Building a new computer

[testinglife]

Hello I'm sure you've had this question asked a million times however i'm not sure where or how recent they were asked. Now i'm a Hardcore gamer looking to build my own computer because from what i'm told you get more bang for your buck.

Ok so basically i'm asking for everyones help on giving me their complete to this date recent build for a computer. The thing is i'm not entirely sure what all is needed so if you could include everything that would be PERFECT. I know this is much to ask but if you could help me out I would appreciate it so much. My price range is from 900-1300 dollars. Now unfortunatley i'm canadian which means different prices however its ok just give me it in your price range and i'll hope it fits. Now that is 900-1300 give or take. I'm looking for a top notch gaming computer. If anything it would be only for gaming so fast with the lastest and most demanding games. I know I can't ask for to much with a price range but if I can get some insight that would be great.

I have looked at a few OEM computers to compare and I've have customised the following which probably isn't everything i need when building my own.

intel quadcore Q6600 8 mb / 2.4 / 1033
6gb ram ddr2 800 - 4 dimms
640gb 7200rpm
ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme
Genuine Windows Vista®
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Dell S2409W 24" Full HD Widescreen
mouse
keyboard
Dell all in one printer


now like I said this can't be all i need for building it doesn't say the mother or power supply or anything but for this bundle its 1200 plus taxes canadian. So i mean it seems very competative but i don't know maybe not ! PLEASE PLEASE help me out on this one people. I will check the posts but if you want to e-mail me too my e-mail is testinglife@hotmail.com also if you know any other sites that would be able tohelp let me know thanks a bunch !

 

[aevm]

ROFLLMAO, HD 3450 on a 24" monitor in the "most demanding games". You need to think about video cards at the other end of the price range for that, sorry. That Dell is designed for Office and Excel, not for gaming.

Try something like this:
Q6600, 2x2GB DDR2-800, WD6400AAKS, ATI HD 4870 1GB, no sound card, Vista Home Premium 64-bit, Cooler Master CM690, Asus P5Q Pro or GA-EP45-UD3R, Corsair 650TX.

Try shopping around. www.ncix.com, www.newegg.ca, www.memoryexpress.com, etc.

 

[aevm]

Does your $900..$1300 have to include a 24" monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers?

Would you be willing to settle for a 22"? That would be cheaper and it also means you can get by with a less expensive video card.

 

[jeteryankees22]

maybe if he is gaming at 600x800 resolution...haha but probably not

 

[testinglife]

Ya lol like I said its not something that I put together but rather just something to compare pricing with. And I look at al the parts you offered there and each one is the same speeds such as what I posted other than the graphics card. Am I to believe that everything except the graphics card in my build is good ? Or is there something else i'm missing. and what are the thoughts considering that this pre-built system comes with a 24 inch lcd monitor even though it may not be top notch.

 

[aevm]

It would be fine in Diablo 2 at 800x600, yeah. Crysis on the other hand would be a slideshow.

 

[jeteryankees22]

go with aevm's setup...looks nice

 

[aevm]

Ya lol like I said its not something that I put together but rather just something to compare pricing with. And I look at al the parts you offered there and each one is the same speeds such as what I posted other than the graphics card. Am I to believe that everything except the graphics card in my build is good ? Or is there something else i'm missing. and what are the thoughts considering that this pre-built system comes with a 24 inch lcd monitor even though it may not be top notch.

Dell makes pretty good monitors, AFAIK.

That build has some unnecessary things (sound card, 6 GB of RAM). Onboard sound and 4 GB are fine for gaming. Here's an article showing minimal differences between 4 GB and 8 GB for example:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/08/is-more-memory-better/1

They don't say anything about case and PSU and MB. Those are usually weak points in OEM computers (small PSus that won't let you upgrade, small cases with poor cooling not designed to fit or cool gaming video cards, motherboards with proprietary BIOS that doesn't allow overclocking, etc.)

 

[testinglife]

Awesome good things to know this is what i've been looking for ^_^. Yes unfortunatley the monitor is neccessary, however the size of 24 inches is not. As a matter of fact any size including 17 inch would be ok. This is actually being built for my girl friend who unfortunatley is only willing to spend 900-1300 and does not own a montior yet. A side note is she is wanting this mainly for The Sims 2 and a crap load of expansion packs. Also come february the Sims 3. Now I know I said harcore gaming and that because you never know what will come out in the near future. Sooooo now that we know the backround I'm basically looking to build her a good gaming computer for the sims and whatever else is out there.

 

[testinglife]

oh another side question. as far as mother boards can they be ugraded to use ddr3 ram or do I have to buy specifically for that. and if I do have to buy for that can one that uses ddr3 use ddr2 ? and all that aside is the one you suggested compatable with it ? lol thanks !

 

[aevm]

All right, let me see what I can do.

LG 22" $195
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=32704&vpn=W2242T-PF&manufacture=LG Electronics

HD 4850 $197
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30972&vpn=100242L&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

Q6600, $251
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22211&vpn=BX80562Q6600&manufacture=Intel

Antec Sonata III (with 500W PSU) + GA-EP45-DS3L combo $140+$107
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&vpn=SONATA III 500&manufacture=ANTEC

Vista Home Premium 64-bit, $138
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22438&vpn=66I-00788&manufacture=Microsoft

Patriot 4Gb DDR2-800, $50
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=27526&vpn=PVS24G6400LLK&manufacture=Patriot

WD6400AAKS+SH-S223F combo $132
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30004&vpn=WD6400AAKS&manufacture=Western Digital WD

That's $1210 so far, but there are shipping charges too and taxes. Pretty hard to fit mouse/keyboard/printer too in that budget IMO. You could cut the CPU to E7200 and save $90, I guess, but it would hurt.

 

[testinglife]

ok another side question then when a graphics card says ddr3 does that mean it can only be used with a ddr3 compatable motherboard ? and last question . For a quadcore as opposed to a dual. which is faster ? 2.4 quadcore or 3.1 dual ? just because I see people saying you don't need quad yet so go with the faster of the two but I thought the quad would be faster ? can you give me an article or explain that to me as well ? lol yay for learning !

 

[aevm]

oh another side question. as far as mother boards can they be ugraded to use ddr3 ram or do I have to buy specifically for that. and if I do have to buy for that can one that uses ddr3 use ddr2 ? and all that aside is the one you suggested compatable with it ? lol thanks !

On that budget don't even think about DDR3. Forget it exists, OK? DDR2 is almost as fast and a lot cheaper. To answer your question, a MB advertised with DDR2 support will not support DDR3, unless it's one of the rare (and more expensive) ones with dual DDR2/DDR3 support. The GA-EP43-DS3L I mentioned above works with DDR2 only.

 

[aevm]

ok another side question then when a graphics card says ddr3 does that mean it can only be used with a ddr3 compatable motherboard ? and last question . For a quadcore as opposed to a dual. which is faster ? 2.4 quadcore or 3.1 dual ? just because I see people saying you don't need quad yet so go with the faster of the two but I thought the quad would be faster ? can you give me an article or explain that to me as well ? lol yay for learning !

No worries about the memory on the graphics card. A card that says GDDR3 or GDDR5 will work fine on a motherboard that says DDR2.

Quad vs dual - the Sims is a CPU-bound game AFAIK but I don't know how well it takes advantage of multiple cores. That is, it might work better on an E8500 than a Q6600. Do some research. TBH I don't think it matters, because both are very fast CPUs. The quad is more future-proof, i.e. it will beat the E8500 big time once the games start supporting quads properly. If this CPU is supposed to last for several years, I'd go with the quad.

Here's an article:
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=775&p=2

 

[testinglife]

Thanks again for all the help man. I just recently read someone else that was buliding his comp and noticed a similar box with like 4 fans. About the cases what should I be looking at ? do all cases generall fit everything or how does that work ? Do more fans equal better ?

 

[testinglife]

bimp

 

[aevm]

Actually, yeah, more fans are usually better. If you can stretch the budget a bit, it would be good to replace that Sonata 3 with something better cooled. Then you'd have to buy a PSU separately.

No, not all cases fit everything. For example a huge card like my own 8800GTX (11") won't fit in smaller cases. The HD 4850 on the other hand is only 9" long, so it's not really a problem.

CM690 $95
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26048&vpn=RC-690-KKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER

Antec 300, $73
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29812&vpn=THREE HUNDRED&manufacture=ANTEC

PC Power & Cooling 610W
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21113&vpn=S61EPS&manufacture=PC Power & Cooling