Gaming rig for Everquest 2 @ $1000

[pjsmalley]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the next 3 months

BUDGET RANGE: @$1000 ~ the important thing to me is being able to run EQ2 with the graphics turned up and not make it lock up.....I am single with no children, so this makes this very flexible....less is better but not a neccesity

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: EverQuest2...internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Everything....the monitor could wait if need be, I can run it through my plasma TV

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: prefer newegg, but open to trusted websites

PARTS PREFERENCES: I have been partial to Intel and nVidia, but willing to change

OVERCLOCKING: Sure!

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Sure!

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 or better

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am not in any time crunch to purchase tomorrow, but would like to get it built soon...i am open to all your advice and thnak you in advance!!!

 

[arogot]

first of all, one should never be partial to intel vs amd or nvidia or ati, rather only partial to a better product, that being said, i would recommend not going i7 if you have to buy a monitor and all that because its not going to stay at 1g if your buying a whole new system monitor and all. look into a quad core so u save on the mobo ram and cpu also check out the amd black its a pritty sweet card, the tri core and quad core that brings us to your graphics, deff look into the 4770 in crossfire it beats the gtx 275 and the 4890 in colors and matches up to the gtx 285 (a 400 card) and only costs 220, its a great choice, i would have made it over my gtx 260 but it was not out.... if your up to boost budget up by all meens go i7 but don't expect 1000 for an i7 with a monitor with 1920x1200 for this monitor look at the acer 23 inch it is hdmi and looks stunning, i am using it right now and absolutely love it
also keep in mind that everquest is not that heavy a game
keeping to a gts 250 or a single 4770 is not a bad idea and will save money

 

[arogot]

good luck!

 

[pjsmalley]

So what you are saying is, if I have the money, go with an i7?

If so, then let's just start from there

I can crank the budget up to 1500 or more if need be, but if I do i definitely want it to be somewhat "futureproof"

I think that my biggest concern is that I don't want to run into compatibility issues because I don't know enough about how the components are going to interact with each other. And again, I can get the monitor sometime in the future. Basically every 15th of the month I have about $1k to play around with.

Thanks again!!

 

[Why_Me]

i7 build

This build includes a factory over clocked gtx 260 and is set up so you can add another one later on for SLI, not to mention this build is set up to over clock if you so choose.

Make sure you flash to the latest bios with that mobo and then download the latest drivers for it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-nvidia-sli-motherboard,7463.html <--- Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266.html <---vid card benchmarks gtx 285, 275, 4890, 260, 4870, etc..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $74.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 $119.99 ($99.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920 $265.99 Free Ground Shipping
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99 Free Shipping*
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430 $174.99 ($154.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193835 Combo Discount: -$5.00 Combo Price: $164.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 $24.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

Total: $1,050.90 | $975.90 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <---Save yourself some money and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

 

[arogot]

if you have the ex cash id say bump up to ati 4770 in crosx its truly an amazing set up as much as i like nvidia id recommend this as future proof (even thou i don't believe in that word) and hey if u wana go i7 more power to you, im runing an i7 and WOW its so fast, truly amazing, i use it for 3d animation and video editing and the occasional game and its blistering fast

 

[arogot]

check this on the 4770
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4770-crossfire,2288.html
dont be bias that its an ati, they make great cards look at it open minded

 

[crazytiki13]

Alright me being a EQ2 player since launch i have a good experience with that game. IT IS EXTREMELY CPU HEAVY!!! graphics cards are least important. that being said.... i7 wont make a huge difference in eq2 then a core 2 duo overclocked to 4.2ghz. EQ2 only really uses 2 cores at the most. I built this computer and i can play EQ@ 100% maxed out with shadows, antialiasing, and on 2560x1600 resolution. since your aiming at a 1920x1080 you probably dont need all of it.:
* CoolerMaster Elite 310 Mid-Tower 420W Case with See-Thur Side Panel
* CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit
* CD: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
* FAN: CoolerMaster V8 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent Operation at only 22dBA + Overclock Proof)
* HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
* MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus Striker II Extreme 790i Chipset SLI Mainboard Dual-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
* MEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Dominator
* POWERSUPPLY: 800 Watts Power Supplies (CyberPowerPC XF800S Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
* VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX275 1792MB 16X PCIe Video Card (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA
*http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Samsung-2333SW-23-Widescreen-Full-HD-LCD-Monitor_W0QQitemZ200346713908QQcmdZViewItemQQptZComputer_Monitors?hash=item2ea5983f34&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1308|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

depending on the deals you get it will prolly be under 1,500 and it will play EQ2 beautifully!

***ALSO EQ2 DOES NOT SUPPORT SLI IN THE VERY LEAST!!!! IT MAKES THE GAME WORSE THEN BETTER***
hope it helps

 

[smithereen]

I'd go with a PHenom II 940, a Gigabyte 790GX, and an HD4890 or crossfire 4770s

 

[crazytiki13]

crossfire = sli its basically same thing it will give you worse performance then just 1, Sony doesnt want to update eq2 for it i dont know why. i got a 3-way sli 'cause i got it for free otherwise choose the best non sli or just 2 way sli board you want