Building a BF2 Rig....

[squatpuke]

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Friend has BF2 and when I saw it I was floored...

I'm very excited to start playing. My current box won't cut it, so I talked wifey into building a new one.

My budget is around 15 Benjamins...

So far I've only purchased an Antec 900 case...$100 bucks

Considering the following...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038

evga 8800gts OC 320mg

Intel E6600 E6700...
I've heard I should get the 6600 (and save a Benjamin) since the 6700 is only an overclocked version of the 6600.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188019

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131073

680i Mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703008

PCPC 750w PS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020

CPU Cooler...not sure which one...thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145043

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145168

Ram - 2 or 4 gigs...no sure yet...probably 2 to start.

Then for HD's...was thinking about a Raptor for OS with 2 other 7200 HD's in RAID1 for disk storage.

Do I need a sound card?

So...that takes care of the $1500 box....figure I'll build it, then spring for a $600 Dell 2407 LCD...(surely wifey knew that $1500 didn't include a monitor) (hope I'm not sleeping on the couch...hehe)

Would you hippies mind checking out these specs and giving me feedback?

I'm pretty sold on the 8800gts, but I need help on chip/mobo and ram...

Not sure I'll overclock the system or not...might be interesting to learn...

Thanks.

[=98=]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

Definately go for an E6600. You will not notice the difference between the two, and if you really want the speeds of an E6700, simply overclock it to that.

[squatpuke]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

Thanks...that's what I figured....

BTW....I'm getting an "SLI Ready" board and will go SLI as soon as the 8800GTS drop WAY down. FIgured I won't even need it until then..

BTW2...I live in the states. So american dollars. (am I still worthy of a reply? hehe)

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

.
.
Friend has BF2 and when I saw it I was floored...

I'm very excited to start playing. My current box won't cut it, so I talked wifey into building a new one.

My budget is around 15 Benjamins...

So far I've only purchased an Antec 900 case...$100 bucks

Considering the following...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038

evga 8800gts OC 320mg

Intel E6600 E6700...
I've heard I should get the 6600 (and save a Benjamin) since the 6700 is only an overclocked version of the 6600.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188019

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131073

680i Mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703008

PCPC 750w PS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020

CPU Cooler...not sure which one...thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145043

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145168

Ram - 2 or 4 gigs...no sure yet...probably 2 to start.

Then for HD's...was thinking about a Raptor for OS with 2 other 7200 HD's in RAID1 for disk storage.

Do I need a sound card?

So...that takes care of the $1500 box....figure I'll build it, then spring for a $600 Dell 2407 LCD...(surely wifey knew that $1500 didn't include a monitor) (hope I'm not sleeping on the couch...hehe)

Would you hippies mind checking out these specs and giving me feedback?

I'm pretty sold on the 8800gts, but I need help on chip/mobo and ram...

Not sure I'll overclock the system or not...might be interesting to learn...

Thanks.

QFT
Ditto on CPU. Difference between E6600 and E6700 <<<<< $100 imho. Video card is sweet spot, consider a 640mb that should give you a little better performance at higher resolutions.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071

Mobo--a 680I for $150? Yeah, that's my choice. I spent $140 on 965 board not three months ago when all the 680i's were upwards of $250.

PSU: Never heard of that brand, and no experience w/PSU's above 650W.

Memory: save your money, or get 4gb of excellent ram for the price of two (after rebate):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220144

or pay less upfront for not-quite-so-good ram if your rebate-impaired like me sometimes:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

or heck, how about a good 2gb 800mhz kit out the door for $90?

HD's
Raptors = over rated. If you want to get RAID setup, buy 2 200gb drives and stripe them (RAID1) and back them up to a 500gb partitioned into a 400gb (RAID0) and your important files on the remaining < 100gb. Running a pair of new 7200's in RAID0 did wonders for my map loading times, but nothing compared to when I upgraded my whole system. You could a setup like that (2x200gb + 500gb) for probably $50 more than the price you'd pay for the raptor alone, and you get most of the performace and all the security. Or, you could just run your programs in RAID0 and keep your media, data, storage on the 500gb. Raptors are for eeking out that last 3-5% of peformance and LAN parties. :)

Soundcard: Discrete soundcards are a nice frill, and I've heard good things about the x-fi. For $60, I'd go ahead and take the plunge, but you have to send in the rebate to make it a good deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006

[squatpuke]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

Thanks for the post mega...I'll also explore your RAID config...sounds interesting. Is that considered RAID0+1?

I'll get the E6600...sounds unanimous.

As for sound....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130080
This 680mobo has built in Creative XFi, but at a price...

Wonder how those 3 boards compare and if I'll get $120 dollars worth of differnce?

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

Thanks for the post mega...I'll also explore your RAID config...sounds interesting. Is that considered RAID0+1?

I'll get the E6600...sounds unanimous.

As for sound....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130080
This 680mobo has built in Creative XFi, but at a price...

Wonder how those 3 boards compare and if I'll get $120 dollars worth of differnce?

Oops. forgot to link to muskin memory for $90 w/no rebate hassle:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146118

^The fact that it is spec'd to run @800mhz (pc 6400) at 1.8v stock leads me to speculate that these might be decently over-clockable. I have to push my sticks to 2.1v in order to get them up to 1066mhz (pc 8500).

I would go with the cheapest 680i you can find from a decent mfg (i.e., that EVGA for $149 after $10 rebate you linked to), and plug in the x-fi via PCI slot. That way, if you break your mobo, or it becomes obsolete, you've still got a very nice sound card to carry over to your next build (I kept my SB Live! Value through four builds over 6 years, and I'm not planning on upgrading my audigy 2 zs until I can get an x-fi on ebay or elsewhere for ~$40.)

You've got to decide whether the modest speed bump in map loading situations and booting into windows is worth either the cost of the raptor or the increased risk of data loss in a RAID1 situation. Setting up the array can sometimes be a pain in the tail if you're a first-timer, too.

[(TM)KillJoy]

Re: Building a BF2 Rig....

Ok....nice...
I just built a rig very, very similar..same mobo, and I did go with 6700, its overclocked 10&#37; with stock cooling (if you want to go more, get the Zalman 9700). I also went with 4gigs ram (Patriot 2x2 pc6400 EPP ready)(I also still have 2 empty slots left for upgrade later), the BFG 8800 OC2 rox, and I am using the onboard sound. The sound is as good as the Audigy I had, which means I saved enough to get a second BFG 8800 (which is on the way) ...one more thing, you will want to use Vista 64 bit. This system is sooo much faster than my old one, and BF2 plays like a whole different game ...I am loving it, enjoy, you will too.