More questions about building a computer

[snacks]

I've asked before a few weeks ago, but in case things have changed or I can get more opinions, I'm asking again.

I'm trying to build a computer. I'm looking to run pretty much any game, including BioShock, with at least medium settings. I need some recommended parts, and preferably keep the total cost under $1000 if you recommend an entire setup, excluding the cost of the monitor. As for graphics card, I will probably buy an 8800, I just need to know which one.

 

[Daveskater]

personally i would buy a well rated mobo and an amd althlon 64 x2 with at least 2gz on each core and as long as you don't have massive resolution on your monitor (e.g. 1600x1200 or above) you would be ok with the 320mb version of the 8800, get at least 2gb of ram with a decent speed and a seagate or western digital hard drive. if you want a dvd rw then get a good brand and make sure you check the minimum power requirements of your graphics card then get a psu with a higher watt rating (to allow for some room ) and that's about it really

 

[LinkedKube]

How can you openly say you want to play pretty much any game(including bioshock) but spend less than 1k. And you want a g80 card. The card itself is at least 300 for the lower end one. On medium detail you can plan no getting 35-40 fps with that card. If that's fine with you then ok.

At the price you want to spend I'd recommend c2duo processor, maybe a 680 board by asus or evga, 2 Gigs of corsair ddr2 800. 7200rpm HD(maxtor or WD) g80 640mb version.

I dont see how Daveskater recommended an athlon 64 x2 cpu when the c2duos outperform them so much. And c2duos are pretty cheap right now. I think I smell a fanboy?

 

[snacks]

Just wondering if anyone can do it. I'll spend over $1000 on a computer, but I'm not going to spend extra money if someone does have a way to spend less than $1000 and still play BioShock at medium. I'm definitely not looking for 60 fps in BioShock if I'm not willing to make a high-end machine, anything that at least never goes below 30 fps is normally good enough for me.

Also, I'd rather not choose my own psu since I don't really know anything about them, so I'd rather have one recommended to me than search for one, because reviews are always overwhelming positive or negative.

 

[SNGX1275]

Here is my system, change the processor to a 6420 and I'm pretty sure you can clock in under $1000.

Gigabyte 965-DS3 Motherboard
Core2Duo E6400
2 Gigs of Mushkin DDR2 800 RAM
400 Gig HD
Enermax Noisetaker II 485W PSU
EVGA 8800GTS 320
CoolerMaster Centurion 4 or 5 or something case I forget

Anyway, I bought the CPU a while back with another board, you'd be stupid to buy a 6400 now with the 6420s being the same price. You can probably even bump the 8800 to 640 and still come in under a grand.

I played the BioShock demo at 1680x1050 at the highest settings. It did seem to struggle at points, but nothing that screwed up my gameplay. I'm sure it would be fantastic at medium settings, or if I dropped the resolution.

 

[Daveskater]

I dont see how Daveskater recommended an athlon 64 x2 cpu when the c2duos outperform them so much. And c2duos are pretty cheap right now. I think I smell a fanboy?

i didn't say i recommended an amd, i just said that that's what i would buy because i just prefer amd processors

 

[snacks]

If it's worth it, I'll go over $1000 if the video card pushes it over.

And then why bother commenting on the processor if you aren't recommending it? You really didn't need to comment on it if all you wanted to say was your opinion of which you prefer.

 

[SNGX1275]

And I said you could build a system with the same parts as I have but with the 6420 and come in under $1000 and have the performance you said you wanted in the first post.

 

[snacks]

Just waiting for more responses if I can.

 

[SNGX1275]

Well there really isn't much to say. You've got $1000 you can spend. So what I'd do is go to newegg and use my specs as a baseline. Get a slightly better motherboard if you want, or up the processor a bit more, or downgrade the hard drive, or upgrade it, then get the 640 meg GTS if you've still got money.

Really unless you are going to go with AMD there already is a system outlined that will do exactly what you asked for, and if you upgrade a few things on it you can even get better.

 

[snacks]

What should I know about motherboards and choosing one, aside from PCIE x16 slots?