MooseMan3000

I don't have much to add to the previous comments, except to say that it's funny how many responses this thread has gotten. I think everyone's drooling over the prospect of a $4000 machine. I know I am.


Basically, to sum up my thoughts (most of which are agreement with other posts):

Case - good choice. You'll be happy that you bought a good case. It makes things much easier on you.

Power Supply - I don't know much about the specifics of different brands, I just know that I've had bad experiences with cheap/off name PSUs. The one you chose should do alright. You may want to read some reviews on which ones are quietest and coolest, though, if those are concerns.

Processor - Generally, I prefer AMD, because you usually get better bang for your buck, especially when it comes to games. Since you're looking to go high end, however, the ones you've chosen seem a pretty safe bet. I'd go lower end, personally, because most of your gaming power isn't in the processor. Not to mention the difference in performance probably isn't worth the jump in price.

Motherboard - I'll say what most everyone else said: get a motherboard that has the features YOU want in it. (Example: do you need firewire? If you're not going to edit movies on this machine, probably not.) Getting a high end board just because it's high end is a waste of money. Much of what you pay for is features.

Memory - More memory > faster memory, most of the time. If you can stay away from the bleeding edge Corsair XMS stuff, but get twice as much for the same cash, do so. You'll notice a big performance boost, especially in newer games that run multiple threads simultaneously.

Optical drive - Sure. Basically irellevant to your gaming performance, so whatever.

Hard drives - Do you need TWO 150 GBs in RAID-0? That's just a larger probability of failure, in my eyes. If you want RAID-0, do it with smaller Raptors and use it as your boot drive and the drive where games are installed. Like others have said, get some 7200 RPM storage drives to buff up your space. That way you get the best in performance, reliability, and storage space. From what I hear, the Samsung Spinpoint 7200 RPM drives are outstanding in terms of speed, heat characteristics, volume, and reliability.

Sound card - What they all said. Why do you need a $200 sound card? You playing a lot of symphonies on your computer? Doing lots of THX editing? No? Then save your money. The Xi-Fi won't increase your performance enough to justify the cost. Get a sub $100 Sound Blaster and you'll be fine. Seriously.

Video card - Yes, yes, and yes. Please rub it all over my body. The only way I could enjoy that card more is if one could somehow bottle the performance for consumption.

Speakers - You use speakers when gaming? Most serious gamers I know (and looking to spend 4 Gs on a gaming machine probably qualifies you as "serious") use headsets. Just a thought. But I would definitely get better speakers. I don't have any particular recommendations - I defer that to people who know more about them.

Monitor - That one looks pretty good - for an LCD, that is. As good as LCDs are getting, I still don't think they perform as well as CRTs in a gaming situation. It's getting pretty durn close, though, and with a good LCD, you won't notice the difference unless you're really looking for it. It would probably be worth it just to save the headache of using a CRT.


Other thoughts:

How about a Phys-X card? Some new games are using dedicated physics processors now, and in games that support them, it can really improve performance, as well as make them look much prettier. Most games don't use them yet, but if you're looking for a top end system, that would probably be part of it.

And do you have a good mouse? I recommend a laser or high resolution optical. The mouse I use is a Logitech MX-518, and I love it, but I've heard good things about the Razer mice as well.

Get a good keyboard as well. A slow space bar reaction time can mean the difference between a perfectly executed jumping-knife-headshot and being totally shot in the face.

And if you don't have one already, a good headset. I've heard mixed reviews about the 5.1 surround headsets, so I probably wouldn't get one of those, but some of the Logitech and Sennheiser sets have emulated surround that apparently works really well. A good headset will both make the game more immersive (fuck background noise, man) and make you better at the game. Can we say footsteps, anyone?


Huh. For not having much to say, I sure did type a lot.