Official XS PC Rig Building Guide

[perkam]

Welcome To the XS Official PC Rig Building Guide !!

First Up, INTEL !!

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Intel Sub-$750 System

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor- $120
BIOSTAR TForce TP45D2-A7 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - $99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) - $85
ZOTAC 9600GT-512 GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 - $105
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $80
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $89
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply - $90

SubTotal: $704.99

Total w/Shipping: $749.99

Intel Sub-$1,100 System

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - $170
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $140
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $105
VisionTek Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $170
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $160
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
LIAN LI PC-G07B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $99
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply - $90

SubTotal: $959.99

Total w/Shipping: $1,049.99

Intel Sub-$1,500 System

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model - Retail - $275
OR
Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - $275
ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard - Retail - $200
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $285
OR
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896E GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card - $285
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $130

SubTotal: $1,379.00

Total w/Shipping: $1,499.99

Intel Sub-$1,900 System

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - $330
ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $260
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
2 X SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $340
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $175
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $130

SubTotal: $1,724.99

Total w/Shipping: $1,849.99

Intel Sub-$2,400 System

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - $560
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $270
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $570
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $175
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $160

SubTotal: $2,224.99

Total w/Shipping: $2,379.99

Intel Sub-$2,700 System

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - $560
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - $270
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $280
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $570
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
2 X Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $350
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $160

SubTotal: $2,529.99

Total w/Shipping: $2,699.99

Intel Sub-$3,100 System (Not Available Yet, ETA: November 2008)

Intel Core 4 Quad Bloomfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core (2 Threads/Core) Processor - $550
ASUS T6T-VC1 Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - $300
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $450
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $570
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $260
2 X Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $350
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply - $270

SubTotal: $2,909.99

Total w/Shipping: $3,099.99
__________________________________________________ ____________________________________

Let me know what you think of it

Perkam

[perkam]

Next Up !! AMD !!

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AMD Sub-$750 System

AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor - $105
BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) - $85
Foxconn 9600GT-512 GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 - $105
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $80
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $89
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply - $90

SubTotal: $679.99

Total w/Shipping: $749.99

AMD Sub-$1,000 System

AMD Phenom 9550 Agena 2.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W 65nm Quad-Core Processor - $155
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $145
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $105
VisionTek Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $170
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $160
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
LIAN LI PC-G07B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $99
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply - $90

SubTotal: $949.99

Total w/Shipping: $999.99

AMD Sub-$1,500 System

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ - $235
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - $190
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $285
OR
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896E GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card - $285
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $130

SubTotal: $1,329.99

Total w/Shipping: $1,449.99

AMD Sub-$1,700 System

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ - $235
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - $190
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
2 X SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $340
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $175
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $130

SubTotal: $1,559.99

Total w/Shipping: $1,699.99

AMD Sub-$2,000 System

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ - $235
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - $210
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $150
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $570
2 X Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $180
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - $175
LG Black 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech - $25
Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $135
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - $160

SubTotal: $1,839.99

Total w/Shipping: $1,999.99

__________________________________________________ ___________________

Perkam

[perkam]

Feel free to offer corrections to the above.

Perkam

[BenchZowner]

Don't cry little boy.
I'm here for you

[NOTE]Post will be edited later on with comments, etc[/NOTE]
GTG now.

[SoulsCollective]

Parts listed in order of preference. This represents both my own research for clients and personal experiences, but I by no means claim infallibility in my choices.

Budget Intel
CPU

• E6420 (2.13GHz, 4MB L2, 1,066 FSB). Best price/performance C2D without a crippled L2 cache. 2.13GHz stock speed means these are crying out to be OC'd, however.
• E4300 (1.8GHz, 2MB L2, 800 FSB). Definitely pint-sized at stock and with crippled cache, but these things weren't made to be run at stock. On a decent mobo you've got cheap-as-chips OCing.

Second-hand: E6600, E4600

Mobo

• Gigabyte P35-S3G (P35 chipset). A solid offering from a reputable manufacturer. You won't get stellar performance but for the price you can't fault it.
• DFI Infinity P965-S (P965 chipset). The P965 chipset means this board is somewhat dated, but despite this it can still handle the newer 65nm CPUs and should offer decent clocks.

Second-hand: Asus Commando, Abit IP-35 Pro

RAM

• Any DDR2-667 (PC2-5300). Look for a CAS latency of 5 or better, and try to get at least 2GB.

Second-hand: Any DDR2-800 (PC2-6400). Again, CAS 5 or better and at least 2GB.

VGA
(Really, the bulk of your budget should go here. Please don't spend less than about $150 on the VGA - any less and you're really sacrificing performance for minimal drop in price)

• Any 8800GT 256. The smaller RAM means these cards are unsuited to higher resolutions, but for the price they're excellent value.
• Any 8600GTS 512. They're not great cards, but they should still handle most current games on medium settings at lower resolutions.

Second-hand: HD3870/50, 8800GT 512, 7900 series, X1900/50 series.

HDDs

• WD, Seagate, Samsung. For the love of god get SATA drives, IDE is dead, and try for 16MB cache. Other than that go for the best price-per-GB, and a single drive will do you fine.

Second-hand: Don't. HDDs of indeterminate age and quality are just such a bad idea. Buy new, get a warranty and peace of mind.

PSU
(It's very tempting for many to skimp on the PSU, or use the PSU that came bundled with the case. Don't. You do not want to skimp on the power supply or trust your hardware to YumCha brandless. If the PSU dies, it can take everything else along with it)

• Corsair VX-450. Stable as a very stable thing, cheap. Pity it's not modular, but you can't have everything.
• Seasonic, Hiper, Mushkin, PCP&C, Tagan, Zalman anything. Note that I am not claiming the VX-450 is better than anything by any of these manufacturers (although I'd put it up against most of them) - it's just there's far too many to list them all. Please don't get less than 400W, and you won't need much more than 500W for a budget rig. Check to make sure it has all the connectors you need - PCI-E 6pin, EPS, 24-pin ATX, sufficient SATA for the number of HDDs.

Second-hand: Don't. Capacitor ageing means PSUs get less efficient and less stable as they get older. You really don't want to trust your rig to a PSU of dubious origin and quality.


Mid-range Intel
CPU

• E8200 (2.6GHz, 6MB L2, 1,333 FSB). Cheapest Wolfdale with full-size cache, decent OCing performance. 'nuff said.
• E6600 (2.4GHz, 4MB L2, 1,066). The old favourite, still going strong. Smaller cache than the Wolfdale means poorer performance per clock, but the increased multiplier helps with overclocking.

Mobo - single card

• Abit IP-35 Pro (P35 chipset). Fantastic boards, excellent track record in OCing. Known to exhibit vDroop at higher voltages, but this should not be a problem for air- or water-cooled OCs.
• DFI Lanparty DK P35-T2RS (P35 chipset). Great board pushing some decent results, very nice colours for those with windowed cases.

Mobo - SLi

• eVGA 750i FTW (750i chipset). SLi on a budget; almost inconsequential losses compared to the more expensive 780i chipset and still pushing high clocks.
• Asus P5N-D (750i chipset). Very good value and gets you your two PCI-e 2.0 16x slots, unfortunately not known for high clocks.

Mobo - Crossfire

• DFI Lanparty DK X38-T2R (X38 chipset). As with the P35 board, can push high clocks and looks spanking good.
• Abit IX-38 QuadGT (X38 chipset). Comparable to the DFI board in terms of quality, but the lack of any recent official updates or support is frustrating.

RAM

• Any DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) CAS-4 from OCZ, G.Skill, Patriot, Corsair, Crucial, SuperTalent, etc.. Don't skimp, go for good kits and get at least 2GB. You may even wish to consider 4GB with current prices.

VGA - single card
(Spending money on your VGA/s will make the greatest difference to in-game performance. Try not to spend under $250 total)

• 8800GTS 512. G92 core in all its glory; great cards at any resolution.
• 8800GT 512. Beaten out slightly by the GTS but still a strong contender.
• Any HD3870 with GDDR4. Coming in slightly behind the 8800GT 512, these are still good cards. Whether they're a better buy than an 8800GT will depend on what you can get the GT for.

VGA - SLi
(Spending money on your VGA/s will make the greatest difference to in-game performance. Try not to spend under $250 total)

• 8800GT 512. One is good, two is better. Beats a single GTS 512 for not much extra.
• 9600GT 512. With proven high scaling from one card to two, more than one of these 9-series cards makes good sense and performs well.

VGA - Crossfire
(Spending money on your VGA/s will make the greatest difference to in-game performance. Try not to spend under $250 total)

• HD3870. Good cards on their own (although beaten slightly by the 8800GT), paired up they're, strangely, even better. With Intel chipsets (and thus Crossfire) running cooler and often pushing higher clocks compared to nVidia, two 3870s and a high-clocked CPU are a great combination.
• HD3850. With lower clocks than the 3870, performance does suffer, but not hugely, and the two cards will still give you great performance.

HDDs

• Two smaller drives in RAID-0. RAID-0 offers a decent performance boost over a single drive, meaning your OS boots and games load faster. Note that if one drive dies you lose all your data. Try for single-platter drives for best results.
• Two smaller drives in RAID-1. Still faster than a single drive (with a half-decent controller), but with increased data security - if one drive dies you don't lose all your data. Total capacity is not increased over a single drive, however, so you "lose" half your total investment.
• Big 'ole drive. Terrabyte drives are now somewhat affordable, but you're probably better off with a 750GB.

PSU

• Seasonic, Mushkin, PCP&C, Corsair, Zippy, Enermax, Thermaltake (Toughpower series), Tagan, etc etc. Choose a reputable brand, and look for at least 600W with all the connectors you need.

[disruptfam]

nice souls good write up.. just chuck in there a high end setup

[SoulsCollective]

Cheers mate. High-end is a bit tricky, because you're never quite sure of people's budgets; what's considered high-end and what's considered ridiculous. I'll have a go later tonight.

[xytrius]

SoulsCollective, thanks for #5 man. Really good stuff

[jcool]

Great overview SoulsCollective, I'd agree with most of it.
Just not with the Raid part, that's kinda off :/

HDDs

• Two smaller drives in RAID-0. RAID-0 offers a decent performance boost over a single drive, meaning your OS boots and games load faster. Note that if one drive dies you lose all your data. Try for single-platter drives for best results.
• Two smaller drives in RAID-1. Still faster than a single drive (with a half-decent controller), but with increased data security - if one drive dies you don't lose all your data. Total capacity is not increased over a single drive, however, so you "lose" half your total investment.
• Big 'ole drive. Terrabyte drives are now somewhat affordable, but you're probably better off with a 750GB.

1. Raid 0 doesn't really make a difference when it comes to booting windows or starting games, if any at all. Higher transfer rates don't help when the task at hand is to load lots of really small files one after another, which is done by the above mentioned tasks. Access time is crucial here whereas transfer speeds don't really matter.

2. Raid 1 does NOT improve performance. In an ideal scenario, you get 100% of the performance of the single drives used. Raid 1 just clones your data to two or more disks, but it acts like it's only one disk really.

Try to go for the new 334GB platter drives, as they feature higher transfer speeds than the older 250GB pltter drives. Good examples are the Samsung F1 320, 640 and 1TB HDDs or the WD640AAKS.
640GB will give you the best bang for the buck performance.wise, while 750GB will give you the most capacity for your money.

[perkam]

Bump.

First Post Updated.

Perkam

[m0da]

Was actually looking for your suggestions a few days ago perkam. glad you're bringing them back!

[Warboy]

Intel/Nvidia Sub-$2200 System

EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 - $349.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache - $329.99
OCZ NVIDIA SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Dual Channel Kit - $259.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 FTW Edition - $649.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W - $269.99
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM - $169.98 ($84.99 Each)
SAMSUNG Black SH-S203N DVD-Burner - $26.99
COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKN3-GP Black - $279.00

Sub-Total: $2,125.91

----------------

I just think there should be more then just ATi Cards in rigs, so this isn't bad.

[perkam]

Intel/Nvidia Sub-$2200 System

EVGA NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 - $349.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache - $329.99
OCZ NVIDIA SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Dual Channel Kit - $259.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 FTW Edition - $649.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W - $269.99
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM - $169.98 ($84.99 Each)
SAMSUNG Black SH-S203N DVD-Burner - $26.99
COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKN3-GP Black - $279.00

Sub-Total: $2,125.91

----------------

I just think there should be more then just ATi Cards in rigs, so this isn't bad.

I don't mind putting Nvidia rigs in there too, but they aren't feasible, like your rig above. An OC'ed GTX 280 has no chance in beating two 4870s in crossfire which cost $70 LESS !! Not to mention that the X48 chipset is far superior to the 790i chipset. (Your rig would be under $2000 if you picked one of the $500 GTX 280s)

Perkam

[Warboy]

The X48 is not Superior, quit hugging Intel.

Besides, this is general design stuff, it really comes down to what the person that's wanting the system wants. I plan to add more Low priced rigs later, but it's currently 1am. So In the morning hopefully. The only Nvidia Video card you have in your list is a 9600GT and that's not even worth it.

[Isaac MM]

The X48 is not Superior, quit hugging Intel.

X48 is not superior to 790i? Is that a joke?

[twwen2]

X48 is not superior to 790i? Is that a joke?

QFT. Unless you must have SLi, Nvidia chipsets don't stack up when compared to the Intel offerings.

[Asgard_thor]

no the 750i is superior to all, I WIN

[Omastar]

lol, X48 not superior to 790i...I wonder, on what chipsets are all the FSB records being broken? Intel? Really? :o

[GripS]

Very nice guides. I would also include known good batch's and such. Wish this kind of guide was around when I built my first computer.

[zanzabar]

lol, X48 not superior to 790i...I wonder, on what chipsets are all the FSB records being broken? Intel? Really? :o

the 790i has higher internal latency so it clocks higher, but if u used loose timings on intel then u could achieve the same or vary close

and that foxconn x48 is close to the 790i in the FSB but wins overall clock

[dieqast]

A dutch website posts best buy rigs monthly. Í was actively involved in scraping together a E 2000 system including mouse,kb,speakers and headset. This might be something for here? Mind you, this is a high-end gaming oriented rig, not so for OC'ing:

Acer P241W -- 24", WUXGA, 5ms,3000:1, TN-Panel
Coolermaster Centurion 590
Corsair HX620
Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
Gigabyte X48-DS4
Intel E8200
Logitech G11
Logitech G51
Logitech MX518
OCZ Platinum PC2-8000 2x2GB -- High binned Powerchip, low price = WIN
OCZ Vendetta 2
Samsung SH-S203N
2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 640GB
2x Sapphire HD4870's
Steelpad QcK
Steelseries (Icemat) Siberia 3.5mm

Looking at perkam's setup (sub-1,500 system that is), I see some flaws this setup improves on. Tell me what you think!

[Warboy]

I really can't wait till eVGA releases the 790i Ultra SLI FTW edition, Have you seen the preview pics? It's very beautiful design wise and what it uses.




Anyways, I'll post some more Intel/Nvidia combo systems soon.

[DarkDisciple]

I almost have the sub $1500 exactly without ever seeing this thread. If only I could figure out why my CPU is running so hot now.

[perkam]

lol, X48 not superior to 790i...I wonder, on what chipsets are all the FSB records being broken? Intel? Really? :o

I don't think you got the point.

I might change the sub $800 rig to an nvidia chipset (750i maybe), but if the rig demands xfire, X48 or P45 is the way to go with an Intel system.

A single GTX 260 is still around the $340 mark and performance equal or slower to the $299 4870. A single GTX 280 is something I could add to the sub $1500 rig and am thinking about that, but I'm not touching the 260 in any form, and even with that, I would only be going single card GTX 280 as the only novelty left for the card is its ability to offer greater performance in a single card config.

@Warboy, I am open to Intel/Nvidia systems, but if they offer less performance for more prices than the above, they're not all that useful. I would recommend sticking to GTX 280 configs; GTX 260 and 9800GTX configs lack the punch to justify the buy. The 9600GT not being worth it at $120, well, you're just plain wrong. The 9600GT handily beats both the 3850 and the 3870 GDDR4 and comes with 512MB GDDR3 which, for the price, is amazing performance.

@DarkDisciple, that is freaky, just saw your sig 0_0 lol. You have one balanced rig there m8.

Perkam

[n-sanity]

Regarding used HDD's... definitely a huge don't: i bought 4 250gb caviar enterprise drives, every single one died in consecutive use within 3 months of being plugged in. Oh the frustration...
As for the guide... very XS !