Gaming system < $2000?

[Vachir]

I've just started reading these forums today and I must say, tons of good info all around. I'm looking for specific advice building a new system. I want to build a new gaming rig for somewhere below $2000 (or there about). I've been digging around newegg and here's what I've come up with so far:

1 Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
$115.99 -$5.00 Instant $110.99

1 Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply - Retail
$79.99 -$10.00 Instant $69.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX
$149.99 $149.99

1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model
$229.00 $229.00

1 OCZ Gold Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2
$219.99 $219.99

1 SAPPHIRE 100150SR Radeon X1900XTX 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express
$373.99 $373.99

2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS
$79.99 $159.98

1 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels PCI Interface
$121.99 $121.99

1 SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/
$5.29 $5.29

1 SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black
$32.99 $32.99

1 Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
$71.99 -$6.00 Instant $65.99

1 RAZER Copperhead Tempest RZ01-050100-R1M1 Blue 7 Buttons 1x
$78.99 -$25.00 Instant $53.99

1 fUnc sUrface1030™ Archetype(MBA) Mouse Pad - Retail
$32.99 $32.99

1 SAMSUNG 204B-BK Black 20.1" 5ms LCD Monitor with Height, Pivot, Tilt
$349.99 $349.99

Subtotal: $1,977.16

Thanks in advance!

 

[Norien]

Everythings looks good time me.

 

[shadowduck]

Downgrade to the E6300. The 6400 is not worth the extra $50, and the E6300 and easily overclock.

Same deal with the XTX, not worth the cost for the very minimal speed gain. Overclock at XT.

 

[shadowduck]

Well the video card is only $350 after rebate, think it's worth the downgrade?

For the price, go for it.

 

[_Morphine_]

Ditch the Razer and get a G5.
I would cheap out on the video card until the next gen rounds the bend. 7600gt?

yes the intel chips are fineand perform better in gaming at low resolutions once ya get up to 1600-1200 they een out prety much and the amd x2s are no pushovers,what monitor you runnin?

Hiya guys,I have a 4600x2 running at 2750mhz 11x250,with 2gig ocz gold 3,4,4,8 ddr500 mem,running on a dfl lanparty crdr200,crossfire board,sporting 2 x1800xts 512s,that overclock wellhighest i had them was 735 mem and 850 mem on stockk air,also it has a 36 gig raptor drive with the freshly installed os on italong with a 200 gig maxtore DM10 16 meg cache fr storage needs,cpu temps nevereber reach 40c unless its 80+ in the room,water cooledwith the thermaltake big water system with the 120m rad and ran hangin off back and the aditional 120mmrad andrav inthe cdrom bay,so dual 120mm rads,also running a creative xfi fatalty worth about 300 alone with the fron IO plate,all installed and aelectrick green super alien server case6 80mm fans 2 120s on the rads and a 120 in the 520watt ocz sli psu,Imm sure someone with a litle more overclocking xp then me could get a bit more out of it specially with some better mem but ths mem cost me 280$,vid cards was 500+ each 11/2005,MB was 200+$,floppy n card reader included,and from what i hear i beleive it will be vistacapable,best 3dmark 05 score 14000+,imm sure the coolingsystem coul take acople vpu block and be added and WC the vid cards, 16x dvd rom, dvd dual layer burner,floppy crd reader.
Now if your wondering why imm selling my baby,wanting a core duo sli gaming notebook and ts not goin to happen if i dont sell this,i also have a 21 inch ibmp202 1600-1200 mon 4 sale 150,and a mitsubishi 22 inch 2070 superbright......very nice monitor payed 700 will let it go for 350....Imm keeping my 24 inch dell 2405 pf i play xbox360 on it,email me at varg14@rcn.com for interested buyers looking 4 more information. but just a sidenot i could play obivion in 1920-1200 aa and ai cranked alongwith bf2,quake4,doom3 farcry....and i beleive the 1000 series cards will be vista ready through drivers just in case ya wanna upgrade to vist with the aeroglass.......also i dont ussualy do this but here is my home phone 6107422031..feel free to call for any Qs....live in se pa below philly
Ty ahead of time

8O I will etch your phone number on every bathroom stall I come into contact with.

 

[SamuraiXmas]

There is a very good article out at (one of the tech blogs, so damn many these days) entitled "To upgrade now, or to wait for DirectX 10" and in it, it talks about how Direct X 10 is so close, and how if you upgrade now your tech will be obsolete in a matter of a year.

In my case, I really had no choice but to upgrade (The PCI-E slot on the pre-built comp I bought literally melted ><) but if I could have waited for DX10, I would have. Having said that, if 2 grand isn't a lofty amount of money for you then your configuration sounds fine to me. The only thing you need to take a look at maybe is what resolution monitor you have. If it's a 1024x728, or a 1280x1024 then you really don't need that card. At those resolutions a 7900GS would probably be fine (For 150 dollars less) I think the 7900GS got 50 FPS on fear at the closest res to 1280x1024 that FEAR gets (some odd res) with all the eye candy on.

Personally, I went with the 7900GT, partly because I got it on sale, and partly because I can't wait.


Oh and you should probably wait till closer to Christmas to buy. Mid to End of summer is hell for buying just about anything; No sales.

 

[crualtortus]

dont get that x-fi, i just bought an x-fi platinum for 150 with shipping off ebay. trust me, even if ebay turns you off, go for it. you can get some spectacular deals.

 

[Vachir]

Thanks for the help everyone!

I figured I'd give razer a shot since I've never had one (always used logitech). I may ditch this one if I don't like it but I figured for ~$50 it was worth a shot. Have you had bad experiences with these mice?

The monitor is listed in the spec (native res 1600x1200). I know DX10 is coming up but didn't really think about it much. The only component to become outdated at that point is the video card after all right? So worst case that's not too much of a waste, especially if it lets me play games very well from now until whenever games actually start requiring DX10 cards to run.