First build gaming pc

[Heigen]

THis is my first attempt at building my own pc. My goal was a fairly good gaming rig in the $1300-$1400 range. I would like to play games such as the upcoming Conan, LOTRO etc. on high to very high settings. This system is also geared for a possible future sli setup. Here is the link to the parts:

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=8674028

I like to play games from my recliner. I have become used to playing on a laptop. I plan on buying one of those articulating monitor arms that I can attach to my side table. I think that type of monitor setup with the wireless keyboard on my lap will be the closest I can get to the laptop feeling- and no more heat! All ratings, suggestions, criticisms are welcome and appreciated.

 

[pous]

Link didn't work for me ^^ what pieces were in there?

 

[massih]

I can suggest you these:

Gigabyte GA-MA790FX DQ6(Quad phenom/Quad-crossfire)
Ati 3870 (Sapphire has a good price/quality ratio).you can use 4 of them if you want anytime! only 190$ today

CPU: today buy a 6400+ AM2-X2 BOXED (not black edition that is nothing without a fan in box!) it is cheap under 180$.you can replace it when next 45n phenoms come. but today I cannot recommend phenom!

RAM: buy 2GB pc-6400 value products from Kingston or Twinmos. they are trustable and fast enough with 6400 x2

power /case :I like cooler master power products.. they are valuable in high quality. you can buy a 600 watt(or more) under 200$ plus a free case today!

An acer 22 inch lcd is now only 210$.buy it for a value LCD.Samsung has the same models if you want a famus LCD.

In HDD I recommend a WDC-320 or hitachi 320.with 7200 rpm. 11000 rpm products are noisy and expansive.

Try to buy a silent fan for your CPU if you want your system to be in low noise.but this will exceed the price you want.

 

[amd_fanboi]

better to get an intel setup at the moment...

 

[Heigen]

Link not work for anyone else? Heres the list:


ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer
In Stock
$69.99 $69.99

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: 122-CK-NF68-T1
Item #: N82E16813188012
$199.99 -$20.00 Instant $179.99

Update EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #: 512-P3-N862-AR
Item #: N82E16814130328
In Stock
$179.99 $179.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: CMPSU-750TX
Item #: N82E16817139006
Mail-in Rebate
$179.99 $179.99
Open Box: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model HH80562PH0568M
Model #: HH80562PH0568M
Item #: N82E16819115018R
In Stock
$234.99 -$5.00 Instant $229.99

Update CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5 - Retail
Model #: TWIN2X2048-8500C5
Item #: N82E16820145033
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
$109.00 -$25.00 Instant $84.00

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD1600AAJS
Item #: N82E16822136075
In Stock
$48.99 $48.99

ADESSO WKB-4000US 2-Tone USB RF Wireless Mini Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail
Model #: WKB-4000US
Item #: N82E168
$89.99 -$10.00 Instant $79.99

Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: ET.LBE09.026
Item #: N82E168240
In Stock
$199.99 -$25.00 Instant $174.99

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail
Model #: LH-20A1S
Item #: N82E16827106057
In Stock
$29.99

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
Model #: N09-01991
Item #: N82E16832116056

In Stock
$89.99

 

[jevon]

Well I'd rather Crossfire than SLI simply because of nVidia's motherboards, but if you really want SLI then not much choice

I'd be really wary of buying an open box component, especially a CPU...never know how hard it was pushed and years burned away before being returned to the store

Is a wireless keyboard important to you? I've never owned one, but two of my friends have and hated them (and the wireless mice), especially during those long gameplay sessions. If you're going to be playing primarily AoC or other MMOs, keyboards like the Ideazon Merc Stealth are around the same price as that wireless board and seem geared especially for that genre (and FPS).

I'm not familiar with that LCD, last time I was looking up 19"ers there was a 2ms Viewsonic that was the one to have. Not sure these days, I'd google some reviews on that to make sure it's good quality: colours, viewing angle, any ghosting with the 5ms response time, 2ms is usually better for gamers. Companies these days market their LCDs as having 2ms or 5ms times but thats only on the grey to grey scale, the colour response times may be significantly higher so check out some reviews.

Otherwise everything looks great! Oh well I'm not familiar with that case but love the Coolermaster 690 for around the same price Also if you plan to OC that quad you're going to want an aftermarket Heatsink, the Tuniq Tower 120 is probably the best value for light to medium OCs.

Cheers and good luck!

 

[chuckm]

Go with DDR2 800 ram, save a bunch of $$$. this is $30 after MIR;
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820146565
DO NOT get an open box CPU and I'm not sure that board will work with that one. Some who knows Nvidia boards better than I do will lets us both know. You have to check the 'share' box for us to see your list.

 

[Heigen]

ok, got rid of the open box processor. Link should work. Guess you have to share it each time you revise the list.

 

[chuckm]

Link still doesn't work.

 

[Heigen]

Link still doesn't work.

Hmmm. Strange. It is shared.

 

[ImajorI]

Consider 1 better card like 8800 GT or GTS versus SLI set up, cheaper non SLI MB, a less powerfull but still quality PSU, as chuck says DDR2 800 (2 x 2 Gigs). I'd go Vista 64 with 4 gigs but thats your call. My 2 cents.

 

[Heigen]

Consider 1 better card like 8800 GT or GTS versus SLI set up, cheaper non SLI MB, a less powerfull but still quality PSU, as chuck says DDR2 800 (2 x 2 Gigs). I'd go Vista 64 with 4 gigs but thats your call. My 2 cents.

You have hit on two issues that I have been considering in doing my research and homework. So I'm assuming that the possible future SLI setup that i'm considering with 2 of the 9600's would be about the same performance-wise as one 8800GT. So I may as well get that now for about the same amount of money. Reading these and other forums, I am getting the feeling that sli may not be as great as it is cracked up to be?? Or is it that it is a fairly new technology and that prices will be coming down in the future?
I picked XP probably because like other novices I am scared of Vista (yes, I admit it), having heard and read bad things about it. I know I will need Vista for DirectX10, but for a pc that is mostly used for gaming is there any other advantage? Is XP going to be obsolete any time soon? If not, I thought that would be one less variable to have to deal with.

 

[ImajorI]

I'll say this to your questions. You cannot buy a computer in Best Buy or Circuit City running XP anymore. XP will still be supported but the future is Vista.
5 years ago my gaming system had 264 MB of ram and was fine. Why not get plenty of ram for the future now, by using vista 64 with 8 gigs, the ram is dirt cheap.
Why not get 1 big card that, if needed, could by paired 2 years from now when its slowing down?
My suggestions are just an opinion, but why not try to look ahead a couple years when building now?
Fior the money a new 320 or 500 GB HD costs you versus your 160 GB consider more HD space, its cheap as well.