PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:  
| Looking for suggestions on Mobo and Video Card
My PC died and I think its a good time to build that Home Theater PC I wanted. Aside from being able to rip and play my dvd collection, I'll probably be playing wow on it. I've been out of the loop on the hardware end of things so whats the best bang for the buck now? I think I'd like to stick with Intel processors though.
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Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL
1 edit | ati / amd 780g with side port ram / 790gx boards.
Lower cost and better on board video then intel boards. |
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asdfdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to PhoenixDown
We need to discuss what you are wanting a little more.
Generally with a home theater pc one wants something quiet, small and with attractive externals. This can conflict with the gaming aspect. Although WoW shouldn't need major graphics power getting nice performance while maintaining silence, keeping things small, etc. can take careful planning.
So I think we need to get a better sense of whether you are wanting a machine that will be sitting in your living room or whether you are wanting something like a more normal desktop in a typical desktop case. Since you want to play WoW on it(and it is replacing a dead desktop) I'm thinking maybe this will still be sitting at a desk in front of a monitor, rather than a living room with a tv, wireless keyboard etc.
If it will be sitting in a living room you might have a wife who will be very unhappy if it isn't in an attractive small case, isn't silent etc. (i.e. if it looks and acts like a typical desktop computer). This will add to the cost and difficulties.
Then we will need to have some idea of a budget. |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | I think for now I am going to stick with the typical desktop type case. Later on, I may replace it with a media extender of some kind. Budget - $1,000 to $1,500 I suppose. |
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asdfdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to PhoenixDown
Then I would probably stick with a solid middle road desktop setup. 8400 cpu, gigabyte or asus p35 or p45 board, 4830 or 4850 graphics, seagate drive of whatever size you feel you need. We can go into more specifics if you want me to. I don't think you need to do anything out of the ordinary. You can get a very nice system and come in under your budget.
Or you can wait for nehalem. |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:
| reply to PhoenixDown
asdfdfdfdfdfdf: thanks for the suggestions. Here's is what i am currently leaning toward.
CPU $319.00
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···19115041
Heatsink Included
MotherBoard $214.00
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13188024
Ram $72.00
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
two sets for 4 gigs
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···20231098
Video Card $289.00
EVGA 896-P3-1262-AR GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14130372
DVD / BRAY $30.00
Any Dual Layer SATA drive
Case $99.00
Antec 900
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···11129021
Power $134.00
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···17703009
OS $100.00
Vista Home Premium 32 bit (any difference using 64 bit?)
Total $1,257.00
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asdfdfdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
| reply to PhoenixDown
Your choices aren't bad.
It doesn't sound like you are a heavy duty gamer. For a WoW machine I think you are going overboard in many areas.
The cpu is fine.
You don't need a $200 motherboard with that many pci-e x16 slots.
This gigabyte ds3r p45 based board is 6 phase, has solid caps. It is a solid board at a much more reasonable price.
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13128344
There are other similar options if you prefer a different brand like asus.
If you want a 260 graphics card I would either get the superior 216 core version for a similar price
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14130400
or get a less expensive card. This can be had for $200 at the moment.
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14127361
For WoW this is far more card than you need but it isn't a bad choice. You could move down to the cards I mentioned before for the uses you describe.
A 750 watt supply is far more than you need. A 500-600w corsair in the sub $100 range is plenty.
If you want to use the full 4 GB then you will want a 64 bit OS. 32 bit versions will use 3+GB ram.
None of the changes I mention is going to cripple you or put you in a situation where you won't have anywhere to go because many of your choices are pretty excessive for your needs. I don't however see any problems lurking in your choices. |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | Thank you again for your input! |
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asdfdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net
 from:
PhoenixDown 
| reply to PhoenixDown
Also don't forget a hard drive |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | lol all taken care of, I picked up a 1TB WD the other day on sale. |
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