roughly $1000 budget want to build gaming pc

[demon_54]

Ok well this will be my first build but I have prior pc knowledge mostly software and programming related. I havent done much hardware things but I know whats what. But I have roughly $850-1000 to spend on parts for building a gaming pc. I have some things leftover from previous pc's such as lcd moniter, led mouse, keyboard, speakers, modem, ethernet card, and the basic wiring (even though most parts I will have to buy come with necessary wires) But as for pc needs I just need a pc that I can play games such as Call of duty 4, hellgate, timeshift, fear, gears of war, guild wars, warcraft and have them run flawlessly. Any suggestions on good parts that work great and are affordable.

[demon_54]

sorry forgot to add one quick thing I also have a dvd burner and cd drive from my old emachines t5026. But the cheaper the better but performance is a must. Fast processer, good video card, good ram.

[pam123]

Check out my signature.
Start with the AMD X2 6000 + and 2 GB of Corsair (6400) ram.
Check out the 8800 GT or the new ATI 3800 graphics cards.
Get one of the Asus 5XX chipset boards instead of the one I have ( I would do that differently the next time. Though the 430 is very stable the on board sound can be a real pain to set up. ) and consider putting in an inexpensive Audigy SE ($30 at newegg).
I have a 320 GB Seagate SATA 3.0 HDD but if you want more storage go for the 500 GB.
Do you have a case and power supply ?
I chose the Antec Sonata 3 with a 500 watt power supply after Devastator found it on sale at newegg ( keep an eye out for their specials that one was really a good deal.).
Even with buying a 19" widescreen LCD I still came in at under $1000.
The parts I carried over from my older set up were the DVD drives, my trackball and my headphones/speakers.

[Tanker]

You should be able to build a very nice system for $1000.

Go with an ASUS or Gigabyte P35 Motherboard $130
Intel E6750 Core 2 processor $195
Antec or other good PSU $100
Geforce 8800 GT $250
Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, 2 GB $90 less $40 rebate
Seagate or WD hard drive 250 gb $70
Decent case $100

Total of $895 plus shipping

Tanker

[wildfire]

Originally Posted by Tanker You should be able to build a very nice system for $1000. Go with an ASUS or Gigabyte P35 Motherboard $130 Intel E6750 Core 2 processor $195 Antec or other good PSU $100 Geforce 8800 GT $250 Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, 2 GB $90 less $40 rebate Seagate or WD hard drive 250 gb $70 Decent case $100 Total of $895 plus shipping Tanker

ahhh.. I had a T5026 , it didn't have a pcie slot.

Well what Tanker posted is a really good build except, I'd say you could get this Corsair Ram, Corsair and Crucial are great Ram Brands. $40 after rebate for 2x1gb sticks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

Also the geforce 8800GT that Tanker said, make sure it's eVGA since they're a great video card brand.

And this P35 Standard P5K asus motherboard is one of the best.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180

Get a Seagate hard drive, 5 year warranty on those babies.

To run a 8800GT I think you should go for a Corsair 620 PSU.

A decent fcase, Might I suggest an Antec 900?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=antec%2b900

Refer to here for good brands of PSU's, the ones in blue are good quality ones.
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Oops don't forget about a an Operating System! I'd say Vista Home Premium 64Bit.

[glc]

A Corsair 520HX will run a single 8800GT just fine.

[andper10]

Yes, no need for a 620W Corsair. Most people forgot an OS in their lists. Here is what I would get:
$195 E6750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029
$105 P5K SE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131189 - Get this unless you need the extra PCI-E slot on the normal P5K for running over 2 monitors
$71 2GB Corsair DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590
$290 EVGA 8800GT Superclocked http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130303
$112 Vista Home Premium OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116204 OR XP Home OEM $90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116056
$90 OCZ StealthXStream 600W Quad 18A 12V rails http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341010
$35 LiteOn SATA DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106057
$80 WD 320GB Hard Drive SATA16MB Cache http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074
$50 Cooler Master Centurion 5 with Side Window http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119077 Good cheap case IMO. The Antec 900 is also very nice. Pick a case that you like, even if it isn't one that we specifically recommend.
$1028 Total, before shipping, before MIR(s), before Tax (if you live in CA). That would be a nice gaming computer.
Enjoy your build!

[demon_54]

wow thanks for all these suggestions. Well for the os I was probably going to go with xp seems how I already have the disk. I could use a case from one of the three towers I have. But I am about to look into these parts and ill get back to you guys. keep the suggestions comming. I want to try to figure out which one of these setups you guys posted will work best with each other.

ps about the video card how does this one look? it seems to be up to date with everything with dx 10. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150252

[Alaron]

The 8800GT is a great choice for a video card, but we like eVGA branded cards. They have the best reputation for quality.

[demon_54]

wow ok well I did some looking around newegg and I think I have a complete parts list. Pleast tell me if I am missing something I already have the 2 cd drives but I need everything else to check it out. Also please let me know if everything seems compatible ( motherboard will fit in case, back inputs of mobo will work with case, all other parts will work with each other well) I want to know how this system seems I want a good gaming rig for some hardcore gaming :-p

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor- 159.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - 102.99
EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - 149.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - 169.99
Seagate SV35.2 ST3320620AV 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - 89.99
COOLER MASTER CAVALIER 3 CAV-T03-UK Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 59.99

Total: 731.95 before taxes and shipping.

I havent decided on an os yet im either going with xp or vista not quite sure if I want to make the vista leap.

[Devastator]

I don't if you meant to choose a 8600GT but an 8800GT would be a huge leap and well worth it.

If you are going to stay with the 8600GT, I think, unless you are set on that case, that the Antec Sonata III with 500W PSU would be of much better value and it's a great case.

If you aren't staying with the 8600GT and meant 8800GT and really love the case you picked out, the Corsair 520W PSU is all you need, the 620W is too much for what you're currently planning on building.

Edit: Also you've picked up an IDE hard drive in that list, switch it to a SATA one.

[pam123]

If you want to keep the price of the graphics card below $200, the ATI 3850 at $179 is a much better performer than that GT : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102714

Yes the Antec Sonata III is a great deal.

[glc]

What motherboard? Your list doesn't have one.

Hard drive - don't use a SV, use a 7200.10 or 7200.11 SATA.

PSU: overkill, for a 8600 series card, even a 450VX is enough power.

If your opticals are standard bezel units, they can be reused. If they blend in with a styled case front, they are going to look awfully silly sticking out of the front of a standard case - and if you get a case with a front door, the door may not close.

[demon_54]

ok well I didnt notice I didnt put a mobo down I thought i did. But anyways I also didnt realize the watts in the psu I thought it said 520w Ill change that asap. Also I don't care about the case it was just my first choice Ill make the necessary changes and repost a list again. I forgot about the front of the optical drives too I guess I need those also lol. Now I notice that most premade pc's in the market have two disk drives ( one including usuallly of a dvd-cd burner and just an average dvd rom drive. Could I get away with getting only one that has a dvd-cd burner? Or would you recommend both?

Also here is what I have now still excluding optical drives.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor- 159.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - 102.99
EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - 149.99
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250820NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 79.99
Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - 129.95
ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - 141.99

Hows does this look? Also case comes with 500w psu is this good enough or too much?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by demon_54 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor- 159.99 ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - 141.99 Hows does this look?

You can't run a AMD processor in a Intel motherboard.

Originally Posted by demon_54 Also case comes with 500w psu is this good enough or too much?

The 500 watt PSU is fine.

Cricket

[demon_54]

lol! my bad about the intel and amd thing I just woke up when I posted it still sort of groggy

how about this for a mobo?
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - 129.99

I want to use AMD because I have only owned intel systems and want to try amd because I have heard good things from people who use amd over intel so Im giving it a shot.

[glc]

If you are not planning to run SLI, save a few bucks and get a single slot board such as the M2N-E.

All I build with these days is a single DVD burner. It does everything.

The Sonata 3 case is one of the very few made that comes with a high quality high powered power supply. Grab it NOW while it's on instant savings, free shipping, *AND* a $40 mailin rebate.

[demon_54]

I don't think I will be running SLI seems how I don't know what it is so I will look into a different video card. But my main concern is the case. I know cases come with different backs to them for the inputs. does the motherboard seem compatible with the sonata case?

[pam123]

ATX motherboards fit in ATX cases, no problem.
The I/O shield for the motherboard will come with the motherboard so that's the one you'll use with any case you buy and yes it will fit in any ATX case.
SLI ( the ATI version is called Crosssfire ) means you run two video cards at once.
If you're dedicated gamer the cash fine but it's not necessary.
The fact that a card says SLI enabled doesn't mean you have to run it as part of an SLI pair.

[demon_54]

so the setup I have here should be ok for gaming? Like play call of duty 4, timeshift, bioshock and all those fun games?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor- 159.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - 102.99
EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - 149.99
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250820NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 79.99
Antec Sonata III Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - 129.95
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - 129.99

[glc]

No.....a 7200.10 or .11 with 16mb cache, not a ES. The SV's and ES's are special purpose drives.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148262

Save some money and get a M2N-E.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131022

[demon_54]

Ok so for hard drive I think I will go with the ASUS M2N-E AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard like you said and for harddrive Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

[sightless]

I am very sorry to hijack but i was getting the same exact build and was wondering if everything was compatible or not and the parts were proper

http://i4.tinypic.com/8fx54id.jpg
ugh sorry about the image):

[Alaron]

__Moderator__

Sightless, two things. First, stick with links instead of embedded images. Dialup users will thank you. Second, in the future keep your build to a separate thread.

Your list looks fine though. If you have any further questions, please start your own thread. Its easier for everyone to follow along. Thanks.