Kick-ass gaming system

[Sandman]

Ok, so I want to buy and build a kick-ass gaming system. While money pretty
much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end. The system I am
having now is:

P4 3.2 Ghz
Serial ATA drive
1GB of DDR SDRAM
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 Mb
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo

This already is a very good system, but when running Doom III, I get about
20-40 FPS on "ultra high" settings in 1280x1024. I think this is bad. I want to
bump that up to at least 60-80.

So, what system should I get?

Which motherboard?

Which CPU?
AMD?
P4?
64 bit?

What memory?
How much?

What graphics card?
ATI X800?
GeForce 6800?
What brand?
PCI Express?
AGP 8?
PCI-X?

What disks?
SCSI?
Raptor?
Raid?

Water cooling? (noise is an issue)

Or rather, if you could build together your dream system, what would it be?
Just name it, then I'll buy it, build it and taunt you :-D

 

[M Connoly]

How about, wise up and spend your endless not-an-object cash on something
worthwhile like helping starving kids in Africa.

Damn spoilt rich kids.

 

[Hawkeye]

How about, wise up and spend your endless not-an-object cash on something
worthwhile like helping starving kids in Africa.

More like help sterilizing the ignorant adults there that can
fornicate but cant feed the kids they produce.

 

[Sandman]

How about, wise up and spend your endless not-an-object cash on something
worthwhile like helping starving kids in Africa.

I do that too.

Damn spoilt rich kids.

I'm 29 years old and run my own firm. I've worked hard for every cent I own.

Should I take your reply to say that you have no idea what kind of system I
could build?

 

[Anthony Harris]

Ok, so I want to buy and build a kick-ass gaming system. While money pretty
much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end. The system I am
having now is:

P4 3.2 Ghz
Serial ATA drive
1GB of DDR SDRAM
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 Mb
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo

This already is a very good system, but when running Doom III, I get about
20-40 FPS on "ultra high" settings in 1280x1024. I think this is bad. I want to
bump that up to at least 60-80.

Well with doom 3, you won't get no more than 60 fps anyway as it is locked
at 60 fps. To be honest the only thing that is need to upgrade is the
graphic card to the new 6800's by either ATI or Nvidia.

But don't really see where you need to upgrade though unless it is cause you
want to brag to friends and people on the net but 20-40 fpsis good for doom
3 at those settings and the average person with PC's can just about run the
game on medium settings at 1024x768, and no AA and people are happy with it.

That is a way above average spec PC and upgrading for just one game is just
like a complete waste of money weather you got it or not.

 

[JK]

If you want to play Doom 3, you want an Athlon 64 processor. A $160
Athlon 64 3000+ beats an $825 Pentium 4 3.2 ghz EE in Doom 3!

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

It is also great for other games.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2065&p=1

If you want even better performance, you might want to use an Athlon 64 3500+
at around $350.

Ok, so I want to buy and build a kick-ass gaming system. While money pretty
much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end. The system I am
having now is:

P4 3.2 Ghz
Serial ATA drive
1GB of DDR SDRAM
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 Mb
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo

This already is a very good system, but when running Doom III, I get about
20-40 FPS on "ultra high" settings in 1280x1024. I think this is bad. I want to
bump that up to at least 60-80.

So, what system should I get?

An Athlon 64! Which one depends on your budget. The Athlon 64 3000+
at $160 is good, the Athlon 64 3500+ at around $350 is great, and the
FX-53 at around $800 is superb!

Which motherboard?

Which CPU?
AMD?
P4?
64 bit?

What memory?
How much?

What graphics card?
ATI X800?
GeForce 6800?
What brand?
PCI Express?
AGP 8?
PCI-X?

Definitely a 6800.

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy

 

[Sandman]

If you want to play Doom 3, you want an Athlon 64 processor. A $160
Athlon 64 3000+ beats an $825 Pentium 4 3.2 ghz EE in Doom 3!

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

It is also great for other games.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2065&p=1

If you want even better performance, you might want to use an Athlon 64 3500+
at around $350.

Ok, thanks for the advice! I'm not going to play only Doom III (in fact, I kind
of got tired of it already) but I want a system that will handle D3 with ease.

An Athlon 64! Which one depends on your budget. The Athlon 64 3000+
at $160 is good, the Athlon 64 3500+ at around $350 is great, and the
FX-53 at around $800 is superb!

Ok, I'll keep that in mind.

Definitely a 6800.

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy

....for Doom III, but what about HL2 for example? Or other GFX-intensive games?

 

[Sandman]

Ok, so I want to buy and build a kick-ass gaming system. While money pretty
much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end. The system I am
having now is:

P4 3.2 Ghz
Serial ATA drive
1GB of DDR SDRAM
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 Mb
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo

This already is a very good system, but when running Doom III, I get about
20-40 FPS on "ultra high" settings in 1280x1024. I think this is bad. I want to
bump that up to at least 60-80.

Well with doom 3, you won't get no more than 60 fps anyway as it is locked
at 60 fps. To be honest the only thing that is need to upgrade is the
graphic card to the new 6800's by either ATI or Nvidia.

But don't really see where you need to upgrade though unless it is cause you
want to brag to friends and people on the net but 20-40 fpsis good for doom
3 at those settings and the average person with PC's can just about run the
game on medium settings at 1024x768, and no AA and people are happy with it.

That is a way above average spec PC and upgrading for just one game is just
like a complete waste of money weather you got it or not.[/QUOTE]

Well, I wouldn't be doing it for just one game - it just dawned on me that D3
was pretty much unplayable, and I don't want to go back on the settings.

 

[Cuzman]

" So, what system should I get? "


Building a money-no-object system today, I might opt for...

- CoolerMaster CM Stacker
- PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Deluxe
- AMD Athlon64 FX-53 (Skt 939)
- Gigabyte GA-NSNXP-939 nForce3
- 4x 512MB OCZ EL Gold Edition PC4400 2.5-4-4-8
- ATI Radeon x800 XT PE (AGP8x)
- 2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD
2x Hitachi Deskstar 400GB 7K400
(in RAID 0+1 array)
- Windows XP Pro

....and I can't be bothered to look-up DVD drives, water-cooling, and other
gadgets I might add.

 

[Hang Fire]

If you want to play Doom 3, you want an Athlon 64 processor. A $160
Athlon 64 3000+ beats an $825 Pentium 4 3.2 ghz EE in Doom 3!

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

Oh, look. Anand picked (his big advertiser) AMD over Intel. What a
surprise! And he trashed the "crippled" (his words) 9800XT, with frame
rates so low no one can duplicate them. Surprise, surprise!

It is also great for other games.

Fair enough, but not enough reason to switch processors. Going to PCI
Express card and MB is probably going to be the biggest bang for the
buck. (Nothing wrong with the AMD, though).

HF

 

[Mac Cool]

While money pretty
much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end.

There is nothing to upgrade for. The Ultrahigh settings are for video
cards and processors yet-to-come. Wait until HL2 comes out and gives you a
reason to upgrade. You'll have forgotten Doom3 in a month anyway.

 

[Lordy]

Ok, so I want to buy and build a kick-ass gaming system. While money
pretty much isn't an object, I don't want to go out on the deep end.
The system I am having now is:

P4 3.2 Ghz
Serial ATA drive
1GB of DDR SDRAM
Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 Mb
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo

This already is a very good system, but when running Doom III, I get
about 20-40 FPS on "ultra high" settings in 1280x1024. I think this is
bad. I want to bump that up to at least 60-80.

So, what system should I get?

Which motherboard?

Which CPU?
AMD?
P4?
64 bit?

What memory?
How much?

What graphics card?
ATI X800?
GeForce 6800?
What brand?
PCI Express?
AGP 8?
PCI-X?

What disks?
SCSI?
Raptor?
Raid?

Water cooling? (noise is an issue)

Or rather, if you could build together your dream system, what would
it be? Just name it, then I'll buy it, build it and taunt you :-D

Knock yourself out ...

http://www.go-l.com/desktops/machl38/features/index.htm

Spec probably a bit out of date already eg 16xDVDR is out now.. but that
gives you an idea how much your pc will depreciate! I'll buy if from you
next year for £500

Lordy

 

[Sandman]

There is nothing to upgrade for. The Ultrahigh settings are for video
cards and processors yet-to-come. Wait until HL2 comes out and gives you a
reason to upgrade. You'll have forgotten Doom3 in a month anyway.

No doubt. I'm already tired of it. But I think you're veery wrong about HL2.
Doom 3 is probably a lot more demanding than HL2.

And the ultra-high setting -works-, I just want some extra FPS, using a better
tuned system would probably give that to me.

 

[noone]

Proverb: It is better to be thought as a fool than to open your mouth and
remove all doubt.. In your case, you open your mouth.

If it is as simple as not having kid is your solution to them then, you
really don't know anything in their society or culture.