# 2000$ budget rig



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I just got an order from a customer who wants an amazing gaming PC. He's giving me a 2000$ budget. Been talking to him.. Says that a 300gb hard drive would be enough, so velociraptor was my first thought. He wants an amazing HD monitor to watch HD stuff on so I picked that LG screen, looks really good spec wise. Here is what I got lined up so far. 

http://img.techpowerup.org/090430/Untitled473.jpg

Check later in the thread for newer list..


----------



## AllHopeIsGone1 (May 1, 2009)

Just to be on the faster side, get 1066 RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

^^ That's kickass RAM.


----------



## department76 (May 1, 2009)

i'd definately get ddr-1066, not reason not to.  that and the best ddr2 is dirt cheap nowadays.

other than that, looks like a good build!  plenty of psu even for the X2.  you might think about raid 0 though, especially since youre below 2k still.

i've heard good things aobut LG monitors, and my friend has one and likes it.  it's a bit nicer than my viewsonic, but a close call.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I was thinking that too.. But is the difference really all that great? I benched and used my ram at 1066 and it literally the same. DDR2-800 runs cooler and at better voltage


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

Looks pretty good. Although for $2000 I might consider an intel i7 build.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Kinda impossible since he want a really nice monitor. Plus, the last time I built one for someone I had a ton of ram and motherboard problems. Ended up refunding everything and he got his money back..


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (May 1, 2009)

AllHopeIsGone1 said:


> Just to be on the faster side, get 1066 RAM.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289
> 
> ^^ That's kickass RAM.



That was good ram, now it is binned so poorly that you would be lucky to get much out of it. I just got 2 kits of the G.Skill PC8500 and am loving it. Much better than the kit you just listed that I bought a few months ago and performs about the same as the set of what you listed that I bought a year ago.

Why not go with a better board? Why would you need onboard video?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Pretty sure he wont be overclocking. 790GX are awesome anyway


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Kinda impossible since he want a really nice monitor. Plus, the last time I built one for someone I had a ton of ram and motherboard problems. Ended up refunding everything and he got his money back..



You could bump down to a 25~26 inch monitor and save about $250. You could also buy a decent 26" LCD TV for around $300ish if you shop right.. That would save you some cash.

Also might reconsider the 4870x2.

Maybe a 4890 instead?


----------



## DrPepper (May 1, 2009)

BrooksyX said:


> You could bump down to a 25~26 inch monitor and save about $250. You could also buy a decent 26" LCD TV for around $300ish if you shop right.. That would save you some cash.
> 
> Also might reconsider the 4870x2.
> 
> Maybe a 4890 instead?



4890 crossfired would be nicer and still be in budget even if you needed a better psu which I doubt it.


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

everything is awesome except the case... IMO most people that are not computer enthusiasts look at that case and see a gas can.


----------



## WarEagleAU (May 1, 2009)

that M3a78 is a good board but go for the M4a79-T if you can. Its not GX but its bad ass. Also, he says 300 is enough, but I would add on another 500gb or 1tb HDD. He wont regret it.

If not the M4a79, then go for the MSI DKA790GX 

EDIT: Oh and why not some G Skill PI black or silver


----------



## DrPepper (May 1, 2009)

If he says he wants to watch HD without a HD dvd drive he will need a bigger hd like WarEagleAU says.


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163121  <-- Nice case... a bit expensive though.  no plastic, inside all black, super high quality...  Most people that I build for understand very little about their gaming PC and its internals. They also put a ton of emphasis on the appearance of the rig.  Maybe the HAF is his style tho, dunno.

i really like the build, massive bang/buck - good job.


----------



## Flyordie (May 1, 2009)

I would go with an AM3 955 imho. Gives him the option of going DDR3 in the future.


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

Is he gaming? Cause if he just wants a good rig w/ HD I would drop the 4870x2, get a 19" cheap monitor for everyday browsing and such, then pick up an actual HDTV for movies such as this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8742186&st=32%22+television&lp=4&type=product&cp=1&id=1202648738906 

Also if HD content is priority, snag him a HDTV tuner and blu-ray drive to put in there as well. If he is gaming, find out what is higher priority and what kind of games before slapping a x2 all over it and lagging on the HD.


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

So you're getting paid to do this? Lucky son of a bitch.

By the way, putting "$2,000" and "budget rig" in the same title is retarded lol.


----------



## LittleLizard (May 1, 2009)

2000 dollar pc and you didnt go i7... CMON


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

LittleLizard said:


> 2000 dollar pc and you didnt go i7... CMON



i agree.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

i7 920 for sure... DFI DK if you can risk RMA (therefore may just delay giving him the PC) OR get something like a gig ud4p , SuperTalent ddr3 1333 (that OCs really well), s1283V like you did, 2 7200.12 500gb drive in RAID 0 this monitor or this monitor and a TX750 like you did and a good DVD burner or a Blu-ray drive, as for the case... it's OK, but you can get a nicer looking one 

I can try to do a newegg summation of that...

EDIT: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9964885 + a case you want... just make it look nice, doesn't have to be expensive!


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I just got done talking to him and he said that he wanted a blu-ray drive so I dropped the monitor down a bit to get one. Here's the drive btw, I use the same one in my HTPC. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> I just got done talking to him and he said that he wanted a blu-ray drive so I dropped the monitor down a bit to get one. Here's the drive btw, I use the same one in my HTPC.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133



See that doesn't make much sense. Blu-ray will have less and less benefit the smaller and weaker screen you get. You should go at least 32-inch and higher quality, not smaller and lesser quality, otherwise I wouldn't even bother w/ blue ray. Although I guess if he's gonna sit 1ft away it would be nice, but I'm really not sure why he would. Is he gaming? If so what games?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

He's gonna be playing L4D and the new stalker game. He plays Clear Sky now, but this is mainly gonna be for the new one. And he told me he wants to start collecting blu-ray stuff so.. I was at his house, he doesn't sit very far from the screen so anything under 30" would be good. I have a 21.5" 1080p monitor and I sit right in front of it and I love it. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005125
That's the one I downgraded too.. I might just drop that one and add the screen I'm using since it's cheap. That would give me room to add a 955.

Also, he's not exactly hardware literate. He's using an Alienware with an Athlon X2 and a 7900GT or something like that. Should be a huge jump for him!


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

Huh. I'm getting a 32" screen and I sit right in front of mine. Going to fry my eyes out.


----------



## DaMulta (May 1, 2009)

Dang I went over and didn't even get a case in.....


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> He's gonna be playing L4D and the new stalker game. He plays Clear Sky now, but this is mainly gonna be for the new one. And he told me he wants to start collecting blu-ray stuff so.. I was at his house, he doesn't sit very far from the screen so anything under 30" would be good. I have a 21.5" 1080p monitor and I sit right in front of it and I love it.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005125
> That's the one I downgraded too.. I might just drop that one and add the screen I'm using since it's cheap. That would give me room to add a 955.



If I downgraded your 21.5 to 1680x1050 you wouldn't notice much. You would notice a much bigger difference by bumping your monitor up to 28". When it comes to movies and games, size is better. Blu-ray will be utterly wasted imo. A 4890 would be fine. A 955 is a waste of money.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Pretty sure a 1080 screen looks a lot better for HD stuff than a 1680. I would usually get a 4890, but in this case he's playing stalker.. Need all the GPU power you can get.

And like I said before, he's not very tech literate.. I doubt he knows how to OC. I can ask him if he wants/knows how to.

updated list..


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Pretty sure a 1080 screen looks a lot better for HD stuff than a 1680. I would usually get a 4890, but in this case he's playing stalker.. Need all the GPU power you can get.
> 
> And like I said before, he's not very tech literate.. I doubt he knows how to OC. I can ask him if he wants/knows how to.



Well that's what your for. Oc it for him. 

And no, you would notice very, and I mean very little difference in a blu-ray on 1680x1050 and 1080p. Trust me. Games would be more noticeable, but even then a bigger screen is better and really brings out the benfits of 1080p. It just isn't needed at that size. I love my 22" too but that doesn't mean if I had the funds I wouldn't go big as I could.


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

Why not get a GTX 295 for the same price?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Reventon said:


> Why not get a GTX 295 for the same price?



You mean 200$ more? Even if they were the same, the 4870X2 does better in Stalker.



farlex85 said:


> Well that's what your for. Oc it for him.
> 
> And no, you would notice very, and I mean very little difference in a blu-ray on 1680x1050 and 1080p. Trust me. Games would be more noticeable, but even then a bigger screen is better and really brings out the benfits of 1080p. It just isn't needed at that size. I love my 22" too but that doesn't mean if I had the funds I wouldn't go big as I could.



I do kinda regret going for a 1080 screen.. I had to upgrade a lot before my games ran good. If I could go back in time I would get a 1680 screen, but now I have the shit to run games good so I don't regret it now 

and overclocking for him would take a LOOONG time. I'd need at least 5 days to test for a 24/7 ultra stable clock.


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

Oh shit I just looked it up. I always though it was about $400 lol.

I don't know. $400.00 seems a lot though, what about 2 x 1GB 4870s for much less? I thought separate GPUs in Crossfire were better performance-wise, or so I've heard.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Double cards is a bitch to handle compared to an X2 card. I've had both, I should know.. X2 card is just plug and play, no special BS


----------



## DaMulta (May 1, 2009)

Bam 15 dollars over

27' 1920x1200 screen would do 1080p
Blue Ray Player + Blue Ray Buner
3 x 4870 2BG cards
4GB of 2GHz Ram
AM3 AMD955
GD70FX 2Ghz ram compatible
1TB Hard Drive


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I gotta get some money too, D  I need to repair my car, get a Phenom II FX(well.. I don't need it but lol), buy things for my girlfriend, games, new headset, everquest 2 sub..


----------



## GREASEMONKEY (May 1, 2009)

I see no speakers in the list,he must have these already maybe?And of course OS?
I would replace the 27" with a 25.5 to keep the 1920x1200 res but gain the smaller pixel pitch.Then i would add a good sound card!


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Oh shi-, I'll a sound card.. He has some good speakers already. Logitech Z5000 or something like that.

How does this look for a sound card?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

I think DaMulta has a good setup. LOTS of graphic power, plenty for STALKER Clear Sky.


----------



## DaMulta (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> I gotta get some money too, D  I need to repair my car, get a Phenom II FX(well.. I don't need it but lol), buy things for my girlfriend, games, new headset, everquest 2 sub..



LOL You said 2k not 15k


----------



## DaMulta (May 1, 2009)

Remove monitor

Replace with
Monitors > LCD 23" - 24" Sceptre x24wg-Naga 24" Widescreen LCD Price $199.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...EM1918C&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM1918-_-EMAIL

Saves 150 dollars

Remove one video card

219 extra

Grand total becomes 1645.01

"hey I read that GTA4 takes up 1.5GB of video ram maxed out at 1920x1200"says so in newegg reviews at least....

Savings
369.99



24' 1920x1200 screen would do 1080p
Blue Ray Player + Blue Ray Buner
2 x 4870 2BG cards
4GB of 2GHz Ram
AM3 AMD955
GD70FX 2Ghz ram compatible
1TB Hard Drive


----------



## Reventon (May 1, 2009)

DaMulta said:


> 24' 1920x1200 screen would do 1080p
> Blue Ray Player + Blue Ray Buner
> 2 x 4870 2BG cards
> 4GB of 2GHz Ram
> ...



Sounds like a damn good setup to me.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

Why not i7????

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9964885

1858$ + 8.50 ship = 1866.50$ - 60$ MIR

specs:
27.5" 1920x1200
Raidmax tornado
2 single platter 500gb drives = 1tb RAID 0
2 4890 1gb
Corsair TX-750W
6gb DDR3 1600 cl9, easily OCed to cl8...
Foxconn BloodRage mobo
i7 920
S1283V
BlueRay drive...

all that for 1866 - 60$ MIR

If you want to save some cash (but seriously, charging 125 to 150$ should be enough )  you could save 150$ by going the screen DaMulta showed, save 60$ going 2x 4870 2gb cards, getting 1 tb drive DaMulta showed to save 40$ = 1600$ + 110$ to upgrade to BluRay burner if you want = 1710$ for i7 system with 6gb RAM compared to DaMultas 1640$ system w/ 4gb 

You don't need 2gb cards IMO though, the 4890s will perform much better... You could also get a 4850x2 for 250$... If you go 4850x2 and 24" screen with i7 it'l be 1466$

IMO go with the build I show here  not that yours is bad DaMulta...

P.S: save 75$ + 20$ MIR if you go TX-750 instead of Silverstone...


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Like I've said 3 times before, single card is easier to use than two cards. Also as I've said before, I'm not using an immiture platform for someone who doesn't know how to troubleshoot hardware problems. I've already lost one customer because of i7, I'm not gonna go through that crap again.


----------



## 3870x2 (May 1, 2009)

you have 2k to work with and aren't going i7? ddr2 800? ripping this guy off!

go with some 1066 which can be gotten for less than you 800.
Go I7, grab him 4890 or 4870x2, and since this guy is sort of a noob, get him a real pretty shiny case so that he can show his friends, and youll get more business.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

1066 ram makes no difference in speed at all. Just generates more heat and reduces life span. And read the thread. I'm just simply not going to do i7.


----------



## Assassin48 (May 1, 2009)

my current setup has no use to me its 
940
Foxconn A79A-S 
8gb DDR2 dominator 1066  
ill give you first dibs if you want before i put it up on my FS thread 
i also have a zalman 9700


----------



## 3870x2 (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> 1066 ram makes no difference in speed at all. Just generates more heat and reduces life span. And read the thread. I'm just simply not going to do i7.



funny, ive been running mine going on the second year at 1216 MHZ, quite the bandwidth jump....  You have alot to work with, might as well do him right.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

I don't understand your fear of i7... If you ever had a problem with PII, you'll never buy PII again?

Just don't get DFI DK and you RMA rate will be less... BloodRage has such a low RMA rate...


----------



## 3870x2 (May 1, 2009)

I would buy assassin's stuff, you will capitalize on your revenue hardcore.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

That's called ripping off people, and I don't support ripping off  you shouldn't either


----------



## Assassin48 (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> That's called ripping off people, and I don't support ripping off  you shouldn't either



how is it ripping him off the money saved could go to something else


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

it was supposed to be kind of jk but the guy that's buying this comp has a freaking 2k$ to put in this... I think that either buy your stuff and make him pay less or just buy something better


----------



## lilkiduno (May 1, 2009)

Do you have a dead line youmust meet to have this build finished? If not a tight deadline why don't you pay mkmods or cyberduird to mod him a custom one of a kind case. And with $2000 I would suggest AMD PII 940 with crossfired 4850's. Teamed up with some good DDR2 1066MHz.


----------



## BradleyKZN (May 1, 2009)

Wow if i convert that to south african rand, that would be one hell of a pc! Could whack 3 4870x2's in there with an i7 920, the most expensive mobo i could find, a 40'' monitor, everything else, and probably have enough left over to buy another one identical to it


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

BradleyKZN said:


> Wow if i convert that to south african rand, that would be one hell of a pc! Could whack 3 4870x2's in there with an i7 920, the most expensive mobo i could find, a 40'' monitor, everything else, and probably have enough left over to buy another one identical to it



I'm moving to Africa tomorow... that's it!

I think I messed up my link b4

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9964885


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

3870x2 said:


> you have 2k to work with and aren't going i7? ddr2 800? ripping this guy off!
> 
> go with some 1066 which can be gotten for less than you 800.
> Go I7, grab him 4890 or 4870x2, and since this guy is sort of a noob, get him a real pretty shiny case so that he can show his friends, and youll get more business.



+1.  Also nice to see that someone points out the n00b fascination with shiny cases... (i love my shiny case)


----------



## BradleyKZN (May 1, 2009)

Cool man, ill pick you up from the airport. K i made a mistake. You could only get one for that price.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

I'll swim their so it's cheaper... then swim back with the comp in some waterproof box that I'll drag  see you in 7 years!

Oh hopefully there'll be new stuff out when I get there... Oh fuck there'll be new stuff when I get back... Fine I'll take the plane back -_-


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> I don't understand your fear of i7... If you ever had a problem with PII, you'll never buy PII again?
> 
> Just don't get DFI DK and you RMA rate will be less... BloodRage has such a low RMA rate...



I've already said that I lost a customer due to a plethora of problems concerning X58 boards and RAM, I really don't want to get technical with it. I already know the AM2 platform is mature and 100% solid. I have 3 AM2 platforms and an AM3 platform in my house and they're all very good at what they're built for. So yes, I do fear the X58 motherboards. They are NOT for beginners.

On more lighter note, he's gonna pay me tonight so I'm gonna order tonight. Tweaked it some more. 







He said he wants to keep his old sound card that's in his alienware right now. I'll take a look at it when I go and get it tomorrow.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

2 7200.12 500gb will probably perform better than the velociraptor and is cheaper and will have 1 tb

getting a cheaper but nicer looking case would be wiser


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

You don't like the HAF  Imo it's the best looking case for the price.. I have one, I know it's badass  and I'm not so sure about RAID. I've never set it up before and I doubt he knows how to if it ever fails. Like I said, I reeeealy need to keep it simpleish.


----------



## h3llb3nd4 (May 1, 2009)

When I saw the title, I was like, 'awesome I bet you this thread was started by u2k' then I reread then I was like 'oh F***! you call $2000 budget!! I thought it was $200!!'


----------



## ShiBDiB (May 1, 2009)

a 300gb hd will b filled in 2 months


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (May 1, 2009)

h3llb3nd4 said:


> When I saw the title, I was like, 'awesome I bet you this thread was started by u2k' then I reread then I was like 'oh F***! you call $2000 budget!! I thought it was $200!!'



$2000 would buy you a budget Mac.


----------



## h3llb3nd4 (May 1, 2009)

oh yeah, true


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

RAID isn't complicated at all  http://www.overclock.net/faqs/48758-info-raid-0-beginners-guide.html

I set it up without instructions or help.... and I don't even have a rig yet 

The HAF to us may look good, but a RAIDMAX Tornado may look amazing to him


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Oh nice. I'll probably switch to a couple of Seagate 7200.12's then.. I could probably do that.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

How about the case? a nice NZXT could do some good too!


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> How about the case? a nice NZXT could do some good too!



I think he's got his heart set on the HAF.  

Although you could just gut the alienware case, and put the old rig in like a $20 Cooler Master Elite, and then just use the alienware one.  Spiff it out with some cooler lighting.  The use the remaing moneys on something else.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I think he's gonna sell it.. but reusing parts would be kinda lame. The only one he wants to reuse is the sound card which is a XFi so. Reusing the alienware case is a pretty good idea I should ask him about that later.


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

also +1 for the raid - i have used the 7200.12's 250gB in a triple stripe array for a friend - and his rig boots vista almost instantly.  Theyre really fast drives.  Each cost something like $50 and smokes any other HDD config I've built.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

This is awesome

It looks good AND cools well (though probably not like HAFs)


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> This is awesome
> 
> It looks good AND cools well (though probably not like HAFs)



Ive had that case... it looks great from a distance, but it has really cheap plastic on the top and the front.  At least one of the clips holding the front bezel on is guaranteed to come broken from the egg.


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> This is awesome
> 
> It looks good AND cools well (though probably not like HAFs)



Yeah that's a pretty nice case (I have it ). A good compromise b/t sound and air movement, good for this guy probably. Plenty of room and fans at stock, needs to be tweaked to really shine though.



phanbuey said:


> Ive had that case... it looks great from a distance, but it has really cheap plastic on the top and the front.  At least one of the clips holding the front bezel on is guaranteed to come broken from the egg.



I didn't have any problems w/ that, although yeah those clips are flimsy. The rest is sturdy though, I haven't had anything break what so ever. I didn't get mine from egg though (local).


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Yea those cheap cases are ass for cable management. I see no opportunity from the newegg innards shots.


----------



## farlex85 (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Yea those cheap cases are ass for cable management. I see no opportunity from the newegg innards shots.



There's plenty of room in the tempest. It isn't the best for cable management, but it certainly isn't bad. The hdds mount vertically which saves a bunch of space, there are routes to run wires behind the mb tray (the only ones that don't rest back there are the molex plugs, everything else can be put back there), and unless you have tons of hdds and 5.25 devices you can stuff the excess in the bay slots. It won't look super pretty, but it doesn't look bad and I pretty easily kept it from bothering airflow. It's not exactly a cheap case, though not as nice as the haf.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

Hey Shadow, does HAF 932 have super good airflow? and does it stay quiet?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

Sadly it is quiet. Good for you, bad for me. And yes, HAF stands for High Airflow Case.


----------



## Studabaker (May 1, 2009)

If you're going to get him on a RAID array with Seagate drives, better get four drives and make it 0+1.  Sorry, but Seagates fail.


----------



## DrPepper (May 1, 2009)

Studabaker said:


> If you're going to get him on a RAID array with Seagate drives, better get four drives and make it 0+1.  Sorry, but Seagates fail.



All drives fail. Its just chance that some fail before others. Just get raid 0 and two in jbod with an image of the OS in case the raid array needs rebuilt.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

this can help
Now where do you find 230mm fans???


btw do you have good TIM to put?


Seagates don't fail more than WD or samsung... Indeed I am soooo sorry I forgot to mention this.... RAID 0 makes it that if one of the drives from the array fails, you lose all your data...


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

It's out of stock, and what would it do exactly? The haf already has all the fan slots filled.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

not for him... for you more noise


----------



## WarEagleAU (May 1, 2009)

I couldnt see your wish list you posted n-ster. Ya'll have to realize that unless we have your account, we cannot see it. You should do what D did. And D, why did you get 4 2gb vapor x 4870s? At most he would need 2 or get a hd4870x2 and be done with it.


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

Here is my suggestion for a rig. Comes to about $1800. Has intel i7. 2 sapphire 1gb 4870s. 300gb velocirapter. 640gb wd black for back up and everything else needed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999177
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801  x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233028


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

For $2k I would get this... 

3x SSD RAID 0 (SUPERFAST w/ less failure chance)
1x WD 640GB storage drive
Bluray drive
dual 4870's 1gb
Silverstone FT-01 all black aluminum tower...

This rig will 'feel' faster than any core i7 setup with normal HDD's... things will just pop, games will take no time to load, and there will be almost no lag... you can put the pagefile and such on the 640 GB storage drive.


----------



## zithe (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> I just got an order from a customer who wants an amazing gaming PC. He's giving me a 2000$ budget. Been talking to him.. Says that a 300gb hard drive would be enough, so velociraptor was my first thought. He wants an amazing HD monitor to watch HD stuff on so I picked that LG screen, looks really good spec wise. Here is what I got lined up so far.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/090430/Untitled473.jpg
> 
> Check later in the thread for newer list..



Already chose a monitor, huh? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009155&Tpk=g24


----------



## WarEagleAU (May 1, 2009)

For 10 bucks more he could get the hitachi 1tb instead of that 640gb WD. I like the LG monitor, 23-24" someone had on here for 199.99 I think. Its full HD and will work. Im liking most everything you have Shadow, and am glad you went for the 945. Id probably change the board to the DKA790GX if you are on the GX trip or go with the MSI D70 FX board if you are not.


----------



## WarEagleAU (May 1, 2009)

I must admit, that Orange Acer made me spooge in my pants! HAHA, if I painted my HAF all the way blue (like a navy blue) and got the orange ACER, Id have me an AUBURN TIGERS (WAR EAGLE! HAHA) setup.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

2 vertex SSDs in RAID 0 is faster than 3 of any other cheap SSD like that... 2 vertex 30gb = 280$


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> 2 vertex SSDs in RAID 0 is faster than 3 of any other cheap SSD like that... 2 vertex 30gb = 280$



yes... except then you have 60GB instead of 192..  and 2 vertex SSD's at 60GB = $400 

Isnt the vertex SSD just two cheap SSD's with an internal raid controller?


----------



## WarEagleAU (May 1, 2009)

While faster, that is a waste of money for him. If he could, Shadow should keep the raptor (or get one from here rather, the 300gb one if someone is selling) and add the 1.0tb Hitachi for 80 bucks. That would be a steal.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

2 7200.12 RAID 0 is still my vote...


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

You get 200$ + 70$MIRs as payment... i7 Rig incredible... I tell you... i7 is mature... more so that i7 945 or 955 even  i7 is also for newbs !


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I appreciate you trying to help but I am not going to get an X58 motherboard. It's as simple as that.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

get the 2ms version of the monitor... 10$ more only AND 10$ more of MIRs  at the end same price!

P.S: I can't understand your logical though  Shadow... I just can't


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> I appreciate you trying to help but I am not going to get an X58 motherboard. It's as simple as that.



why? The only reason I see you not going i7 is fanboyism. i7 is such a better value for the money right now. If your going to spend $450 or so on a new cpu and motherboard is crazy to not go i7!


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

n-ster said:


> get the 2ms version of the monitor... 10$ more only AND 10$ more of MIRs  at the end same price!
> 
> P.S: I can't understand your logical though  Shadow... I just can't




Do you even have an i7 rig? How do you know it's "OMG WTF FASTTTT". My dad has an i7 rig, it's not THAT fast. It pulls nearly twice the power and heat than a Phenom II while performing nearly the same at high resolution gaming. It's not worth it for a gamer. I agree, it's great for benchmarkers and stuff like that. But this guy doesn't do anything but play stalker and watch movies.

And I'm not a fanboy. i7 just doesn't seem logical at all to me.


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Do you even have an i7 rig? How do you know it's "OMG WTF FASTTTT". My dad has an i7 rig, it's not THAT fast. It pulls nearly twice the power and heat than a Phenom II while performing nearly the same at high resolution gaming. It's not worth it for a gamer. I agree, it's great for benchmarkers and stuff like that. But this guy doesn't do anything but play stalker and watch movies.



lol well if thats the case then you should be building him a $1000 computer. I can build a computer that can watch HD movies and even blu-ray for $250~$300


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

I thought he was not going i7 cuz he thinks it's harder to use or something... kinda like why he didn't want to go RAID 0 b4...


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

I'm still deciding on the RAID. I'm researching it right now. I'm gonna be the one putting it together.. He's paying me to put it together and make it all ready for him.



BrooksyX said:


> lol well if thats the case then you should be building him a $1000 computer. I can build a computer that can watch HD movies and even blu-ray for $250~$300



Might as well go premium everything. He doesn't upgrade at all(he's still gaming on a 4200+ and 7900GT lol)


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

okay but please don't get a 4870x2. A 4890 is more than enough and will be much more power efficient. Again a 4870x2 is more for benching and like you said your not trying to build a benching rig. A 4890 can play everything at full. So go with that.


----------



## phanbuey (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Do you even have an i7 rig? How do you know it's "OMG WTF FASTTTT". My dad has an i7 rig, it's not THAT fast. It pulls nearly twice the power and heat than a Phenom II while performing nearly the same at high resolution gaming. It's not worth it for a gamer. I agree, it's great for benchmarkers and stuff like that. But this guy doesn't do anything but play stalker and watch movies.



+1 totally agree.  

In reality you just need to give that customer something that impressess them on _their_ terms... 

which is why I think SSD's and bluray are key.  If this dude turns on a 7200.12 Raid 0 rig, it might boot up slightly faster than the old alienware, depending on how long the controller takes to initialize. - but when he launches his browser or word, or his DVD player, it will still take the same 2-3 S for the app to come up... games will take a bit to load, and even though they will load faster, the diff is not gonna blow anyone's socks off.  Plus there is the chance that the drives fail.

With SSD's failure is much less, and the percieved performance is off the charts.  I dont care how fast a spindle disk goes, its still the main bottleneck - remove that bottleneck, and you have performance that even a 10Ghz quad with a spindle can't touch.


----------



## n-ster (May 1, 2009)

i7 is for one faster in multi-GPUs, it's for any comp illiterate person to say OMFG I GOTY BEST PROCESSORZZZZ and like you said... premium everything... doesn't upgrade so need better stuff now... Imagine if some 8 threaded games come out?

Hey, could you buy him like a 4830 and then when DX11 cards come out get something nice? cause DX 11 cards will make the longevity of the GPU so much more...


----------



## ShadowFold (May 1, 2009)

BrooksyX said:


> okay but please don't get a 4870x2. A 4890 is more than enough and will be much more power efficient. Again a 4870x2 is more for benching and like you said your not trying to build a benching rig. A 4890 can play everything at full. So go with that.




In some cases I would do that.. But he's a huge stalker fan. Stalker takes a large advantage with crossfire. Call of Pripyat will use XRAY 1.6 which is a modified version of the CS engine, which as you know rapes with crossfire  That's why I got a 4850X2 over a 4890 myself, STALKER fan too.



n-ster said:


> i7 is for one faster in multi-GPUs, it's for any comp illiterate person to say OMFG I GOTY BEST PROCESSORZZZZ and like you said... premium everything... doesn't upgrade so need better stuff now... Imagine if some 8 threaded games come out?
> 
> Hey, could you buy him like a 4830 and then when DX11 cards come out get something nice? cause DX 11 cards will make the longevity of the GPU so much more...



4800's are compatible with DX11. If everything goes well, he should be calling me to upgrade if he ever needs it


----------



## BrooksyX (May 1, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> In some cases I would do that.. But he's a huge stalker fan. Stalker takes a large advantage with crossfire. Call of Pripyat will use XRAY 1.6 which is a modified version of the CS engine, which as you know rapes with crossfire  That's why I got a 4850X2 over a 4890 myself, STALKER fan too.
> 
> 
> 
> 4800's are compatible with DX11. If everything goes well, he should be calling me to upgrade if he ever needs it



Then get 2 4870 1gbs. Will cost less, use less heat, and produce better results. Dual gpu cards are so impractical for the average user.


----------



## n-ster (May 2, 2009)

how is 2 x 4870 less impractical compared to a x2?

You could do what I posted - a 7200.12 - a 4870x2 + 4850x2 + 2 vertex 30gb...


----------



## BrooksyX (May 2, 2009)

n-ster said:


> how is 2 x 4870 less impractical compared to a x2?
> 
> You could do what I posted - a 7200.12 - a 4870x2 + 4850x2 + 2 vertex 30gb...





BrooksyX said:


> ...Will cost less, use less heat, and produce better results



As I said, Will cost less, use less heat, and produce better results


----------



## DaMulta (May 2, 2009)

Real Men Use Real Cores


LOL Had to say it


----------



## ShadowFold (May 2, 2009)

DaMulta said:


> Real Men Use Real Cores
> 
> 
> LOL Had to say it



Another real argument against i7


----------



## n-ster (May 2, 2009)

turn HT off...


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (May 2, 2009)

phanbuey said:


> +1 totally agree.
> 
> In reality you just need to give that customer something that impressess them on _their_ terms...
> 
> ...



I agree exept on the SSD. What happens when you fill up an SSD more than halfway, once? Do you think the customer will know how to deal with that or the tons of other odd quirks that SSDs have. Problems can come up in raid0 but the odds aren't all that great. Anyways, we have yet to see how SSD hold up in the long run. How many hard drives have you had fail?

I wouldn't reccoment an SSD for anyone other than an enthusiast for the time being. They are the drives of the future but not yet. They still have too many quirks to be use as a mainstream HDD on anything other than a netbook/laptop because of the low power consumption, imo.

For a gaming rig I think a PII, a nice, big monitor, and a video card that can handle it would be the way to go. Is he the type of person that wants to deal with multi gpu issues? Probably not since he isn't building his own rig. Keep this stuff in mind.


----------



## DaMulta (May 2, 2009)

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9979105

Raid 0 three TB drives


----------



## n-ster (May 2, 2009)

he probably already bought the parts... I'm sad it won't be i7

P>S I can't see the wishlist


----------



## lilkiduno (May 3, 2009)

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10637852


----------



## ShadowFold (May 3, 2009)

lilkiduno said:


> https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10637852



It's empty. You gotta make it shared. Doesn't matter tho, I already ordered everything.


----------



## lilkiduno (May 3, 2009)

what did you order in?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 3, 2009)

lilkiduno said:


> what did you order in?



What?


----------



## lilkiduno (May 3, 2009)

what parts did you order in?


----------



## ShadowFold (May 3, 2009)

Everything in there except I got two 500gb Seagate 7200.12's instead.


----------



## lilkiduno (May 3, 2009)

hope he likes it


----------



## h3llb3nd4 (May 3, 2009)

He will...Gosh that's a nice rig...


----------



## BrooksyX (May 3, 2009)

h3llb3nd4 said:


> He will...Gosh that's a nice rig...



meh, I still think I could have made it much better for less. Could have got 2x sapphire 4870 1gbs for $190 each - $380 total. So $50 less than the 4870x2 and they will perform much better than the 4870x2. 

Also why would you use a 4870x2 with a 21" monitor? I would have gone a 24" monitor.

Blu-ray burner is also over kill. I would have gone with a blu-ray reader dvd burner combo. You can't make copies of blu-ray movies yet and blank blu-rays are like $3 a pop. thats super expensive. hope you don't get any coasters!!!

No offense but this was not a very smart build in my opinion. :shadedshu


----------



## Bokteelo (May 3, 2009)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

Wouldn't this have been a better deal?


----------



## lilkiduno (May 3, 2009)

i included the blu-ray burner just for the sake of having it but i added the 780GX 4GB (1x 4GB) DDR3 ,fitseries3 uses it and said it over clocks. i thought i put together a kick ass AMD build


----------



## BrooksyX (May 3, 2009)

Bokteelo said:


> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133
> 
> Wouldn't this have been a better deal?



much better deal. would have saved $75. Could have put that cash towards a bigger monitor, more ram, bigger hdds, etc.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 3, 2009)

BrooksyX said:


> meh, I still think I could have made it much better for less. Could have got 2x sapphire 4870 1gbs for $190 each - $380 total. So $50 less than the 4870x2 and they will perform much better than the 4870x2.


Yes and Crossfire is a lot harder to setup and troubleshoot than an X2 card.



BrooksyX said:


> Also why would you use a 4870x2 with a 21" monitor? I would have gone a 24" monitor.


1920x1080 is a high enough resolution 




BrooksyX said:


> Blu-ray burner is also over kill. I would have gone with a blu-ray reader dvd burner combo. You can't make copies of blu-ray movies yet and blank blu-rays are like $3 a pop. thats super expensive. hope you don't get any coasters!!!


I did not know you couldn't burn Bluray movies. I'll cancel the order and get that 109$ LG one. also upped the monitor too
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052



BrooksyX said:


> No offense but this was not a very smart build in my opinion. :shadedshu



I don't get why. Is it because of the bluray drive thing? Cause I can and will change that.


----------



## BrooksyX (May 3, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> Yes and Crossfire is a lot harder to setup and troubleshoot than an X2 card.



x2 cards are still crossfired together through ati software. They are not like dual core cpus. They are like 2 cards sharing the same pcb. So running x2 card and 2 4870 is essentially the same.

I just think you should have gotten a bigger monitor, 2x 4870 or 1x 4890. (A 4890 will have no problem maxing stalker) and a bu-ray reader. 

Blu-ray on a 21" monitor... yuck. Blu-ray is meant to be played on a bigger screen.


----------



## ShadowFold (May 3, 2009)

idk when I had my crossfire setup it was a bitch to get stuff working. My X2 card I just put it in and it goes like a single card..


----------



## BrooksyX (May 3, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> idk when I had my crossfire setup it was a bitch to get stuff working. My X2 card I just put it in and it goes like a single card..



Hmm. When I ran my 3870 and 3850 512mb in crossfire I had no problems at all. Maybe I got lucky because some people do seem to have problems.

Its fine. A 4870x2 is a beast of a card and he will be happy. But use the extra $75 from the blu-ray switch and get a bigger monitor. That way your still not cutting into your profits.


----------



## n-ster (May 4, 2009)

I still think you should've gotten 1066 RAM (which costs 45$ anyways)... and a 27.5" monitor compared to a 23.6" monitor is still huge... I would've tried to fit that in there (120$ more though)

obviously, going crossfire would've saved you 70$, but you could've saved 30$ by getting this


----------

