Gaming Computer

[Tiders]

I'm looking to have a really high performance gaming computer either made for me or to build myself. Does anyone know the best way I can do this while maximizing performance but minimizing price? In other words what's the best bang for my buck?

[wtd]

Don't go quad-core. Stick with dual-core processors. Stick with a motherboard that takes DDR2 RAM. DDR3 would be more future-proof, but DDR2 is cheaper currently, and there doesn't yet exist a terribly compelling argument for DDR3 when it comes to performance. Grab a good graphics card, but not the absolute best. The midrange cards tend to offer the best bang for the buck. Don't go overboard on HDD capacity. 640GB or 750GB drives are probably the sweetspot for value right now.

[S_Grimm]

Check tiger direct for their sales. Often they have bundle deals where you can get the mobo, RAM, PowerSupply, and Case cheaper than buying it individually.

Also I'd go with a Nvidia Card. Check teh back of your gamez to figure out what is the most commonly recomended card.

Like wtd said, go for a 500gb to 750gb HDD. If you need more room, you can always grab External HDD when they are on sale. (I got 2x500gb for $100 each from futureshop)

Again I agree with wtd on the RAM. DDR2 is gonna be a hell of a lot cheaper than DDR3. Stick with a high end dual core, something at at least 3.0 ghz.

Last of all, get a couple of fans for inside the case. The most important rule of gaming is: Keep the card cool!

[Euphoracle]

Buy a 4870 or 4890 as a video card. nvidia's offerings aren't price competitive if you're looking for a good price.

[BigBear]

If you want a good computer for cheap buy an open box from Future Shop or Best Buy.

But then you won't have built it for yourself.

How much money are you planning on spending?

[andrew.]

Whatever you do, don't buy ATI if you are planning to use Linux. ATI Linux drivers are horrible compared to nVidia's.

[wtd]

And don't bother with SLI or CrossFire. They're a royal pain and unstable, plus there's not nearly enough of a performance gain to make it worthwhile.

Two GPUs on a single card, though, that's another story.

[saltpro15]

andrew. @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 wrote:

Whatever you do, don't buy ATI if you are planning to use Linux. ATI Linux drivers are horrible compared to nVidia's.

Preach it brother! I had a HELL of a time with my ATI driver, and I never did get graphics mode working on Ubuntu...

[[Gandalf]]

wtd @ 2009-08-29, 6:40 pm wrote:

And don't bother with SLI or CrossFire. They're a royal pain and unstable, plus there's not nearly enough of a performance gain to make it worthwhile.

QFT.

I'd still get a decent quad core, since the price increase is not too high, and even if your games only utilize 2 cores, you can use the other 2 for side tasks (and there are always more of these than you think). AMD has almost always had the price-performance advantage for mid range, and they're generally cooler processors as well. For GPU, I'd say go with one of the mid-high range ATI cards. As much as Linux is great, it's still rarely sufficient for gaming. With RAM, it's hard to go wrong with getting more, however 4GB or 8GB is more than enough for anything. Invest in good and quiet fans, especially if you're planning to keep your computer in a closed space (ie. a small room which heats up a lot during the summer).

A big thing with gaming on the PC is not necessarily frame rate or graphics, but peripherals. Make sure you have a mouse/keyboard/joystick/whatever that fit your needs well, and get a relatively high performance monitor that you're comfortable with.

[wtd]

AMD may make sense in another way: the boards tend to have pretty decent ATI integrated graphics these days. I don't suggest relying on integrated graphics, but if your uber-GPU goes on the fritz and has to be RMAed, the integrated will keep you going while you wait.

[Vermette]

AV @ August 29th 2009, 12:27 wrote:

Check tiger direct for their sales. Often they have bundle deals where you can get the mobo, RAM, PowerSupply, and Case cheaper than buying it individually.

I'd recommend NCIX over Tigerdirect because:

a) If you're not in BC then you won't have to pay PST

b) in my experience Tigerdirect seems to involve more expensive shipping.

[Euphoracle]

andrew. @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:29 pm wrote:

Whatever you do, don't buy ATI if you are planning to use Linux. ATI Linux drivers are horrible compared to nVidia's.

Tiders @ Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:42 am wrote:

gaming computer

wut.

[andrew.]

He (she?) may want to try Linux and it definitely won't be a good experience with ATI (well at least I had a bad experience).

[apomb]

this is true, but tiders indeed did say gaming computer and the last time i checked, Linux is never considered by gamers.

[[Gandalf]]

apomb @ 2009-09-01, 12:33 pm wrote:

this is true, but tiders indeed did say gaming computer and the last time i checked, Linux is never considered by gamers.

Never say never... Some games have full Linux support, and if those are the only games someone plays, I don't see why they wouldn't stick with Linux.