Tom's Hardware: Topic Building first gaming PC - $1800 budget [need help]
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > New System Build > Building first gaming PC - $1800 budget [need help]
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1800 will buy yourself a beast, assuming you have a monitor already.
even if not, u'll still get a very powerful comp.
if you're looking to make this comp last, you should for a quad-core, as that's the direction the comp industry is headed.
the 9450 is very overclockable, with a huge 12mb cache.
4870x2 is currently the cream of the crop gpu wise. if you don't need that much power or want to spend $600, u have plenty of cheaper alternatives such as 4870/260 gtx for 300, 280 gtx for 400, and the price/performance beast 4850. 4850x2 is coming out this month, so if u can wait that'll be magic and free up a pcie spot for future cf/sli
motherboard depends on what GPU ur getting really, x38 is great for multi gpus, and if u got the money to move up to the x48 even better.
p45 is solid for a one gpu solution, i'm not too familiar with SLI boards unfortunately. overpriced though haha.
Corsair makes high quality PSUs, u really can't go wrong with any of them.
RAM, ddr3 is not worth it at all, might want to invest in ddr800-1066, 1066 if you're overclocking.
case wise, if all preference, most cases are very well built now. can't really go wrong with any of the antecs (900, 1200, p182, even the 300). coolermaster HAF 932 is the new kid on the block getting all the attention. cm 690 is a very very solid performer for the price at $80.
hard drive wise, if u want the best it's the velicoraptor, will cost u $300 tho, i'd recommend a western digital 640mb 16mb buffer, best capacity
rice ratio and great performance.
the biggest decision u have to make is what video card u want, from there, everything else will fall into place. goodluck!
CPU
-Either 8400 or 8500 good choice. Only extra $20.00 for extra 0.16 Ghz on 8500
MOBO
-X48 Mobo. I like the Asus Rampage or for bit less $$$ Asus P5E Deluxe
-Could go P45 to save $$$, has slighly less performance if you go 2 GPU's
MEMORY
-DDR2 800 2 x 2 Gig. I like Corsair. Kingston, Mushkin good brands
GPU
-4870 or if got $$$ 4870x2
PSU
-Corsair, Antec Quattro, or PC Power and Cooling
CPU Cooler
-Xigmatek S1283
HARD DRIVE
-Western Digital 640GB SATA II
or
Seagate 500 GB SATA II
CASE
-personal choice.
Newegg is probably the best place in the world to buy PC hardware. I use their site a lot to get specifications and read user reviews and check if part A works with part B (e.g. does this cooler fit on this motherboard, etc.) However, they don't ship to Canada. There will be a Newegg.ca in a couple of months, but it's not ready yet.
A wrist strap is the official solution against electrostatic discharge. Lots of people just touch the PC case or some appliance before handling the components. Hold them by the edges, of course. Very important: lock the cat in the bedroom 
My cat can actually produce visible sparks in winter, and he loves playing with cables.
Alright, thanks a whole lot for all the reccomendations and help, I'd have been lost without it. This should put me off to a good start to getting my computer built!
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