Building a new computer

[Tempest]

So recently sold my car and will have a bit of cash that I could save or spend...

Trying to justify to my self buying a fucking sweet rig that will do way more then I need lol.

Looking for ideas of what would be the best bang for my buck in terms of brand and stats. For example one brand may be the "best" but cost 2 x as much as another that realistically does the same thing or I could spend $1000 on a super sweet graphics card or get the same sort of result from a $200 card and lots of RAM. That sort or stuff.

Want to try and build something that is Alienware type performance without the price tag.

I 2 Box frequently and have to have most of the good bits turned down... So would like to be able to at least 3-4 box and still be able to have all of the good stuff turned on.

If you had to build the best computer you could but had to use the best "Value" possible what would it be?

 

[hoppy96pgtbs]

Imo.....

EVGA Mobo U dont wanna skimp on the motherboard.

Core i7 cpu Solid chip

GSkill Ram

MSI Video Card SLI or not, will be solid.

PS

2 of these in Raid 0

With this setup you could probably run 10 toons flawlessly.

 

[uberdorf]

i paid 1200$ for my computer 4 years ago and 4 box on it all the time no lag. Now days you can get a faster computer for 600$. If all you are doing is playing a game as old as everquest and internet browsing there is no need to spend more then 600$ imo.
Ibuypower.com is a good site if you cant build it yourself off newegg.com

 

[devestator]

So recently sold my car and will have a bit of cash that I could save or spend...

Trying to justify to my self buying a fucking sweet rig that will do way more then I need lol.

Looking for ideas of what would be the best bang for my buck in terms of brand and stats. For example one brand may be the "best" but cost 2 x as much as another that realistically does the same thing or I could spend $1000 on a super sweet graphics card or get the same sort of result from a $200 card and lots of RAM. That sort or stuff.

Want to try and build something that is Alienware type performance without the price tag.

I 2 Box frequently and have to have most of the good bits turned down... So would like to be able to at least 3-4 box and still be able to have all of the good stuff turned on.

If you had to build the best computer you could but had to use the best "Value" possible what would it be?

Well first off I just have to point out, there is nothing special about alienware performance. It's just another company that got a name for itself because of all the people that don't know any better and now you pay for a popular name and get the same parts that you can buy for 25% of the price at newegg.com for the most part.

Now as the poster above me stated, you do not need a super computer to be able to multibox EQ. Due to the age and design of EQ your most important pieces of hardware are going to be your memory and cpu. If you want everything turned on you are going to need to plan on around 1.2gb - 1.5gbs of memory per copy of EQ. So that means if you want to 4 box with all settings you are going to have to go with a 64 bit system, and you'd want at least 6gbs of memory, although 8gbs would be better. And the more cores the better, EQ tries to eat up 100% of the core it's running on, EQPlaynice can limit this but if you want to 4 box I recommend 4 cores. You will want a descent video card but you will not need anything top of the line.

Before I start going and fetching prices on parts etc, let me ask are you looking to build something for 1k, or was that just a number you threw out there. Because a computer now days depends mostly on what you want to spend. You can build a computer as cheap as 175 dollars that will run a copy or two of EQ, or you can build a computer that costs 2500 dollars and will run 15 copies of EQ. So it depends on if you truly want something just good enough to 4 box, or if you want bragging rights on a beast.

 

[Kkthnx]

In my experience with MSI VGA cards , i wouldnt go near them with a barge pole. Used to use X1550's , and i dont think a single one i put in a PC lasted anymore than a year. They got static interferance on them , or they just stopped the PC from booting completely. Sapphire VGA cards > all

 

[hoppy96pgtbs]

I've always used MSI never had an issue with them. Running 2x 8800GT's in sli, for a while now with no problems. I hear they have bad customer service tho. never had that experience myself.

 

[DemonH2]

I too am a fan of MSI

 

[Krugerr]

Motherboard: Asus p6t Deluxe v2
Processor: Intel i7
Memory: OCZ 12GB ddr3 RAM
Graphics: HD 4870 x2 2gb

Those should do you nicely!

 

[RaidNazi]

I've used MSI on and off for years and they are generally a reasonable middle of the road card.

 

[Pwnsettia]

Basically...

CPU: i7 processor a++, I own 3 different types, 6 processors. even the server one performs beastly.

RAM: Go with anything ddr3 tri channel.. if its not tri channel you're better off with some ddr2 for the price/efficiency. 6 or 12 gigs is what you'll be looking at, I run 12 mostly. I tend to use Kingston RAM now, in the past they were lesser quality but in todays market a great buy for the dollar.

Mobo: I've been using MSI/Gigabite/Asus and thats what I usually stick with. the msi DrMOS board is great for your ddr3 trichannel and i7 needs. But other ones may be more price worthy.

Harddrive: Buy the solidstate, with a decent transfer rate, read into it before purchasing or you may waste money.

VideoCard: Anything gddr3+ 512 is going to be your best bet for everquest, bigger isn't always better. Geforce 8500, geforce 9500, or geforce 9600 cards that fit that category usually go for 50-100$ range. work great.

OS: I use Vista Ultimate for pretty much everything now.

Powersupply: Make sure you get some decent, thats alot of computer to run if you're going to OC anything and run the 12gigs of ram. I usually stick with a 750watt+ (on a corsair or amtech powersupply which actually produce what they advertise, beware of offbrands, but don't go overboard)


Realistically those comps will load 8-16toons easily with the 12gigs of ram depending on your graphic settings.

 

[eqisdead]

I can load 12 toons on a q6600 with 8gb of ram and an 8800gt. I do lag a bit though.

eqisdead

 

[Krugerr]

Tbh, id only buy a reasonably small SSD, and use it for booting up only, get a couple large Sata2 for your main storage.

SSD arnt cost effective yet, and to get a reasonable sized one you'd have to pay alot.

 

[JimJohnson]

For the price of a good SSD you can go with 4 500gb WD Cavalier blacks and a good raid controller.

As for Motherboards the EVGA classified is better then the asus p6t v2(have both)

Pretty sure some more i7 chips are coming out soon or are just released so you have a good range to choose from.

Depending on what you are doing your ram truly wont make that big of a noticeable difference. So if you go DDR3 go lower end speeds will save you 2-400$

Video card - if all you are going to do is play EQ do not go with anything SLI. Go fastest most powerfull single card (think its still the gtx 280)

Dont skimp on the PSU get at least a 750 and make sure it will run your video card. Some low end 900w psu wont run a 280 under load for long periods of time.

Case make sure it fits the location you want but remember to get good air circulation.

Cooling - find a good aftermarket cooler specially if you go with the i7 all of mine run warm.

 

[Krugerr]

For case, i can recommend the Antec twelve hundred.

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTEzMw==

Its a little large, but with all the fans having easy adjustable variable settings, and the cooling being unprecedented. i really recommend it.

1 draw back, the LED's are quite bright and cannot be turned off. Having the computer in my bedroom, i merely cut the wires to the LED's and now its perfect

 

[Casca]

I like this case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146056

my two highest end secondary computers use that. (my main is a test bench). There are limitations for it....like ceratin non-reference design vid cards may not fit, but most do. Just know what you are doing. I have Antec 900's and the 1200. Persoanlly, the 1200 is a good case, but it is just too big and is mostly wasted space for me. The NZXT uses space fairly well and I like the different approach much more and also it matches up well with my array of ITX Silverstone cases that I use on my support boxes.

I'd get an AMD 5000 series vid card over anything else currently. I diffinently would not buy a GTX260/275/285 or 295 ( I run sli GTX285s and am a fan of nvidea usually).

Go look at benches of the 5870 cards and the 5850 cards. I think even the 5850 beats a GTX285/295 easily and is only in the $250 range. 5870's....I think are beating SLI285's and are under $400. They also have 57xx cards as well. The 5000 series are of course DX11 and Nvdia won't have that till GT300, which the high end card should come out sooner or later and will most likly be $600+. Not sure when the lower cards release, but probably a good wait. AMD also has "eyefinity" which supports running many monitors off one card and I think also does like the matrox cards do as well, but with much better resolution.

 

[JimJohnson]

I like this case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146056

my two highest end secondary computers use that. (my main is a test bench). There are limitations for it....like ceratin non-reference design vid cards may not fit, but most do. Just know what you are doing. I have Antec 900's and the 1200. Persoanlly, the 1200 is a good case, but it is just too big and is mostly wasted space for me. The NZXT uses space fairly well and I like the different approach much more and also it matches up well with my array of ITX Silverstone cases that I use on my support boxes.

I'd get an AMD 5000 series vid card over anything else currently. I diffinently would not buy a GTX260/275/285 or 295 ( I run sli GTX285s and am a fan of nvidea usually).

Go look at benches of the 5870 cards and the 5850 cards. I think even the 5850 beats a GTX285/295 easily and is only in the $250 range. 5870's....I think are beating SLI285's and are under $400. They also have 57xx cards as well. The 5000 series are of course DX11 and Nvdia won't have that till GT300, which the high end card should come out sooner or later and will most likly be $600+. Not sure when the lower cards release, but probably a good wait. AMD also has "eyefinity" which supports running many monitors off one card and I think also does like the matrox cards do as well, but with much better resolution.

I run a gtx 295 and a 4870 out does it in EQ. SLI cards are pointless for EQ.

The 5870s do look nice but I would still go with a gtx 280 or a 4870. At least until they are tested and proven to be quality cards without issues.

 

[Tempest]

Before I start going and fetching prices on parts etc, let me ask are you looking to build something for 1k, or was that just a number you threw out there. Because a computer now days depends mostly on what you want to spend. You can build a computer as cheap as 175 dollars that will run a copy or two of EQ, or you can build a computer that costs 2500 dollars and will run 15 copies of EQ. So it depends on if you truly want something just good enough to 4 box, or if you want bragging rights on a beast.

Well don't worry about getting prices etc because I am in Australia so prices will be different and probably so will the suppliers and sites I can buy it from. But thanks for the offer.

But as for what and why, well yes I probably only need it to be able to run up to 4 Copies of EQ flawlessly with all the graphics on... But do kinda want some bragging rights of a beast too...

Best example I can think of is a fast car...

I could get the "Best of the Best" and get a Ferrari for say $250,000 or I could buy a $20,000 car that is going to go the same speeds just may not look as cool or be quite as "perfect"...

If that makes sense... Just want the best value for money I guess, a happy medium between price and performance.

Also, I have never built a PC before... If you buy all the components is it hard to put together? Because from what I hear like 40% of the cost of a new PC is the labor of assembling it.

 

[cudacuf]

Best example I can think of is a fast car...

I could get the "Best of the Best" and get a Ferrari for say $250,000 or I could buy a $20,000 car that is going to go the same speeds just may not look as cool or be quite as "perfect"...

When you find a $20,000 car that performs like a Ferrari, let me know!!!!

 

[Quatarian]

When you find a $20,000 car that performs like a Ferrari, let me know!!!!

From Rsportscars.com:

The Mazdaspeed 3 comes with a 2.3-liter turbocharged engine that produces 263 hp at 5500 rpm and 280 lb.-ft. of torque at 3000 rpm. It is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and helps the car sprint to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds on the way to an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

Base Price: 2007 Mazda Mazdaspeed3 - $22,240 (last update: 3/27/2007)

I've read that's better than the Ferrari Magnum P.I. drove all those years. However, I bet Magnum P.I. still gets more tail in that 80's Ferrari than you would in five Mazda 3s.

 

[JimJohnson]

Guess you can buy a 20k car and deck it out with aftermarket parts and get near same performance.



As for building a computer its pretty simple to put together. But if you price one you dont save much over a pre built one anymore. They make money because they buy in bulk 1k+ item orders or just straight volume overall. You might save 2-400$ now adays.