New PC Budget, $2200 setup.

[Clinkz]

Well, here is basically what I'm looking for.
8 GB RAM (4x 2G)
Around 3GHz CPU
EVGA Graphics
A decent case
A good LCD monitor
If possible (not needed) Liquid cooling.

[Kalean]

Do you plan to overclock? How long do you want the rig to last you? Any possible cpu/gpu upgrades in the near future? Do you have a operating system to install?...Would you be willing to go 2x2gb with a 64bit os?

Keep in mind regarding the cpu upgrade, that intel will be switching to a new socket/chipset...so you won't be able to upgrade CPU wise unless you change your mobo/cpu/ram (ddr3). Reason I'm stating this, if you plan to OC and have this system last you many years with a GPU upgrade 2 years down the road, you'll want an x38 board to have PCI-E 2.0...

Last but not least, when do you want to buy this?..It's been confirmed that we have R700 and GT200 in June/July. I HEAVILY suggest waiting...It's only 30-50 days away. These will be brand new architectures, not the ones that have been out for such a long while in the current market.

[Casino]

i'm planning on making some upgrades before aion comes out, when is intel switching to the new platform? i'm doing fine with my current intel c2d 8800gts 2g ram, but i have a feeling i'll need more power to play aion on max everything. i'd think to go quad core with vista 64bit and go 2x2gb ram.

as to the op and when to buy, if your current rig is doing ok with whatever games you are playing now i would highly suggest waiting til maybe 1 month before aion's release to get the benefit of the best deals on the latest equipment. 1 month will give you time to work out any problems that might happen during assembly as well as drivers/os issues. i know someone who is building a new system for AoC which comes out saturday for early access but his hardware won't be in til friday evening and if he has any problems his current rig really can't handle it so he'd be out of luck. gotta order late, but not too late!

another edit: is 8gb really going to be necessary? i doubt aion will use over 4gb. unless you need it for some other purpose i suppose.

liquid cooling is really unnecessary unless you are really OCing heavily. even a moderate OC can be quietly cooled by a good hs/fan solution.

[Kalean]

Liquid cooling isn't necessary...Best to put the money where it counts. If you plan to do some heavy OC'ing, a thermalright ultra 120 extreme will be adequate.

But yes, buying late but not too late is the best route....Regarding intels Nehalem platform, the high end bloomfield board and cpu's come out LATE q3 or q4 this year. But they will be high ends, so expect extreme edition processors..probably all 900+ and nothing below. Mainstream is Q1 2009. The reason I was asking him if he was deciding a cpu upgrade, is due to the fact that if he does plan to switch over to nehalem within 2 years, best to just get a p35 board to save funds...PCI-E 2.0 isn't needed since no cards break the barrier, and only VERY few titles can actually take advantage of it, one being Flight Simulator. So really no need if you plan to upgrade relatively soon...But if he wants the rig to last 3-5 years with a gpu upgrade down the line and stick with a penryn/kentsfield, best to just pick up a x38 board for PCI-E 2.0 due to the time frame.

8GB isn't necessary, but it's nice to disable page files if you have that much memory =P. But absolutely not necessary, 2x2gb is fine. Plus, you actually lose a bit of OC potential by filling all 4 ram slots.

[Casino]

depending on how things go we may be looking at a Q1 2009 Aion release as well, lets hope not though. if thats the timing though i may just wait regardless of aion's debut.

how much of a performance boost will you get from disabling page file? 8gb of ram really isn't that pricey in the grand scheme of things. my only worry is the extra power, the extra chances for defects, and usually more parts = less stable. i try to stick to the minimum while still making use of dual channel architecture.

[Howling]

Originally Posted by Casino

i'm planning on making some upgrades before aion comes out, when is intel switching to the new platform? i'm doing fine with my current intel c2d 8800gts 2g ram, but i have a feeling i'll need more power to play aion on max everything. i'd think to go quad core with vista 64bit and go 2x2gb ram.

Craziness, craaaaziness. Which C2D are you using? And which GTS? Is it the 512mb (G92) or 320MB/640MB (G80).

If you're using anything better than an E6750 and the GTS is G92, then you really won't have any trouble with aion on max... Any slow down you'll see will be due to HDD load times. I run a Q6600 @ 3.2GHz, 4GB ram, 8800GTS über OC and I ran Conan in Max settings at 1680x1050 without a worry in the world. Once the char data from other people had loaded from my hdd, I was getting a solid 42 (literally solid, it didn't move within more than 1fps either side of it).

[Casino]

i'm using the E6420 2.13ghz chip. 8800GTS with 320mb ram. 2x1gb ddr2 @ 266mhz. nothing is overclocked. i think i have a bad memory module that gives me intermittent restarts and lockups which is keeping me from overclocking even mildly, i've just never gotten around to replacing it. i think it also may be the cause of occasionally very slow loading times. right now i'm using a 17" LCD at 1280x1024 so its not that bad on my system, but i'm thinking for aion i'd move up to at least a 20" which makes the res much higher and harder on the system.

[Howling]

Hmmm, yeah. The G80 GTS isn't very good at all tbh.. get some new ram 2x2gb G.skill PC6400 do you nicely.. And replace the graphics card with a EVGA 9800GTX (they're reasonably cheap) so you can step up in a few months if the new GT200 cards are decent. Your CPU is fine tbh, just OC it.. Not sure how far the e6420 goes, I'd say 2.6GHz would be a standard OC for it. Might wanna nab an aftermarket heatsink - best off asking Kal about those.

No point upgrading to a quad core like you originally suggested, not for Aion at least. The money be better spent changing the graphics card instead.

[Clinkz]

I plan on buying this around the end of august. I want to OC, I will be able to upgrade the Mobo/CPU/GPU when Intel releases the new socket/chipset, and my parents are going to buy the OS for me.

[Masblaster]

Your a moron 8 Gigs of ram is pointless just want to state that again!!!!!

[Migado]

My setup which was close to 1900$ is:
Thermaltake Kandalf LCS Chassis: $280
Asus P5KC mainboard, P35 chipset, no SLI, however has 4 DDR2 and 2 DDR 3 slots, maxing at 8GB. $140
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 CPU (I got this through an Intel promotion for $220)
Corsair 1gb sticks of memory (I don't remember the models..) x 4. $87 /2gb
BFG 8800GTS OC (was $320.. less now that the 9 series is out. Still is better than the 9 series and is cheaper now)
Western Digital standard SATA hard drive ($78 got it at work)
Sony DVD/RW drive ($35 got it at work)
Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit (came with the intel CPU package)
Windows Vista Business 64bit (got free from a friend )
37" 720 Samsung LCD television as my monitor($999 with service plan. Got it at work too.) All in all it's pretty sexy. Haven't had a need for overclocking yet. Runs Crysis on max settings pretty flawlessly. LCS keeps the system at roughly 80 degrees f. CPU capped for me at 101 degrees f. Replacing CPU with Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 soon and motherboard as well, haven't decided what to replace it with though. Want to make use of my secondary 8800gtsoc in SLI. All in all, fairly inexpensive for the performance.

[Masblaster]

Originally Posted by Migado

My setup which was close to 1900$ is:
Thermaltake Kandalf LCS Chassis: $280
Asus P5KC mainboard, P35 chipset, no SLI, however has 4 DDR2 and 2 DDR 3 slots, maxing at 8GB. $140
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 CPU (I got this through an Intel promotion for $220)
Corsair 1gb sticks of memory (I don't remember the models..) x 4. $87 /2gb
BFG 8800GTS OC (was $320.. less now that the 9 series is out. Still is better than the 9 series and is cheaper now)
Western Digital standard SATA hard drive ($78 got it at work)
Sony DVD/RW drive ($35 got it at work)
Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit (came with the intel CPU package)
Windows Vista Business 64bit (got free from a friend )
37" 720 Samsung LCD television as my monitor($999 with service plan. Got it at work too.) All in all it's pretty sexy. Haven't had a need for overclocking yet. Runs Crysis on max settings pretty flawlessly. LCS keeps the system at roughly 80 degrees f. CPU capped for me at 101 degrees f. Replacing CPU with Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 soon and motherboard as well, haven't decided what to replace it with though. Want to make use of my secondary 8800gtsoc in SLI. All in all, fairly inexpensive for the performance.

.....WTH is wrong with you people the max ram you can use on that version of Vista is like 3.3 or 3.0. In order to use 4 gigs of ram you need Vista Ultimate other wise it will show you do have 4 gigs of ram but it won't be used do some research k thnx

[Diablo]

Originally Posted by Masblaster

.....WTH is wrong with you people the max ram you can use on that version of Vista is like 3.3 or 3.0. In order to use 4 gigs of ram you need Vista Ultimate other wise it will show you do have 4 gigs of ram but it won't be used do some research k thnx

Wow, thats um wow. Thanks for trying though.

[Tareith]

Half-truths without knowing why are dangerous. I think he may want to read about the differences between 32bit and 64bit OS/apps.

[Masblaster]

Originally Posted by Tareith

Half-truths without knowing why are dangerous. I think he may want to read about the differences between 32bit and 64bit OS/apps.

Read the full document not just the chart


Windows Vista Edition 32-bit (x86) Windows 64-bit (x64) Windows
Windows Vista Ultimate 4 GB 128 GB
Windows Vista Enterprise 4 GB 128 GB
Windows Vista Business 4 GB 128 GB
Windows Vista Home Premium 4 GB 16 GB
Windows Vista Home Basic 4 GB 8 GB
Windows Vista Starter 1 GB N/A




"So the typical available RAM for the OS will be reduced to between 3 GB and 3.4 GB."

Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit (x86 and x64) Maximum Supported RAM Physical Memory Limit My Digital Life

Originally Posted by Diablo

Wow, thats um wow. Thanks for trying though.

WoW really dude like totally WoW....................The Diablo is comming for you!!! Thanks for trying though