Firebird and Up: Best Rig Specs?

[Moltove]

<p>Hey guys, now that I have the money to get the HP/Voodoo Firebird, I'm kinda wondering...</p><p>As gread as the Firebird runs EQ2, minus a couple hitches here and there...are there any great, upgradable rigs that I could build instead for near, or if not lower the same cost? Firebird is awesome, and can run things on max settings, with the only con of having to restart frequently to dump the cash. I've read some reviews though, that people can make a better sstem ofr less. Not only is there a monetary benefit, but the fact that it's actually upgradable (unlike the Firebird's limited customization) is the major upside, so I can upgrade part by part as I go, without having to worry about the CPU or Mobo. This means possibly looking into DDR3, but as far as I know it's stll not mainstream for that type of RAM yet.</p><p>Any suggestions, or favorite customized rigs? I know EQ2 is tough on computers, but it's just about the most I play-- but then again, with my measily Pentium 4 (non-hyper-threading, even), It's hard, iif not impossible for me to play other games. So; main goal is EQ2 and the best performance at max, or just under max (I can live without most shadows, but if I'm chucking money at a computer, I gotta get my money's worth.), and to be able to play 'normal' games at max or close to it, and having the upgradability for when newer games come out.</p><p>Though...the Firebird is sexy...I'm not going to lie.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>Greetings,</p><p>The firebird looks like a nice machine but it seems focused on looks, noise management, and portability.  It's certainly a capable system but you'll be paying for a lot of aesthetics as well. </p><p>Building a computer is not hard these days but it still requires a decent amount of thought.  Do you have any friends localy that have some experience building computers?  If so, it would be good to have them help you with the process.  Some steps like attaching the heatsink to the CPU can cause problems if done wrong.</p><p>If you're looking for general part recommendations then I like the following pieces in the current gen:</p><p>Intel Core i7-920 CPU</p><p>Nvidia GTX260 or the ATI HD4870</p><p>I also like Asus motherboards at the moment.  RAM is pretty interchangeable in the price range you're looking for and the power supply will be based on which other parts you pick. </p><p>Keep in mind that there are a few charges that are easy to overlook when considering a build.  The case, operating system, and other things need to be taken into account as well.</p>

[Moltove]

<p>I'm fluent in building computers, though...my knowledge is a bit outdated now. Physically everything's the same. Mechanics is the same as well-- make sure to get a Mobo that matches your CPU, RAM, Graphics, and HD (though everything's SATA and SSD now. At the time of my education SATA was still a bit new and becoming one of the mainstream HD's).</p><p>I was thinking having the OS and EQ2 (with ACT, EQ2Maps) on a nice SSD, and having documents and such on a regular HDD. I have my media on my laptop, so it's not needed, but I can get an external drive or build a server for back up.</p><p><span><p>Intel Core i7-920 CPU: What about a 860? I'd splurge on a 975 but that's my full refund check from my student loans =P. Though it looks like there's no difference, I wouldn't mind spending an extra couple bucks on the 860. Both the 920 and 860 have great reviews. I'm currently trying to find the difference aside from 2.6 and 2.8 clock speed. Both have the potential of getting to over 3.5 on overclocked speeds.</p><p>Nvidia GTX260: Nice, not too shabby. Still looking around for similar cards and SLI avaliability.</p><p>I've heard a lot of good and bad things from ASUS, though when it comes to Intel I've only heard good. But, It looks like a an ASUS will be the choice. Gygabyte seems familiar. But, I'd go with Intel but I can't see any Intel boards with more than 2 PCI slots. I'd need about 4: two for cards (though some boards support three, which is interesting). for expandability-- Network Card, Sound Card annnd...whatever else I can find. I think that's it though. Looks like if I want an i7 it looks like the two chipsets are 1366 and 1556.</p></span></p><p><span><p>RAM? Well, it looks like I can't find a i7 chipset mobo that doesn't have DDR3, but 4G's sounds good with support for at least 8G.</p><p>Coolmaster case and fans will more likely be the must. OS will be a copy of Vista I have, but depending on how close the release for 7 is, I'll straight to that, with the OS being the last thing I buy.</p></span></p>

[Moltove]

<p>I do have a CPU/Mobo question...are we seriously up to having two CPU's on a motherboard? I noticed on the tech spec for the Firebird it has two CPU's? or is that their way of distinguishing the duo core aspect of the chip?</p>

[Moltove]

<p>Nevermind, I'm an idiot...I just reread the specs. But again, taking into account the above mentioned, what do you think?</p>

[TSR-KenC]

<p>Daniel has been out the past few days so he hasn't been able to get back to you yet. In my opinion however, what you're going for will certainly work, though I would recommend SATA Hard Drives for just about anything you do - It essentially is the standard nowadays.</p><p>Between the 860 and the 975, it's as you say - The 975 is certainly better, but not exactly necessary for EQ2 and a little pricey. I would go with the 860, though it depends on all you plan on doing with the system in the long run.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>A couple of suggestions based on your post:</p><p>-If you have computer building experience from a long time ago then it will be way easier now.  These days you don't need to set a ton of jumpers like you used to since most everything is plug-and-play.  The only hard part will be reading product reviews to discover where the good values are at.</p><p>-Asus motherboards did go through a slump a few years ago where they weren't that good.  I believe their current models are sturdy and give very good performance for their price range, though.  I had a gigabyte board a while back and it had so many issues that I had to swap it out within 2 months of the build.</p><p>-Do you really need a network card?  Unless you plan on using some kind of professional grade network card then you might as well use the network port on your motherboard.  It would be hard to find a motherboard that doesn't already contain one these days.</p><p>-SSD is a nice technology, but still needs some time to mature in my opinion.  Using one for the operating system would be ok but I wouldn't recommend installing the game to one right now.</p>