Hi!
So I'm planning on building a new desktop. This would be a first for me, I've always purchased full PC setups before. With that as the case, I'm pretty clueless about a few things. I've done a lot of research, and now I'm looking for recommendations. I'm looking at a budget of $1500 including shipping for pretty much a gaming machine. Here's more details on what I'm looking for...
-CPU: High end 64 bit dual core
(Current top choice: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400)
-Graphics Card: Most important piece. I originally thought high end GeForce 8000 or 9000 series, and then I learned about the Radeon 4800 series, which sounds more appealing. Must have at least DX10 support, DVI, and s-video, although I imagine most (if not all) cards in that range meet those needs.
(Current top choice: VisionTek Radeon HD 4870)
-Hard Drive: I already have a 750 GB SATA drive waiting to be used, so not part of the budget.
-Ram: At least 2 gigs, 4 if the budget allows for it. If not, I'll upgrade it later.
(Looking at the price of ram, I'll almost definately get 4 gigs)
-Disk Drive: DVD burner, preferably with dual layer support, 2 burners if the budget allows for it.
(Current top choice: Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN x2)
-OS: Vista Ultimate 64 bit, which I can get through work, so not part of the budget.
-Motherboard: This is the part I'm the most clueless about. Should be able to support everything I have listed, 4 ram slots, at least 6 USB ports, standard onboard stuff (sound, ethernet, etc). If I go with the Radeon graphics card, I'd like to have CrossFire support.
-Case: Probably the part I'm most undecided about. Preferably black with as few lights as possible, fairly quiet, at least 2 front USB ports, card reader would be nice.
-Anything else I'm missing that I'll need (fans, power supply, etc)
I've been asking people to pick out the whole thing for me, but thinking about it, I'm pretty much set with the top half of that list. Its the Motherboard, Case, and Other categories that I'm still not really sure about. So, any recommendations for those? Thanks!
(And if anyone wants to throw together a whole machine for me, I certainly wouldn't object )
I've been watching this guy bounce the whole damn time I wrote this, I feel obligated to use him...
So I'm planning on building a new desktop. This would be a first for me, I've always purchased full PC setups before. With that as the case, I'm pretty clueless about a few things. I've done a lot of research, and now I'm looking for recommendations. I'm looking at a budget of $1500 including shipping for pretty much a gaming machine. Here's more details on what I'm looking for...
-CPU: High end 64 bit dual core
(Current top choice: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400)
-Graphics Card: Most important piece. I originally thought high end GeForce 8000 or 9000 series, and then I learned about the Radeon 4800 series, which sounds more appealing. Must have at least DX10 support, DVI, and s-video, although I imagine most (if not all) cards in that range meet those needs.
(Current top choice: VisionTek Radeon HD 4870)
-Hard Drive: I already have a 750 GB SATA drive waiting to be used, so not part of the budget.
-Ram: At least 2 gigs, 4 if the budget allows for it. If not, I'll upgrade it later.
(Looking at the price of ram, I'll almost definately get 4 gigs)
-Disk Drive: DVD burner, preferably with dual layer support, 2 burners if the budget allows for it.
(Current top choice: Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN x2)
-OS: Vista Ultimate 64 bit, which I can get through work, so not part of the budget.
-Motherboard: This is the part I'm the most clueless about. Should be able to support everything I have listed, 4 ram slots, at least 6 USB ports, standard onboard stuff (sound, ethernet, etc). If I go with the Radeon graphics card, I'd like to have CrossFire support.
-Case: Probably the part I'm most undecided about. Preferably black with as few lights as possible, fairly quiet, at least 2 front USB ports, card reader would be nice.
-Anything else I'm missing that I'll need (fans, power supply, etc)
I've been asking people to pick out the whole thing for me, but thinking about it, I'm pretty much set with the top half of that list. Its the Motherboard, Case, and Other categories that I'm still not really sure about. So, any recommendations for those? Thanks!
(And if anyone wants to throw together a whole machine for me, I certainly wouldn't object )
I've been watching this guy bounce the whole damn time I wrote this, I feel obligated to use him...