, power and vid card are the way to go.

If you are nuts about frame rates and full fx on in a crowded server you need to try a rig like this one out.

There was an article on the main page here at toms the other day about a pc from ibuyer or somthing, it was in a black thermaltake armor case, if you read that review and look at the specs and benches you will see, I built this for less that half of that system, and scored better in all benchmarks with my set up in that same case.

The bottom line is that until the next generation stuff comes out and is revised and games are optimized, this is about as good as it can get.
Hope that helps you some.
I pay no allegiance to name brand, i always build what is fastest for gaming at the time I am going to build so I am not pro nvidia or ati, or amd over intel, just saying look around, read the reviews on the p35 chipsets, the 8800gtx, and the x6800 and decide for yourself.

They all say the same thing, fastest gaming, yes, but often more expensive than the mainstream crowds will go with and so not always favorably rated based on price. for speed, cant beat em.

Lump

I would get the Q6600, since we're talking long-term here. The games industry will notice the quad cores and optimize its products for them eventually, and I doubt it will take 4 years. The first games that can use 4 cores are already out (Supreme Commander), and once a company has the first such game out, all its later games will do the same because they reuse code.

Video card: 8800 GTX has the best chance of being useful 4 years from now at highest settings.

Give us a budget and a timeframe. For example can you wait until July 22. How about Christmas?

Do you intend to overclock? A lot of stuff you'll read on this forum makes sense only if you do.

Actually we also really need to know your monitor's maximum resolution. If it's only 1600x1200 or so then that will make the video card selection a lot easier. A similar card will work well on a 24" at 1920x1200. But on a 30" at 2560x1600 you're probably better off going SLI...

OK. I'll try to make things a little narrower for you.

1) Maximum top limit money wise is probably $3000 Canadian, but as I said, I can stretch this if necessary.
2) Don't worry about the video card too much. I'll probably get the geForce 8800 GTX or Ultra.
3) I will not overclock as I cannot afford to replace parts I fry.
4) I already have the Razor Tarantula and Razor Copperhead so I don't need to know mouse and keyboard
5) I already have a DVD burner and player.
6) I know a bunch of you are preaching the quad cores, but I've heard they are a) not used much yet, and b) are actually slower than the high end single and dual cores for most things (read this in PC Gamer mag)

Basically I need : Case, power supply, MOBO, RAM, HD, and some kinda cooling system (water cooling intrigues me). (and anything else I'm forgetting)
One other thing. I would like it not to be particularly noisy. Try to keep the parts reasonably quiet. Having said that, I would definitely be interested in at least a 10,000 RPM SATA HD.

That's a pretty good budget. Some ideas:

Q6600
BFG 8800 GTX OC2
Gigabyte GA 680i SLI
4 GB of DDR2-800, probably Crucial Ballistix
Zalman 9700
Seagate 2x500 GB
X-Fi ExtremeMusic or ExtremeGamer
Thermaltake 850W
Lian-Li PC-73

That's what I'm getting for myself in 2 months, it will come to C$ 3500 or 3700 including GST and PST. Don't know if they're all compatible yet...

Some of those pieces are overkill, I know, for example $400 for a case is silly when a $150 P182 is also quiet. Or $400 for a mobo when the $150 DS3 model would also do. Read some reviews and decide for yourself if you care about the differences enough to pay extra.

Good luck, and let us know what you get

Edit: I forgot, the price includes Win XP Pro and a few fans too.

$5000 anyone? That is gonna be uber expensive mofo.

Well, it's Canadian dollars, they're a bit smaller. Also, 14% of that is sales tax. You guys are so lucky with your newegg, I wish it shipped to Canada :x

I overclock so I can afford to replace the parts I fry.

Buying a $200 CPU and running it to $1000 CPU stock speeds means I can get through a few and still be quids in. And Ive not fried one yet.

And, if you can build a rig that will play top end games at the highest resolutions for the next 4 years without anyform of upgrade then I'm a Dutchman.

not to beat a dead horse here but,
the x6800 is in his budget, it is clearly superior to the 6600, he said he wants the best he can afford for his games.


look at the charts here, you can look at anandtech, or anyother pc site there all the same.

10 fps a second more in a game is alot to a guy who nutty about his gaming experience.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu. [...] &chart=170

I dont know why budget minded guys refuse to accept that some people are willing to pay the premium for the best.

you guys are basicaly saying, hell you dont need to play it that fast, play it at a lesser speed and be happy so you save 200$, and I just think based on his post that he isnt looking for a pretty good system for 300$ less than a great system.

I would go with my earlier recommendation and not skimp on the chip.
He is not going to overclock, so with an unlocked multiplier he can adjust his fsb and stay in spec and be much faster than a 6600 at stock spec.

that translates into better gaming performance which is why he is considering a build, I say get the x6800 now or in 4 to 5 weeks when it drops a little in price.
I paid 890$ for mine, you can do a lot better even now if you shop around.

Lump