5 replies to this topic

[mr.lively]

my purpose is to build a rig that will perform well enough to play the final installment of half life 2 while fully enjoying all of the features. up to now i have always had to scale back the video settings in some way or another to get acceptable frame rates. i also need to do this under a thousand dollars. hopefully it will be durable and last me four or five years as my main comp, with an added graphics card somewhere along the line...

Case - some sh*t
Power - 700W with 2 pcie connectors
Board - msi 790fx
Memory - mushkin 4 gb 1600
Processor - amd tri core, 4th to be unlocked
Graphics or this - either the sapphire 4890 or 4870, 1 gb, both cards have hdmi ports.

i dont know what kind of fans i need, whether im getting good enough deals on these items, or even if they are even compatible. the current total is 784 including shipping. i need fans and hard drives. i want to raid 0 with at least 300 gb for the system. storage outside of that for music and porn is already taken care of. and im going to strip a dvd drive out of an old computer. save a few bucks there. all help is greatly appreciated. somehow i feel that i havent listed everything that is necessary for a complete computer. like do i need a sound card, or does the mobo take care of that by itself?

edit, after rebates, the total drops 50.

Edited by mr.lively, 14 August 2009 - 12:07 AM.

[Komit]

Glancing at the reviews, your video cards have the same issues as mine. I'm running a Sapphire 4850, and it always has overheating issues on certain games.

[Jack]

lol dude just give your price range and i'm sure someone here would be happy to work out a new parts list that you would be happy with.

[DarkShadow]

I don't see how those two Sapphires will overheat, just set the fan speed to 30-40% manually and call it a day.

[eRoC]

I would recommend a sound card for counter strike, and a nice headset if you dont own one already. Most people use sound blasters, the 29$ audigy se is a nice upgrade over onboard sound.

onboard audio generally sucks, there are some exceptions but anything with a Realtek codec (95% of all boards) is total junk. IMO everything Realtek makes is a nut filled Turd, be it audio, LAN, whatever.

Looks like you're on the right track with the AMD/ATI thing, one thing I always do is upgrade my stock video card heatsink with a Zalman, but that is up to you.

[DarkShadow]

I would recommend a sound card for counter strike, and a nice headset if you dont own one already. Most people use sound blasters, the 29$ audigy se is a nice upgrade over onboard sound.

onboard audio generally sucks, there are some exceptions but anything with a Realtek codec (95% of all boards) is total junk. IMO everything Realtek makes is a nut filled Turd, be it audio, LAN, whatever.

Looks like you're on the right track with the AMD/ATI thing, one thing I always do is upgrade my stock video card heatsink with a Zalman, but that is up to you.

Eroc, i know you know your shit for the most part, but you're giving the worst advice ever right there, 99% of custom air coolers don't cover the VRM's, and that causes even more overheating.