Yet another gaming build question...

[Limy]

Hello everyone,

Since I'm done with my first year of university, I thought it would be nice to sit back and enjoy some computer gaming this summer. I'm not very computer savy, so I thought I'd come here and ask you guys to suggest some builds. Basically, I want to be able to enjoy games (company of heroes for example) with the highest settings on.

Bear in mind my budget is limited, I can only afford to spend 1000$ on the computer. I'm from Montreal, so here are a few sites I've been working with. They seem to have good prices.

http://www.sohodiffusion.com/configurpc.asp
http://pc.ncix.com/pcbuilder/

Also, I'd need a wireless network adapter and a TV tuner. If I understand correctly, a tv tuner will let me watch cable TV on my computer.

Thank you very much!

 

[Cpt Deadboots]

If you could build one yourself, you could get much better value for your $1000. However, if you must order a pre-built(assuming you will not be overclocking, of course).....

It truly pains me to recommend this, but Dell has a pretty killer deal on a quad-core right now.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=brda42b&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN&m_8=80S&dgc=BF&cid=7420&lid=197374

Just upgrade the OS to Vista Home Premium.

Also, you will want to upgrade the video card on your own. It's an easy install, so just order an 8800 GTS 512mb from newegg.com. Here is one I would recommend:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130325

As far as a wireless adapter, here is a decent one (also from newegg):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127075

I don't know what to tell you concerning a TV tuner. I am sure someone else will know better.

Should keep you below your budget.

 

[Limy]

Thank you for the prompt response.

The Dell deal is pretty nice, but it comes from Dell USA's site. There is a canadian site also, and that specific deal is nowhere to be found.

The links I provided let you build your own pc. That's what I'm looking for.

Thanks again.

 

[shadowduck]

Wow that Dell deal is amazing. Too bad you cannot have someone in the US buy it for you and ship it to Canada. I do that sometimes when a deal just cannot be touched.

OP-
It is still a prebuilt- because they choose the components you have a choice from and build it for you.

NCIX's prices are good for Canada, but terrible in the US. Let me work up something for you and I will update this post later tonight.

 

[Limy]

Thank you for the response shadowduck. Here is what I came up with using the NCIX website:

Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail Box

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32BIT DVD OEM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive 5YR MFR Warranty

ASUS WL-138G-V2 Wireless G Network Adapter PCI Card 802.11G 54MBPS

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE PCI 7.1 Surround Sound Card (OEM)

ASUS P5K-VM mATX LGA775 G33 DDR2 1PCI-E16 2PCI 1PCI-E4 SATA2 Video Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard

G.SKILL F2-6400CL6D-4GBMQ PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL6-6-6-18 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

LG GSA-H55N Black DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 INT IDE 2MB OEM DVD Writer W/ SW

BFG GeForce 8800GT OC 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out DIRECTX10 Video Card

Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio

Corsair VX550W 550W ATX 12V 41A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan

With the assembly fee, the total cost is 1176.42$. If I can lower this price, without sacrificing graphic performance, I'd be very happy. I forgot to mention I'm not looking to overclock anything.

 

[smalltime0]

You could probably get away with taking the Case down to the 300 version, you probably don't need a sound card...

 

[joelg88]

You should look at the E8400 rather than getting the Q6600.

 

[shadowduck]

Not overclock? Wow thats a shame.

Change out the Q6600 for an E8400. Unless you are doing video editing you don't need a quad core CPU.

Don't need a sound card- onboard sound is more than acceptable with most boards offering 7.1 support.

That is a micro ATX board, but that's not a big deal

CAS6 RAM is terrible. Try to find something in the 4 or 5 range. You don't really need 4GB either. Newegg has G.Skill 2GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 for $49. You can probably find something similar.

Look at this RAM in 4GB faster speed to boot: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26456&vpn=F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ&manufacture=G.SKILL

2GB version: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19337&vpn=OCZ2P800R22GK&manufacture=OCZ Technology $34 after rebate. Yes $34!

 

[pcgamer12]

onboard audio is crap. avoid at all cost. get a x-fi, vista drivers are the bomb now. they are good drivers. its been a while and the problems gone. if ur a gamer, get a x-fi gamer so u can tell that ur ally behind u was shotgunned to death. i cant tell that with the onboard audio on my ga-p35-ds3l. unless u have a highend board that doesnt use realtek onboard audio, try to see if the audio quality is good for enough for u. if u have any doubt or not sure, a x-fi will amaze u in playback of music, movie, and especially gaming with eax 1.0-5.0

 

[smalltime0]

^ you should be able to.

Personally I find that unboard is fine for the vast majority of people, the saving from the lack of an add-on soundcard can be put into a better motherboard/more RAM/better CPU/better case.

The 9600 GT ATM is owning at its price-range... Swithcing that for the 8800GT will shed a few $s. Or wait until the 4870 release, which should cause the 8800GT price to drop.

4 GB is good to have (minimalizing the use of pagefile is always a good thing), Im not sure how good G.Skill is (I personally are using some of their RAM in another machine with no problem