Need help on building gaming pc.

This is actually in the wrong thread....

Anyway, do you tend to upgrade your processor/graphics card? Because at that price range, the Core2Duo may be a little hard to squeeze in with a good graphics card, and for gaming, a good graphics card comes first. And if you don't tend to upgrade your graphics card, then it would be in your interest to get the biggest possible within your budget, and get a small-ish processor.

I'm also wondering if an AM2 system would save you some money too. I wouldn't go with Intel unless its going to be a Core2Duo, or you plan to upgrade to it later.

You might also want to provide more information on what type of games you play, what else you do on your computer, and how long this computer would last you.

AM2 processors are pretty good, and cheap, I have them all in my machines ( except my high-end versions )

Also I only spent $890 for my old LAN system and it had SLI 7800s ( 2 videocards ), a 700w PSU, some AM2 processor forgot the name, 2gigs of RAM and some other things, If I do find all the parts on newegg i'll link them here!

CMH said:

This is actually in the wrong thread....

Anyway, do you tend to upgrade your processor/graphics card? Because at that price range, the Core2Duo may be a little hard to squeeze in with a good graphics card, and for gaming, a good graphics card comes first. And if you don't tend to upgrade your graphics card, then it would be in your interest to get the biggest possible within your budget, and get a small-ish processor.

I'm also wondering if an AM2 system would save you some money too. I wouldn't go with Intel unless its going to be a Core2Duo, or you plan to upgrade to it later.

You might also want to provide more information on what type of games you play, what else you do on your computer, and how long this computer would last you.

Click to expand...

Oh, sorry about that. Anyway, I probably won't be upgrading later on, though I'm not so sure. I'm new to building my own computer, so I'm looking deeper into it. As for games I play, I mostly play action/rpg games, RTS, and a couple of FPS games. The most demanding game I'm planning on installing on my new computer is Oblivion, if that helps any. About the only other things I would use the computer for are surfing the web or just writing.

TimeParadoX said:

AM2 processors are pretty good, and cheap, I have them all in my machines ( except my high-end versions )

Also I only spent $890 for my old LAN system and it had SLI 7800s ( 2 videocards ), a 700w PSU, some AM2 processor forgot the name, 2gigs of RAM and some other things, If I do find all the parts on newegg i'll link them here!

Click to expand...

Thanks.

For now, the king of CPU's in Intel with their Core 2 DUO Processors...but I think AMD has some things up their sleeves.... The nVidia 8800-Series Video Cards are the strongest in the industry....but ATI (owned by AMD) is about to release anothe video card that will be stronger (and expensive may I add). How much are you planning on spending?

If you would be willing to pay 200 dollars more, (a 1,000 dollar budget) I have actually been able to put together a computer (just online, not in real life) on newegg for 1,000 dollars that has a 8800 GTX 768mb, 2gb pc2 6400 RAM in dual channel, a core 2 duo E6600 2.4 ghz processor, and a decent motherboard. However, I did not include a case or moniter in that price. Just thought that you might be interested

8800s aren't very necessary atm, There is only 1 thing that was actually built around it and doesnt need 5000 patches just to get it to work... Windows Vista and it's still buggy, just get a X1950xt ( Cross-fire, same thing as SLI basically ) and I ran Oblivion on max settings with 60+ fps all times, even during fighting which is pretty awesome

Oblivion still stands as one of the most demanding games out there, so you'll be looking at trying to include the biggest graphics card you can get your hands on.

I wouldn't look into anything other than the Core2Duo, because you'll need all the CPU power you can muster.

I recently bought an X1950Pro, and I'm actually quite happy with its performance in recent games. If you've got a bigger budget, or able to squeeze in an 8800gts, I believe that would serve you much better. It was also the card I was thinking of getting, but had to scale back due to budgetting constraints.

But remember, all these medium-high end components require quite abit of power, so don't skimp on the power supply. You'll regret it sooner or later if you do. I'm a little more biased towards Antec (because I own one, and its awesome ) but there are other PSU makers out there with equally good PSUs out there as well. Before buying one, check here and someone should be able to tell you if its good.

Also, if you can reuse your HDD, optical drives, case, etc, you'll save yourself money and be able to spend the 800 bux on stuff that relaly matter

Okay, thanks guys. Keep the suggestions and advice coming, I find it incredibly helpful, and it's giving me ideas, too.

I was looking at processors and wondered if this would be a good processor to buy for my needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103747

If it isn't, or you could find a better one with nearly the same price range, please post a reply. If it is good enough, could someone please suggest a mobo to go with it? Of all the parts of a computer to buy, I seem to have tohe biggest problem with finding a good, compatible mobo.

2 questions for you.

1. Which OS would you prefer, XP or Vista?
2. Will you be reusing any peripherals (monitor, keyboard etc...)?

nickslick74 said:

2 questions for you.

1. Which OS would you prefer, XP or Vista?
2. Will you be reusing any peripherals (monitor, keyboard etc...)?

Click to expand...

For right now, XP. I've heard mixed reviews on Vista, especially on how much memory it takes up, so I'll stick with XP for now.

As for peripherals, I have a keyboard and a mouse I'm pretty sure I'll be able to reuse, but I might have to get a new monitor, since the one I currently have is really old.

that processor you picked out is pretty decent. If you're unlike me and have to try to get the best atm then you should be fine with that choice. you could even pick a lower grade model with a decent video card and still be okay

Alrighty, let see if we can configure you a system within your budget. With an $800 budget I'm thinking that an AMD AM2 platform is in order.

Case and PSU = $81 after shipping and rebate

Windows = $95 with shipping

CPU = $80 w/free shipping

Mobo = $79 with shipping

Memory = $72 with shipping

Hard Drive = $70 w/free shipping

Video card = $141 after mail in rebate and shipping

Optical drive = $30 w/free shipping

Total $648 without a monitor. I you want to wait on a monitor then you could do one or some of the following: Add a faster processor, add a gig of ram or change the video card from the 1950PRO to a nvidia 8600GTS.

Hope this helped!

Hey, thanks! After looking at your suggestions, I find that I agree with most of them. I just have a few questions.

Is this Video Card better, worse, or about the same as the one you suggested?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143049

Is there enough of a difference between the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ to warrant buying the latter?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103747

And would this perhaps be a better mobo to buy rather than the one you suggested, or would I just be screwing myself over?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128321

Well, that's about all the questions I have for right now. Everything else I agree with, and I appreciate your suggestions (especially the format you set your post up in. Made it easy to access, read, and compare). And these questions can be for anyone to answer, not just nickslick, since I like hearing everyone's opinion. Thanks again, and I hope more people come up with more suggestions.

The 7600GT isn't as good as the 1950PRO. Even though the 7600 has close to the same processor and clock speed, it only has a 128bit bus vs. a 256bit bus for the 1950PRO. With the larger bus, data can flow more quickly.

The processor you link to would be a bit better and the price isn't much different, so I say go for it. I was mostly going on he cheap to help squeeze in a monitor if you wanted one.

The mobo you linked to would be just fine also. It is a bit older than the the MSI (nForce 4 vs. nForce 5) but the Gigabyte does give you the option of going Sli in the future. If you wanted to go Sli in the future, then you will need a nVidea vid card instead of an ATI, so you might want to consider this card. Its not quite as fast as the 1950Pro, but its close. Gigabyte also has a very good rep and this board seems to have some pretty good reviews.

I think Xfire/SLI just isn't worth it, by the time you really need the feature, your graphics card is just way too outdated, that adding a second one barely improves the framerates, that it'll make better sense to replace it completely with a new graphics card.

Just something for you to ponder.

So you would suggest that I stick with the mobo nickslick originally suggested?

The 8600GTS is a no-go, so the X1950PRO is a better option. Also, the mobo nickslick originally suggested is a better choice than the SLI one. I'd suggest throwing in another gig of RAM if possible. Also, that Case + PSU combination is a great one. I just received mine (I ordered it thru a friend for the case itself, will sell off the PSU ) and it is an extremely glossy black. I think you'll love it.

Okay, so finally, this is what I've come to...

CPU-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103747

Mobo-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130050

Memory-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145568

Hard Drive-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148144

Video Card-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061

Case & PSU-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129155

Optical Drive-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151133

OS-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116169

Practically the same thing nickslick suggested (change of CPU, though). So overall, would this be a good computer for gaming purposes? Is there anything I'm forgeting? I'm still undecided if I should buy a second piece of memory or not.

That's cool. If you wanted two gigs of RAM, though, you might try this instead.

If you run 4 sticks that are 512mb each, it will still have 2gb, but I'm not sure if it can have all the bandwidth since there are four sticks to run. This way it's only two sticks (1gb each) and it's cheaper.

Hope it works well for you.

Regards

kitty500cat said:

That's cool. If you wanted two gigs of RAM, though, you might try this instead.

If you run 4 sticks that are 512mb each, it will still have 2gb, but I'm not sure if it can have all the bandwidth since there are four sticks to run. This way it's only two sticks (1gb each) and it's cheaper.

Hope it works well for you.

Regards

Click to expand...

Oh, thanks! I thought about looking for 2x 1GB sticks, but the ones I found were at least $30 more. You saved me money (if I decide to get 2 GB).

New update. Was looking through motherboards again, and found this one. How does it compare to the MSI one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138026

Was just curious because it could save me money on the combo deal they have going.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Should be the second deal from the top, the one with this motherboard and Athlon 4600+. If you see a better deal on that page as well (sech as a better motherboard), please tell me.