building first computer

[drummerboy92]

i want to build a computer, but i dont know a whole lot about em. i want a gaming computer i can also use for web surfing and school work, but mostly just gaming. id like it to be able to play games that have recently come out, but im on a budget. i know $600 isnt very reasonable and i dont want to cut corners, but i DEF. cant go over $1000(hopefully not even close to it). i dont need a moniter or keyboard or mouse or speakers. id like it to play new games and games coming out in the near future, be easily upgradable and have 5.1 surround sound (already picked out speakers). also, cd burner and dvd burner. suggestions?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by drummerboy92 i want to build a computer, but i dont know a whole lot about em. i want a gaming computer i can also use for web surfing and school work, but mostly just gaming.

A gaming computer will do anything else you'd want to do with a computer, it's just configured to game better than a standard computer.

Originally Posted by drummerboy92 id like it to be able to play games that have recently come out, but im on a budget. i know $600 isnt very reasonable and i dont want to cut corners, but i DEF. cant go over $1000(hopefully not even close to it). id like it to play new games and games coming out in the near future, be easily upgradable and have 5.1 surround sound (already picked out speakers).

This is where it's gonna get interesting...you really can't build a "good" gaming computer for less than $1000 (at least a gaming computer that will do what you want) unless you go real cheap on the components, which we don't recommend you do at all. Building a gaming computer with cheap parts is just asking for trouble down the road. You could build a decent gaming computer for around $1000 but it won't be able to play the latest games with all the eye candy turned on and it won't be able to handle newer games that come out in the future very well. The problem is you'd need a really good video card to build the computer around and these cost at least $280 for the budget models and $600 for the highend models (these will play future games easily). Even with the budget model you've taken a big chunk out of your budget for the rest of the parts.

You can't go cheap on the power supply since it's the most important component in the computer and you must buy one that has enough power to drive the video card...so figure on getting at least a good quality 450 watt model for the budget video card and at least a 550 watt model for the highend video card. Folks here like the Corsair power supplies and the 450 watt model is $80. The only other power supplies I would recommend are the Fortron Source, Sparkle Power, PC Power & Cooling and Seasonic...of these the Fortron Source and Sparkle Power would be more reasonably priced.

And if you want it to be easily upgradable you have to be thinking in terms of upgrading within a year or so, not 3 to 4 years down the line...that's too long and newer computer parts will have evolved too much to be compatible with your current motherboard.

Originally Posted by drummerboy92 also, cd burner and dvd burner. suggestions?

A DVD burner will also burn CDs so you only need a DVD burner...unless you want to do disc to disc burning, then you'll need a DVD reader too.

Cricket

[drummerboy92]

ok thanks ive picked out a few of the parts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130085
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227124
would that power supply be able to run that graphics card? everything else sound decent?

[maxnik]

everything you picked looks great to me. That PSU will be enough for that video card. Though it's not a high end gaming card. Mine 8600GT plays BF2 fine with highest settings.
You'll need hard drive - look for 250-320GB Seagates or WDs.
Do you have Operating system?

[drummerboy92]

ok thanks. i plan on getting windows xp home http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056
picked out a hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144151
and memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227124
any recommendations for a graphics card? im thinking of getting a 7xxx, such as a 7600gt (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062) instead of an 8xxxx and wait to get a second gen 8 or even a 9 later. thanks

[Katreat]

Check out this video card review to help you chose.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/...ney/index.html

Kat

[drummerboy92]

ok thanks. im going with the 7600gt (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062) and wait to get a better card that comes out later since there are still a lot of older computer games i havnt played that would run fine on a 7600gt (and im short on cash)

[drummerboy92]

i think i have pretty much everything i need...

case: APEVIA X-CRUISER-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144151)

psu: CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply 100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139002) (i plan on getting a 8xxx or 9xxx graphics card later which may take more power. it wont give my 7600gt too much power and fry it, will it?)

cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115016)

hdd: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140)

mobo: ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180)

ram: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227124)

optical: LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072)

graphics card: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062)

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056)

now, do i need a sound card because i read on another thread that you shouldnt. also, do i need any extra fans or a heatsink (not sure what a heatsink is... guessing it takes heat away from everything else...) THANKS

[xraycatj]

The onboard HD audio on my P5K works fantastic. I didn't feel the need to buy a soundcard.

I don't know if you're doing a RAID setup, if not you won't need the floppy drive. BIOS updates can be done in the Windows environment or with a USB drive really easy on this MB. Also it'll take a couple seconds off your boot up time without a floppy.

[drummerboy92]

ok thanks

[Alaron]

Your CPU will come with a heatsink and fan to keep itself cool.

Your PSU only gives out the power the system needs, no worries.

Your list is solid.

[drummerboy92]

ok thanks a lot