New quad core gaming build - around $1800

[zdenton]

Hi, I am looking for advice on a new gaming rig. I have a budget of 1500-1900 dollars. I am looking for a q6600, and either an 8800gtx or 2x 8800gts 320mb. thanks in advance.

 

[wingsofzion]

Very nice budget. Let's have some fun.

Case
Thermaltake Armor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133021
Price: $170
Very nice case. Spacious inside. Lots of room for long video cards and space for HDD's.

Motherboard
Asus P5K Premium: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131190
Price: $230
Nice board. 1333 FSB, goes up to DDR2 1066 memory and takes all Intel chips and the new 45m chips soon to be released. Nice overclocking ability if your going to overclock.

CPU
Intel Q6600: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
Price: $290
Nice choice. If your looking for a good Dual Core try also the E6850 (3.0 GHZ, 1333 FSB). In a cpu shootout Tom's Hardware held the E6850 beat the Q6600 in certain test. May be something to consider since the cost are the same (not on NewEgg though).

Power Supply
Thermaltake 700W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153039
Price: $170
Good brand, modular cabeling for easy hook up. Used a number of these in recent builds with superb results

Memory
Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
Price: $107
Fast Memory and a good quality vendor. If you want bump this up to maybe DDR2 1066 instead if your budget can fit it.

Hard Drive
Western Digital 500GB Cavier: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
Price: $110
Very good drive. 500GB is more than enough for your gaming needs. You can try and get a 150GB Raptor to use for just your games and OS and use a drive like this for mass storage. Your choice.

DVD Drive
Lite-On Sata DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106073
Price: $37
Very good brand. Go with a Sata connector and leave IDE behind.

Video Card
EVGA 640 mb 8800GTS: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130071
Price: $380
Went with the 640MB GTS instead. Great card and will peform on par like the GTX without sacrificing performance.

Operating System
Windows XP Pro: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116059
Price: $140
No idea if your going for Vista so i stayed with XP Pro as a safe bet.

GRAND TOTAL:
$1634

There is alot of room to save cost. If your willing to go up to $1800 there is alot you can add on like additional HDD's, add a CPU cooler like a Zalman 9700NT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020&Tpk=9700nt). You can go with the GTX card if you want or find a decent monitor and go dual screens. You can also go higher up on memory to faster DDR2 1066 modules. Alot of options as well within what i built here. I tried to keep the cost descent but without any sacrifices. This is a good starter point as i am sure other posters will build on this as well.

 

[paq7512]

That is an awesome build. You could also look into this case, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106. That is a beast of a psu you could save money with this one,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

 

[zdenton]

alright, thanks that looks like a great build.