Hello everyone I am tiring to build a decent gaming computer for my son for graduating college. Problem is that I don't know jack about computer hardware and the people i ask say go buy retail, which is pretty pricey. So a friend of mine suggested that i build form ground up. So if you guys could help me fulfill my promise I made to my son I would really appreciate it. If you could send me links to parts or a shopping list kind of thing that will all come together to make such a machine. I am sure I could find someone to put it all together once I have all the parts. My son only has these simple requests, that it is black case and has green lights and can handle playing crysis and supreme commander at a good frame rate with room for upgrades. I am also willing to send some money through paypal for some assistance in this matter. So to anyone reading this please be my savior and help me build this machine.
Help me build a gaming pc
- Thread starter Archangel90
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Any idea on a budget? Will you be needing a monitor, keyboard/mouse and speakers as well?
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $185 (after MIR)
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 $280
RAM: OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK $85 (after MIR)
GPU: Going to depend heavily on your budget. Mid to high-end cards range from $100 to $500. If cost is no matter, run with the GeForce GTX 295.
Sound Card: Again, whether or not you stick with the onboard sound is going to depend on your budget.
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Total is about $1,350 for a pretty high-end system. With a decent monitor, keyboard/mouse, speakers and a sound card you can easily look at another $500, whereas you can drop the total cost down by $500 by building around a Core 2 Duo, DDR2 RAM and a mid-grade video card.
So, how deep are your pockets?
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $185 (after MIR)
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 $280
RAM: OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK $85 (after MIR)
GPU: Going to depend heavily on your budget. Mid to high-end cards range from $100 to $500. If cost is no matter, run with the GeForce GTX 295.
Sound Card: Again, whether or not you stick with the onboard sound is going to depend on your budget.
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Total is about $1,350 for a pretty high-end system. With a decent monitor, keyboard/mouse, speakers and a sound card you can easily look at another $500, whereas you can drop the total cost down by $500 by building around a Core 2 Duo, DDR2 RAM and a mid-grade video card.
So, how deep are your pockets?
Rage_3K_Moiz
Posts: 5,403 +43
Please look at the sticky in the General Hardware forum and give us the required information.
I second Matthew's build as a great suggestion if it's within your budget.
I second Matthew's build as a great suggestion if it's within your budget.
I was thinking of 1,500 but a little more is not bad. For a gpu i was thinking about maybe 200 - 300 is fine long as it plays games a a good frame ate and he can upgrade it later if he wants. i will also need to find a good monitor and keyboard/ mouse that will last a while. But also is vista worth buying now i mean whats the deal with the operating system.
Alright, $1,500 is very doable. Personally, if I were throwing together a new PC, I wouldn't buy Vista. I'd just use the Windows 7 RC (free) until the consumer launch comes on October 22. Also, the RTM should make its way onto the Web within the next two weeks, if you're into that sort of thing.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $185 (after MIR)
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 $280
RAM: OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK $85 (after MIR)
GPU: Radeon HD 4890 $170 (after MIR)
Sound Card: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeGamer $95
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Monitor: ASUS VH242H $188 (after MIR)
Speakers: Both this and your input devices are really going to vary significantly on preference. The VH242H monitor has integrated speakers - and I can promise you they'll sound like garbage. If you *do* decide to use the integrated speakers, drop the sound card from this list, as it will be nearly useless to own. That said, these are pretty nice and within your remaining budget: Logitech Z-2300 $130
Keyboard/Mouse: Take your pick, heh. $25-$75
For the total, I've averaged your keyboard/mouse cost to $50: $1,478 (again after MIR). This should land in the general vicinity of $1,500 after shipping.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $185 (after MIR)
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 $280
RAM: OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK $85 (after MIR)
GPU: Radeon HD 4890 $170 (after MIR)
Sound Card: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeGamer $95
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Monitor: ASUS VH242H $188 (after MIR)
Speakers: Both this and your input devices are really going to vary significantly on preference. The VH242H monitor has integrated speakers - and I can promise you they'll sound like garbage. If you *do* decide to use the integrated speakers, drop the sound card from this list, as it will be nearly useless to own. That said, these are pretty nice and within your remaining budget: Logitech Z-2300 $130
Keyboard/Mouse: Take your pick, heh. $25-$75
For the total, I've averaged your keyboard/mouse cost to $50: $1,478 (again after MIR). This should land in the general vicinity of $1,500 after shipping.
Rage_3K_Moiz
Posts: 5,403 +43
Take a look at this alternative build:
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition AM2+ 3GHz Quad-Core CPU - Retail - $168.99 + free shipping
- Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P AMD 790FX ATX Motherboard - Retail - $169.99 + free shipping
- mushkin HP 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit - Retail - $72.99 + free shipping
- XFX GeForce GTX 275 896MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card - Retail - $244.99 + free shipping
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD - OEM - $99.99 ($84.99 after $15 rebate) + free shipping
- Samsung SH-S223F Black 22X DVD Writer SATA - OEM - $23.07
- ASUS VH236H 23in Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail - $173.99 ($153.99 after $20 rebate) + free shipping
- ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channel PCI-Express Sound Card - Retail - $81.99 ($56.99 after $25 rebate) + free shipping
- Corsair CMPSU-850TX 850W PSU with Active PFC - Retail - $127.97 ($107.97 after $20 rebate) + free shipping
- Antec Twelve Hundred Full-Tower ATX Case - Retail - $151.49
Rage's suggestion is also a great build. You could even go as far as mashing the two together to save even further:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P $170
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 $169
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB $69
GPU: Radeon HD 4890 $170 (after MIR)
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 $64
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Monitor: ASUS VH242H $188 (after MIR)
Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 $130
Keyboard/Mouse: Take your pick, heh. $25-$75
System total (including speakers, keyboard and mouse as well as rebates - not shipping): $1,305 ($1,125 minus speakers and input devices).
All viable builds which vary minimally. One thing worth noting, however. The cases I've linked are *mid-tower* cases and Rage's is a full-tower. Ideally, for this build, I'd also recommend a full-tower case to ensure that everything fits and breathes properly. Unfortunately only saw one not-so-outrageously priced black full-tower case with green LEDs on Newegg, and it wasn't that impressive, frankly. That said, the cases I linked will almost definitely suffice.
The green lights really present a minor roadblock as the color just isn't as popular as blue. I'm sure there's a case out there for you, and you could always add green lights after the purchase as well.
Anyhow, back to work for me!
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P $170
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 $169
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB $69
GPU: Radeon HD 4890 $170 (after MIR)
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 $64
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB $110
HDD: WD Caviar WD1001FALS $100
Optical Drive: LG GH22NP20 $25
Case: Raidmax Smilodon $60 (after MIR) or Xion II $50 (after MIR)
Monitor: ASUS VH242H $188 (after MIR)
Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 $130
Keyboard/Mouse: Take your pick, heh. $25-$75
System total (including speakers, keyboard and mouse as well as rebates - not shipping): $1,305 ($1,125 minus speakers and input devices).
All viable builds which vary minimally. One thing worth noting, however. The cases I've linked are *mid-tower* cases and Rage's is a full-tower. Ideally, for this build, I'd also recommend a full-tower case to ensure that everything fits and breathes properly. Unfortunately only saw one not-so-outrageously priced black full-tower case with green LEDs on Newegg, and it wasn't that impressive, frankly. That said, the cases I linked will almost definitely suffice.
The green lights really present a minor roadblock as the color just isn't as popular as blue. I'm sure there's a case out there for you, and you could always add green lights after the purchase as well.
Anyhow, back to work for me!
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