$1000 Build, You decide the Best parts!

[one-shot]

I am going to recommend some parts for a friend so I can build him a new PC. I was looking for some additional input from other pc builders to get a few different ideas.

#1 Mostly gaming.

#2 Decent Hard drive

#3 Not overly outrageous case(sparkles, fans, LED's)

I was thinking of:

CPU - E7200..................................~ 130
CPU Cooler - CM Hyper TX2.............~30
MOBO- Gigabyte P35/45 DS3L..........~90
RAM - G Skill/A Data 2x2gb Kit RAM.~80
HD - WD 500GB HD.......................~100
Case - ...............................................???
Vid Card. ATI 4850............................~180
Optical Drive - Lite On DVD burner...~$30
OS???? I was thinking of 32 bit Vista, keeping it simple.

Comes out to around $640 without a case and OS and Monitor...Let me get some more Ideas! Maybe even a cheaper Vid card because he doesn't do lots of gaming. 8800GTS 512 is a possibility as well. Open to anything. Thanks

 

[WR2]

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L $95
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz $120
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $63 after rebate
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB $68
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD burner $27
HIS Hightech Radeon HD 4850 $165 after rebate
alternate: XFX GeForce 9600 GT $110 after rebate
Antec Sonata III and Earthwatts 500w PSU $100

 

[z999]

are you fudging kidding? a 9600 as an alternate to a 4850?
why don't take whatshisname... the 640GB drive that everyone recommends.

 

[jpdykes]

Couple of notes for you:

- You need a 64bit OS to make of 4Gb of RAM. There isn't usually a difference in price between 32bit and 64bit.

- Go with a just release graphics card - 4850 or 4870. Note prices may fall again with the release of the 4870X2 - you could look around for some good deals on last generation cards. These are less powerful (but more power hungry) but you may find something going cheap. Use the monthly tom's hardware video card hierarchy charts to see how cards stack up.

- Go for a Corsair PSU if you can fit one into the budget, very reliable and will last well.

- I've used a coolermaster case on builds previously and they look ok, also not overpriced and easy to build with.

- If you have money left in the budget you might want to go for a faster CPU. Graphics cards are more easily upgradeable and prices fall faster. Note that if you want to overclock then you are going to want an aftermarket cooler, try a Xigmatek one. For current games probably the way to go is as fast a dual core as you can afford, but looking into the future there will be a trend towards using more cores efficiently and quad core will be the best option. Up to you - depends how long the computer is going to be in service.

- +1 for gigabyte motherboards.

Hope that helps
Jeremy