New Gaming PC in Japan

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moidave

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Feb 23, 2009
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Hi!

I am living near Tokyo and am trying to built a Game PC using some components from an older one.

As I live in Japan, not all components are available in stores or the prices are different.

Here is what I have:

-regular desktop ATX case with 450W PSU
-250Gig HD 5400 RPM
- 24" Acer HDMI monitor
- DVD burner

Here is what I want and the prices in Akihabara or on Japanese online stores in dollars. Obviously, I would love to order everything from the US but between shipping and customs, it would be pretty nasty. I would appreciate any input.

I'd like to base my PC on a E8500 CPU(160$ here) , and do not plan on doing any Overclocking but have a few questions:

1. Does the RPM of the HDD matter for games? Not going for a 7200RPM would save me some money.

2. I plan on getting 2 DDR2 of 2GB each. I'd pay 50$ for DDR2 800 but 100$ for DDR2 1033. Is it worth it?

3. Should I get a new case? I can get an Antec 300 for 100$ in store around tokyo. How many fans should be inside? What about on the CPU?

4. ATI 4830:110$, ATI Sapphire Toxic 512MB 4850: 160$, ATI Sapphire 4870 210$. I'd like to buy one card now and update in a few months adding another one in crossfire. Any advice?

5. Good, entry level crossfire Motherboard? Don't care about OC, but Wi-FI would be nice.

6. What PSU considering that I'll go for Xfire in a few months? It Maybe because I am a foreigner but in tokyo stores, the advised me to get a 650W-54 Ampere PSU that runs at 170$. Seriously?

Thanks a lot!

David
 
Post some links to online stores you would buy from so we can help you better.

1. Yes load times will be much faster with a 7200rpm drive, go for a WD drive if you can find one for a good price, they are probably the most reliable.

2. no, just get DDR2-800 if your not going to overclock

3. Its tough to say because you didn't say what case you have. The Antec 300 is good, but not worth the price of $100. Chances are the PSU you have with that case is very low quality, so I would suggest you get a better one of those. look for Antec, Corsair, PC Power& Cooling or seasonic.

4. Get the 4870 if you can afford it, that 4850 seems like a reasonable price too though. The GPU is highly dependant on the monitor you play on. If you play on 1650x1080 or larger, then I would definitely suggest the 4870.

5. Gigabyte EP45 UD3P or Asus P5Q Pro are good and usually decently priced, however I don't know what prices are in Japan.

6. For xfire their suggestion sounds good, but that is a high price, prices are much more reasonable here in the US. Corsair 650tx would be a good option, maybe higher though if you will xfire 2 4870's. PC Power&Cooling 750w is a good one too. Give some links to online stores you would buy from so we can find you a good one for a reasonable price.
 
1. I'm not sure if you'd notice a difference while in the game, but for loading screens, loading windows etc. you will. Since you already have the HD, though, If you're looking to save money I would just use that.

2. If you're not going to overclock get the DDR2 800.

3. What case do you have now? If you're satisfied I dont see a reason to get a new one. That said, the Antec 300 is a good case. It comes with two fans (atleast on newegg) and has room for an additional 3.

4. I would go with the 4870. If you're trying to save some money get the 4850.

5. As long as you get Gigabyte or Asus you cant go wrong. Find something w/ the 790X/FX/GX chipset and SB750 southbridge.

6. If you get the 4870 I would recommend atleast 700W, 750 to be safe. If you're going with the 4850 you could probably get away with a 650.
The most important thing is to get a name brand. PC Power & Cooling, Antec signature or Corsair are good ones. They're probably going to be pretty expensive.
 
Overclocking isn't that complicated and you can get some good performance gains without jeopardizing your cpu, so you should consider it, especially if this is meant to be primarily a gaming rig. You can push an E8500 to 4ghz pretty easily with a decent CPU cooler. If you are open to the idea, look for the Xigmatek S1283v Dark Knight, Arctic cooling Freezer 7 pro, or Scythe mugen 2 for good and relatively cheap coolers.
 
Thanks for the quick answer.

I have no idea what brand is the case I have, there is no inscription whatsoever. My boss gave me her PC so I assumed it mostly designed for office work. For additional cooling is it good to leave the side panels open or too risky for dust accumulation?

Here the website I might use: you can use the right side to choose a specific brand. The current exchange rate is roughly 90 yens/ 1 Dollar.

Motherboard:
http://kakaku.com/pc/motherboard/
Cases:
http://kakaku.com/pc/pc-case/
Graphic cards:
http://kakaku.com/pc/videocard/
PSU:
http://kakaku.com/pc/power-supply/
 
I'd say this mobo:
http://kakaku.com/item/05402013455/

This PSU if you go with 2 4850's:
http://kakaku.com/item/05901011035/
for 2 4870's:
http://kakaku.com/item/05901411124/

For cases, I'd go for this, since the 300 is so expensive over there. the 300 is great over here because its so much cheaper for the value you get. This one is a better value for you.
http://kakaku.com/item/05801011389/

For GPU's, there isn't too much of a difference in brands, so go for the cheapest deal you can find.
 
That is great!Thanks! A few more questions:

As for the GPU, if I get a dual slot with a bigger fan, would it be a problem later, space wise when I add another card in crossfire?
Would it be a good idea to get a more powerful card but used on ebay, or a new one but les powerful?
 
Ebay is always a crapshoot, sometimes you find great values there, sometimes you get screwed, so if you want to take that risk, then you can find some excellent deals there. I wouldn't buy unless I was very sure of the value I was getting from the online seller of a used peice of hardware.

Most cases have 7 expansion slots, so unless you have a lot of other accessories like wireless cards, tv tuner, ect you shouldn't have a problem adding a second dual slot card.

How much can you spend exactly? that would be very helpful, it would be easier to give advice if I knew how tight your budget was.

I just saw that you have a 24" monitor. In that case I highly suggest you get the 4870 at least, if not going with the 4850x2. Otherwise you will have to turn down your graphics settings for you to get playable framerates in most of the newer games that are coming out.
 
I am hoping to spend around 600$ but less than 700$. I am probably going to get the 4870 since it will give me easy upgrading options later on. I am hoping to save on the HD and case, to spend more on other parts. But I am scared of using a crappy case and having poor ventilation
 
The saphire toxic has a light overclock on the core and memory, but this overclock makes almost no difference and you can easily do that yourself. The only thing about the toxic that would be worthwhile is the cooling solution it has, which is better than the stock heatsink and fan. The extra graphics memory is most noticable in High AA situations. If you would like to play with high AA then I would go for the 1GB card, if its not that important then just get a regular 512mb card. Don't get the toxic version unless you find one for just a little bit more than the regular version, its not really worth it otherwise.

As far as your case goes, you need to measure the space it has behind the expansion slots to determine whether or not it will fit your GPU's, the 4870 is on the larger end of the size scale for GPU's. I believe its 10.5 inches long...can't remember how many cm that is.

As for one of your earlier questions, it is ok to leave the side of your case off if you don't mind having it off, dust and such things will get into the case anyway unless you have filters on the fans, and most cases don't have filters. But if you are worried about getting enough airflow for your components, then leaving the side of your case off will definitely help cool the system off. You can buy a can of compressed air for cheap and just use it to clear out the dust once a week if your worried about the accumulation in your case.
 
I actually found a Palit 4870 1GB for 50$ more than a regular 512MB
http://www.dospara.co.jp/5goods_parts/parts_detail.php?h=d&f=d&m=parts&ic=87338&lf=0

The case seems to be large enough for the GPU. But I will take exact measures before I buy everything.

to sum it up here is what I should pay:

E8400: 160$
P5Qpro: 130$
CMPSU-650TX: 130$
Palit 4870 1GB: 250$
2x2GB DDR 800: 50$

So around 720$ for something that will last quite a while.

About the memory, better to get 2x2GB or 1x4GB?
Also, when you buy a CPU and MoBo does it come with a fan or heatsink? If so, should I still plan on getting an extra fan?
 
Get 2x2, that way you can add more later to your extra open slots for a total of 8gb when your system starts to slow down.

Retail CPU's come with heatsink/fans which will cool the cpu just enough to give you acceptable temperatures at stock speeds. If you want to overclock (which you should do IMO to get the most out of your CPU, its a free and fairly easy performance upgrade,) then you need to buy an aftermarket heatsink/fan. I suggest this one:
http://www.dospara.co.jp/5goods_parts/parts_detail.php?h=d&f=d&m=parts&ic=91553&lf=0
 
Thanks for our help!

I will probably get my PC in a few weeks, but I have just read the ATI 4890 should come out soon, which should significantly lower the 4870 price. It might be worth the wait, no?
 
good point but the prices will surely be at least as high as the current 4870 1GB, probably more. I guess if I can find it for less than 300$ in Japan, I would consider it, unless I can get a 4870 for much cheaper.
 
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