new build

[looknohands]

I have about $4,000 dollars as the budget for my new computer. suggested build?

 

[seezur]

Are you looking for the entire system (keyboard, mouse, speaker, monitor)?
Or just the box?

 

[pcgamer12]

nice budget. what do u plan to use ur computer for?

 

[looknohands]

the computer will be used almost completely for gaming. yes, i am looking or an entire system but i probably want head phones rather than speakers. looking for inpiration. also, i already have: a razer lachesis mouse and a 500GB seagate external 7,200 RPM HDD. any help i can get would be appreciated. one thing to consider is that i was looking at having an ssd be my primary hdd. thanks in advance for the help.

 

[rockyjohn]

You can build a very powerful gaming system for a lot less than $4K - just depends on whether or not you want to add a lot of bells and whistles or pay an added 50% for a 15% increase in performance on some games that you may not notice unless less on a large monitor with lots of candy turned on.

Here are two models you might start with from Extreme Tech:

The Best Bang for the Buck System ($1,700)
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2273762,00.asp

The Killer Gaming Rig ($6,300)
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2294184,00.asp

You might start with the first and see what the cost is for each feature to get it to the second and compare performance of the two systems.

 

[p0isonapple]

The article that rockyjohn referred you to about 'The Killer Gaming Rig' is really worth a read, it's long but VERY informative and you would be wise to expand your knowledge with what it has to offer. My personal suggestion to you is do what I am doing, and wait for the next gen nVidia cards to come out, the GTX280 is going to be one hell of a card my friend.

 

[Dior]

You should wait till July for Nvidia to release their next gen GTX 260/280 cards, they are expected to be a lot faster than what we have today. ~$650

The rest, I'd suggest going with Q9450 + an alternative air cooler to reach 3.2-3.6Ghz. $350+ $37+$7
or E8400 + the same kind of cooling for an easy 4GHz overclock. $200+ $37+$7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020


GIGABYTE GA-EX38T-DQ6 + 4GB of DDR3 1600Mhz Super Talent ram would equal great performance.
$270+$400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128329
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609237

...or if you wanna save a lot of money and sacrifice a little performance, you could go with Abit IP35 Pro + 4GB of Crucial DDR2 800 ram. $180+$60

SDD's are still excessively overpriced, for an alternative I'd suggest the new VelociRaptor from WD. It has an average write/read speed of 100MB/s, you could google for reviews and see that it doesn't differ from a SDD all that much. You could use it as your primary drive and the external 500GB for storage. $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260


Stacker 830 + 1000W PSU combo would fit your system just great. $379
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119136

Media drive: $36
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156

Keyboard: Logitech G15 gaming keyboard: $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126034

Sound: AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 $175 - please get this over onboard sound, especially considering that you will be using a pair of quality headphones, the difference is going to be day and night, believe me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156005

Headphones - I'm not an expert here, you could try the audiophile forums, they'll help you out for sure.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/

Monitor. If you can afford it, get this 24" NEC, IMO the best 24" out there today: $750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002334

That totals to roughly over $3.3k with the GTX 280, quad Q9450, X38 board, 4GB DDR3, VelociRaptor, Auzentech Prelude, Stacker 830 Case + 1000W PSU and a 24" luxurious screen.

Not sure if I forgot anything, but it looks pretty complete.
Good luck with your build.